Skye Morrison Vampire 2 Sins of the Father (22 page)

I laughed and shook my head. “No way am I
asking him to go easy on me. I finally met someone who treats me as
an equal. Besides, it doesn’t really hurt. I’ll heal soon enough.
You don’t have to worry about me, Sissy. I’m a tough girl. If I
hadn’t asked for these bruises, the person who gave them to be
would either be in handcuffs or in the morgue right now. I don’t
abide abuse.”

The tinkling of the bell above the front door
interrupted our conversation and we both glanced over.

“That’s Dic, the owner,” Sissy said as she
leaned in and bumped shoulders with me. “Didn’t I tell you he was
hot?”

I felt my jaw drop in surprise as I
recognized the man who was now walking behind the sales
counter.

“I know him,” I said, shocked. “I’ve talked
to him a few times at The Mausoleum.” Dic, of Tricky Dic’s was the
same Dic that I had talked with twice now at work.

Sissy’s brow furrowed in thought. “Isn’t that
the new club on Fourth?”

“Yeah,” I said nodding my head as I watched
Dic walk past the bar and into the back. “I work there.”

“You’re kidding!” she squealed. “That’s the
hottest club in Austin right now.”

“Is it?” I asked distractedly, and then
turned my attention back to her. “I didn’t know. I just work
there.”

“So tell me all about it,” Sissy demanded as
she crossed her legs and gave me her full attention. “What do you
do there? Are you bartending?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No, I’m the
Executive Assistant to the club owner. I do paperwork, manage the
dancers, bartend when needed; you know, that sort of thing.”

“Alright, ladies,” Zephyr said as he walked
up to us and set the hookah down on the coffee table. “Here’s your
Starbuzz cherry shisha.” With his tong-laden other hand, he placed
a hot, burning cube shaped coal on top of the foil covered bowl.
“And, I’ll be right back with your beers.”

Sissy and I both thanked him as she leaned
forward and grabbed the hose. “I love cherry shisha,” she said with
a smile as she took a drag.

I watched her blow a huge cloud of smoke out
and close her eyes in enjoyment.

“Yum. You want a drag?”

I scrunched up my nose in distaste and shook
my head. “No thanks, girl. I don’t smoke.”

“You don’t have to inhale,” she chuckled and
took another drag. “It tastes really good.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” I said as
Zephyr returned with our beers.

“One Chupahopra,” he said as he set the beer
down in front of me and turned to Sissy. “And, one Black Metal,” he
said with a quick wink at her. “Can I get you anything else?”

Sissy just smiled and dazedly shook her head
at him. He turned to leave but I quickly cleared my throat and
spoke up. “Um, she’ll take your number if you’re single,” I said
with a sweet smile.

Zephyr chuckled and pulled an order pad out
of his back pocket, his eyes never leaving Sissy’s. He quickly
scribbled something down, tore the top page off, and set it on the
table in front of her. “I’m single,” he said with a sexy cock of
his eyebrow. “I look forward to talking to you.” He smirked at both
of us and turned to walk back to the bar.

Sissy blew out a deep breath and turned to me
with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you just did that, Skye,” she said
quietly.

I was momentarily worried that she was mad at
me, but she broke out into a huge grin and leaned over to hug me.
“Thank you!” she squeaked. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve
been working up the courage to ask him, but I’m not very good at
this kind of stuff.”

“I know,” I laughed. “Why do you think I
asked him for you? He was totally giving you the eyes and I
couldn’t stand by and let you miss out on a love connection like
that.”

“You rock,” she said with a grateful smile.
“You really are a good friend.” Her face fell and she lowered her
voice. “So, how long do you think I should wait before I call him?”
she asked seriously.

I chuckled and reached over to pat her knee
reassuringly. “Call him tonight. See if he wants to hang out before
you have to leave. If y’all can’t get together before then, you can
always come back on the weekends, right? San Antonio is only an
hour’s drive from here.”

“Right,” she said with a wide grin. “I’ll
call him tonight.”

We drank our beers and talked about life for
the next half hour. Sissy told me all about her new apartment in
San Antonio and the latest news on her brother Cecil’s coming out
party. I was so proud of him for finally doing it. Sissy and I had
known for years, so it wasn’t a big deal to us. Everyone in her
family took it really well and her mom had even asked him what took
him so long to do it. She said she had known he was gay since he
was nine years old.

