Page 62 of Blood and Bonbons

“We have to pay the bar staff at the end of the night,” I reminded her.

“I know.” She elbowed me. “Hey, check out Goldilocks.”

A group of fae men sat in our section. While they were all beautiful, as fae tended to be, one stood out. He was perfection, and it nearly hurt my brain to keep my gaze on him without looking away.

Vena and I reached their table as they settled in.

“Welcome to Blur. I’m Everly, and I’ll be your server. This is Vena. She is training tonight. What can I get you to start?”

“I heard your cocktail,luxure, is good,” the beautiful one said. His voice was like a siren’s call, and Vena took a step toward him before I gently nudged her back. She was already hopped up on Anchor hormones, and this fae was giving off serious come-hither vibes.

“A round ofluxure?” I glanced at each of them to make sure before Vena and I headed to the bar.

“Holy hell,” Vena said under her breath.

“I know. You get used to it. Keep your distance, and you’ll be fine. And if that doesn’t work, don’t worry. Anchor and Army won’t let us leave with anyone.”

We placed our order at the bar and waited for the drinks. I made Vena carry them back and serve them since she was pocketing the money. She did great, even talking up the food options we offered.

Keeping half an ear on her, I checked with the next table.

About an hour before closing, Vena was running her own set of five tables without a problem. She’d even jumped in to help Thomas with one of his. When I heard her making idle conversation about other clubs with one of her tables, I knew she’d need her own section on the next shift, or she’d get bored.

At the end of the night, we pooled our tip money, and I wasn’t disappointed with the total.

“Fifty more than I see on my own,” I said.

“Then that’ll be my take,” Vena said, swiping up the difference. I didn’t begrudge it. She’d earned every penny plus more.

A good friend would have done a fifty-fifty split with her. Then again, a good friend wouldn’t have dragged me up a mountain to fall into a fairy cave. I didn’t feel a smidge of guilt when I counted out the bartender's share and pocketed the rest.

“Finish wiping down the tables on that end, and I’ll get this end,” I said, already moving away from her to give Tank and Boulder, two bartenders Shepard regularly worked into the schedule, their cut.

On my way back, Anchor waved me over.

“Maybe you can have a word with Vena,” he said with a low voice and a glance at Shepard’s office window above.

“About what?”

“Talking about the other clubs in the area isn’t good for business.” He tugged at his earlobe and frowned. “Does she work at another one?”

“Another club?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Juicy, the strip club?”

My eyes went wide then narrowed. Anchor quickly held up his hands.

“I don’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t even sure she knew what it was. But she kept asking customers if they’d been there. And with the way she smelled before…” He gave an apologetic shrug then asked, “Does she have a boyfriend?”

“No.” I wasn’t sure if he was asking because he was interested or because he was trying to figure out why Vena’s fingers smelled like scrotum. So I added, “Thanks for keeping an eye on her tonight.”

“Tonight and any night. She’s easy to watch.”

His gaze went to her, and I glanced over as she winked at him then bent over a table to wipe the far side instead of walking around it.

“Trust me,” I said, shaking my head at her. “She is not easy to watch. Trouble has a way of finding her.”

“I can imagine.”

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