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This was my happy place. Nobody was going to tear it down or run me out of town. I owed it to these people to keep my doors open. I was the matriarch, the one who provided them with jobs, and food, and this sense of family that most of them didn’t have anywhere else. They relied on me, and this club was home.
I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. But every time I did, I saw Boston. All the different versions of him. The smiling version, when I did something that amused him. The scowling version, that I’d gotten the last time we’d met. The sexy-as-fuck version, who kissed me like no other man had, and sent me videos that had me aching with need.
A big part of me wanted him here. I could see him fitting in with my family, with my life.
The logical part of my brain knew it would never happen, and that I had to stop fixating on him if I was going to get over whatever it was between him and me.
So I concentrated on singing. The band and I practiced until, one by one, the rest of my crew waved goodbye and headed out. Fawn and Augie left together, arm in arm, probably off to another bar where there was more action. Phoenix carried a sleeping Amelia to the car for Lyric, and the others followed, until the club was empty of everyone but me and the band.
I wasn’t ready to be done yet, though. I wasn’t ready to go home to my empty house and think some more about Boston. “Twenty minutes more? And then I’ll send you home with the leftover stew?” I asked the guys, who all nodded, indulging me.
We launched into a cover of “Come Together” by the Beatles, which was one of my favorites. I was only two lines into the first chorus when the doors opened again. I blinked through the darkness, recognizing one of the two people who entered. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in, will you? What are you doing here? Shit, am I being sued again?”
Liam grinned. “I was in the neighborhood, and hungry. You know I won’t eat anywhere else around here.”
I stepped down off the stage to stand in front of my old childhood friend and current lawyer.
He gave me one of his charming grins. “Please, Eve. Feed us. We don’t want to go somewhere else and get food poisoning.”
“Damn straight you don’t. The only other place open at this time would be Ugly Joe’s.”
I made a face, and Liam made a gagging noise, both of us grinning.
I turned to the woman he was with, casting an eye over her. She was gorgeous. A curvy blonde and not at all Liam’s usual type. I would have killed to get her up on stage, though. She had a similar build to me. Not overweight, but not super skinny either. I had hips and boobs and a booty. This woman did, too. “Who’s this?”
She didn’t wait for Liam to introduce her. “Hey, I’m Mae.”
“You here for a job?”
She frowned. “A job? No, no. I have one. Actually, I have two. Definitely don’t need a job.”
I raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Pity. You’d do well with that face and body. If you change your mind…”
She blinked. “Sorry?” She glanced around the room in confusion, like she had no idea where she was, before her gaze came to rest on Liam.
He was barely containing his laughter. He put his arm around her shoulders, his heavy biceps weighing her down. “Oh, Mae. Sweet, sweet, innocent Mae. You really haven’t changed all that much from high school.”
I chuckled. Liam was such a dick. “Stop being a jackass. She’s obviously not from around here.” I turned back to her. “You’re at a strip club, sweetie. I actually thought that was why Liam had brought you here. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d asked me for a job for a friend.”
The woman gaped at me. Then elbowed Liam sharply. “That better not be why you brought me here.” Then she glanced at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that it wouldn’t be a very, um, nice job. I’m sure you’re a very good employer. But like I said, I’m pretty full up on the employment side.” Pink flushed her cheeks. She looked ready to kill Liam.
I couldn’t help chuckling as he led her to a table, holding a seat out for her.
“Don’t think that gentlemanly manners are going to save you from this one, buddy,” she muttered.
Liam grinned at her. “I swear, we’re only here for the food. I happen to know that Eve makes the very best stew around, and that she always has a pot of it on the stove on Tuesdays when they’re rehearsing. The club isn’t open to the public Monday or Tuesday, though, so no strip show for you, unfortunately.”
“You’re welcome to come back on Friday night, though. We go all out on the weekends,” I called.
“Um. Thanks. That sounds nice,” Mae answered politely.
I nodded. I hoped the two of them would come back. Liam hadn’t stopped by in ages, and I’d missed him. We’d spent a lot of time together as kids. He’d played more with my brothers, them being closer in age, and I’d just bossed them all around. “I’ll bring you both stew, yes?”
“Yes, please. With bread?” Liam asked.
I messed up his hair affectionately. He was always so perfectly put together now. Nothing like the kid I remembered from the block. “Fine. Bread, too. But you owe me a free consultation next time someone tries to sue me, got it?” I strode across the room, heading for the kitchen.
“She hasn’t paid me for a single consultation yet,” Liam told Mae. “And she’s been sued a lot.”
