14. Oliver

Chapter 14

Oliver

I headed down to the cabin once I was sure Trent was sleeping. It was shortly after seven-thirty, his bedtime, and I had great news for Lexie.

As I got closer to the cabin, I noticed she was just getting in and I frowned.

Where had she been?

Jealousy initially rushed through me, but when I realized that she was wearing what appeared to be sweats, I pushed it away. Surely, she wouldn't have dressed that way for a date.

It's none of your business .

She could have been out shopping or something, for all I knew. But she didn't have any grocery bags.

It doesn't matter .

I gritted my teeth, working hard to push images of Lex and Tristan out of my head. Then I remembered seeing her at Bonnie's, and I felt stupid.

She'd been out with her little sister.

Lex was startled as I approached. I immediately put up my hands and gave her a smile .

"Not a robber, I promise."

She laughed a little at the joke then let herself inside. I followed, closing the door behind me.

"I have some great news," I told her, grinning. "I officially bought the Pig."

Her green eyes widened. "You didn't say you were buying the Pig."

I laughed. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Why the Pig?"

I shrugged. "Clayton has been trying to sell for years, and the place makes a good profit. It's a good business, especially in the summer."

"Tourists," she said derisively, and I laughed.

"Tourists. They're good for business, coming here and playing cowboy."

"As opposed to being a real Wagontown cowboy?"

"I ride the oil rigs, don't I?" I teased, stepping closer to her. She turned to look at me, bracing her hands on the kitchen island.

Her mouth parted and I wanted to kiss it. But this wasn't the time.

I cleared my throat instead. "I want you to work your first shift tomorrow night."

She bit her bottom lip. "Hmm. I must admit, I expected I'd have longer to do some research. I've never poured alcohol professionally."

I chuckled. "And I've never been a bar owner. We'll learn together. Besides, Clayton has some of the best staff in the world."

"That's true. For a dive bar, they make a mean mojito, among other things," she admitted, smiling at me.

"How were the wings?" I asked.

"To die for, just like you said. "

God, her mouth looked so inviting. Trent could sleep through an elephant stampede, but I didn't like leaving him alone in the house for long, just in case.

"I gotta go," I said. "I'll see you at the Pig tomorrow, let's say five p.m."

"See you then," she murmured, and I tore my eyes away from her, heading out of the cabin and back up to the house before I could change my mind.

I tried to cool my rushing blood on the way back. I peered into Trent's room as soon as I got home. He was sleeping like the baby he still was in my eyes.

At five years old, he was starting to get a little sassy, but only in the cutest of ways.

I wondered how Lex was with kids. When we were teens, we'd never been around any, and Trent had been asleep while she was here. But she'd always loved kids, always cooing at them whenever we spotted them while we were out in public, so I assumed she'd be great with them.

I just knew she'd be a great mother.

But she wasn't Trent's mother, and I'd do well to remember that. I'd also do well to remember what she did with Tristan, how it had torn me apart.

I took in a deep breath and headed to my room to take a hot shower, hoping I wouldn't dream about Lex.

The preparations involved before opening the bar was a surprising amount of work, and I watched with wide eyes as Krista, who had become head bartender in the past few weeks, bustled around, getting everything set up.

"No wonder you guys get here early," I muttered. It was only three in the afternoon, and we didn't open for a couple of hours.

"The kitchen gets here at one," she said flatly. "You're late."

I blinked at her. "Is everything okay, Krista?"

She sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping. "It's just that… you took over the place so quickly and some of us are worried about our jobs."

"Oh, no," I said without hesitation. "That was one of Clayton's hard lines—I was to keep on all of the staff. Besides, I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing without you."

Krista smiled. "So I'm not going to get fired?"

"Absolutely not," I promised. Then I paused. "But I did hire a new bartender. She doesn't have much experience, though."

Krista raised an eyebrow. "Girlfriend or sister?"

I stared at her. "Neither."

She hummed. "We'll see. What's her name?"

