Something to Prove (6 page)

She steadied herself for a strong negotiation. “I’ll offer you twenty-five percent
profits and a bonus twenty percent when I sell, assuming you hold up your end of the
bargain and bring in the customers. I remain the manager and boss and all decisions
go through me.”

“Make it forty percent profits and thirty percent on sale.”

“You bring personality to the table. No proven experience, and you expect me to give
you almost half the business?” She leaned back in her chair.

“My personality is the one thing you need most. It can’t be taught or bought.”

“Thirty profits and twenty-five at sale.”

He narrowed his eyes as if computing, then leaned forward. “Deal.”

“One more thing. No flirting. Just business.”

He sighed like she was being insufferable. “Contrary to popular belief, I am capable
of being professional. When do we start?”

“It’s locked up, so we can start tomorrow. I’ll have the contract drawn up for you
to sign when you get there. Nine a.m.?”

“I’m closing at O’Leary’s tonight. Make it eleven. Even I need my beauty sleep.”

“You plan to continue to work at O’Leary’s?”

“It’s my family’s bar.”

“I’m not a simpleton. There are only so many hours in a day. I won’t have you thinking
you can drop by The Irish just to collect a check.”

His smile was disarming. “Sweetheart, simple isn’t what anyone would call you. I’ll
prove my worth soon enough. Seems a lot of people expect that.” He rose and extended
his hand. “I’ll sign your contract, but a handshake will do for me.”

She shook his hand and tried to ignore its strength and warmth and the zing of her
nerves. As he turned to leave, she enjoyed the view and immediately began to question
her sanity. She’d just created a business partnership based on a man’s charm. What
the hell was she thinking?

CHAPTER 4

C
olin left his meeting with Elizabeth feeling both optimistic and horny. As stiff and
uptight as she looked, he saw a fire in her eyes when she began negotiating with him.
His blood raced as she stipulated her terms, but when he touched her hand, he knew
he was in trouble. He was half hard from a handshake.

Getting involved with someone like Elizabeth would be a mistake, if for no other reason
than she thought she was better than him because she had money and a degree. She needed
to remain a business partner, a means to an end.

His optimism outweighed everything else. This was the perfect position for him. A
few months back, he’d made an offer on that exact bar and was told it wasn’t for sale.
Now he knew why. Elizabeth’s plan suited him and his own plans.

On his way back to O’Leary’s, he drove by The Irish. It was locked and a posted sign
read U
NDER
N
EW
M
ANAGEMENT
. The bar itself, if he remembered correctly, was less than half the size of O’Leary’s.
It would never be a nightclub or a hot spot. It would always be a neighborhood bar.

He let his mind wander over the possibilities of what to do to draw in crowds. It
wasn’t long before he knew what it had to be. A Chicago bar, on Addison, one short
bus ride from Wrigley Field—a sports bar was the only thing that made sense.

Back at O’Leary’s, Ryan stood behind the bar, talking to the old men who sat there
every afternoon. He was dressed for Twilight, his other bar, so Colin knew he’d been
waiting for him.

“You’re not going to believe this.”

“Huh?” Ryan asked.

“I went to see Elizabeth Brannigan. Guess what bar she owns?”

“Nothing around here has been for sale.”

“That’s because Daddy bought it a dozen years ago. She’s the proud owner of The Irish.”

His brother’s jaw dropped. “No freakin’ way. Did you tell her thanks, but no thanks?”

I wonder how hard he’d laugh if he knew I tried to buy it myself.
Colin shrugged, not sure how Ryan would take the news. “No. I took the deal. Thirty
percent of profits and a twenty-five-percent cut of the sale.”

Ryan snorted. “She offered me thirty-five. And I would’ve gotten forty.”

“I figured. She pointed out that I’m not you and, like with everyone else, I have
to prove myself.” He tried not to sound like a snotty teenager, but wasn’t sure if
he’d succeeded.

