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“Make sure she eats,” I called after her.
“That was the plan.”
I started to close the door, then stepped out. “Hey, Ang.” She stopped at the elevator to look at me. “Can you take care of her for me for a few weeks? I think I’m going to be out of town for a little while.”
Blond brows lifted, but she only nodded. “Sure. Don’t worry about Jenna.” The elevator arrived and she stepped inside. “Call me, though. Let me know you’re alive and shit.”
I smirked. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Angie.”
Closing the door, I headed back to my room and went straight for the shower. If I was going to be out of town, I had some serious work to take care of at the club.
My staff was already arriving by the time I got to First Bass. Normally I was there an hour before them, so they stopped to gape when I walked in behind them. Ignoring their looks, I headed for my office. “Tell Nate I need to see him,” I called over my shoulder.
I got straight to work, making sure everything was in order for my assistant manager when she got back. If I ended up being gone as long as I planned, then I had to make contingency plans. Every base had to be covered because I wasn’t going to let work interfere once I left.
It took Nate thirty minutes to get to my office. I hadn’t expected him to jump the second I sent someone after him. He was good at his job and that meant he did the shit that needed doing without me having to tell him. Anything I needed to speak to him about could wait.
I was putting together the ‘to do’ list for the assistant manager when my office door opened and Nate walked in. “Yeah?”
I lifted my eyes from my computer screen long enough to glance at him. “Sit down. I need to talk to you about something.”
Taking one of the two empty seats in front of my desk, he smirked as he stretched out his long legs. “Nice lip. Lucy has a hell of a left hook.”
I ignored his jab and picked up the stack of papers I had already printed off. “I’m leaving Sunday night. I don’t know when I’ll be back, so you need to step in as my second assistant manager in case Barb needs help.”
That wiped that smirk off the bartender’s face. He sat up straight, his eyes wide. “What?”
“You’re the only one I trust to step into that role, Nate.
You know this club inside and out and I know you can handle any problems that pop up just as well as I can.” I offered him the papers. “This is the contract. I’ll pay you a salary and you can still keep the tips you make while bartending upstairs.”
He took the contract and flipped through it. He read over it, taking in all the details like a smart person should. I hadn’t expected him to just sign and not read the damn thing. I knew the second he saw the page that had the salary I thought he deserved on it. His head snapped back up. “You trust me that much?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, man. I trust you that much. Now sign the fucking thing so I can send it over to my lawyer. I have shit to do and only a few days to get it done.”
Nate shook his head, grabbed a pen and scribbled his name over the last page. “Where you going?”
“Florida.” I took the contract, scribbled my signature under Nate’s and then tossed it on the table behind me so I would remember to send it to my lawyer.
Nate blinked like I’d just said outer space. “Florida? What the fuck is in Florida?”
“Right now, nothing. Next week, everything.”
Chapter 13
Lucy
The rest of the week passed quickly. I spent a whole day with Aunt Emmie on Wednesday. We didn’t talk about what had happened on Monday and I was grateful. I didn’t want to rehash all of that crap all over again. They were sorry. I was sorry. End of story.
The same happened when I spent Thursday at Lana’s house. She wanted to say she was sorry, but as far as I was concerned she was the one who least needed to apologize to me. My sister had done what she had done from the second I was born: taken care of me. Had my back.
Instead of letting her apologize, I’d hugged her hard and then told her to shut up. We’d had a great day just hanging out at her house with all four of her girls and Drake. I spent the night, camped out between my three older nieces where we all fell asleep after I’d read them a few chapters of the Ever After High series Lana had gotten Nevaeh addicted to.
Friday I went from Lana’s house straight to Shane and Harper’s, who lived only a few minutes away. No one mentioned Monday and I wondered if it was because they didn’t know what had happened. Still, I knew Harper and Dallas were as close as sisters, so she had to know even if Shane didn’t.
“Are you sure you won’t intern for me?” Harper asked with a pout as she put a plate of sandwiches on the kitchen table for lunch. “I mean, I know you want to get your degree as quickly as possible, but think of the experience you’ll get and be able to put on your resume when you finish school.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her with a smile. “I’ll think about doing it next summer, okay?”
