Gold Digger_A Whisky's Novel Read online

  Imagine my surprise when Zane called two months later and told me he’d bought a restaurant and was turning it into a bar—just like we’d talked about. When he asked me to sketch out some plans, I didn’t hesitate. Forget that I knew nothing about the food and beverage industry. Zane didn’t care. His dad had owned hotels. He’d grown up in the service industry and could teach me. More than that, he wanted me to be a part of his dream. I spent weeks mulling it over. In the end, I took a leap of faith, and instead of going home, I moved to a place I’d never stepped foot in.

  Before I even arrived in Charlotte, I was made manager of a bar called Whisky’s. Three years later, not only was I managing one of the most lucrative bars in the city, but I was also part owner in a beer distributorship, starting a new venture with Zane and Hunter, and making more money than I’d ever dreamed was possible. All of this was because of Zane Mitchell, a man who wasn’t just my friend, but was also now my brother-in-law.

  When I introduced my stepsister Cat to Zane, the last thing I expected was for them to hook up. Zane was not her type...at all. He was a player, not a one-woman man, and definitely not the man for my sister. One minute they hated each other and the next they were in love and getting married. Goody for them. Not so much for me. In the blink of an eye, I’d lost my wingman. Not just that, but I was drowning at work. While Zane was busy getting the new bar up and running, I was carrying Whisky’s. Hunter, our co-manager and friend, could sling a drink like no one’s business, but was absolutely useless everywhere else. This left me to bear the brunt of it all. I was exhausted. I needed to let off steam, preferably by getting laid. Something had to give.

  “Good morning, boss,” Sonya called out as I entered the building.

  I gave her a nod and asked, “Hunter?”

  “He’s up on the roof having coffee,” she replied with an eye roll. Of course he was.

  With another nod, I headed up to the roof to find Hunter. On the way up the stairs, I thought about Sonya and her tight little ass. Maybe I should consider taking a page from Zane’s playbook. It wouldn’t take much to lure Sonya into the office and bend her over the desk. Then I thought about when Zane hooked up with our ex-bartender Sally and how well that fiasco had ended. Yeah, probably not a good idea. Maybe I would give Belinda a call. Then again, maybe not. Now that she would be working at our new bar, Sazerac’s, continuing to sleep with her probably wasn’t a good idea. The last time I’d seen Belinda was at the wedding. She’d called several times since then, but I’d been too busy to respond. That, and I really wasn’t all that interested. Hadley Jacobs’ naked body popped into my head as I reached the top of the stairs and Hunter came into view. As usual, he was sitting at the bar. On approach, I quickly set aside all thoughts of Hadley and our night together.

  “Hey, boss!” Sammy, our new rooftop bartender called out from behind the bar. Sammy was smart, pretty, and married, which is exactly why I’d hired her. Hunter was a dog when it came to women, but especially women who worked for us. He fucked them. They fell for him. He rejected them. They quit. Rinse and repeat.

  “Zane called,” Hunter informed. “He and Cat will be here in ten. They want to talk to us about something.”

  I nodded for Sammy to fill the empty coffee cup before responding. “Did he say what that something was?”

  “Nope, just that they wanted to meet when they got here.”

  “Thanks,” I mouthed at Sammy and waited for her to refill Hunter’s cup before we both headed downstairs.

  Bieber’s voice on the opening of “Despacito” poured from the speakers as we passed through the downstairs bar to the office, and I couldn’t help but think of the You Tube video I’d watched a few days ago: “I Wear Speedos.” Now I couldn’t hear the song without thinking about dudes in nut huggers.

  “Is it just me, or does the wait staff seem really young these days?” Hunter asked.

  “Are we referencing ages or musical preferences?” I questioned.

  His reply of “Both,” made me smile. Hunter, Zane, and I were all in our mid-thirties. As of right now, Sammy was our oldest employee, and she was twenty-eight. Maybe it wasn’t just me who was feeling my age these days. Before I could give Hunter shit about it, Zane and Cat walked in.

