“Now you’re gonna show them inside.”
After the bullshit raid a year ago, I wasn’t taking a chance. I inspected each like there would be a quiz on every last detail.
Which there was.
Just not for me.
Grilling them, their answers matched the info without hesitation.
I raised an expectant brow to the holdout before giving a pointed look over his shoulder. He turned to see the security guard stiffen, ready to move as soon as I gave him the go-ahead.
Scrambling, the kid tugged his license out and handed it over. I let him suffer as I inspected it slowly before giving him the same fact-check questions. Satisfied that they were twenty-three—and not twelve like they looked—I tossed his ID back before giving them the cheap beers.
“Where’s the hottie?” one of them asked, looking around in search of Daisy.
I scowled as I batted my lashes. “You sayin’ I’m not pretty?” I tucked the empty tray under my arm. “Tip me well for that insult.”
I collected empties as I made my way back to my post, relieved to see it was still calm.
Or as calm as it would be at that point on a Friday.
I was about to send Harlow home—or at least to sit on the other side of the bar with her man—when she stopped suddenly.
“Do you remember the detective who helped Piper with the… you know?” she asked me quietly.
“With the motherfucking snake? Yeah, I remember.”
The friend who’d used his position in the group to stalk and hurt Piper was another damn betrayal that was etched into my bones. One I would never forget.
The same could be said about the no-nonsense detective, but for a very different reason. It’d been over a year since I’d met her at the police station, but I could still picture her gorgeous face.
Still hear the hesitant way she’d called meSir.
Still imagine the curves she tried—and fuckin’ failed—to hide beneath a boxy suit.
It was easy for my brain to remember all of that because I’d done it often, usually with my dick in my hand.
“Why are you asking?” I asked, fighting a hard-on at the reminder of Detective Oscar.
“I could’ve sworn I saw her at the game console launch I covered for the station.” Harlow went up on her toes. “And I think I just saw her.”
My gaze darted from the tap I was pouring out of to look out at the crowded room. “Where?”
“She was headed toward the hallway. The employee one, not the bathroom one. I may be mistaken, though. A trauma-induced hallucination on behalf of Piper.”
“Don’t think that’s how that works, ipo,” Kase said as he stood. I thought he was getting his delirious woman out of there, but he looked at me and jerked his head to the side. “Go check it out. I’ll jump in.”
“You don’t bartend.”
“Think I can do better than you right now.” His eyes dropped pointedly to the glass in my hand. The one that was overflowing as foamy beer coated my hand without me noticing.
“Shit.” I set down the glass and shook off my hand before grabbing a bar rag. I wiped off the mess as I stormed through the crowd toward the back of the building, keeping my eyes peeled for the detective or someone who looked like her.
I was expecting the latter, but when I reached the back hall, there she was.
In all her uptight glory.
Her back was to me as she spoke to a man in a suit. Even without being able to see her face, I recognized her rounded ass that peeked out beneath her suit coat. Like the first time I’d met her, her dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun that seemed like it would cause a fucker of a headache.