“You’re crazy. That bar is never going to be what it used to be.”

“You’re right. That’s why we’re going to make it into something new. We’re going to
reinvent it.”

“We, huh? Already chummy, I see.”

Colin picked up a rag and wiped down the bar. “It’s not like that. It’s a business
deal, nothing more.”

Ryan patted him on the shoulder as he walked past. “You remember that every time you
think about those legs you mentioned.”

He’d been telling himself pretty much the same thing. Ryan seemed to accept the news
as well as could be expected. Tension still clung to their every interaction, and
Colin didn’t know what to do about that. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time
trying to make Ryan happy. The past was the past and they all needed to move on.

Lucky for him, The Irish offered a great path for him to take.

The night was slow, so in between customers, Colin thought about changes he’d bring
to Elizabeth. Figuring she’d want more than him talking to her, he began taking notes
on cocktail napkins. By the end of the night, he had twelve napkins filled with his
scribbles.

Elizabeth finally felt like she was making forward motion. She talked to Mike and
informed him that the bar would be closed for renovations effective immediately. She
told him that he still had a job, but to take a few days off so she could figure out
where she needed his help.

She’d had an additional sign printed and posted on the doors of the bar letting customers
know it was closed for renovations. Then she returned to the hotel to prep for her
meeting with Colin the following day. She created a list and a basic spreadsheet of
what she thought the budget would be.

Then she checked her appointment calendar. Her afternoon was booked with interior
designers and vendors. With any luck, she could dump the vendors on Colin to handle.
They needed to remove stock that wouldn’t move and order what would. Which meant they’d
better have a plan for a drink menu. She added that to the discussion list.

By the time she looked at her watch, she’d missed both lunch and dinner. Instead of
room service, she decided to enjoy some fabulous food in one of Chicago’s restaurants.
She wished she knew more people in the city. Running solo constantly wore on her.
Maybe instead of fine dining, she’d find a good pizza. She hadn’t had Chicago-style
pizza in forever, not since she was in college.

Thoughts of Northwestern reminded her that she did know people in the city. She hadn’t
visited in years, but she knew that Janie and Lori both still lived here. They spoke
online at least every couple of months. And having dinner with them made her lie to
her father less of a lie.

She scrolled through her address book and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Janie?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Elizabeth Brannigan. I’m in town and thought we could get together.”

“Oh, my gosh. It’s great to hear from you. When did you get in?”

“I’ve been here a little more than a week.”

“And you’re just calling me now?”

Her stomach sank. She’d believed their friendship was still good. “Well, I’ve been
busy with work. I’m not here for pleasure.”

“I’m just yanking your chain, Libby. Good to know it’s still easy to do.”

Elizabeth sighed. No one called her Libby anymore. “I know it’s last minute, but are
you free for dinner? I’m dying for some pizza.”

“You’re in luck. I’m just leaving the office now. Where are you staying? I’ll come
pick you up.”

“I can meet you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’ll give us more time to catch up. Have you talked to Lori?”

“She was going to be my next call.”

“I should feel special then, since you thought of me first.”

Elizabeth didn’t admit that she’d simply come across Janie’s name first in the address
book. “I’ll give her a call while you’re on your way.”

“She won’t be free to meet us. She’s in
love
.”

“I didn’t think she was serious with anyone.”

“Things change, babe. You haven’t been around. You’ve been busy with your plans for
world domination.”

Elizabeth felt the chuckle in her chest. It had been too long since she’d spent time
with friends. “I’ll call Lori. You hurry up and get here. Pizza and drinks on me.”

She gave Janie her hotel information and hung up. Lori’s phone went straight to voice
mail. After leaving a message, Elizabeth changed her clothes. She’d only packed work
clothes, so she didn’t have anything casual. She settled on slacks and a silk shell,
opting for no jacket. On her mental list of things to do, she added shopping for new
clothes.

