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The bartender looked at me and I nodded my head.
“Got a personal stash in the back, yeah.”
Dani smiled. “I’ll have a rum and Coke, then.”
I nodded. “And I’ll have myself a couple of beers.”
The bartender shooed us away and I led Dani over to a table to sit with me. She seemed nervous. Her eyes kept darting around everywhere, as if she were on her guard, wondering who might walk in and cause trouble at any second. It was a very unnatural look on her. And it was a look I wanted to wash away. She was safe with me, wherever we went. No matter where we were, or who surrounded us.
I put her back to the door and sat across from her, just in case someone decided to come through those front doors and kick up a stink.
“Am I doing okay?”
Her hushed voice was almost swallowed up by the massive men behind her roaring with laughter. But it didn’t stop me from registering her question. Nor did it stop me from taking her hand to try and soothe away her fears.
“There’s nothing to worry about in a place like this. You’re safe. None of these men will hurt you. You have my word on that.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “I’m sorry. It’s just--my father’s told me about places exactly like this. And he always says there are many things to worry about.”
“Like what?”
She sighed. “Promise you won’t get upset?”
I shook my head. “Not if you’re honest with me.”
She nodded. “He says these are the kinds of places where drugs are dealt. Where unsavory people come to dump money they shouldn't have on them, or hook up with others to commit crimes. He always told me to stay away from places like these, for my safety.”
Smart man. “Anything else?”
She paused. “Is he right?”
“About?”
“About there being drugs and all kinds of criminals that come in and out of these places?”
“Do you want a logical answer? Or an honest one?”
“There’s a difference?”
I nodded. “There is.”
She licked her lips. “An honest one. Seriously, Max. Do I have something like that to worry about?”
A devilish smile crossed my cheeks. “Not when you’re on my arm, you don’t.”
35
Dani
“Welcome back, Max. We’ve missed you. Who’s your friend?”
I looked up at the woman who had approached our table and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The painted-on leather pants. The biker boots she wore, laced all the way up her shins. The red tank top she spilled out of and the matching red lipstick she had on her oversized lips. She looked like a punk Barbie doll. Her hair was curled and teased, and there was a choker around her neck. Multiple rings sparkled on her fingers as she poised the pen she held over her pad, ready to take our orders.
I’d never seen anyone like her before.
“Now, you know you don’t miss a crotchety man like me,” Max said.
The woman giggled. “You’re the head of this place, you know.”