"Lexie," I answered, and she nodded.

"Tell her to find me when she gets here. I'll start training her tonight. It's a Monday, so it'll be slow."

"I'll pay you a training wage," I promised her, and she grinned.

"Maybe this buyout won't be so bad after all."

For the next couple of hours, I walked around, observing the bar and the kitchen staff, watching how things were run. I wanted to get to know what I was working with, how things operated in what I now owned.

By the time Lex arrived, dressed in a simple A-line skirt and a sleeveless blouse, I thought I had gotten the gist of it.

"Find Krista," I told her as she walked in. "You'll be training with her tonight. "

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, but I spotted a small smile in the corner of her mouth and my heart skipped a beat. She always looked so beautiful when she smiled.

I cleared my throat as I headed back to the office, continuing to observe the staff as they worked. I had already noticed that Krista was a steady and hard worker, buzzing around like a busy bee. She was patient with Lex as she trained her, showing her the ropes, and Lex seemed to pick up on it quickly.

She followed Krista closely, mimicking her steps, and I could tell that she was already doing a great job.

Within a couple of hours, Krista was slammed at the bar, every seat full, and Lex picked up the slack, tending to the few stragglers at the end of the bar and even some of the tables.

Krista came to the office for a brief moment to make change. I looked at her curiously as she counted out the bills.

"What do you think of the new girl?"

"Lexie? Oh, she's great, boss. She's getting the hang of it quickly. She may be new to all of this, but I think she'll be a hard worker," Krista said brightly before hurrying off to give the customer his change.

Around midnight, it started to get a little rowdy. Krista approached me twice about cutting off a couple of regulars, and I gave her the go ahead. I knew that she could tell better than me when someone was three sheets to the wind.

Liquor licenses were fragile, and they involved a lot of liabilities if we overserved, so I trusted my head bartender, just as Clayton had.

The only snafu happened when a regular got belligerent when asked to leave. His name was Greg, and he wanted another beer after getting cut off. When he was denied, he started cursing at Lexie and Krista.

I came out of the office upon hearing the commotion and tapped Greg's shoulder.

"Excuse me," I said in a low tone, ready for a fight.

Greg whirled around and even though he was probably fifty pounds heavier than me and just as tall, he stopped short, blinking when he saw me.

"Oliver? Oliver Stanhope? What the hell are you doing at the Pig?" he asked, his eyes glassy.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" I asked cheerfully. "I bought the place off Clayton, couple of weeks ago. Today is our grand opening."

"I don't give a fuck about a grand opening," Greg slurred. "I want my beer."

"You can pick up a six pack on your walk home," I told him, leading him toward the door.

"Clayton would have given my keys back and given me a beer," he muttered, but he let me lead him to the door anyway.

"I doubt that, but you can be sure to complain to him next time you see him," I said, calling Greg a taxi to make sure he got home all right.

Greg Wilson was no stranger to the Pig in the Poke, and he was on the list of regular alcoholics that Clayton gave me to watch out for. The list included mostly men and a couple of women who were barflies and had the tendency to overdo it.

Greg was at the top of the list, and I wished he hadn't waited until my grand opening night to go off the rails. In the end, though, he got into the cab, and everything cooled off, no harm done.

By the time I got my bearings back after that, Krista was announcing last call. I asked for a rye whiskey Old Fashioned which Lex made, bringing it to me, ducking her head almost sheepishly.

"It's my first Old Fashioned," she admitted.. I took a hesitant sip as she watched me with wide, expectant eyes.

The bitters bloomed on my tongue, the orange and cherry flavors coming right after, and I hummed in pleasure. "It's delicious, Lex."

"Really?" she gasped, bouncing a little on her heels excitedly. "I'm so glad."

"You're doing great," Krista said, coming up behind her. "But I need your help with restocking the beer."

"Got it," Lex replied, shooting me a shy smile while the butterflies in my stomach fluttered relentlessly.

Krista raised an eyebrow, seeming to notice there was some kind of energy between me and Lex but she didn't mention it.

