Page 20 of Caged Heat

AUGUST

Running my hands through my thick hair, I tugged on the ends as I stared absently at the door. Everything felt off today. While Eleanor, or Nora as I called her, didn’t work every day at Bottle Grounds, I knew I’d eventually see her.

But now my dove was gone, and I felt lost.

Her new job had started, one I hadn’t even wanted to know the location of out of spite. It wasn’t like I didn’t want her to succeed and achieve her dreams. I did. I’d always been her biggest supporter.

I just didn’t want them to take her away from me.

Maybe that made me selfish, but Nora wasn’t like my other employees. She wasn’t even like other women.

The first time she walked into my bar looking for a job, I’d been curious about her. Over the past ten years, as I’d gotten to know her and Mack, I’d slowly fallen in love with her.

Not that she knew since we barely spoke, but it had happened.

It had been as much of a surprise for me, too.

Love wasn’t part of the plan and I’d carefully drafted my life to the finest detail, or at least I had once I’d turned eighteen. From that point forward, I followed a strict set of rules for myself so I would never feel out of control.

Make smart decisions. Be kind to others. And never fall in love.

My father hadn’t followed those rules. Always letting his emotions govern his decisions, resulting in moving me and my sister cross-country in the middle of the night numerous times when his lady love of the month grew tired of him. I couldn’t stand the chaos or the instability of our life. It was always dependent on whoever he fell in love with, and I hated that. Especially since my father loved to be in love. He just never seemed to stay in love for long or keep up the pretense. Inevitably, the woman wised up, or he fell in love with the next gullible one willing to believe his lies when it was no longer fun.

So I’d vowed to live my life the complete opposite. I assumed if I kept emotion out of the equation, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the chaos and constant upheaval of my life.

At eighteen, I joined the Navy and developed skills that allowed me to be successful once my term was up. While in the Navy, I discovered a passion for boxing and pursued it professionally for several years, squirreling away my winnings until the day I could no longer fight.

At the age of thirty, I opened my own gym, Warrior Grounds, and later the bar, Bottle Grounds. My two businesses became my loves, and I spent everything I had on them between time and money. Keeping emotion out of it, I made smarter decisions than my dad, and it paid off. Soon, I had more money than I possibly needed, giving me the stability and control I yearned for as a kid.

Yet I couldn’t deny I was lonely.

I wasn’t one for casual hookups, so my life was quiet outside of the occasional girlfriend. I’d lie to myself that I liked it that way, but deep down, I could finally understand my father in an entirely new way, and I wasn’t sure what to do with that.

Tapping the pen on the desk, my eyes snagged on the picture I kept in the corner. It was from twelve years ago, and a moment where I followed my “be kind” rule in an attempt to not only cure my loneliness but avoid falling in love as well. My arm was wrapped around a petite woman with honey chestnut hair, big brown eyes, and a contagious smile. Her teenage son was under my other arm, a smirk on his face and confident and arrogant as ever.

I’d married a woman I had no feelings for, creating a substitute family, but even that hadn’t been the answer to my loneliness. Two years later, I was once again alone and sadder than I’d been before I made that commitment.

Until the day Eleanor walked into the bar, and I felt my heart beat once again. But like a scaredy cat, I’d done nothing about it.

“Is the schedule ready, Uncle Gus-Gus?” Steph asked, hopping into the office.

“Don’t call me that,” I huffed, lifting a few papers until I found the one I’d been working on. “Here, brat.” I tossed it to her, and she caught it between her hands, sticking out her tongue for good measure.

“Ah, don’t be cranky, Gus-Gus. It’s Karaoke night.” She grinned widely, knowing how much I hated karaoke night. The only thing I’d liked about it had been Nora working, but that was no more.

Looking at her from beneath my eyelids, I seared her with a deadly glare. “Why did I hire you again?” I asked, conveying with my eyes how annoying I found her.

“Because I’m your favorite niece. Duh.”

“Hmm. Doubtful. Your sister is quieter and gets on my nerves considerably less.”

“Lies!” she sang, skipping out of the office. She paused at the door frame, her hands bracing on the wood as she leaned back in. “Oh, by the way, Ele’s here. She’s asking about her check.” Steph lifted her eyebrow, giving me a knowing look. “She went on a date the other night, you know.”

My spine straightened at the mention of her name, and I fought the urge to smooth down the hair that I’d ruffled earlier. Steph had already commented about my attention toward Nora, so I didn’t need to give her more fuel.

“Oh? Why would I care about that?”

Steph kept staring at me, either to intimidate me or challenge my statement. Whichever it was, I hated to admit it worked as I dropped my eyes and played with a stack of paper clips.

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