Page 61 of Bet On Me, Daddy

But his excitement faded when he reached the top floor and he realized that when Vivian had said she was at the bar, she hadn’t meant Ruby was simply hanging out.

She was working.

Again.

Fury bubbled in his veins at the sight of her behind the sleek wood, with dark circles under her eyes that her makeup hadn’t quite been able to hide. Riding high on it, he stalked over to the bar. “What the hell are you doing?”

Eyebrows winging up toward her hairline, Ruby looked up at him. “I’m working. What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Let me rephrase. Why the hell are you working when you already worked two other jobs today?”

They were drawing a crowd, but he didn’t care. In the club, she washisresponsibility. And maybe he couldn’t stop her from working herself to death outside the club, but in here, he could and damn well would put a stop to it.

“Tara’s sick and nobody else could cover. Braden asked if I could, so here I am.”

“Go find Braden and tell him your shift is over.”

Annoyance flickered in her eyes, which was at least better than the exhaustion he’d seen dragging her down a moment ago. “Absolutely not. I agreed to work tonight so I am working. If you have a problem with that, you can go.”

“Are you telling me no, little girl?”

Her eyes widened, a hint of worry creeping into the brown that had those dark, depraved parts of him crowing in triumph.

But his victory didn’t last long.

“Yes.” Her chin tilted up, defiance etched into every gorgeous inch of her face. “Our agreement was that you could play Daddy in the club,exceptwhen I’m working. So like I said, if that’s going to be a problem for you, then you can leave.”

“Isthere a problem here?” Braden stepped behind the bar wearing his ‘owner of this fine establishment’ face. The one that said he’d be polite as long as he needed to, but he also wouldn’t hesitate to kick troublemakers out on their ass.

Beckett didn’t care. Let Braden try to kick him out. He wasn’t leaving without his girl. “Yes. You need to find someone else to cover the bar tonight. Ruby is going home.”

Raising a brow, Braden turned to Ruby. “I know you and Beckett have an… arrangement of sorts. If I tell him to fuck off, am I going to be stepping on toes?”

Red rose to Ruby’s cheeks, but she stood firm and shook her head. “No, Sir. Ourarrangementspecifically excludes working hours. He’s not my Daddy right now.”

“Thank you for clearing that up for me, Ruby. Second question. Do you need to go home?”

“No, Sir. I’m fine to finish my shift.”

“All right. I expect you to tell me if that changes. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Helpless. He hadn’t felt this fucking helpless since the night he’d woken up to two state troopers standing on his front steps.

This was why he’d promised himself no more brats. He’d let himself forget that, and now here he was, watching the same bullshit play out right in front of his eyes.

Without bothering to argue, because what good would it do anyway, he turned on his heel and headed for the stairs.

If Ruby Matthews wanted to kill herself for a few extra dollars in tips, that was her business. But he’d be damned if he was going to hang around and watch it happen.

Ruby

Her knees buckledwhen Beckett stormed away, but she managed to hide it by leaning against the bar. Or so she thought.

“Are you sure you’re okay to work tonight?” Worry colored Braden’s voice. “I can close the bar down until Nina gets here, if you need to go home.”

“No. No, I’m fine. And you need the bar open.”

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