Page 33 of Property of Bigfoot
I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to the menu. “Obviously. She was testing the waters for some reason, but that isn’t my problem. Beyond making sure it doesn’t happen again; it isn’t yours either.”
He chuckled such a deep, rich sound that it sent a little tingle of awareness up my spine. I glanced back up and saw the sparkle of humor in his eyes. “You are not like any woman I have ever known.”
My attention flitted to where Mindy and the manager had disappeared into the kitchen. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you should.” He chuckled again as he offered up his agreement. “Seriously, she doesn’t mean shit to me. I’ve barely spoken more than a few words to her in the past couple years. There was a brief time when…”
I cut him off before he started to spill details I didn’t want. “Look, we all have a past. I get it. You’re a bit older than me, so you have more of a past than I do. I’m not asking for details, a list of women who you’ve fucked, had relationships with, or anything else. You have already assured me that you are not married, in a relationship, or fucking around with anyone else right now. Unless any of those things have changed, you have nothing to disclose.”
“Okay,” he said as he took a minute to look over the menu as well. “Nothing has changed unless you count the fact that I want to be in a relationship with you.”
I smirked before my eyes lifted to meet his. “That wasn’t subtle at all.”
“Wasn’t trying to be.”
“I’ll let you know,” I teased.
“Christ! I should have known you were going to be a fuck of a lot of work.”
“You know where the door is, since we both have a decent view of it.”
He squeezed my hand and I noticed in my peripheral that he also shook his head. “Not a chance, Sammy. You’re going to be all mine. You just haven’t caught up with the program yet.”
A minute later, our waters made their way to the table and our original waitress was back with apologies and looking a little worse for the wear. “I’m so sorry. That whore locked me in the damn bathroom. Can you believe it?”
“After what she just pulled, I have little doubt,” I said to her. “No need to apologize.”
“I can’t believe she did that. Mindy has never been subtle, but that was over the top, even for her.”
“It won’t happen again,” Bigfoot announced.
“No, it won’t because she was fired, and I don’t think there is a place in town who will hire her after word gets around.”
“She could always go work for Marisol’s Manor in the back rooms,” I suggested.
“I think fucking not,” Bigfoot said as he glared down at me. Maybe it was my suggestion that earned the glare. Either way, I shrugged it off. “That’s a club-owned business, and she won’t find work with us.”
I slid my menu over to Jessica. “I’ll take the Tomato Bisque and grilled cheese, please.” Our waitress nodded and turned her attention to Bigfoot.
“J’s burger, fries, and I want the chili on it.”
“Be back shortly,” Jessica said before she scurried away as quickly as possible.
“Did you not know we owned both bars in town?”
“I knew. I just figured it wouldn’t matter if she was working there.”
“Why would you think I’d allow a woman who disrespected both of us to work at any establishment owned by my club?”
I glanced around the diner and then back to Bigfoot. “Honestly, there aren’t a whole lot of women around here that might earn you guys some money in your establishment. I figured you might make an exception to keep the place staffed for paying customers.”
“Jesus, woman. You are something else. Don’t worry about the talent, the guys will go find women and bring them here to work if we run out of options.”
“And that scouting mission will be totally above board and their choice?” I questioned, because as much as I knew about the club, there were also the rumors that ran rampant around town. Some of those rumors involved the club running women against their will. I wasn’t certain I believed that, but it was better to get the question out of the way before it became a little thread of worry that I picked at later.
“Always their choice, baby. We may not be legit in all the ways, but we don’t traffic people. That’s a hard line. If they’re not willing, they don’t work for us. If they change their mind at any point, we send them on their way with enough cash to start fresh somewhere else.”
“Good to know.”
