Page 7 of Those Who Are Bound

She blinked and then nodded, bending down to retrieve the beer. Was it a coincidence that he liked her beer, the same she’d been drinking yesterday, or had he taken note, and he was now flirting? Was this flirting? Was she overthinking?

While Elliott prepped the beer, Lucy asked, “Is it just you today, then?”

Elliott looked over at her, perplexed. “What do you mean?” She set the beer on the bar and slid it across to him, distracted. She jumped a little when he took it from her, their fingers touching, a current unexpectedly jolting through her. Slicing him an accusatory look, she jerked her hand away and refocused on Lucy.

“I was wondering when I was going to meet your brother. Gage?”

Elliott stepped back from the bar, biting her lips with a grimace. Glancing between the two, she answered quietly but honestly, as there was no way around it, “You won’t. Gage died a couple of years ago.”

Jonah’s expression reflected sympathy. Elliott looked decidedly away from his face, now softened with compassion. She got the impression that he would have reached out and offered a supportive caress if she had been close enough, or a hug.A hug; snuggled up against that solid, warm chest, his strong arms wrapped firmly around her…

You evil bitch. Stop it!

Lucy was more expressive than Jonah. “I am so sorry! I didn’t know. The website still has his name listed as an owner.”

Elliott wrinkled her nose, trying to pass it off as no big deal. She came around the bar, careful to stay out of arm’s reach of Mr. Sensitivity All-of-a-Sudden. “No, I know. I haven’t had the heart to take his name off. Easy Street was his after he returned from his military service.” To stop the questions she saw Lucy was primed to ask, she reached into her pocket and withdrew the keys, holding them up as she came forward. “Pay attention.”

Lucy squeaked; one would have thought Elliott was handing her the keys to the kingdom. In a sense, she was: to Lucy’s new domain. She held her hand out and took them as Elliott passed her, but not before she caught the woman’s attention shifting to Jonah, her jaw dropping dramatically.

Elliott kept walking, saying, “Red key; red door. That one’s pretty straightforward. The others, however…” She walked to the only wall without windows, the one behind the bar. Multiple doors allowed access to various rooms: restrooms, locked supply closets for each; a locked door behind which were the electrical unit, furnace, and water heater; a small locked closet with extra banquet tables, carts, and shelf after shelf of decorations, glassware, light bulbs, and chafing dishes.

“After every event, I have a list of cleaners you can schedule with. I hire crews for the bigger set-up and break-down jobs; day workers for the smaller ones. I have a list of regulars. If you need caterers, I have a list for them, as well. There’s a contact for pretty much anything you’d need. From what I understand, depending on the event, some people like to use their own people, so… it’s whatever. Pricing, of course, ranges based on what they bring with them and what we provide.”

Lucy looked back at the bathroom as they headed toward a swinging door. “Is there an on-site maintenance worker for anything that goes wrong?”

Elliott turned and used her backside to push open the swinging door, answering, “You’re looking at her. Plumbing, electrical”—she swung into the kitchen—“I can do the smaller jobs. Anything bigger, I’ll need to call in the experts.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Lucy stepped through the door and stopped. “Oh. My. God.”She looked around the state-of-the-art kitchen. “You have top of the line stuff in here.”

Elliott shrugged. “My brother picked it out. I know nothing about it. An oven, a stove… nothing too impressive. I know how to work my microwave.”

Lucy gave her a side-eye like she was crazy. “You could film one of those chef shows in here.”

Elliott looked around the mostly stainless steel room, indifferent. “Well, it’s extra if they want to use it beyond storing their food in the refrigerator, and it comes with a clean-up fee.” She left the room and started to make her way across the main area toward the patios, Lucy stumbling behind her.

A few steps into the expansive space, Elliott sensed a commotion behind her. When she turned to look, Lucy was bent over in an exaggerated pose, bouncing in place. She was looking across at Jonah, gesturing toward the kitchen and mouthing in amazement, “Oh my god, the kitchen!”

His shoulders were shaking in silent laughter at her antics.

Lucy snapped up, cheeks blazing red, mortified when she realized Elliott had caught her celebration. “Oh. Sorry.”

Elliott shook her head. “No. I want you to be enthusiastic about this place.”

Still blushing, pleased by the approval, Lucy shrugged. “You seem so… not overly expressive.”

Elliott let out a small laugh. “Trust me, when something excites me, you’ll know it. Kitchens, however, don’t do it for me.”

From the bar came the question, “What does it for you? What excites you?”

Elliott looked at him, startled that he would ask such a question, and thewayhe asked it, a slight intonation that was more than mere curiosity… It wasintrigue.

She looked to Lucy, shocked he would make such innuendo in front of her, but Lucy was looking back, equally curious, waiting for her answer. Maybe as eager for her response.

The thought of what excited her slammed into her brain unbidden. It was wrong, and he was a part of it, him and that damn rope. She blushed.

He cocked his head, his study of her intensifying.

Flustered by his focused scrutiny, Elliott ignored the question and turned quickly around, snapping back to business. “When the patio doors are open, there’s seating for an additional sixty; thirty on each.” She walked across the expanse of the room toward one of the back doors. “The side patio has three stone gas-burning fire pits. Of course, we also provide outdoor heaters. Shall we go out?”

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