Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 79020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
I finish cleaning the glasses, drying them with a fresh towel, before restacking them on the counter near the end of the bar where Owen always chose to sit, the very spot that has remained empty since Christmas night.
Hearing the back door open doesn't startle me. Tommy only ever comes and goes from that door.
"Another?" Jersey asks, twisting his empty bottle in front of himself to get my attention.
Knowing it isn't my place to judge him, I grab a fresh beer from the cooler, twisting the cap off, and trading it for his empty bottle.
He looks sad, as if he's in a place he never thought he'd be, as he pulls in a resigned breath just before he lifts it to his lips.
I drop the empty bottle in the trash and look around the bar. As usual, there are only a few other people in the bar, and they seem quite content to just listen to the music playing from the jukebox and drink.
I make my way out of the main portion of the bar and turn toward Tommy's office. I knock on the door gently, having learned just how small the office is shortly after coming to work here. You could probably breathe on the other side of it and the person inside could hear it's so small.
"Come in," Tommy calls.
I push open the door and stand frozen in the doorway, my brain trying to figure out exactly what it's seeing.
Tommy is in his office chair, leaning back as if he doesn't have a care in the world, while a redheaded woman on her knees with her hands tied behind her back sucks his cock.
Instead of stopping her, or hell, even telling me to hold on while I was still on the other side of the closed door, he tangles his fingers in her hair and smiles up at me.
I raise my hands in the air and back out of the doorway, slamming the door closed.
"Zara!" Tommy calls, and for some fucked-up reason I stop in my tracks in the hallway, simmering with something akin to rage by the time the door is opened.
He's still zipping his slacks as he steps outside of the office. My stomach rolls at the memory of what I just saw.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I growl, realizing the hallway is way too narrow for me to be able to put any sort of distance between the two of us.
I hold my hands up, palms facing out to ward him away when he reaches out to me.
Thankfully, he doesn't press his luck.
"I don't know what the fuck is going on in there, but I won't work here if I'm going to be forced to witness shit like that," I growl, pointing toward the office door.
Just then it opens, the woman no longer tied up. She blinks at Tommy before speaking. "Are we done?"
"Not just yet, sweetheart. Give me a few minutes," he tells her, his eyes staying locked on me the entire time.
The consequences of my words crawl around inside of me. I'm not only going to lose my job, but I'll also lose my place to live. Still, I won't be around this sort of stuff. What I like and what I'm willing to tolerate at work are two very different things.
"Is that jealousy in your tone?" Tommy asks, a misplaced smile on his face as he reaches his hand up to touch my face.
"Stop. That's gross," I snap, knowing he had to touch his cock with at least one hand to get it back in his pants.
"No more. I'll have you wait outside from now on," he says as if that would solve all the problems.
I flinch away from him when he leans in to kiss my temple.
"And that shit stops, too," I growl. "If that means you'll fire me, then so be it."
Instead of getting angry, Tommy smiles, taking a step back that puts minimal distance between, both of us now with our backs pressed to opposite walls.
"I would've offered you a much different job if I had witnessed this aggressive side of you before tonight, Zara," he whispers, as if he thinks I should've pushed the redhead out of the way and swallowed his dick myself. "I like it."
Without another word, he heads back into his office, and I swear I can hear the rasp of his zipper before the door even closes him and the redhead back inside.
I manage to finish my shift, finding that Tommy left before I had to carry the trash out to the bins.
I stood up for myself, but at the same time, I have no idea how I'm ever going to face him again. I still didn't speak with him about another day off during the week.
Chapter 17
Hemlock
This is how people get shot, I think as I easily pick her front door lock.