Janie met her in the lobby with a strong hug. It had definitely been too long since
they’d seen each other. E-mail chats didn’t accomplish what a simple hug could.

“How are you?” Janie asked.

“Good, I guess.”

“What are you doing here? I thought your dad was focusing his operations in the Southeast.”

“He is. I found a failing business in his holdings and decided to come here to fix
it.”

Janie led the way to her car. “What kind of business?”

“A bar. A really crappy dive of a bar. Motorcycle riders and cancer-inducing smoke
included. I hate every minute of being there. I’m so glad I decided to call you.”

“So am I. How long do you think you’ll be in town?”

“A month. Maybe a little longer.”

“Good. Then we can hang out like old times. Maybe we can even talk Lori out of the
guy she’s into.”

“Sounds like a story.”

Morning sun glared through the windshield of her car as Elizabeth nursed her coffee.
She definitely should’ve stopped drinking earlier in the evening. Three in the morning
came faster than she had remembered. But it had been fun to talk, really talk, with
a good friend. They’d managed to discuss jobs, family, and everything in between.
They’d overindulged in drinks and food. Elizabeth had loved every minute of it.

She was paying for every enjoyable moment now. She should’ve said no to the last drink.
Hell, she should’ve refused the last three drinks. It was good that Colin had pushed
their meeting to eleven. At least she had time to grab a coffee on the way. The coffee
burned a path down her throat and splashed into her stomach as she parked in front
of IP. The sight of the ugly building made her ill. Her stomach roiled and she swallowed
hard.

Stepping from the car, she shaded her eyes and willed the throbbing in her head to
go away. Hopefully, the caffeine would help and she’d be more like herself before
Colin arrived. She let herself into the bar and flipped on all the lights. The stench
was even worse than the last time she’d been here in the morning.

She propped open the front door for fresh air. She moved the CLOSED sign into plain
view so people wouldn’t take the open door as an invitation. Staring at the disgusting
floor and the bar that wasn’t much better, she shook her head. Her stomach heaved
again, so she pressed her hand to her abdomen. Although she’d never been much of a
drinker, she’d never gotten sick from it either.

“It’s not that bad,” a voice said behind her and she jolted.

Colin stood in the doorway holding a box of doughnuts.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Same to you.” He lowered his sunglasses and stared at her. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.” She turned back to the bar and swung her arm wide. “As you can see, the
place needs a lot of work. I’m not sure it was even cleaned nightly. The smell makes
me want to vomit, so I think we need to get rid of that first.”

He put the box on the bar and ran his fingers over the wood. “The bar looks to be
in good shape. I can’t tell much about the floor with this crappy lighting. Do you
have brighter bulbs we can put in?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea what’s here. I haven’t looked at any of the inventory.
In fact, I was hoping that would be one of the things you could handle. I have decorators
coming in later as well as a slew of vendors.”

“Like to move fast, don’t you?”

She was suddenly grateful for the dim lights as she felt heat creep up her neck again.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Do you know what you want to do with this place yet? How are you going to have decorators
in here if you don’t have a plan?”

“My plan is to get rid of the crap and start new.”

“You don’t need decorators to get rid of crap. They’re going to charge you for stuff
we can do ourselves. That doesn’t make sense.” He fished into his pocket and pulled
out a pile of napkins. “I have ideas.”

She took a napkin and used it to wipe down one of the stools to take a seat.

“Hey, those are my notes.”

She looked at the crumpled paper. “You took notes on cocktail napkins?”

“I used what I had handy.” He snatched it from her.

After shuffling through the pile, he looked up. “I think this bar has a lot of potential.”

“As what, a dump?”

“You said that you wanted to turn this bar into a profitable business.” He looked
at her like she was a child playing a game. “I thought you were serious.”

She hopped off the stool. Serious? Everything in her life was serious. Everything
she did was to advance her career. How dare he question her work ethic? “You think
because I’m not impressed by your pile of napkins that I’m not serious?”