Page 5 of Loch
As far as bottoms go, it wasn’t much better. A pair of black yoga pants. A pair of purple leopard print leggings. I had no idea why I even had those. Cutoff faded denim shorts. And a tight pencil skirt. I decided to go with the denim shorts. They may have been a little short, but I figured that would get me more tips. I chose my black Chucks over the cream flats and then went into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I tamed my hair, leaving it to hang straight. I made sure my foundation covered the bruises as much as possible. I did a little eyeliner and pink lipstick. I didn’t want to go overboard, but I wanted to at least look like I cared about my appearance. And the job.
Nan told me where to go and I was out the door.
The bar was a few streets over. I probably could’ve walked there. It was on the way out of town, where the houses started to trail off and vacant lots became more and more prominent. I pulled onto the gravel parking lot and I could hear the rocks crunch under my tires as I crept along. I was early. I sat in my car trying to calm my nerves. I wasn’t nervous about working in a bar. I was a frazzled wreck about working with Nathan. I had no doubt that it would be hard for me to be that close to him for long periods of time.
The lot was pretty empty. No cars other than mine were visible. There was a line of three motorcycles off to the left and I wondered if this was some type of biker bar. Not that I had a problem with bikers. I had met enough of them to know that they had their own code they lived by. And could, on more occasions than not, get really out of control. That could have been what Nathan was talking about when he said it could get rowdy.
I took in a shaky breath as I absentmindedly played with the loose threads on my steering wheel cover. I looked over the building and wondered how the place was still standing. It was a shack. A hole-in-the-wall-shit-box void of any windows. The building was painted a light yellow. It was chipped and peeling in too many places to count, revealing the murky gray underneath. A neon red sign mounted on the front of the roof that simply readBAR. I squinted looking at the metal door and saw that the bar did indeed have a name. Loch’s Place. I shrugged, thinking it was a little boring.
Figuring I’d sat in my car long enough, I opened the door and stepped out. The wind blew and the dust from the lot swirled around me. I shut and locked my car, trying not to breathe in too deeply. I tucked my keys into my pocket and patted my butt to make sure I had my ID. Squaring my shoulders, I made my way inside.
As I pulled open the door, the sunlight of midday lit up the dim place like a spotlight. Three heads turned and looked at me. There was no place for me to hide. They were all dressed the same. Tight shirts, faded jeans, and a black leather cuts. Biting my lip, I wondered if they were all in some sort of motorcycle gang. Bouncing from place to place, and working in dives like this, I’d met a few over the years.
I shuffled forward and the door slammed shut behind me, making me jump and yelp.
“Um… hi,” I squeaked out as I made my way up to the bar, leaving a few stools in between myself and them.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doin’ in here?” the one with blonde hair and green eyes asked me. He flashed me a warm smile. This guy was built. I could see the bulges in his arms that were leaning against the bar. The veins running down his forearms. His long blonde hair was tucked behind one ear. He had a goatee that was nicely trimmed and looked soft. He noticed me checking him out and smiled wider, showing off a row of perfect, white teeth.
My eyes flicked nervously to the other two. The one next in line had black hair that was longer on top and hung down over his face. He was hunched over and moved his head to look down at the bar as I shamelessly checked him out. I could see he had his bottom lip pierced on the side. The last one had shaggy brown hair, deep olive skin, and chocolate brown eyes. Holy cow! Like did these guys walk off of some sexy men calender or something? They were all bulging hard lines and strong jaws. And very attractive. If this was the kind of people I would have to serve, then bring it on! I needed to find my voice and tuck my tongue back into my mouth.
“Have a seat. Let me get you a drink.” The blonde one said, patting the seat next to him.
“Oh, I um… I’m looking for Nathan. I think I’m supposed to start working here.” My voice sounded shaky and I hoped it didn’t show. The blonde one raised his brow and stood up.
“I’m Bocca,” he said, holding out his hand. What the hell kind of name was that? I looked down at his cut and, sure enough, he had a patch on there with that name on it. I could tell he was giving me his best smoldering look, and it was totally working. I blushed as I put my hand into his. He wrapped his big, warm hand around mine and lightly pulled me in closer to him.
“I’m—” I started to say as I craned my neck to look up at him.
“Hands off, Bocca!” Nathan’s deep-voiced barked from the other side of the room. Bocca, tilted his head to the side partially looking back in Nathan’s direction.
“What? You claimin’ her, Loch?” he asked, looking at Nathan. I cocked my head in confusion.
“She’s Ethel’s granddaughter. Off limits,” Nathan growled out. There was obviously something going on I was not part of. I dropped my hand from Bocca’s and he shrugged. He slid back on his stool as Nathan motioned for me to come around the back of the bar to where he was.
I stood there awkwardly as the two men continued some kind of standoff with their eyes. The other guys were looking anywhere but at us. Bocca stood up and smiled at Nathan. It was cockier than the one he had given me earlier, almost like he was taunting Nate.
“We’ll be back,” he said slapping the pierced one on the back. Then, all three of them walked to the door. The shaggy haired guy gave me a shy wave as he passed. When they got to the door, Bocca turned and looked at me. “It was nice to meet you…”
“Reagan,” I said without missing a beat and maybe a bit too eager.
“Reagan.” He held his hand over his heart as he said it and I giggled. “Be seein’ ya.”
Then they were gone. And I was alone with Nathan.
He turned to me and his eyes raked over my outfit, so slow that it made me slightly feel self-conscious. I shifted on my feet, the soles of my Chucks squeaking a little against the rubber floor mat. All of a sudden, it felt way too hot in there.
“It was all I had.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. “Okay, well I had these horrible leopard print leggings that no one should ever be allowed to wear.” I let out a nervous, breathy laugh.
“Yeah.” That was all I got. Not a ‘you look nice’ or even an ‘it will do’. I sighed and my body sagged a bit. He pointed to the messy spot on my shirt and raised an eyebrow.
“Guess my shirt tried to clean up my car when I wasn’t looking.” I shrugged. Inside I was rolling my eyes at my lame attempt to joke. He gave me a look of confusion. “I, um, didn’t come down here with much. This was shoved behind one of my seats in my car. Don’t worry, I washed it before I put it on.”
“Hmmm. Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why didn’t you come here with much?” He was already starting to ask questions. Guessed I left myself open for that. I needed to change the subject.