Sissy’s cellphone rang and she dug around in
her backpack to retrieve it. “It’s my dad,” she said as she looked
at the caller I.D. “Hey old man,” she happily greeted him. I
watched as her brow furrowed and her lips formed a tight line.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes, Dan,” she said with a sigh.
“Thanks for calling me.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked when she hit
the end call button.

She shook her head and ran her fingers
through her hair. “Dad’s passed out at Drop Kick’s,” she said with
a frown. “The divorce is really taking a toll on him. You’d think
with this being his fourth that he’d be used to it by now.” She
sighed again and gathered her bag. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go
deal with this.”

I stood up with her and hugged her. “It’s
okay, girl. I’m glad we got to hang out for a bit.”

Sissy reached into her back pocket and got
out her wallet. “No,” I said, holding my hand out to stop her.
“I’ve got this, honey. Go take care of your dad. Give him my
condolences on the divorce when he sobers up.”

“Thanks, Skye,” she said, hugging me again.
“You’re the best. I’ll give you a call and we can try this again
another time.”

I sat back down and watched her leave. I was
taking the last few sips of my beer when Zephyr came back over to
the table. “I see your friend had to leave.”

“Yeah,” I said, setting the empty bottle down
on the coffee table. “She had to take care of some stuff.”

“Can I get you another Chupahopra?” he asked
with a smile as he tucked his long dirty blond hair behind one
ear.

“I’d love one,” I nodded. “Hey, do you think
you could do me another favor?”

“Sure,” he chuckled. “I owe you anyway for
helping me with your friend. Thanks, by the way.”

“Anytime,” I smiled. “So, um, could you tell
the owner that Skye Morrison would like to talk to him?”

Zephyr slowly lost his smile as he studied
me. “You know Dic?”

I shrugged one shoulder and bit the corner of
my bottom lip. “Yeah, we kind-of-sort-of know each other. I work at
The Mausoleum and we’ve talked there a few times.”

His eyes narrowed and he leaned toward me a
bit and sniffed the air between us a few times. His head jerked
back a few inches and his nose wrinkled with distaste as his eyes
judgmentally swept over me. “Does Archer Rhys know you’re here?” he
growled.

I gasped at the sound of his voice. It was
deeper than it had been a minute ago; more guttural and harsh.

“You know my boss?” I asked, confused then
shook my head. “Wait, what does Archer have to do with
anything?”

“Wait here,” Zephyr barked as he turned on
his heel and walked in the back.

What the hell just happened?
, I
wondered.
What was all that about
? I looked around at the
other customers, but no one had been paying attention to our weird
exchange. I bent my head down and picked up the front of my shirt,
smelling it. It smelled fine to me; like Gain laundry soap and
apples.
Why did he act like I smelled bad
? I felt my cheeks
flush hot in embarrassment and tried to put the scene out of my
head.

About a minute later, Dic came out of the
back and he was closely followed by a weary Zephyr. “Hey, there
beautiful girl,” he said with a happy smile as he approached my
table. He was wearing a tight, plain white t-shirt that accentuated
his corded, tattoo covered arms, distressed blue jeans, and black
chucks. “I believe you ordered a Chupahopra?” he cocked one eyebrow
as he set the beer down in front of me.

“Hey there yourself, mister,” I smiled back
as he took a seat on the couch next to me. I glanced up at Zephyr
as he was standing at the ready just a few feet away. “What’s the
deal with your server?” I asked quietly as I motioned toward Zephyr
with my head.

“Zee is just a little protective,” Dic said
dismissively. “Don’t pay him any attention. So, does your boss know
you’re here?”

I felt my brow furrow hard. “What’s the deal
with you and Zee? Why would Archer need to know I was coming here?”
I asked, perturbed. “Not that it should matter, but I didn’t even
know I was coming here until my friend Sissy brought me for a beer.
I had no idea that you owned this place. Hell, I didn’t even know
this place existed until I pulled up out in front of it today.”

