Page 47 of His Old Lady

Hell, it was vital for her to choose working with him. He needed some kind of hope that she hadn't given up on him. As soon as he admitted his reasons to himself, he accepted that he was a selfish asshole.

"If we could make it work out between us..." He returned to her. "It would mean money coming in. You'd still have time to work in the nursery."

She rubbed her lips together. His gut tightened. There wasn't much she could do without him noticing. Even when she breathed, her body came alive. Her breasts rose and fell. Her lips parted. He dropped his gaze to her hand. She had a habit of twirling her thumb ring, round and round, when she was thinking.

"I don't know," she murmured, half turning away from him.

"It's a job. Work as many days as you need to bring in enough money to support yourself." He lit a cigarette, needing to calm down and stick to business. "I'll be busy getting this place up and running through all the problems that'll arise until we figure things out. You probably won't even see me."

"You'll be here. I'll see you."

He exhaled. "I'll be running the bar."

"What about your V.P. job?" Her brows lowered. "That's a full-time job. Why are you opening a bar?"

"Why were you waitressing topless?"

"Touche'," she whispered.

Curley gazed at her. "Eventually, the bar will belong to Tarkio. Some of the others who need a paying job can take over running the place."

"You've never managed a business." She looked at his chest. "And running a motorcycle club isn't the same. You're going to have to follow the rules, schedule deliveries, set up an account with a distributor, not to mention deal with the public. I don't see how—"

"I'll hire you as the manager," he blurted.

She gawked at him.

Acting fast, he added, "Your friends will be safe here."

Anything she wanted, he'd give her. The deal she'd struck with Walker couldn't happen. If that meant putting her in charge, or hell, handing over the bar to her, he would.

She'd worked at the lounge for several years. She knew how to keep a bar afloat. It couldn't be too hard to have her do the same thing here.

"Oh, I don't know..." She frowned. "Serving drinks is different than managing."

"You can do it." He crossed his arms and hooked his hands under his armpits. "I don't expect perfection. We're all starting this from scratch. For now, it's not going to be much more than a party full of Tarkio members until word gets around that it's open to the public. If you run into problems, there will be a room full of people willing to help you out. I'll help you. We can be partners."

"That hasn't worked in the past."

"This is business."

She studied him. "You're serious.

"Dead." He locked on to her eyes and swallowed. "Please."

She looked away. He reached out to turn her attention back to him and dropped his hand to his side. Nobody needed to tell him to walk softly with her, or she'd bolt away from the offer.

"Give me six weeks of your time. Two weeks to help me get this place open, and four weeks of you and your friends working here, trying to build up a customer base. After that, if you're miserable, you can leave," he said.

All he needed was time. Time to figure out how he could keep her in his life without her knowing what transpired in the past.

She turned her head and looked up at him. "How am I supposed to be around you all the time?"

"We'll work it out."

"Hm." Her lips thinned, and she inhaled swiftly. "What kind of money are you talking about?"

Adrenaline rushed through him. He had her thinking. "Name your price."

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