Page 13 of Save Me

Chapter 6

Eric wasat Lynx before the doors opened. He let the manager, Trey, know he was on call as their doctor that night, but he had a few questions for him first.

“When does Todd start his shift?” he asked.

“Todd K or Todd S?” Trey asked, shuffling through some papers on his desk.

“I don’t know. Which is the bartender?”

Trey smiled. “Both are. But only Todd K is on the schedule today. He should be prepping at the main bar now.”

“Okay, good. I need to ask him something,” he said, hurrying away before Trey asked him what it was.

The main room of Lynx boasted an open space with stairways on three sides. Two led revelers to a catwalk where they could dance. The third led to the VIP suites.

Those were the rooms where Andie would serve celebrities and casino high-rollers. Once upon a time, that last group had included him. Now his access to those exclusive spaces was because he was the on call doctor.

That is how it should be,he reminded himself. Eric had never wanted to be a high roller. He’d just wanted to gamble. It was the thrill he was addicted to, not the perks that came with winning.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, taking inventory of the main room. Lynx was such a big club, there were actually several bars. But this central space had one so special, magazine articles had featured it.

The main bar had been custom built to suit the décor. A circle of cloudy steel with built in lights gave it the illusion of floating in space like a UFO. The massive glass top, with its softly rounded edges, had required special craftsman as well. There were no stools. Instead, black leather couches surrounded on two sides a little distance away, while the third side was unobstructed. There the floor inclined down until it opened onto the dance floor.

The bar was so large it had to be manned by at least four bartenders. Two, a man and a woman, were currently behind it arranging glassware and cutting garnishes for the assortment of drinks they would serve later.

“Are you Todd?” he asked stepping closer to the male bartender.

The tall brunette man stopped in front of him, setting two glasses on the bar.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He cocked his head at him. “Don’t I know you?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’m Eric, one of Calen’s concierge doctors. I used to be a regular when this place first opened.”

The guy nodded, the defined muscles of his arms straining against his white cotton sleeves as he polished a whiskey tumbler. “Oh, you’re Andie’s ex,” Todd said with a smirk as he set down the glass and picked up another. “What can I do you for?”

Wondering why the guy wasn’t more worried about her, Eric leaned against the bar. “Mike filled me in on her situation. Apparently, she recently moved out of her apartment and didn’t leave a forwarding address. He would like to know where to find her. Is she staying with you?”

Please say no.

“Mike wants to know?” Todd asked with a laugh. It was a normal enough sound, not smug, but it made Eric want to punch him in the face.

“I would like to say hello as well,” he said evenly. “I’m going to be in town for a while at Calen’s request.”

Mentioning the boss was less than subtle, but it got the dick to give him an answer, albeit grudgingly.

“Me and Andie are on a little break right now,” Todd said, moving off to stack more glasses. “You know how she is. Blows up hot and then simmers down. It’s kind of our pattern, but she always comes back. We’re actually thinking of moving in together.”

The hell she is fuckwit. “So you don’t know where she’s staying right now?”

Todd pursed his lips. “Couldn’t say. You might want to check with the other waitresses. She’s friends with all of them.” He finished stacking more glasses and leaned back to check his stocks. “I have to grab some more bottles in the back. Sorry, I couldn’t help you track down Andie, but I’ll be sure to tell her you are looking for her.”

He left humming. Eric resisted the urge to go after him to throw the punch he’d been holding back.

You’re not a surgeon anymore. Concierge medicine didn’t have the same motor skill requirements surgery did. He could probably get away with a few solid punches.

“He was fucking with you, you know.”

Turning, he was surprised to see a young nondescript woman watching him. She was wearing the Lynx waitress uniform—a black minidress with silver trim.

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