Dic reached his hand out and patted my thigh
comfortingly. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, Skye. I just don’t want
Archer to think I’m trying to steal his assistant out from under
him, that’s all,” he said with a playful wink. “I hear he’s a
ruthless businessman. I don’t want to get on his bad side.”

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my
chest. “Uh-huh. Why do I think there’s more to this than just what
you’re telling me?”

Dic laughed and turned to Zephyr. “It’s okay,
Zee. She’s not going to bite,” he said under his breath.

What is with those two
?
Zephyr acts
like I’m going to take a shot at Dic or something
. I defiantly
cocked my eyebrow at Zephyr and looked at him expectantly.

“I’ll be at the bar if you need me, sir,” he
growled, displeased, as he stared at me. He finally turned away
with a huff and went back to work.

“Okay,” I said slowly with wide eyes, before
sarcastically adding, “that wasn’t weird at all.”

“You’ll have to forgive Zephyr, babe,” Dic
said as he settled back into the couch and stretched his arms out
across the back, getting comfortable. “He’s just doing his
job.”

“Did you hire him as a guard dog or
something?” I asked sarcastically as I picked up my beer and took a
long sip.

Dic threw his head back and laughed heartily.
The sound was masculine, rumbly, and incredibly sexy. It did funny
things to my stomach and I bit my bottom lip to keep from wiggling
in my seat.

“Oh man,” he said finally when his laughter
died down. “That’s hilarious. I wouldn’t let him hear you say that,
though.” He angled his body toward mine and slowly looked me up and
down. “So tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure, Skye?”

“It seems my friend Sissy has a crush on
Zephyr,” I explained as I picked at the label on the bottle of
beer. “I ran into her earlier and she asked me to have a drink with
her here.” I looked up at him and smiled. “I was surprised to see
you when you walked in. I had no idea this was your place until
Sissy pointed you out to me and told me you were the owner.”

“Well, be sure to thank Sissy for me,” he
rumbled as a sly smile played upon his full lips. “I’m glad you’re
here. I was hoping to see you again.”

“Well, you know where I work,” I chuckled.
“I’m always there.”

“True, but I was hoping to see you outside of
work.”

“Oh?” I asked as I felt my cheeks blush and I
looked down, refocusing my attention on the beer bottle label. “Why
is that?”

Dic reached over and tucked a strand of long
hair behind my ear. He smiled mischievously as he studied my face.
“Because, Skye, I’d like to get to know you better.”

I bit my lip and took a deep breath. “I
should tell you that I’m seeing someone.”

“How long have you been seeing this
someone?”

“A few days,” I murmured and licked my
lips.

Dic smirked playfully. “What do you say we go
get something to eat?” he asked as he dropped his hand from my hair
and sat back into the couch. “I’m starving.”

“Sounds good to me,” I smiled. “I’ve only had
an apple and beer today.”

Dic tsked and stood up. “That just won’t do.
Let me go tell my crew that I’m leaving. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” I said as I turned my attention to
the remainder of my Chupahopra. I turned the bottle up and quickly
finished its contents. I set the empty bottle on the table,
gathered up my bag, and walked up to the bar to pay my tab.

Zephyr finished up with a customer at the
smoke shop counter and made his way over to me. “Can I get you
something else?” he asked plainly, his eyes bored.

“No thanks,” I said as I pulled out my
wallet. “What’s the damage?”

Zephyr looked at me and crossed his arms over
his chest. “It’s on the house.”

“I’m sorry. What?” I asked, confused,
thinking that I had misunderstood him.

“It’s on the house,” he repeated staccato,
annunciating each word carefully.

“Um, that’s okay,” I said slowly,
uncomfortable with the way he was talking to me. “I’d like to
pay.”

“It’s on Dic,” he said over his shoulder as
he turned and walked out to attend to a table of customers. “End of
discussion.”

I watched his back as he walked away and
hesitantly put my wallet back in my messenger bag. Dic came out of
the back a few seconds later and walked up to me.

“You ready to go?” he asked with a happy
grin.

“Yep,” I said with a lopsided smile. “Thanks
for the beer and the smoke, but you didn’t have to do that for
me.”

“Are you kidding? It was my pleasure. What
good is being an owner if you can’t treat your favorite customers
every now and again?”

“You’re sweet,” I smiled and lightly shoulder
bumped him. “Thank you.”