Page 14 of Lucifer's Hounds

It’s two o’clock by the time I make it home. I drag my bags inside and fall onto the couch, exhausted. Before I know it, it’s five o’clock and I’m waking up on the couch in a puddle of my own drool.

I don’t have to be at work until six tomorrow night, but I want to see Mindy. Finding all the energy I can muster, I pull myself together and put on some makeup. I need to make myselfpresentable and feel a little better about what happened this week. I throw on a pair of my black dress shorts, a red V-neck, and a pair of black flats and head out the door. I feel hot. Too hot to be a sad girl about a man that stood me up.

Cranking up Betty, I point her in the direction of Creek’s.

When I pull down the long, bumpy gravel road to the bar and round the corner to the parking lot, there’s only one car out front. Mindy’s. Business has been pretty slow and there was talk of closing the place down. There were only a few regulars that were in every day, but no one wanted to drive down the gravel driveway to get there. If you didn’t have a four-by-four, it wasn’t worth it.

The parking lot is quiet, the only sound is the chirping of a cricket in the distance. A chill skitters across my skin as the breeze picks up. As soon as I step foot inside the bar, Mindy’s face lights up.

“Lilly!” She screams, running around from behind the bar and nearly tackling me when she hugs me.

“Hey, Min. Miss me?”

"Uh, yes! Okay, you have got to tell me all about this amazing biker. Spill it. Now," she demands.

"Slow down, slow down."

I laugh at her anticipation. Boy, is she in for a shock. I hate that I can’t even show her what he looks like. Miss Photographer didn’t sneak a single picture of the most amazing man I’d met in…well…maybe ever. Way to go genius.

“So, I met him at a bar, challenged him to a game of pool, he kicked my ass, and—"Mindy cuts me off mid-sentence.

“Wait, he kicked your ass in pool? Oh, I like him already,” Mindy says with an evil grin. “Sorry. Continue.”

"So, he kicked my ass in pool then told me he had to go because he had work the next day. About a minute after he walked out, the bartender brought me a napkin with a note on itasking me to spend some more time with him. I walked outside, we went for a ride, then I find out he's staying at the same hotel as me, but only after he followed me, and I thought he was trying to get laid on the slick."

"Shut the fuck up. No way."

"Way. In the same building. On the same floor,” I smile as Mindy shakes her head in disbelief.

“I know. Crazy, right? Right. Anyway, he walked me to my room and I kind of might have pulled him in and had amazing sex with him. I'm telling you, it was one of the most powerful orgasms I've ever had."

"Ever?" Mindy’s eyes widen.

"Yes.Ever.”

"And then?"

"And then we met up again the next night and I got too drunk and passed out before anything could happen. Well, I passed out in the elevator, actually, and he carried me to my room. He brought me to my car the next morning and that was the last I saw of him. He was supposed to meet me again at the bar that night but never showed up."

Mindy's face falls, all the excitement that was there for a moment before was long gone. "Wait, that's it?"

"Yep. Now fix me a drink and let's close this place," I demand.

"So, he just disappeared?" Mindy asks, pouring me a drink and setting it on the bar.

"Yes ma'am." I down half of my drink. I didn’t realize talking about Cass would put such a damper on my mood.

“Damn. Lilly that sucks, I'm sorry.”

“It is what it is. No big deal.” I fake a smile and turn my glass up, polishing off my drink. I slide it across the bar to Mindy who’s wiping down the counter.

“Anything happen around here while I was gone?” I ask, hoping to draw attention to anything other than thedisappointment on my face that Mindy can read like a freaking book.

“Nothing of importance. Just the regulars. Oh, Kevin, the owner, did come in yesterday. He said something about an interested buyer. So, it might not be closing after all. But nothing is set in stone and he hasn't even met with the guy yet,” Mindy says, hanging her head. Mindy has been here for two years, and she has a sense of security here. I hate to think that could be threatened. Hell, I hate to think the place will close.

I’m behind on most of my bills and am on the verge of being homeless. I’m a month late on rent and I have until the first to come up with two months’ rent. I know it’s impossible, especially since business has been as bad as it has ever been, and I’m preparing myself to move in with Mindy, which is the only option I have if I lose my house.

Mindy finished cleaning and we walk out together. I laugh. “It’s a Monday night and the bar is closed before 10 p.m.”

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