Whisky on My Mind (21 page)

Whisky turned her stunned gaze onto Sawyer
, who sat at the far end of the bar. When he looked across at her, he raised his beer bottle and smiled.
He knew
.

“Well
, that was convenient,” Whisky murmured, as she moved down to where Sawyer sat a few moments later.

“Wasn’t it just?”

“You can wipe that smirk off your face right now, buddy.”

“What?” he protested, failing to look at all
innocent.

“How long have you known about all that,” she asked
, nodding her head in the direction of the TV.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just as shocked as you are.”

“I don’t know how you managed to pull this off…but thank you.” Whisky leaned across and kissed him gently.

“I didn’t do anything, Whisk. It’s not me you have to thank,” he said as she pulled back to look him in the eye. “But don’t even think about thanking him like that, or I won’t be accountable for my actions,” he warned.

Whisky stared at him, confused for a moment before she made sense of his statement. There was only one person Sawyer would feel a need to warn her off—even if he had been joking, there was an undercurrent of something serious. “This was
Caleb?
”

Sawyer shrugged and took another pull of his beer.

This is what Caleb had been busy doing all this time? Digging up dirt on the Soronsons? It was no wonder Bella hadn’t seen him in days. “Do me a favor and deliver these drinks to table nine, will you Baby,” Whisky said, shoving the tray into Sawyer’s hands.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I need to make a phone call.” Whisky listened as the number dialed, walking out of the bar and into the car park.

“Whisky.
Hi,” Bella’s breathless voice answered in her ear.

“What
were you doing? Surely not using the treadmill?” Whisky joked—Bella never exercised…how she managed to keep her figure was beyond her, but she sounded as though she’d just ran a damn marathon.

“Ah, not exactly.”

Whisky frowned at her friend’s rather hedging reply until the truth suddenly dawned on her. “Oh yuck, Bella…please tell me you weren’t in the middle of…”

“The end actually, perfectly timed.”

“Damn it, Bell…I did not need to know that.”

She heard Bella’s evil chuckle on the other end of the phone and screwed her nose up. “Great, now I feel dirty.”

“You should…it was kinky!”

“Stop!”
Whisky shrieked, but couldn’t help the chuckle that followed. It was so good to have the mischievous Bella back again…she’d really missed her. 

“So why are you calling? I hope you know you’re ruining a perfectly good afterglow here
, girlfriend.”

“I was just calling to see if you were okay…clearly that was a waste of time! I’ll leave you to it.”

“Things couldn’t be better…I take it you’ve heard the news about Paul’s father?”

“Yeah.
”

She heard Bella lower her voice. “Caleb risked his career for me, Sky. I can’t tell you how that
makes me feel…I thought I’d lost him, but there he was selling his soul to make sure Paul was seen for who he really was.”

“I know…he really loves you, Bell. I just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you guys…really truly, happy.”

“Yeah?” Bella asked, and her voice cracked a little. “‘Cause I totally get why you were wary before…and I know I probably broke the whole sisterhood thing about going out with exes…but I couldn’t help it…I think I fell for him the first time I laid eyes on him.”

“You both deserve to be happy.”

“Thank you.”

“I better let you get back to…whatever it is you were doing…”

“He’s out making me sustenance…I think we’re going to need it for the rest of the night I got planned.”

“
Eww...too much information…I gotta’ go.”

“Oh, Sky…
wait! I forgot to tell you,” Bella said before she could disconnect the call. “We need to work out what to do with the apartment…I’m moving out,” she announced, and Whisky could hear the smile and excitement in her friend’s voice.

“You’re what?
When?”

“As soon as possible.
So we’ll need to find a time to pack this place up and clear it out, but we’ll talk about that later—I gotta’ go…my next course is here.” She heard Bella give a squeal moments before the line disconnected.

Whisky was still trying to process the fact Bella was moving out. Life, apparently, was about to once again take a new turn.

  “How’s Bella?” Sawyer asked later, when he came back to their room to find her.

“She’s fine. Everything seems to be worked out between her and Caleb. I think they can finally move on now.”

“Is that a good thing?” Sawyer asked quietly.

Whisky snapped her gaze toward him. “Of course it’s a good thing.”

“Then why do you sound weird?”

“She wants to get rid of the apartment.” The news had hit Whisky harder than she ever imagined it would. “
She and Caleb are moving in together.”

“
Wow, that was fast.”

“You can’t talk.”

“Hey, you held out a good couple of months before I convinced you to move in with me.”

“What a load of crap,” she said with a faint smile. After her father’s funeral, she just never really left. She couldn’t even remember making an actual decision to make the move permanent…it just kind of happened.

