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“Do you want me to knock your skulls in again?”
Both of them cursed under their breath and dropped the rest of the bills in their wallets onto the table. From here, Scarlett couldn’t exactly see how much they’d left her, but she hoped it was at least enough to cover most—if not all—of their tab.
It took a little over twenty minutes for them to pick up all of the glass. Then one of the kids grabbed the mop she’d left out next to the restrooms and mopped up the spilled liquid.
She couldn’t help but be slightly amused, watching her—well, for lack of better words—Lorrian savior supervise the cleanup before making the other two empty their pockets and then promptly shoving them all out the door like her own personal bouncer.
He stayed at the door, looking out through the glass for a few minutes before finally heading back into the bar and over to her. On his way over, he swiped up all of the money left over from both tables and brought it over to her.
“I hope this covers their tab and the damages. If it doesn’t, I’ve got cash on me.”
She blinked. “You really don’t have to do that. It wasn’t your fault.”
He grunted at her, sliding onto one of the stools. “I should’ve known they were trouble. As soon as I walked in, I could tell they were wasted.”
She sighed. “They’ve been like that all night.”
He blinked at her. His violet eyes looked close to supernovas under the warm glow from the lighting overhead.
“When did you open?”
“Around five.”
He lifted his arm, checking his comms wristband display. “Damn. They’ve been here that long?”
“Mmm.”
He set his arm down, noticing the drink still in her hand. “That for me?”
She looked down, wincing. She’d totally forgotten she’d been holding it this entire time. Mostly due to shock. She sometimes had rowdy guests but never anything like that before.
“Shit, sorry.” She poured it down the drain. “Let me make you a new one.”
He snorted. “You didn’t have to. I’ll drink anything.”
She put his glass under the tap again, pouring him a fresh one. “Thank you, by the way.”
He shrugged. “Don’t mention it.”
For the next two weeks, Grux Lorrz frequented Thazir’s dive bar.
During the first few days, he’d managed to convince himself he was simply coming back so often because he needed to gather as much intel on Scarlett Mason as possible. The mission to retrieve her and get her back to her employers being at the top of his mind. But the more he spent time watching her and occasionally conversing with her, he couldn’t help but allow that warm feeling of fondness to creep into his heart.
There was no sense in getting attached to her. The family that had contacted him and hired him to find her had been adamant that retrieval and relocation were of the utmost importance. He could understand the situation, given how much they’d paid to have her. But the longer he spent here in this shitty little bar on this shitty little planet, he couldn’t help but think that maybe he’d taken on the job a little too hastily.
He did have to admit that perhaps the fat paycheck they’d slapped down onto his desk did have something to do with that decision, but he didn’t want to focus too heavily on the subject.
When Scarlett made her rounds in the bar, she smiled at him when she caught his stare. Her hips swayed as she walked over to him, her short red hair had been parted to the side today with a small clip holding her bangs out of her face.
She was a petite little thing, someone who would easily be lost in a crowd, which made sense on why she’d been able to escape her employers so thoroughly.
The only problem was that Grux was resourceful. His older brother, Kozien, had taught him enough that by this point, he might as well be labeled an expert.
Scarlett stopped in front of his table and nodded to his empty glass. “You want a refill?”
He shifted it in his hand, swirling the last few drops around at the bottom. “I’m good for now. Thank you.”
She tucked the rag she’d been holding into her apron. “Long day?”