  “Good, you’re both here,” Zane announced. Cat gave hugs and once we all were seated, he launched right in. “We’re on track for a soft opening in three weeks. Cathryn’s done an amazing job with hiring, which is why we’re here.” His eyes sliced from his wife to us. “I know we talked about splitting our time between Whisky’s and Sazerac’s, but with the opening looming, I really want you both at Sazerac’s with me.” He held up his hands before either of us could protest, and added, “It’s just until we get off the ground and running.”

  The Mitchell was one of two hotels that Zane’s father had owned. When his father passed away, he left the hotels, Riverbend, and a shit-pile of money to Zane and his mother. Sadly, Zane’s mother squandered her share. Not only did she sell off the hotels, but she also tried to steal Zane’s part of the inheritance. After she passed away, Zane made it his mission to recapture what she’d let go, and this past year, he’d managed to buy back both hotels.

  Zane’s first order of business was to revamp the hotel lobby. This meant adding new shops, restaurants, and an upscale piano and jazz bar. Sazerac’s on 6th would be an upscale bar that served craft beer and cocktails as well as heavy hors d’oeuvres.

  “What about Whisky’s?” Hunter asked.

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. As you know, I’ve been trying to get Elena Owens on our payroll for months now. Cat thinks we can get her to join us if we offer her a job as an assistant manager, but first, I wanted to run it past the two of you.”

  Elena, or Lena as she preferred to be called, was a resident at Riverbend and currently working for a rival bar in town called Dragonfly. Both Dragonfly and The Last Call were partially owned by Dillon Whitaker, a friend and an ex-employee of Zane’s. Lena was beautiful, competent, and definitely more capable than Dillon gave her credit for. If not for Hunter’s secret obsession with her, she’d make a great manager. However, being that Hunter had slept with her and she’d broken his heart—something he’d disclosed one night when he was hammered beyond all reason—I was pretty sure this was a bad idea.

  “We don’t need Lena. Hunter can work Sazerac’s and I’ll stay here,” I offered, hoping that Zane would get the hint. Hunter’s head whipped around and he glared at me.

  “Fuck that. Do you know what you’re asking?” His contentious tone caught everyone off-guard, and we all froze.

  “Enlighten me,” Zane clipped back at him.

  “I haven’t had a day off in three months and neither has Blake.”

  This caught Zane’s attention. By Cat’s surprised facial expression, I’d say it caught hers too.

  “Well, take one,” Zane said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Hunter blinked. Then he burst into laughter.

  “As if,” he commented between bouts of laughter. I wasn’t in the least bit humored.

  Zane’s eyes shifted to mine. A long, silent moment passed between us as I considered what to say and how to say it without causing major shit to fly.

  Finally, I just gave it to him. “We can’t just take a day off, Z, and if you split us up, we’ll never get one. Hiring Lena is a good idea, but there’s no way she can handle this place by herself...but I can,” I assured them both.

  Ignoring my comment, Zane turned to Hunter and asked, “If I take Blake with me to Sazerac’s, can you handle Whisky’s with Lena?”

  “No,” I said.

  “Yes,” Hunter replied, and smiled when I shot him a ‘what the fuck’ look.

  Turning to Cat, Zane said, “Do what it takes to get Lena on board.” He followed it with, “What’s the status on Hadley?” I visibly stiffened at the mention of Hadley’s name. I had no idea what my sister did or didn’t know about what happened between me and Hadley. My best course
of action was to play dumb, but that didn’t stop me from wondering.

  Cat’s eyes sliced to me when she answered, “She’s due in today.”

  “Hadley who?” Hunter questioned.

  “You don’t remember my friend Hadley Jacobs? She was at our wedding. She was my college roommate and is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. Well, she just finished her culinary degree and we’ve hired her on as Sazerac’s new chef,” Cat explained. Hunter’s eyes shot to his forehead.

  “The dark-haired beauty with the rocking body?” he asked, and I wanted to punch him in the face. Cat smiled.

  “I’ll be sure to tell her you said that,” she mused. Her smile widened when she caught the scowl on my face, and I could tell that she knew something. Shit.

