Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

Rowan

After the energy drink photo shoot, I arrive back at the condo with Henry. Tweetie is meeting up with Conor at some club. I swear, the two of them are on a quest to meet every single woman in Chicago.

"Why aren't you going out?" I ask Henry.

"Not in the mood. I'm gonna shower and go get Bodhi and take him to his favorite pizza place. You wanna come?"

I stop on the sidewalk and look at Peeper's Alley.

Henry laughs. "Forget it, man. Go get your girl."

"Sorry."

He presses the security code into the pad by the gate. "Don't apologize. I like knowing I'm not the only one who wants a steady person in my life rather than women constantly coming and going."

"Maybe you need to go find that girl," I say, walking backward toward the bar.

"That ship sailed. See you tomorrow." He waves and disappears inside the gate.

I open the door to Peeper's and stand just inside the threshold, watching Leigh behind the bar. She's wearing her heartwarming smile and a T-shirt with the bar logo on it that stretches across her tits.

"Magic!" A woman I don't recognize comes over to me. She's probably in her early twenties. She looks back at her friends. "I told you bitches he comes here."

They're the youngest customers here by far, and they all have mixed drinks surrounding them—probably because Ruby refuses to serve seltzers. In her opinion, the girls stick around longer that way, and she's protective of us. I kind of like it.

"Do you want to get a drink?" The girl steps forward and brushes her tits along my bare arm.

"Sorry, I'm…" I'm what? I don't actually know. I'm not taken. Technically, I'm single. But I'm not interested in meeting anyone. "I can't."

I move away from her to walk toward the bar, but she steps in front of me. "Come on. I came all the way from Joliet. My friends and I are your biggest fans." She dips her chin and looks up at me through her lashes.

I look toward the bar. Leigh is watching us, and I don't see Ruby anywhere. She usually handles this type of thing for us, so we don't get bad press from the girls we're rejecting.

"I can do an autograph or a picture, but not a drink. Sorry."

She playfully pouts, her bottom lip drooping lower as if there's a weight attached to it the longer I don't relent. "Okay, a picture would be great."

I turn and walk over to the table.

"You're so much hotter in person," one of the women says. "I bet you get that all the time."

I don't say anything but move behind the girls since I tower over them and smile at their friend holding the camera.

"Wait! You have to be in it, Lizzie," a girl says and snatches up Lizzie's phone, going over to the row of men with strained beer bellies over their belts. They're a great group of guys who don't ever heckle us when we come in. I actually think they're more baseball fans than hockey. "Would you mind taking a picture for us?"

The man looks at the phone and back at the girl. "No." He circles back around to face the bar and television that's replaying a Colts game.

"I'll do it." Leigh rounds the bar.

Her long legs that I love to have wrapped around me look amazing in the short shorts. Thankfully, no younger guys usually come in here. I should make sure somehow that Tweetie and Conor don't come here after they get back tonight.

"Perfect. Thanks." The girl hands Leigh the phone.

"It's like finding a conch shell in the ocean, am I right, girls? The chances of you meeting Rowan Landry are insane." Leigh smiles too wide, overly friendly, positioning the phone to take a picture.

All the girls surround me, and I cough from the amount of perfume wafting around us.

"Put your arms around them, heartbreaker."

I drill my gaze into hers, and she laughs, then I position my arms out around the group of them.

"Everyone say, Magic," Leigh says.

"Magic," all the girls say in unison.

Leigh takes the picture, and I shift to move away, but she insists on one more. She proceeds to make me stand there for two minutes while she keeps having the girls switch poses and takes a bunch of photos.

"Perfect. You all look amazing." She hands the phone back to Lizzie.

"Nice to meet you," I say and walk around them, about to walk away.

"Listen, ladies, I'm so thrilled you got to meet Rowan Landry. But just so you know, now that you have your picture, you can't bother him while he's here, or I'll have to kick you out." The girl who originally came up to me opens her mouth to speak, but Leigh doesn't wait to hear what she has to say. "Sorry, I know I'm being a bear, but I need to keep them coming. You get it, right, girls?"

They give a response along the lines of, "Oh, totally."

"I'm sure they drive in a lot of business," another one chimes in.

"They do. Thank you so much, and for understanding, the next round is on me. Okay?" Leigh smiles at them all.

"You're so sweet," the Lizzie one says. "Thanks."

"Of course, and hang around, you never know if any of his friends will show up." Leigh looks all excited for them.

I leave the group of them and keep walking until I reach the private room reserved for those of us who live in the building.

Leigh follows me. "What can I get you, sir?"

"Your pussy. Preferably on my face." I swing my arm around her waist and tug her over onto my lap. "You're playing games."

"I'm using you to keep customers happy. Are you mad?" Her hand runs down my chest.

She's so beautiful. I wish she wasn't working, so I could take her up to my apartment for the night.

"No. As long as you don't get the wrong idea." I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

She tilts her head. "Wrong idea?"

"That I would want any of them."

She laughs and hops off my lap. "I know my worth."

"Come back." I hold out my hand.

"I have to work. I'll be right back with your drink." She goes to leave the room but stops and turns around. "Are you expecting anyone else to join you tonight?"

"Just me. Hoping for Tweetie?"

"Just wondering." A look of relief crosses her face, and she disappears into the bar area.

I turn on the television to SportsNight , trying to figure out why she wouldn't want my friends here. It would only drive more business for her. We never hang out with them. Actually, other than that one breakfast, we haven't spent time around them at all. But I guess that was part of the deal, wasn't it?

I might have to change that, so she feels comfortable around them. Especially if she's buying the bar in our building.

She returns with my club soda and lime, placing it in front of me. "Sir."

"Oh, I think I like this role play thing. Where's Ruby?"

"She just ran out to get dinner for herself. She'll be back soon."

Perfect. "So, you aren't closing?"

"I am."

My head rocks back. "I have to wait to have you?"

"Afraid so, big guy." She leans over, kissing me.

I place my hand on the back of her head, keeping her lips on mine as long as she's willing.

"She's working, get your mouth off her," comes Ruby's voice from behind her.

Leigh strips her mouth off mine, laughing and moving away as I grasp for her. My night was just ruined by a petite, red-haired woman with the attitude of a mobster.

I stay in the room watching SportsNight , and Leigh comes in and out, serving me refills. As the night wears on, my desire to have her increases every time I see her ass in those shorts.

I venture out of the room under the guise of using the bathroom. If Leigh wasn't here, I'd be up in my condo, but even the few minutes every half hour that I get to spend with her is too tempting for me to just leave.

Ruby is behind the bar and talking to two men I'm fairly sure are regulars. There's no sign of Leigh, so I wait until Ruby turns her back to me, then I walk through the back door into the storage room.

Leigh is there on her tiptoes, reaching for something. "You need a step stool. How on Earth do you get this down?" she says, presumably thinking I'm Ruby.

I shut the door and press the lock.

She looks over her shoulder, surprise and delight in her eyes when she sees me. "Rowan."

I grab the box she's trying to get. "Here."

"What are you doing in here?"

I cradle her cheek, my thumb running down the front of her throat. Urging her back against the wall, I watch my thumb move over the delicate skin on her throat. "You know what I'm doing here."

"Ruby will kill us," she stage-whispers.

"Ruby is busy." I press my lips to hers, and she grabs the back of my shirt, sliding her tongue into my mouth.

That's my girl.