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In thirty hours, the bar would officially open.
For the last two, he’d followed up on the cleaning crew, removing every last trace of the builders and fitters, chasing down every speck of dust he could find, attacking glass and wood alike with his cloth until the whole place gleamed.
The beer kegs in the cellar were hooked up to the right pumps; the brass pulls were similar to those in Avalon, not quite fitting his palm right yet and still slightly stiff due to their newness.
The more expensive bottles of alcohol were loaded in their automatic shot measurers, mounted on the wall, primed and ready for use.
Liam had already spent over an hour acclimating himself to the new computer system, organizing the drinks list, exploring how the membership cards linked to a member’s profile and flashed up limit warnings on the screen.
State of the fucking art, all the way.
There was a cache of notes and change in the under-the-floorboards safe which he wouldn’t load into the till until half an hour before opening, but he expected most members to charge drinks to their account.
Ice was stacked in twenty-pound bags in the walk-in freezer. Fresh fruit would be delivered from the on-site restaurant next door in the morning, once they received their order from the city—Evander had handpicked the suppliers for Serenity personally.
Music. That was next on his to-do list.
Just as Liam pulled out his phone to go through appropriate playlists, the doors opened, letting a wash of winter sunlight and a cold draft into the room. Lifting his head, he frowned, then turned that sucker upside down to grin at Elias and Callie.
“Hey,” he greeted cheerfully. “Inspection time already?”
“Looks like you’ve got everything under control.” Blue eyes scanning the bar, approval lit Elias’s face. “Callie, don’t touch anything. This is a work of art, Liam. I feel guilty about letting people in tomorrow.”
Liam laughed. “It all comes right. So if you’re not checking on the progress in here, what can I do for you guys?”
Callie bounced on the toes of her sneakers, obviously dying to spill the beans.
“Actually, we were hoping to speak with both you and Sierra.” Glancing around, Elias’s brows drew together. “She’s not here?”
“No, Violet’s testing a theory with her over in the Nursery. Problem?”
“Theory, huh?” Amusement flickered in Eli’s eyes as he stroked his hand down Callie’s spine. “Finally figured out she and Callie have something in common?”
“Am I the only one who hasn’t seen it?”
“Possibly. She does tug quite often at my Daddy strings, so perhaps it’s just more obvious. An exciting time for you; there’s nothing like exploring Little life with the woman you love.” The look he gave Callie summed up his feelings on the matter. “The best of luck to you both, especially once she finds her stride.”
“Uh… thanks, I guess?”
Eli laughed and tugged Callie’s hair. “We have a proposition for you. More for Sierra, actually, but as her Dom and Daddy, it’s probably a good thing we caught you alone. Callie, sweetheart, it was your idea. Why don’t you lay it out for Master Liam?”
She squealed in excitement, displaying in full glory why Littles could be so damned appealing. Everything in her lit up, became larger than life, amplified by her inner child. Because it wasn’t an act, because that joyous nature was a very real part of her, it was endearing rather than childish.
“’Kay, so’s my Daddies and I was—”
“Why don’t we switch to adult for a few minutes, Callie? Master Liam might struggle to decipher Little talk—it’s not his first language, after all. Although Sierra will give him a crash course in short order.”
Resisting the urge to flip his boss the bird, Liam directed his attention to Callie. She hopped from sneaker to sneaker, eager to get the secret in the open yet evidently used to Doms taking their sweet time.
“Yes, Sir,” she said with a wealth of exasperation. It was a study in fascination watching her physically rein in the exuberance and settle a calm façade over the jittery core. “Evander, Elias, and I were talking about how everyone is relocating to be here. How much we appreciate it, and what we can do as friends and employers to make the transition easier. Our main concern was Sierra—you’re our only established couple who’ve been together years, and we want to keep her happy.”
Liam nodded. “That’s my aim as well.”
“We’re isolated out here; that was the whole point of Serenity. A quiet, tranquil place for likeminded kinksters to relax and play. Evander pointed out that she’s used to your routine at Avalon, but here… the working hours are different. The bar opens at eleven a.m. and closes at two a.m. which means longhours for you even with cover.” Callie paused, silently checking with Eli before continuing. “So, we thought about what makes her happy, and we came up with a plan. This plan.”
Liam listened as she laid it out for him, seeking his approval whenever she took a quick breath between sentences growing faster and longer the more he stayed quiet. She was a people pleaser; he saw that plain enough, just as he recognized the anxious energy of a trauma survivor.
He knew what she was afraid of, that they’d stepped out of line planning a future here at Serenity for his sub without his knowledge or consent. Perhaps he should’ve been consulted, but at least they’d come to him before approaching Sierra.
