Her Daddy’s Special Girl by Mary Potter

CHAPTER TWO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will

I didn’t normally work Friday nights, but one of my bartenders had called out sick. As the owner, stepping in to fill any role was standard, and I was happy to do it. It kept the job exciting, and allowed me to guarantee that any situation, such as this one, was handled correctly.

I didn’t recognize the kid but I had noticed him roaming around, talking to pretty girls and getting politely turned down. I guessed he saw an easier target when he saw Rebecca sitting there, alone.

Rebecca was a regular. She and her friends had been coming to my club for about five years now—since they were legally able to. She was always polite and friendly, and we usually chatted when I was behind the bar. She was a pretty girl and I always thought it was strange that she never had a boyfriend with her.

There were plenty of men that hit on her, and sometimes I’d see her flirting back, but then inevitably she’d go back to her friends. I wondered what she was looking for, but I was only a passing acquaintance, so I let it go.

Now, at least, I knew I could help her out of this unwanted situation.

“Huh?” the kid asked.

“I said it’s time for you to go.” I waved at Tony, one of my bouncers, and he made his way over.

“But why!” the kid said.

“Because you’re bothering my customers.” I gave him a stern look, letting him know I saw right through him.

“What? No I’m not.” The kid turned to Rebecca and smiled at her. “We were just talking, right?”

“Well, when I told you I wanted to be alone, you ignored me and tried to buy me a drink,” she said pointedly.

The kid looked offended then. With a bite to his voice, he asked, “So you have a problem with people being nice to you?”

I rolled my eyes. It was typical for boys like him to think that way. So many of them acted like absolute jerks, completely ignored social cues, and didn’t know how to take rejection. It was no wonder so many women fell into bad relationships with what they were expected to settle for.

I didn’t want anyone to settle for me. My interests were specific and at the very core of who I was. If the girl I wanted to be with was anything less than one hundred percent into it, I didn’t want it. That’s why I had been single for so long, and why my friend James was constantly teasing me for not hooking up or dating at all.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I looked straight into the kid’s eyes and said, “Enough.”

Tony had finally made his way over to us. Looking at him, I said, “Please escort this boy out of my club, Tony. Take a picture, too. I don’t want him coming back here.”

“What? You can’t do that!” the kid said, but there was uncertainty behind his eyes.

I smiled at him tightly. “I can,” I said, raising my eyebrows and nodding once, “and I have.”

His hands balled up into fists. “I’m going to complain to you boss about this,” he threatened.

A puff of laughter burst out of me. “Kid, I am the boss. Now, get out of here and learn how to take no for an answer.”

Tony gripped onto the kid’s arm and steered him towards the exit. Almost immediately, he shoved Tony off with a frustrated huff, but walked towards the exit, glaring and grumbling along the way.

I shook my head before turning to Rebecca. “Sorry about that.”

She giggled, but then stopped and cleared her throat.

Smiling, she said. “It’s not your fault some dickhead came into your club.”

“I know,” I said with a shrug. “But I hate when dickheads disturb my customers.”

She shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

My eyebrows pulled together. Used to it? “This happens often?”

“Not here,” Rebecca was quick to say. “Just in general. In life.”

“I don’t like that either,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

She smiled at me. “What you just did was great. I love that you don’t allow people who do that to stay here, even if it means you lose money in the process.”

“Ah, it’s what, two, maybe three drinks? He would have been a shit tipper anyway, I can tell.”

She giggled again and I couldn’t help but smile. “What are you doing here on your own, anyway? You’re usually with a bunch of friends when you come in.”

Rebecca stopped giggling and blushed, looking down at her drink and twirling it between her fingers. Clearly it was either a sore subject or she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” I said.

“No, no,” she said. She kept her gaze on her martini a moment longer before looking up at me, pink spreading across her cheekbones. “I was hoping for less of a friends’ night and more of, um, a ‘me night’. With someone.”

It took me a few seconds to piece together what she meant, but then it clicked. With someone. She was looking to hookup with someone.

I felt a twinge of something in my chest, but pushed it away, leaning forward with my hands on the bar and smiling as kindly as I could. “This is the place for it,” I said.

She looked almost relieved when I said that, shoulders visibly relaxing and she stopped fiddling with her glass.

“I know it’s the place,” she said, leaning forward and lowering her voice just a touch. I leaned in, too, to hear her better. “I’m just not sure if I’m right for this.”

I felt a protectiveness come over me. I was ready to tell her she shouldn’t feel pressured to do anything she didn’t want to, but she was already shaking her head at me and holding up a hand, as if she knew what I was going to say.

“I want it. I do. I think I’m just bad at… finding someone. I guess.”

She bit her lip and looked down at her drink again, looking nervous and quite adorable. I didn’t think she’d have any problem finding someone who would want to be with her, it was just making sure she was feeling it, too.

Luckily, I’d helped many customers make connections in the eight years I’d owned this club. I ignored the slight knot in my stomach at the thought of pushing Rebecca into the arms of someone else, and leaned even further towards her. She looked up at me with wide eyes and I couldn’t help but smile.

“I think I can help,” I said.