  I’d tried to erase that night with Hadley, but my mind—and my cock—seemed to go there on a regular basis...as in way too often.

  Hadley fucking Jacobs.

  My stepsister’s best friend from college. I’d watched her walk into the party. Hell, everyone noticed her walk in. She was the only one wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but not just that. She was like a fresh breath of air. Her hair was pulled off of her face into a ponytail and she didn’t have a lick of makeup on. Something about her drew all eyes her way, mine included. When she reappeared wearing that fucking dress and those silver heels, with her dark hair falling across her bare shoulders, her face made up, and her lips glossed to match her dress, I lost all ability to think straight. All I knew was that I wanted her. So much so that I told Belinda, who was my date for the evening, that I had a work emergency. After she left, I stayed and proceeded to get Hunter hammered so I could get him out of the picture.

  Hadley was as cool as a cucumber. That is, until I got a few drinks in her. Then she lit up like a Roman candle. I’ve never seen anything like it, or her, for that matter. Hadley, with her big, brown eyes, porcelain skin, hourglass figure, and tits to die for, was off limits. Sleeping with her was the stupidest thing I’d ever done. Only, it wasn’t stupid then. It was hands down the best sex I’d ever had. No, it wasn’t stupid until she ran. It would figure that the one and only time I trashed my rules and actually spent the night with a woman, I would awaken the next morning to discover her gone. I don’t know why she ran and I didn’t fucking care. As far as I was concerned, that night never happened.

  “Cat, you’re on Lena today. I don’t care what you have to offer, just get her on board. I’ll train her once she’s here. Starting next week, I want Blake at Sazerac’s. Blake, take tomorrow off. Hunter, you take the day after. I’ll figure out how to cover you. Sound good?” he asked.

  “Sounds good to me,” Hunter quickly answered. All eyes came to me.

  “Sure...sounds great,” I muttered. When in truth, it sounded anything but.

  Chapter Three

  Hadley

  The drive to Charlotte was vastly different the second time around. Instead of excitement, this one was tinged with desperation. I was moving to a strange place and taking on a new job, while pregnant from a one-night stand with a man I didn’t even know. I may not know him, but that didn’t stop me from fantasizing about him. That is, when I wasn’t feeling exhausted or nauseated, which these days was pretty much all the time. I’d never lived anywhere but Alabama. I’d never really wanted to live anywhere else, and I was scared. More like terrified. Blake deserved to know that I was carrying his child, but what then?

  “You’ll figure it out,” Mom had said.

  “But what if I don’t?” I’d replied.

  “Then you come home and we’ll figure it out together.” Her matter-of-fact answer was exactly what I needed to hear. I was a planner, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t have a plan. I was flying blind. The ground beneath my feet kept changing and the rules by which I’d governed my life were shifting faster than I could keep up with. The night of Cat’s wedding, Blake wanted me. I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his touch. God knows I’d wanted him, but I couldn’t help but wonder if that was all there was to it. Was there a connection between us or had I just imagined it? Was it just a drunken hookup? I wasn’t sure. Either way, that night had landed me in one hell of a predicament.

  I glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror. At twelve weeks pregnant, I was far from glowing. Dark circles under my eyes betrayed my lack of sleep and my skin looked pasty. Instead of gaining weight, I’d lost it. When I mentioned this to my doctor a few days ago at my checkup, he said it was normal. Other than the bone-deep exhaustion, the sporadic bouts of nausea, and my hag-like appearance, you couldn’t tell that I was pregnant. Nevertheless, I was, and figuring out how to tell Blake weighed heavily on me. Sadly, Blake wasn’t my only concern. There was also my father.

  The day after I called Cat, I broke the news to my dad. Dad and I had always been close. Not like I was with my mom, but still close. After my parents divorced, his job relocated him to Florida. That’s when the ‘every other week’ visits turned into ‘summers with Dad.’ We missed Mom, but nothing beat Florida summers with Dad. Tilly took after our mother in that they were both free spirits. I was my father’s daughter through and through. I was practical, thoughtful, and cautious. Because of this, I skipped the irresponsible part of the conversation and dove right in to the move, my new job, and all of the money I would be making.

