He nods. “Yes. Take away a foot of floor and the stairs would come out in the seating area in front of the bar, and then you could go either way.”
“And it wouldn’t impact the access to the storeroom, coatroom, or restrooms?”
“No, ma’am. If you put the bar along this wall, it’ll actually be easier access for staff.”
“Perfect. Put the bar here”—I point to along the wall—“the main seating area here”—I circle the area in front of it—“and the dance floor here. But make sure there’s a space to access the restrooms without having to go through the dance floor. And while we’re here, could you put a minibar in upstairs? I believe Mr. Stone wants it to be VIP and special occasion only, so they’ll want their drinks served separately.”
“We can fit a corner bar in here.” He taps the paper. “It’ll be big enough for one member of staff only.”
“That’s great. Can you start the new plan tomorrow?”
The builder confirms that they can and gets back to work. I breathe out a long sigh and look around.
Maybe I am cut out for this management malarkey after all.
Two hands grasp my hips and pull me backward. I gasp as I slam into a hard body and hot breath flutters over my ear.
“I’m disappointed in your lack of amenities. I was hoping for a Blow Job,” Tyler murmurs into my ear, his fingers digging into my hips.
“I’m sorry. We’re not serving yet. You’ll have to try again when there’s, oh, I don’t know, a bar, maybe?”
He laughs low and buzzes his lips along my jaw. “Or I’ll try again later today. What do you think my chances are?”
“Considerably higher if you start with saying hello.”
He spins me effortlessly and clasps his hands at my lower back. I rest my own against his chest and look up at him. The bright-yellow hard hat is lopsided on his head, and his dark eyes are shining with both heat and happiness. His lips twitch twice before tugging into a smirk.
“Hello,” he says simply. “You’re very sexy when you go all bossy. Are you aware of this?”
“Hello. I am now.” I smile as he dips his head and covers my mouth with his.
“No, I mean you’re very sexy.” He nudges my back with his hands. My hips push into him…and his very obvious erection.
“You’ve been in here five minutes and you’re already ready to go? Are you a teenage boy lying to me about your age?”
“No, luckily for you. They don’t have the best stamina.”
“Word,” I mutter. “You’re back early. I wasn’t expecting you to call until later.”
“Couldn’t say away,” he replies honestly. “I was up at the fucking ass-crack of dawn to get back here.”
“Why, Tyler Stone, did you miss me?”
He brings one hand up and cups my jaw, pulling my face close to his. “Missed what’s inside your knickers.”
I smack his chest. “Asshole.”
He tries to kiss me, but I jerk my face to the side and he ends up grinning against my cheek. “Hey, fiestypants. My cock missed what’s inside your knickers. I missed you. Just you.”
“I should hope so. I’m very missable.” I let him kiss me this time.
“I didn’t miss your sass though.”
I smack him again and step back. “Oh, romance me.” I roll my eyes and set my hard hat on some planks of wood by the door.
He does the same and follows me outside. “Oh, I have.” He grins and grabs my hand. His Mercedes is parked outside, and he pulls me toward it. He lets go and opens the passenger’s side door then grabs something from inside it.
“Oh my fucking god.”
I stare at him blankly. The roses and handcuffs thing? Yeah. He really was deadly serious.
He grins like the fucker he is. “There’s actually a tie, too. I didn’t know if you’d still be in a handcuff mood today.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling. “You are something else, Tyler Stone.”
“Will that get me a blow job?”
I cover my mouth with a hand as an old woman walks past and stares at us wide-eyed. I wait until she turns the corner of the street to look at Tyler. He’s shaking with quiet laughter.
“I wasn’t aware that I had a choice in the matter,” I finally say, still fighting my smile.
His eyes light up and he drops the roses back into the car. “That’s right,” he mutters, stalking back toward me. “You don’t, do you?”
“And here I was thinking you were going soft on me now that we’re in this relationship situation.”
“I could never go soft on my bitch.” He cups the side of my head, his fingers sinking in my hair, and pulls me into him. “In fact, tonight, I plan to go very, very hard on you.” He tilts my head back, his mouth by my ear, and adds, “On both your mouth and your pussy. I hope you’re ready.”
“That depends. Are you buying me dinner first?”
“McDonald’s does not count as dinner.”
“You said dinner. You didn’t say you wanted a restaurant dinner, or a Chinese dinner, or a sushi dinner, so we’re having a McDonald’s dinner.” He grins at me.
“But it’s not dinnertime. It’s lunch.”
“It could be breakfast as long as I get a blow job.” His grin widens and he leans over to speak into the mic. “Hi, can I have a large Big Mac meal with a Coke and a Quarter Pounder bacon cheeseburger but without all the gherkins and onions and a strawberry milkshake?”
My half-amused, half-annoyed stare turns shocked. “How the hell do you know what I order at McDonald’s?”
“I don’t. I took a lucky guess that you order exactly the same as Dayton.”
She’s my best friend and marrying his cousin, but it bugs me that he knows her better than me.
Is that irrational?
Fuck. It is.
I mentally slap myself. Pull your shit together, Olivia.
My phone rings as we drive to the next window and Nana’s name blinks onscreen. Um?
“Nana? Is everything okay?”
“You said you were going to call me, and then you didn’t, you wombat!”
Wombat? “Okay, one, it’s only been, like, three days, and two, you told me not to call you because I’d just piss you off!”
Tyler looks at me with raised eyebrows and a half grin.
“You know what pisses me off? You not calling when you said you would,” Nana replies.