Daddy’s Wild Girl (Montana Daddies #16)

Chapter 19

19

A fter a rocky entrance to the club, she’d been worried about how Corbin and Hayes would behave once they got downstairs.

She guessed this place was a bit strange to newcomers. There was no natural light. Not that anyone in here cared. You had to walk down a flight of stairs to get to Callahan’s. It was actually a fairly large space once you got down there. A bar ran along one wall. To the side were doors that led to the bathrooms. Behind the bar were private staff areas. It was all kind of simple. The walls were a rough brick and had a few paintings—all of them were of the English countryside. Tables and chairs were set around in a seemingly random pattern.

Above them, lights flickered and sometimes went out.

It smelled a bit musty—like spilled beer and body odor. But it wasn’t overpowering or enough to turn you off. It was just part of the experience.

Or that’s how she viewed it.

“Come on, I’ll get Churchill to make you your favorite,” Shakespeare said as he pushed through the crowd of people. She tried to follow him, but Corbin wrapped an arm around her waist.

Okay. She was getting tired of all the touching.

Uh-huh, sure you are.

Or are you tired of the fact that he only touches you to move you places or after you’ve had a nightmare or fallen from your skateboard?

Because you want him to touch you in other ways.

Like when you nearly kissed . . .

Time to stop.

“What’s wrong now?” she asked.

“Hayes will go in front and I’ll go behind you. No wandering off without us.”

Oh. Right.

With a nod, she followed Hayes as he made his way to the bar. Shakespeare was standing behind the bar next to Churchill, a tall and handsome man with a moustache and trimmed beard. His muscular arms were crossed loosely over his chest as he watched her carefully.

She gave him a nod to let him know she was all good.

These guys were her friends. As well as most of the other people who worked here. And some of the regulars.

This is where she came when she was feeling down and life was getting to her. Of course, that wasn’t always possible since she couldn’t spend all her time down here.

That’s when other adventures came in, like skydiving.

“That’s Churchill?” Corbin asked, standing close behind her.

His breath tickled the back of her neck.

Whoa.

A shiver of delight ran through her body.

Now even his breath was turning her on? What was wrong with her?

“He looks nothing like Churchill,” he commented.

“He’s not supposed to,” she managed to say. Once she unscrambled her brain. “Everyone here uses an alias. They all chose famous British people. Celebrities or playwrights or politicians or sports people. Things like that. The other bartender’s name is Darwin.” She waved at the older guy down the other end. He nodded back at her, watching Corbin with serious eyes.

Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea. She hadn’t really appreciated how protective her friends might be of her.

“There’s another bouncer called Princess Di. She’s a character and you don’t want to piss her off. And though she wears a tiara, she can take most grown men down with one hand.” She sighed. “She’s my idol. And then there are a few servers as well. There’s Beatrix as in Beatrix Potter and Jane from Jane Austen. Oh, and there’s Bob.” She waved over at the wiry guy playing a piano in the corner. Badly. He hit the wrong note and she winced. “I think it’s short for Robert the Bruce, but he won’t tell anyone. He doesn’t officially work here. One day, he just started playing the piano and told everyone that was his job. He also threatened to cut anyone who touched his baby. His baby is the piano.” She winced at another missed note. “He’s also awful. But, you know, kind of crazy. So no one argues with him.”

“He did what? He threatened to cut you?”

She rolled her eyes. “No.” Turning, she pointed her finger at him. “And I know what you’re going to say. We are not leaving. He didn’t threaten to cut me. He threatened to cut anyone who tried to play his piano. I have never touched his piano. And Bob likes me. He wouldn’t slice me up.”

“Slice you up?” Corbin grumbled. “Dear God. My blood pressure is going through the roof. I think I might actually be having a heart attack.”

Men. Such drama queens.

“Bebe!” Churchill yelled out, obviously tired of waiting for her to come to him. “You want your usual, babe?”

“Babe?” Corbin growled.

Okay, this was going to take a lot of her patience. And she didn’t have much of that left.

“It’s just a nickname; it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It better not,” Corbin muttered.

“Don’t worry. I think Churchill has a thing for Jane. Although she’s so skittish, she practically runs away whenever she sees him. It’s a whole thing.” Shaking her head at their antics, she grabbed Corbin’s hand and pulled him right over to the bar.

“Hey, Bebe,” Ernest said as he sat at the rough, worn wooden bar. “Getting your usual?”

Like that hadn’t just been screamed across the room.

“Sure am, Ernest. Where’s Bertha?”

“Gone to pee. She’s got a bladder like a greyhound. Always going. But little bits, you know. Can’t get a whole pee out like I can.”

“TMI, Ernie,” she said as she sat several stools down from him in case Hayes or Corbin wanted to sit next to her.

She really wouldn’t object to Corbin sitting next to her.

As long as he behaved.

Sheesh, she didn’t think she’d have so many problems with him. He was making Hayes look like a choirboy.

Churchill put her usual in front of her and she clapped her hands in excitement.

“What the hell is that?” Hayes asked, coming up to stand beside her. Corbin was on her other side and shot her drink a look of horror before his gaze moved around the room.

“It’s a Jellybean Sparkle martini.” The drink was glittery pink because Churchill swirled edible glitter around the inside of the glass. Then he mixed up ouzo, raspberry syrup, and Sprite and poured it in. Finally, he topped it with a healthy dollop of Cool Whip and a bunch of pink and black jellybeans.

“It’s freaking heaven on earth.”

“I thought your favorite alcoholic drink was beer,” Corbin said, watching as she took a sip.

A sigh of pleasure left her lips. “Nope. Beer is good for day-to-day stuff. But when you need a drink to lift your mood and make you smile, it’s a jellybean sparkle to the rescue.”