  “What about the bakery?” Dad asked.

  “It’s still there. However, I feel that this is a better opportunity,” I answered, praying that he wouldn’t push.

  “I’m not disagreeing with you, but you’ve been talking about buying that bakery for two years. Why the sudden change of heart?” His question made me physically squirm.

  “I just need a change of scenery. Plus, it really is an exceptional opportunity,” I lamely replied.

  “Okay, honey. If this is what you need to do, then I support your decision.” His soft tone made my eyes well with tears. God, my dad was such a good man. Even though he questioned my motives, he still gave me his support. A part of me wanted to spill the beans and tell him that he was going to be a grandfather, but something stopped me. What if Blake was a total jerk and didn’t want to be a father? What if I hated the job and decided to put the baby up for adoption? At this point in time, there were too many unknowns, so I decided to keep my mouth shut about the pregnancy. With the promise to call when I got to Charlotte, I ended the call.

  Around eight that evening I arrived at my destination. The late-summer sun had almost set and Riverbend was captured in a warm, golden glow. As I pulled into the circular drive and parked, I was struck again by the beauty of the place.

  My hands drifted to my stomach. “Well, this is it, my lima bean. Our home sweet home,” I whispered. Then I grabbed my purse and opened the car door. I came up short when I noticed Cat and Zane standing in the complex doorway. Their eyes were on me and Cat had a huge grin on her face. Zane did not. This made me wonder exactly what Cat had told him. For fear of Zane telling Blake, we’d agreed not to tell Zane about the pregnancy. Still, Cat had to have told him something.

  “I’m so glad you’re here!” she squealed from across the parking lot. The moment I reached where they were standing, she pulled me in for a hug.

  “Sorry about your mom,” Zane mumbled. I shot him a questioning look, but quickly reined it in when I saw Cat’s panicked expression. Zane held the door open and I thanked him as we entered the building.

  “Both of my parents are dead, so if you ever need to talk, you know where our door is,” he offered.

  My body jerked and my eyes flew to Cat, who quickly put her arm around me, and muttered under her breath, “Just go with it.”

  “Oh, okay, thanks,” I replied.

  On entry to their apartment, Zane gave Cat a kiss. Then he asked if we wanted any wine. Cat told him no, which garnered her a strange look.

  “Zane is making his famous shrimp fettuccine tonight,” she informed me. “We’d love to have you for dinner.” Just the thought of shrimp made my stomach
lurch. It was a good thing Zane’s back was to us or he would have seen me turn three different shades of green. Cat noticed it and quickly amended, “Silly me. What was I thinking? I bet you’re exhausted.”

  “Fettucine sounds great,” I lied, “but I ate a bunch of junk on the drive in and am really tired. What I really need is a shower and a good night’s sleep.”

  “No worries, we’ll get you over for dinner later this week,” she murmured.

  Once Zane was out of sight, I swiveled around and bugged my eyes at her. “What the hell?” I whispered.

  “Sorry. Zane wanted me to hire someone from the hotel for the job. I had to think fast.”

  “So you told him my mother died?” What was she thinking?

  “It was the only thing I could think of on such short notice.” Her guilty expression would have been funny if it hadn’t been my mother she’d lied about. What was I supposed to say when Mom and Tilly paid me a visit?

  The kitchen door suddenly opened and Zane was back...with olives and a block of what looked like a yellow blob of curds surrounded by crackers.

  He waved the tray under my nose as he passed by, and announced, “I hope you like pimento cheese. Cat’s is the best.” By the grace of God, I managed not to gag. I felt my face turning red. My nose stung as my eyes reflexively moistened, but I somehow managed to swallow it back.

  Sensing my distress, Cat said, “I’m going to show Hadley to her apartment. Be right back.” I barely managed a wave before we were on the move.

  Cat led me up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway. At the halfway mark, she halted in front of a door with the letter D on it.

  “This is my old apartment. Instead of renting it out, Zane and I have been using it for guests. Once you’re on your feet, we’ll reevaluate, but for now, it’s yours.”