Dirty Martini (Crow Bar Brute Squad Book 2) Read online

  Giving up any attempt at appearing like he was doing his job that night, Holden made a beeline for Katie.

  “Hi,” he said, leaning in close. The scent of her hair conjured up all of the memories from two days ago. It seemed like weeks, as he’d been doing little else at work since then besides watching the doorway, hoping she would appear. “You’re not leaving tonight without giving me your number first.”

  She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Interesting you should say that, because—”

  Just then, someone played one of Holden’s favorite slow songs on the jukebox. That could not have been a coincidence, and it wasn’t. When he glanced in that direction, he noticed Levi walking away with a smirk on his face and the crooning voice of Elvis Presley filling the air.

  “Dance with me,” Holden said, interrupting her.

  At first, she looked shocked at being interrupted, but then she smiled and, dropping her compact mirror into her bag, accepted his outstretched hand. She must have left a massive tip for Honey and Griff the other day because Honey immediately showed up to stow Katie’s handbag and jacket behind the bar for safety. Griff didn’t play coat check for just anybody, but he obliged her as if it were his job.

  Holden gently pulled her away from the bar and toward the dance floor, his entire body itching to hold her close.

  He studied her face as she looked around shyly, realizing they were the only ones on the dance floor.

  She teased, “Aren’t you supposed to be working and not dancing with the customers?”

  Slipping one arm around her waist and grasping her other hand in his, close to his chest, he smiled and replied, “Oh, didn’t you hear? We’re under new management. Real ball-buster. You’ll love him.”

  He had wondered for a moment if she was the type of woman who would want to lead and not follow on the dance floor. She followed his lead, and the two of them moved together in a slow rhythm as the sweet, lonesome tune wrapped around them like a cozy blanket.

  “Already?”

  “Yep. The new owner’s going to rebrand the place, attract a whole new type of customer. The kind that doesn’t require so much crowd control. All of us Brute Squad members are gonna be out of a job.”

  Katie laughed. “Why would he do that? This place is kind of a local icon ever since it made the news last month.”

  Holden shrugged. “Yeah, I kind of think that’s what got Declan’s attention and made him buy it in the first place. But Mavis had been thinking about selling even before that. Bar businesses have been booming ever since the pandemic finally ended a couple years back. I think that’s why Mavis hired as many of us as she did. Those first few weeks were insane. Before she fully re-opened, she needed us to keep the troublemakers out and the guys who were pissed about the capacity and masking rules. We were breaking up fights outside the building every damn day. After the full reopen, it got wild. Not as many fights, but the gangsters used the chaos to their advantage. It was a good cover to make people disappear.”

  He felt her body stiffen against his. “That’s awful, Holden. I hate that you had to deal with it.”

  “It’s the job. Fortunately, the mob has been quiet ever since all the most recent shit went down. The downside of that is, now people think they can swoop in and fix Dockside overnight.”

  Katie nodded, and he saw her wince a little. “Property is cheaper down here. The neighborhood is getting ready to explode.”

  Holden grimaced. “Don’t really like the sound of that.”

  “You’re not alone. This is why I’m fixing the Waterview project to make it more appealing to the people who live here already.”

  Holden felt a click of a lightbulb in his head. “Wait. That old industrial area up the street. That’s you?”

  She bit her lip. “Guilty.”

  Holden held back the urge to inform her that just about half the people in town hated her company, especially after the Riverwalk's opening. A public park used to run the river's length all the way from the eastern suburbs all the way under the Ocean Drive overpass, the boardwalk, until the river reached the sea. Now, the area was unrecognizable. Holden could see the other side of the issue, too. The tree-lined and scrubby areas that ran along both sides of the river had been a haven for organized crime—illegal dumping and not just trash. Just before the Riverwalk project was proposed, there had been a rash of bodies found in the woods along the river. Mob hits. Insubordinate gang members. Dealers who’d shorted the bosses. Users who didn’t pay. The city had been hungry to clean up the area, and Holden couldn’t blame Katie for that. Besides, the development had managed to preserve most of the older trees along the entire stretch and had even set aside a few pocket parks within the area.

  “You guys did the Riverwalk, right?”

  Katie nodded and appeared to hold her breath and wait for some kind of criticism from him, which would never come.

  “Sometimes I go down there for my early morning runs,” he said.

  Katie looked surprised and pleased. “You run?”

  Holden nodded and told her all about his boxing hobby, which he had plans to turn into a career.

  “Sooner rather than later, since that might be my only source of income soon.”

  Her hand in his while they danced together felt right. Being close to this amazing woman made him slightly regret how out of control they’d gotten the previous Monday. Almost.

  “I have to admit something. I’m not the biggest fan of boxing. It’s not the fighting so much as the people who run it.”

  “Oh yeah? Like who?” he asked.

  “All I know is Girardi’s people have been in the mix. I’m not saying they fix the matches. But according to my security staff, there have been some real sketchy and known characters who hang around at some of our venues that host matches, and I don’t like it. If I didn’t feel so responsible for so many people who work for me, I’d ban the entire league from using any of our locations for their matches or other events.”