At least not right then.

It was nearly three in the morning by the time the bar was clean and ready to close. I yawned so wide my ears popped.

"It's tough getting used to second shift," Krista said with a chuckle. "But you'll get there."

I rubbed a hand over my face, feeling the weight from lack of sleep.

"I sure hope so. I feel like garbage."

"Me too," Lex admitted, holding her lower back as Krista split her tips with her. Lex's eyes widened as Krista pushed bills into her hand. "I didn't make this much."

"Sure you did. You helped me out a lot, so you get half the spoils. Just make sure you tip out the bussers. They work hard too."

Lexie nodded, looking at the money in her hand as if it were spun gold. She walked over to the bussers, giving them a few bills each for their trouble.

"I have to learn tip-out culture," I murmured, and Krista nodded.

"The golden rule is two to three percent of your sales, but I usually wing it. The bussers make a wage but they deserve tips when they do a good job."

"What about the kitchen?" I mused, wondering how far it went.

Krista shrugged. "Sometimes I'll throw them a ten for making me some food on the fly. They get paid a lot more than us bartenders, though, so we don't do a percentage for them."

Restaurant culture was turning out to be fascinating, and I wanted to learn more. Krista seemed like the right choice for head bartender and trainer.

"I'm giving you a raise," I said, and Krista balked at me.

"What do you mean, a raise?"

"I'm going to pay you fifteen dollars an hour, plus tips."

" Plus tips ?" she gasped. "That's crazy, boss?—"

"Maybe so, but you basically run this place," I said firmly. "You deserve it, Krista."

"Jeez Louise," she breathed. "I can't wait to tell my husband. Reggie will flip his lid. He's always telling me I don't make enough at this dump."

"Tell Reggie this dump is under new management, and we're going to take care of all our employees," I said with a smile.

Krista smiled back, taking her tips, and giving me a sloppy salute at the door as she left.

The only people that remained were me and Lexie.

"Let me take you home." I offered, and she flushed.

"Thanks. I wasn't looking forward to fooling with a ride share app." She headed toward the door, and I followed, watching the curve of her ass in that tight skirt.

"How did you do?" I asked, trying not to look at how her ass jiggled.

"I think Krista gave me too much in tips," she hedged. "I made almost three-hundred dollars."

I chuckled. "I think that's average for a night like tonight. We were slammed for a Monday." I locked the door and the two of us headed to the parking lot.

She smiled as she slid into the passenger side of my truck. "I can't imagine what I could make on a Saturday night."

"Does that mean you'll stay?" I asked softly, and I didn't mean just for the week.

"For a while," she answered hesitantly, looking out the window.

Stay forever, I wanted to say, but I kept my stupid mouth shut.

I drove her back to the cabin and walked her to the door.

"I can't believe how tired I am," she nearly whispered, looking up at me, biting her lower lip.

"Me, too," I confessed, looking down at her mouth. Trent was staying the night at his grandmother's house, so I didn't have anyone to go home to.

"I was just thinking about that time that we went to the movies and my folks were supposed to be gone, but they came back early from their trip," Lexie said with a chuckle.

I grinned at her. "Yeah, we had plans for me to stay over."

She giggled again. "I thought you were going to get stuck in the basement window. Who knew your butt was that big?"

I laughed loudly, remembering our mutual panic when I could only get one half of my butt through the window into the basement and I had been briefly stuck hanging above the basement floor, with one leg tangled in her mom's rose bushes.

"That turned into a pretty fun night, as I remember it," I said quietly, looking at her beautiful face in the moonlight. She looked exactly the same as she had that night when I had known I should just go home, but couldn't convince myself to do so.

"Yeah, once we got your booty through the window," she reminded me.

"That's the good part about being adults," I said to her, leaning closer. "We don't have to sneak around anymore."

I leaned my head down and kissed her, and she moaned into my mouth. I knew she was as lost in this as I was, and I didn't care anymore if it was right or wrong.