Something to Prove (20 page)

“You just had an oh-my-God look on your face.”

“Before I tell you, don’t get mad.”

“That is never the best way to start a conversation. It means you screwed up.” She
crossed her arms, and he realized she was back to wearing the boring business suit.

“I didn’t screw up. And I was going to tell you last night, but you weren’t feeling
good, and then this morning, we were . . . busy.”

She moved one hand in a quick circle to tell him to move it along. What was with this
woman always rushing him?

“While I was stocking last night, I came up two bottles of liquor short. A bottle
of Jack Daniel’s and the Bushmills I opened our first night. I talked to the staff
about it. They all denied taking them.”

“You think one of them is a thief. I knew it was a mistake to leave new employees
unattended.”

She dropped her arms, and he watched as her hands folded into fists before she tucked
them into the pockets of her blazer. Muscles that he’d thought were tight when she
was yelling at him became granite. She looked like she might shatter.

“What does that have to do with this? Were you so distracted by a couple of missing
bottles that you didn’t remember to clean the bathrooms?”

“The bathrooms were clean. I told Mike, Erin, and Marissa that if the bottles reappeared
while I was busy in back, the incident would be over.”

“So you were going to reward a thief by letting him or her keep the job?” Her head
shook stiffly like she thought he was an idiot.

“I knew that part would bug you, but everyone screws up sometimes. I think people
deserve a second chance. Anyway, the bottles weren’t returned, and while I was in
your office giving the culprit a chance, they were left alone. One of them could’ve
done it.”

She pushed past him and walked out to the alley. She inhaled deeply while staring
at a tree in the neighbor’s yard. He didn’t know if he should follow or just give
her time to cool off. He’d known that their management styles would clash at some
point, but he didn’t think it would happen so soon.

He opted to follow. He wouldn’t let her shut him out. She turned at the sound of his
shoes scraping the concrete.

“I can’t imagine a woman would do something like that,” he said. “I know there are
crazy women out there, but Marissa and Erin don’t strike me as insane.”

“But Mike does?”

“No, but he’s a guy. We’re calibrated differently. Stupid stuff like that is something
you’d see at a frat party.”

“So I hired an immature idiot of a thief.”

“No, he seems pretty normal.” He stepped closer and put his arm around her. “You know,
as a bar owner, cleaning up messes like that is part of the job. I’ve cleaned up worse.”

Her face turned a shade of green.

He shrugged. “You can’t afford to hire someone every time some drunk pukes or pisses
all over the place.”

They moved to return to the bar and then saw graffiti on the back wall.

In bright orange letters,
Fuck You
stared at them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Elizabeth flinched under his arm.

He sighed. “Maybe the potty patrol you hired will have something to clean this up.”

Elizabeth slid out from under Colin’s arm. In her office she crunched on more antacids.
She really did need to call her doctor and get a prescription; she just wasn’t up
for a lecture about her health.

She closed her office door and let Colin handle the mess and the employees. If she
jumped in now, she would continue to be the hard-ass, while he tried to be their friend.
She began to question if this partnership could work. Colin was great with the customers,
but he kept overstepping his authority. As if this was his bar. She didn’t know what
she wanted. Did she want him to be a partner? To be as much of a boss as she was?
Or did she want him to be an employee?

The questions and confusion swamped her. She was supposed to be turning this place
around by herself to prove to her father that she could. She settled behind her desk
and went back to making phone calls. She needed to get the bowling alley operational.

A knock on her door interrupted her third phone call. Colin stuck his head in.

“Clean-up crew is here. They’re handling the graffiti.”

She nodded and he left. After the call, she sought him out. She needed to wrest back
control, otherwise she’d never get what she wanted.

He stood behind the bar, reading a newspaper.

“We need to talk.”

He pushed away from the bar. “Shoot.”

“I’m calling Mike in and I’m going to fire him. I want to make sure you can handle
running the bar until I find a replacement.”

“I could, but don’t you think you should talk to him before you fire him? See what
he has to say before jumping to conclusions?”

“What could he possibly say?”

“What if I’m wrong and it wasn’t Mike?”

Tension tightened every muscle. She was just so tired. Maybe her father was right;
maybe she wasn’t cut out to be in charge of everything. Every battle tore up her stomach
and left her more stressed than the last.

But if she didn’t get the company, what would she have? That was her biggest fear—the
unknown.

“Are you okay?”

Colin was suddenly standing beside her, his hand making small circles on her lower
back. It felt good, but she forced herself to step away. “We had a deal.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Sorry. But in my defense, no one’s here to
see.”

“And that’s our problem. You always look for a way around the rules. I can’t play
games here.”

His blue eyes iced. “I’m not playing games. I’m taking this business every bit as
seriously as you are, but I’m not letting each setback eat me up. You need to be able
to relax and take things in stride.”

“Please don’t tell me what to do.”

“Did you find someone to come out to look at the equipment in the bowling alley?”

The sudden change of subject caught her off guard. “Yeah. They’re coming out tomorrow.”

“Good. I found someone to help with managing. I haven’t hired her yet, but it looks
promising.”

She envied his ease with people. If she could bottle that, she’d be well on her way
to having whatever she wanted. She shook her head at the thought. “Let me know when
Mike gets in so I can talk to him. Were they able to get the graffiti off the wall?”