  Holden carefully considered what she was saying. “There’s corruption in just about every sport—no stopping it. But I might not have to worry about that anymore. Some new manager has picked up my contract, I’m told. So hang in there; things might be changing for the better.”

  Katie rolled up on her toes to kiss Holden on the chin dimple. Even with that extra height, Holden had to bend down to let her. “I hope that’s true. This is why I love younger men. You’re so full of optimism.”

  Holden laughed and squeezed her closer, loving the way she snuggled into him like this was something they did every day. He wished this was something he did every day. “You’re not that much older than I am.”

  She snorted, which was about the cutest thing he’d ever heard. “You never asked, but I’m 38.”

  “How has someone not snatched you up already?”

  Katie sighed heavily. “That’s the million-dollar question.”

  Holden’s brow furrowed.

  “And what are you doing here?”

  She swallowed and said, “Going after what I want.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Their foreheads pressed together while they held each other and swayed. She spilled out her answer in one breath. “I have no time or patience for traditional relationships. I have no family, more money than God. But I have no one to spend my money on. I want to take care of someone, and I want to take ulterior motive out of the picture. Instead of being surprised that I’ve entered into a relationship with a gold digger, I just want a simple, transactional relationship with someone…uncomplicated. And in turn, I want someone who will be there for me when I need them.”

  Holden took several beats to chew on all the words Katie had just said before he responded. She waited patiently but expectantly.

  “You…you want someone to be your boy toy?”

  She twisted her lips, and Holden had to fight the urge to stop talking and start nibbling on her. “I prefer kept man. I prefer…you…to be the kept man.”

  Holden knitted his brows more severely together and put about an inch of distance between them, as much as he didn’t want to. “That sounds way complicated. How about I just be your boyfriend? I’ve been thinking about you for two days straight. I really fuckin’ like you.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I…I believe you.”

  He went for it. He had to let Katie know he wasn’t for sale. She didn’t need to offer him anything. “You can care about me without paying my bills, y’know.”

  She gnawed on her bottom lip. “Thing is, I don’t know how to be someone’s girlfriend. And do we even call each other that at my age? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? What do we call each other?”

  Holden’s smart mouth got the best of him. “My old lady?”

  Katie laughed. “Nice try, pipsqueak.”

  Relieved his smart-assery had not gotten him into trouble with her, he got serious again, “Listen. The age thing is not a problem for me. And I don’t give a fuck what we call this except so damn hot that my blood might light this place on fire. Is any of that a problem for you?”

  By that point, more couples had filled in the space around them on the dance floor, some of them not very steady on their feet.

  Katie licked her lips, making his arms itch to grab her and carry her out of there. “A problem? Come here.” She went up on her toes again, but Holden had had enough of her putting in all of the effort just to make herself heard or to kiss him. He shocked Katie by letting go of her hand, wrapping her in a bear hug, and lifting her into the air, eliciting a yelp and a laugh from her. While he held her in mid-air, she spoke low and close to his ear. “I have always wanted to experience a younger man’s…talents. I liked it that you went crazy all over me.”

  Her words in his ear, her breath wafting acros
s the nape of his neck, made Holden’s body betray him. Just thinking about her gave him a slight stiffy. Earlier, while watching her push out her breasts as she’d peeled off that satin jacket, his mouth had watered, and his cock jerk. Looking at her in that tight, see-through sweater was torture. Being close to her, dancing with her, he had the painful urge to adjust himself in his jeans. Now, she was doing things to remind him of their time at that rat trap motel, the best hour of his life, and now his cock was on the verge of angry for some Katie contact.

  The damn traitor in his pants jerked again when she kissed his cheek, her cute little nose feathering against his earlobe. She pulled back and smiled.

  The jukebox song had changed over to something else by then, something a lot more raucous and not conducive to slow dancing. Holden and Katie’s canoodling on the dance floor became a lot more evident to everyone around them besides just the people who encouraged it, like Levi. Holden nodded at his older friend, who caught his eye from his post at the front door. Levi nodded back with a smirk.

  Now that Levi was settled after his whirlwind with the governor’s daughter, he and his YaYa seemed to be hell-bent on getting everyone married off.

  “Who’s that?” Katie asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “My buddy Levi. He has his own May/December thing going on. His girl is almost ten years younger.”

  “Society approves of older men with younger women a lot faster than older women with younger men.”

  Holden smoothed his palm over the curve of her lower back. “Older women are fucking hot. They’ve lived life and stuff.”

  Katie laughed. “I wouldn’t say we’ve lived an entire life.”

  “Oh shit, I’m saying the wrong thing.” Embarrassment heated his entire face.

  Katie blinked up at him and said, “Kiss me again, and all is forgiven.”

  He was about to do that anyway. Just as he scooped her up and had her bent over one knee in a classic dip-and-kiss move, someone nearby jostled them, and everything went to shit.

  Katie cried out in surprise when a cold beer spilled down the front of her sweater. “Oh no!” she cried.

  “Whoa!”

