Page 30 of Challenged by the Single Dad

“I’m just barback tonight, so you’ll have to cash out,” Renée said, making a whiskey sour for Penny.

“Sure thing.” Chloe stacked the two tills on top of each other, grabbed her wine, and carefully carried everything to the back room.

The moment she sat down in the chair, the memory of the tight space and Dom’s big body and sexy masculine scent surrounding her, instantly came back. Her belly warmed, her clit pulsed, and her pulse raced.

It was a small room, but his presence had made it feel like an iron maiden. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe, without feeling utterly consumed by him.

Then he made it a thousand times worse by abruptly slamming the chair backward and pinning her against the chair and shelf, only to hover behind her like a big, sexy shadow as she finished cashing out.

This wasn’t her first rodeo as a bartender. She knew how to cash out, and the system they had in place at this bar was easier than some places she’d worked. So it took her no time at all to balance the night. She portioned out the tips for herself and Renée, then stashed everything—along with the other servers’ cash floats—into the safe.

She made sure to memorize the codes Jagger sent her, then delete the message.

Then, double-checking nobody was behind her, and assuming Dom was watching her on the camera, she closed it, carefully punched in 8-6-9-1-1-5, then hit the lock button. It engaged, and the light flashed. She tried the handle to make sure it worked, and it didn’t budge.

Phew.

Once she returned to the bar, she finished tidying and putting everything away for the night. The kitchen staff filtered in, grabbed their drinks, then left without needing to be told, as did the servers. All that remained by eleven thirty were Chloe and Renée.

“How do you feel after tonight?” Renée asked her, as she gathered up all the dirty bar cloths and threw them into a laundry hamper.

“I feel good,” Chloe said. “It was busy. But it was fun. Made the shift go by really fast.”

“Awesome. I’m assuming you know how to do laundry. But this is like the last thing of the night. We gather all the cloths, then take them to the back. The prep cook is first in in the morning and she puts the laundry on. So everything is clean, dry, and ready by the time we open at eleven.”

“Do you want me to do it?”

“Oh no. I’m cool doing it. I just wanted to let you know. I wasn’t sure if Dom did.” Then she pushed the swinging door to the kitchen open with her butt and disappeared with the basket.

No, Dom didn’t tell her about the laundry.

That made her wonder what else he didn’t tell her.

Was he setting her up to fail by deliberately omitting important information? Or was that just an honest slip?

As she waited for Renée to return, her gaze roamed the dining room in search of a camera. There had to be one hidden somewhere. But as hard as she looked, she couldn’t find one.

Renée returned, smiling. “I locked the back door. Are you ready?”

Chloe was about to nod, but then her gaze landed on the frozen drink machine which they hadn’t disassembled or cleaned. She snapped her fingers. “Shit. I forgot to take apart the bellini machine.”

Renée’s face fell. “Crap.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s not a big deal.”

“You go. I’ll stick around and do it. I can’t give Dom any more fuel to hate me.”

Renée hesitated, but Chloe could tell she was exhausted and wanted to leave. “You’re sure?”

“Hundred percent. I have a key and a code for the alarm. I’ve got this.”

Renée turned off the music, which had switched to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Then she shrugged into her jacket and grabbed her purse from beneath the bar. “Okay. When will I see you again?”

“I think I’m back tomorrow night. From what I understand, I’m the new nighttime bartender. So Dom can be with his kid.”

“Have you met Silas?” Renée’s keys jangled in her hand.

“No. I haven’t even met Clint or Bennett yet.”

“They’re a great family. All of them. Silas is so sweet. On the shier side, especially compared to his cousins. But he’s adorable.”

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