“You can see there was paint there, but the words aren’t legible. Mike couldn’t have
done that. I left out the back door last night and there was nothing on the wall.
None of this makes sense.” He went back to the other side of the bar, closed the newspaper,
and set it to the side.

“You’re right. It doesn’t make sense, but I can’t very well pretend nothing happened.”

“The old manager had keys. Did you get them back? Did you change the locks after you
took over?”

“I’m not incompetent. Of course I changed the locks.” She didn’t need to admit that
it had taken a couple of days. “I’ll be in my office.”

The stench in the hallway was gone. At least they could open on time and not lose
business. In her office she put her head down on her desk. She’d gotten enough sleep,
but if she had to be here from open to close every night to keep an eye on the employees,
including Colin, she would. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to sleep like that.
Instead she leaned back in the rickety chair and propped her feet on the desk. If
she didn’t wobble too much, she could at least relax.

The knock startled her, and her feet knocked the penholder off the corner of the desk.
Before she could right herself, Colin swung the door open.

“You’re supposed to wait until you’re invited in.”

“Don’t get flustered because I caught you slacking.” He closed the door behind him.

She was irritated for that exact reason. The constant burn in her stomach settled
in for the long haul. She stood and straightened her skirt, debating whether she should
change. Did she look like the owner in jeans? “What do you want?”

He edged closer, and her heartbeat kicked up a notch. His hand cupped her chin and,
before she could protest, his mouth covered hers in a slow, sensual kiss. Her sleepy
brain accepted the kiss and her hormones weren’t going to argue. He pulled slowly
away with a smirk on his face.

“I came to let you know Mike is here. I figured we should talk to him together. Show
him a united front so he can’t try to play us against each other.”

Damn, not only had he snuck in a kiss that wasn’t supposed to happen, at least not
at work, now he was making sense on the business end. “Okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”

He stepped away but kept watching her. “You know, I like you when you’re sleepy and
unguarded.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He turned and left her office.

Something about the way he approached her ate away at her defenses. He always seemed
to know just what she needed, whether it was a gentle kiss or space to be alone. Every
move Colin made worried her just a bit.

After a few deep breaths, she strode to the front. Mike stood ready for an assault.
Whatever Colin had said last night had definitely left a mark. Elizabeth moved to
stand in front of Mike, leaving Colin to stay behind the bar. “Mike.”

“Look, Elizabeth, I like working here, but I’m sure you know what happened last night.”

“What did happen?”

Mike crossed his arms, causing his biceps to bulge. He glared at Colin, who began
wiping down the already clean bar. Seeing the two men alongside each other marked
their differences. Mike, with his muscles and short light-brown hair, had a tough-guy
persona, and Colin remained the laid-back, charismatic guy.

“Colin accused me of stealing. I didn’t even know we carried Bushmills. It wasn’t
on the shelf when I started last night.”

“Did Colin mention the other problem we had?”

He shook his head.

“The bathrooms were a mess, and someone spray painted the wall in the alley.”

Mike raised his hands. “The bathrooms were clean when I left out the
front
door. The only time I used the back door was when I took out the trash.”

“What about the girls?”

“We all left together after Colin accused us. In fact, we stood by our cars talking
about whether or not we wanted to continue working for someone who had no trust in
us.”

Elizabeth paused and fought the urge to look at Colin. She believed Mike. This was
a test and surely she’d fail if she made the wrong move. She sighed. “I’m not trying
to accuse anyone, Mike. I know every business suffers some loss, but as the main employee
behind the bar, I need you to make sure that inventory is accounted for. Just keep
your eyes open.”

The tension etched across Mike’s face dissipated and relief filled his eyes. “I wish
I knew what happened, but I have no idea. The only time I left from behind the bar
was for a bathroom break while Colin was here and to go refresh stock later in the
evening. The bar was never unattended.”

“I’ll be here from open to close from now on. I know things have been hectic. The
other half of the building is a bowling alley that we need to get reopened. It’s been
pulling some of my time and energy away from the bar.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Colin’s jaw flex. A couple of days of slacking
had caused nothing but problems.

“I’ll be in the office if you need me.”

She strode away, and Colin followed her. He didn’t say anything and his steps were
nearly silent, but she felt him closing in. She left the office door open to give
herself a moment to be able to face him.

His opinion shouldn’t matter, but it did. More than him just being her partner. The
door clicked and she moved behind her desk. More armor.

“I thought you were going to fire Mike.”

“I was. But then I listened to him and I believe him. I can’t ignore the problem,
but getting rid of a good employee on a maybe didn’t seem to make sense.” She straightened
papers without making a difference to the appearance of the desk.

“I agree. Now, about this opening and closing every day . . .”

Her gaze shot up to meet his to let him know this was non-negotiable.

“You can’t be here all the time. It’s not humanly possible. Especially when you take
into consideration the work that takes place before hours.”

“I think a strong management presence is important. While the cat’s away and all that.
They need to know I’m in charge.”

He moved closer still, and she backed into her chair.

“No one is doubting that you’re the boss. But you can’t be everywhere at once, and
I don’t think the staff is to blame. You have to spend some time next door to get
the alley open. Not that I’m complaining about having more time with you.” The corner
of his mouth quirked up.