  Apologizing to a lady, or anyone, for spilling beer on them shouldn’t be that difficult to do. But just ask the Brute Squad how difficult that is for some people. Rude people only became braver and ruder during the pandemic, and they were even surlier now. Sure, there were bright spots, lessons learned, kindnesses shared because of everything that happened. But those good things were rarely amplified in crowds of drunk people. This is why things escalated so quickly from “apologize to the lady” to Holden forcefully shoving the infamous biker, Bruise, toward the door. Holden ordered Katie to stay back, and thank god she listened. He assumed she wasn’t one to take orders from men on the regular.

  Pain shot through Holden’s skull out of nowhere. He hadn’t seen the left hook coming, let alone been prepared for drunk-strength, which is a whole different animal from regular pugnacity.

  He stumbled backward into something hard, which turned out to be another surly customer who shoved Holden back into the fray. Bruise took another swing but missed that time, instead landing a wild fist to one of the dockworkers' ribs.

  All hell broke loose after that. Fists flew. Chairs were cracked against walls. Women screamed. Beer and booze splattered, and drink trays clattered to the already slightly sticky floors. The melee took all of five minutes for all bouncers on the job that night to gain control—including Billy’s temporary replacement, Alex, who Holden had not been introduced to yet. By that time, though, the room looked like a tornado had touched down, and the assholes were now fighting each other in the middle of a frozen-over Haven Street, with cars honking and barely missing them as they ignored everything but their own egos and aggression.

  Back inside Crow Bar, Holden panicked when he couldn’t find Katie anywhere. He bellowed out her name across the bar, where the remaining patrons were being gathered into an area free from broken glass. Half of them would accept a complimentary cab ride home for their troubles. The other half was barely bothered. It wasn’t the worst the regular non-troublemakers had ever seen at Crow Bar.

  After searching the entire place, Holden was on high alert. “Dude, she left.”

  He spun around. “What?”

  Levi was facing him. “She ducked out as soon as the trouble started. Don’t worry, she got out fine. Sorry, you won’t be ditching work again.”

  Holden clenched his jaw. Levi was enjoying this way too much. “Dammit, I told her not to leave without giving me her number.”

  “Oh! Lucky you. She gave me this to give to you.” Levi handed him a business card.

  Holden examined the card. Strangely, it wasn’t Katie’s own business card but that of an attorney. On the back, she’d written the words that would change his luck forever.

  “Meet me here tomorrow to talk about your future.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Holden

  Holden did what he always did when he wasn’t sure about his next move. He ran.

  It was a freezing, late January morning. He was still tired from his bouncer shift that ended a couple of hours ago. The kitten, June, had taken to bottle feeding while he’d been at work last night, thanks to the assistance of Mrs. Fitzgerald.

  But he couldn’t sleep yet. He needed to think.

  Specifically, he needed to think about Katie’s offer. It sure as hell would solve a lot of problems in the short term.

  If O’Donnell fired him, he’d still have a place to live.

  Approaching Riverwalk, the peaceful sight of the river, empty of the tour boats, gave him a sense of peace. He ran east, away from the coastline, toward the city's more desolate border where the bus sheds stood. He would cross the bridge at the city limits and run back up the other direction. Holden liked having the ocean in sight to give him a boost of energy at the end of his run.

  He couldn’t let Katie pay for all expenses. He’d have to find another job somewhere—anywhere—to contribute. He just couldn’t live with himself if he let her support him completely. That would be tempting, though. He could quickly pay off his vet bills. Noting the cramp in his foot, he thought about buying new, decent running shoes without having to save up. What would that be like?

  He walked for what seemed like hours. His legs began to wake up just as the sun breached the horizon. And he kept running. This was insane. He should go home and sleep. Cuddle up with the kitties; they would be missing him by now.

  He would miss the Brute Squad if O’Donnell did end up firing him. He supposed he could ask Dash if they were hiring at the tire factory. From what he understood, the factory was a defense contractor. Steady work, but he didn’t really like the idea of working for a place that made material that went on airplanes and drones that dropped bombs on people. Most people around here couldn’t afford to be that picky about the source of their income, though. And honestly, neither could Holden.

  He would just have to figure something out.

  Holden loved animals. He supposed he could walk dogs.

  Or, you could just accept Katie’s money.

  The more he ran, the longer he thought about what he wanted to do with his life and the more depressed he got. He knew he was qualified for something, but he didn’t know what.

  Mavis had offered him a job on the spot the second he turned 18. The money wasn’t great, but he didn’t have a lot of needs. He liked to live simply. And the pandemic happened and had changed everything. Holden had lost friends and family members. People were still suffering in a lot of ways, especially in Dockside. Plenty of people had still not recovered from medical bills and evictions. Holden, for his part, had done what he could. He maintained his sanity through everything because he was always the guy with an upbeat outlook. Maybe not a sunny one, but he merely always knew everything was going to be okay, eventually. Just because they had to be. That was still his philosophy.

  The most straightforward choice would be to say no to Katie’s offer. He barely knew her. He liked Katie. Really liked her. He wanted to spend more time with her. Talking to her, just being near her, even in a crowded bar, calmed his racing mind. Settled his bones. Lifted his soul. Made him feel as if the world made sense.