Page 31 of Entertaining Distraction
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Grabbing the glass of wine she’d been nursing for the past hour, Charlotte strode down the bar and took a seat on the stool next to Jenn Mullins as two of the other waitresses got up to go to the ladies’ room. The party Mike and the pub staff had thrown to celebrate her moving on to bigger and better things was winding down. They’d done it on a Monday night because it was the slowest day of the week and The Covenant was closed so some of the people who worked there, who Jenn had gotten to know through her surrogate uncles, could also attend. As far as Charlotte knew, the young woman had never been inside the club, at least while it was open. Her godfather, Ian, would probably have a heart attack if Jenn got interested in the lifestyle. While there was nothing wrong with it, in general, her uncles had been such a huge part of her life and there was no way they wanted to see her, or be seen by her, in the sex club.
It had been six days since the fire at Emma Donovan’s house. Things had been crazy since then. Two of Charlotte’s parolees had gotten arrested in separate incidents. Another had gone AWOL with a teenage girl two days ago. They were on a cross-state crime spree, robbing several stores and car-jacking at least three vehicles. So far, the victims had only reported a few minor injuries, but Charlotte and the cops chasing the modern-day Bonnie and Clyde knew they were escalating. When the law caught up with them, Charlotte had a strong feeling it was going to end badly.
Mike was also dealing with a lot lately. After the fire the other night at Emma’s, he’d spent the next few days handling all the details that went into getting the house restored and prepared to sell. He’d had meetings with the fire inspector, insurance adjuster, Parker and his architect, and the assisted living staff to plan for Emma’s move into the facility next Friday. Add in everything he had to do to run the pub, he’d hardly had any free time during the day. But each night, Charlotte had invited him into her bed where he’d stayed until sunrise. He’d needed her—even if it was simply to cuddle next to her while he slept—and she’d been more than willing to be there for him. However, when things calmed down again, she wasn’t sure she wanted to let him return to his condo to sleep at night. She was falling for him—and for the first time since she’d entered the lifestyle, she was nervous about being honest with a sub.
As Charlotte got comfortable on the seat next to Jenn, she glanced down to the other end of the bar where the younger, blonde woman’s gaze was focused on a handsome man who was chatting with Jake and Nick. Doug Henderson was an employee of Trident Security and ran their Personal Protective Division. When he’d worked for his former boss, Chase Dixon at Blackhawk Security, he’d been contracted not once, but twice to serve as Jenn’s bodyguard when things had gone to shit. Once was when a hitman had been hired to take out several former members of SEAL Team Four—unfortunately, Jenn’s mother and retired-SEAL father had been murdered before Ian, Devon, and the others had figured out what was going on. The second time had been when Ian’s then girlfriend, now wife, had become a target when her best friend had been hunted by dirty DEA agents.
“Does he know you’re interested in him?” Charlotte asked.
Jenn startled, ripping her gaze from the object of her obvious affection—obvious, at least, to another woman. The men in the room, including Henderson, were probably oblivious. “Huh? Wh0?”
“Don’t play dumb, Jenn. You’re far too smart for that.”
Sighing, Jenn slumped her shoulders. “No, he doesn’t. He treats me like a kid in high school. I’m twenty-two, almost done with college, and have dealt with more crap than most people will deal with in a lifetime. I’m old enough to date anyone I want.”
Charlotte smiled. “And Doug is, what, thirty?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t help that he works for Uncle Ian and Uncle Dev, either. They’d never let any of their employees date me—if any of them were even interested.” She snorted. “In fact, I’d be surprised it’s not in some employment contract they have to sign.”
Yeah, that was probably not too far from the truth. The Sexy Six-Pack—as Devon’s wife Kristen had dubbed him, Ian, Brody, Jake, Marco, and Boomer—tended to be very overprotective of their loved ones. Charlotte patted Jenn’s hand. “Don’t worry. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. For now, concentrate on finishing up your degree, getting through your internship, and just enjoying life. Someday down the road, one of two things will happen. One, Doug will get hit by cupid’s arrow and realize you’re no longer the teenager he’d first met a few years ago. Or, two, you’ll meet someone else and realizehe’syour soulmate, not Doug.”
Jenn gave her a sideways glance before taking a sip of her Malibu Bay Breeze. “Do you really believe in soulmates?”
“Sure. Look at all your uncles. They’ve all met theirs—the one person they couldn’t imagine life without. The one person who they’d sacrifice everything for.”
The younger woman mulled that over for a moment before asking, “So, what about you, Charlotte? You and Mike seem to be seeing a lot of each other lately. Do you think he might be your soulmate?”
Was he? Charlotte had no idea. If they went their separate ways tomorrow, would she have a hole in her heart? Would she feel like the best thing that had and could ever happen to her was gone? Did she want to find out the hard way?
Standing, she smirked at the younger woman with a confidence she didn’t feel. “When I figure that out, you’ll be the third person to know.”
Jenn laughed as Charlotte walked away.
* * *
Just after 11:00 p.m.,Mike waved goodbye to Ian, Devon, and their wives as they headed out the front door of the pub. Most of the party-goers had left, but there were still a few stragglers who showed no sign of wanting to leave. That was okay with him, though. Mike had needed a fun night to relax after the stressful week he’d had.
Still spread out along the bar were Jake, Nick, Jenn, Charlotte, Reggie Helm, a Dom at the club, his wife, Colleen, Trident Security’s office manager, Doug Henderson, and the new waitress, Daniella. The rest of the staff, Jenn’s extended family, a few friends, and a couple of regular customers had all started dwindling over the past hour. Monday nights tended to have a skeleton crew but a few of the employees who’d been off or worked during the day had also stopped in to say goodbye to Jenn.
About a half hour earlier, Mike had told the bartender to go home. She hadn’t been feeling well, and most of the cleanup had already been taken care of. She’d been grateful and thanked him profusely before heading out the back door of the pub. The staff parked their vehicles behind the building to leave the spaces out front for the customers.
Mike lowered the volume of the jukebox, which suddenly seemed loud with less people in the large room, then checked everyone’s drinks. Jenn and Daniella were sitting and chatting at the far end of the long, wooden bar, while the others were gathered toward the middle of it. He noticed Charlotte’s glass of tonic water and lime she’d switched over to was only a third full, so he picked up the glass and refilled it.
“Hey, Mike,” Nick said. “I know the oven and stuff are shut down, but what are the chances of getting some chips and salsa?”
Jake snorted and put his arm across his fiancé’s shoulders. “I honestly have no idea where he puts all the damn food he eats.”
Patting his rock-hard abs, Nick smirked. “I’m a bottomless pit and proud of it.”
“Yeah, tell me that again in about twenty years when your metabolism changes.”
Mike chuckled at the two of them as he strode to the kitchen, which had been left spotless by the staff, as usual. In the huge, commercial-sized refrigerator, he found the jar of home-made salsa the new sous chef had made the day before and set it on the counter. He was just about to retrieve a bag of tortilla chips from the pantry, when the back door to the alley swung open. Confusion quickly morphed into terror when four masked men rushed in, pointing black, ugly handguns at him.Oh shit!
Before Mike could sound the alarm to the others in the bar, the first guy through the door thrust a gun in his face. It might sound cliché, but Mike’s life passed before his eyes. And the best part of it had been after a beautiful Domme had set her sights on him.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” the masked man warned, his voice muffled by the mask. “And keep your hands where I can see them.” He pushed Mike toward the swinging door to the bar. “Move!”
