Fawnskin 01 - Fawnskin by A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly

Author:A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly [Alchemy, Elemental]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Mel closed up the bar at ten o’clock. Takings weren’t bad considering the weather and whatever damned curse that gypsy had put on him. He washed the glasses and felt the tension in his shoulders sit in hard lumps beneath the skin. He had run the place single-handed for two months and felt his health deteriorating. He felt older and older every single day. He’d put everything into this place. Everything to keep it open, to be the relaxing place it should be for folks to unwind.

He did a hell of an acting job when the doors were open. If only his clientele knew how poorly he slept, how dreams of running out of booze, of having no food or clean glasses haunted him…tortured him. He woke often, sweating and in tears, certain he could no longer cope with the pressure.

He checked the bottles. Okay for now. He’d managed to get through another night with things running smoothly. On the outside. On the inside, man, my guts ache. Cooking the meals was his favorite part, but it was a strain when he had more than a few customers needing drinks and he had to run to the kitchen to flip steaks.

Mel made a careful notation of the cash and credit card receipts. With the phones down he couldn’t verify those purchases electronically. He ran them on an old-fashioned portable machine and thankfully his credit was good enough that unless the cards were stolen, the bank would honor the charges.

He thought briefly about his ex-lover, Nick. What a cluster fuck that was. Nick, who’d gotten him a great loan and made him feel like everything was going to be okay…and now. Now. He gave the bar top one last swipe with a soft cloth and picked up his keys.

Mel was surprised when he heard a car stop out front. He heard footsteps and then Adrian’s face appeared at the window panel by the front door.

“Hey,” Mel said, feeling his smile reaching his heart. He unlocked the door.

Adrian leaned in. “You leaving?”

“Yeah. I can get you a drink though.” Mel really didn’t want to

get him a drink. He was exhausted and he knew Penny would have dinner waiting, but he liked this guy and Mel was a patsy when he liked a guy.

“No, please don’t go out of your way. You’re probably tired. Hey, why don’t we go some place for coffee?”

Mel was so pleased he opened and closed his mouth without uttering a word.

Adrian laughed and Mel laughed, too.

“I don’t think anything’s open this late around here. My sister has dinner waiting for me.” Mel couldn’t resist. “Why don’t you come to my place? She always cooks too much and we have coffee.”

“Okay,” Adrian said. “I’d like that.”

Mel drove his car, Adrian following, and he parked outside the house he shared with his father and Penny.

Adrian climbed out of his car and glanced at the house. “Nice. You lived here long?”

“My dad’s owned it for years. I moved in with him a couple of years ago.

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