Page 21 of The Cask

I looked around, tapping my chin. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, I’m the General Manager and any question, comment, or concern would go through me anyway.”

“I don’t think you could help me. It really needs to be him.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Do you have an appointment?”

I smiled. “No, I don’t.”

She stared at me and disdain flickered in her eyes. Her mouth curled upward, but it wasn’t quite a smile. “I’ve known him since college and this”—she waved her hand in my general direction— “happens all the time.”

My brows furrowed. “What happens all the time?”

She looked me up and down and then lowered her voice. “This desperate attempt to get his attention. Showing up unannounced and without an appointment with your tits out to try to get his attention. It’s sad and pathetic.”

Even though I tried to keep it together, I smirked at how quickly her jealousy was stoked.

Feigning surprise, I widened my eyes. “Oh wow.”

“And I hate to break it to you, but you don’t have a real chance. Especially not showing up to his business like”—her eyes dipped to my cleavage again— “this.”

“You sound jealous,” I pointed out.

“Jealous of what?”

“Of me. Of me and Omari. Of what you and Omari clearly don’t have. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Only you know the source of your jealousy.”

I could almost see the steam coming from her ears. Squaring her shoulders, she spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m in the middle of a meeting and Mr. Fortune isn’t here, so if there’s nothing else…” She walked past me and opened the door.

I followed but stopped just in front of her. “Oh!” I exclaimed snapping my fingers. “I really need to speak with Omari before I leave The Cask for the rest of the day for a date and unfortunately, I’ve misplaced my phone. Let him know that I’m friends with the guy who does the surprise inspections and I have some info he’d want to know.”

She looked rattled. It took a couple of seconds before she opened her mouth to speak again. “That is information that should be left with me anyway since I’m GM.”

“I won’t be telling you anything. And thanks to everything you just said, if I don’t speak with Omari before I leave at three o’clock, I’ll just keep the information to myself. After the inspection, I’ll let him know how his GM handled this professional courtesy.” Without another word, I strolled out of Luxe with the biggest smile on my face.

Phase one was complete.

Kim Lowe is going to be thinking about this conversation for the rest of the week! And when she finds out that Omari is the one taking me on a date, she’s going to lose it…

I cackled gleefully as I entered my empty bistro.

An hour later, I was behind the bar when there was a knock at the door. I’d been double checking all the alcohol to make sure we were fully stocked for the night, waiting for phase two to begin.

“Hi,” I greeted Omari’s smiling face.

“Ebony Montresor,” he responded, licking his lips.

I opened my door wide to allow him to come in. “What are you doing here?”

“You know I had to come see your fine ass before taking care of some business.”

I closed and locked the door behind him. Unsure of if he had spoken with Kim already, I tested the waters. “Well, it’s funny you should stop by. I actually have something I wanted to show you.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

I burst out laughing. “Come on. It’s downstairs.”

“I can’t stay too long. I have a meeting in about half an hour,” he told me as we made our way downstairs.

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