“So why the long face about Bella moving?”

“It’s not that she’s moving.” How did she even try and explain this to him when she was struggling to figure out her
jumbled emotions herself? “I guess I just never really thought of giving up the apartment. It’s been our home for so long.”

“You barely even use it anymore,” he pointed out logically.

He was right—but that was
not
the point. This had nothing to do with common sense—it was emotion, pure and simple. Getting rid of the apartment was like closing a very big chapter of her life…there was no way to go back once it was gone. The apartment represented her independence—while she still had it there—she had her own place.
A safety net.
Immediately she felt awkward that it had been voiced. That’s what it was—a safety net. It wasn’t even as though she felt a need to leave this life with Sawyer—she was happy, damn it! But it was still a big, final step she was somehow hesitant to make.

Her phone vibrating in her pocket start
led her, and Whisky hurried to reach in and answer it. “Hello?”

“Sky?
It’s Joe…”

“Joe? Is everything alright?” Hearing from her old boss so unexpectedly threw her off center.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Listen…I have a business proposition for you.”

Chapter
20

“He offered you the coffee shop?” Sawyer repeated, his face wearing a slight frown as she told him what Joe had said.

“A lump sum deposit up front, and then we’ll work out a repayment schedule for the next two years until it’s paid off.” Whisky was just as stunned as Sawyer appeared to be, but her mind had been busy turning over numbers and working out how she could make this happen.

“What about the bar?”

“The bar has always been your baby, Sawyer. You know this coffee shop business is something I was working toward eventually.”

“Yeah, but I kinda’ figured it wouldn’t be for a while yet.”

Something about his tone began to annoy her. Was he actually…pouting? “What did you think I was beating my head against a brick wall with all the banks for?”

“I thought since no one would give you the loan that would take a while.”

“This is what I’ve been working toward. It’s what I was working toward before I even met you.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got the club now. I don’t see why you need to go spreading yourself so thin running another business when you could be here. Besides,” he added gruffly, “how are you going to commute back and forth every day? It’s already a pain when you do it for school. I thought you were looking for something out this way.”

“I was…but this is an established business. It’s in an amazing location, already has
regular clientele…and I know it. I‘ve already worked there—I know the people he deals with, the suppliers, the customers…it would be crazy to start a business from scratch in a place where I had none of that behind me. This makes perfect business sense.”

“What about us? How does it make sense for you and
me if you’re spending all your time in the city? We’re supposed to be getting married, remember?”

“You could come with me,” she suggested
, and disappointment rolled across her when she saw him shake his head and give an impatient sigh. “What happened to the whole, ‘we’ll get a place away from the club’ thing?” she asked. “That was supposed to be the deal,
remember?
”

“And it still is—when the time’s right. At the moment
, in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve had a few little problems that have needed to be dealt with first.”

“When is it ever going to be a good time, Sawyer? Around this place there’s always something coming up that needs to be dealt with. We can’t keep living like this. The damn phone is always ringing with some major crisis in the bar that needs one of us to deal with…if it’s not the bar then
it’s club business that you need to go handle…there’s
never
going to be any ideal time to go.”

“What do you expect me to do? Who the hell is going to handle things if we’re not here?”

“Put on a night manager. You can’t tell me there’s not at least half a dozen guys in this club more than capable of handling things out here? It’s a business, Sawyer. You run it during working hours and have a night manager to work at night. Then you go home.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It
is
that simple. We are never going to have our own life with the damn club hanging over our heads.”

“The club is our life!”

“No. The club was
your
life. I haven’t been a part of the club in a very long time.”She loved the club and what it represented, these people had been a part of her life as a child and they were there for her when her father died, but as far as owing them her entire life—she did not agree with that at all. “Club life isn’t like it used to be. Johnny went clean. There are no outlaw club rules any more. You’re businessmen—legitimate businessmen. You’re allowed to socialize with other people…we don’t have to hide away in secret now. It’s time for the club to move on.”

“You want me to leave the club? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying at all…I just want to have a life with you, outside this place,” she said, waving her hands around at the room. “Our own house. Somewhere we can come to that doesn’t involve the club. I’m sick of everyone knowing our business…we’re living in each other’s pockets here. I need my own space.”

“Then we’ll find a house out here somewhere.”

“I want this coffee shop Sawyer. I don’t think I can turn down the offer.”

Sawyer was quiet for a moment, watching her with a steady, unfathomable look.
“So where does that leave us?”

Whisky let out a long sigh and shook her head faintly. “I don’t know.” And she didn’t. She had no idea where that left them…but wherever it was wasn’t feeling particularly comforting right now.

****

Over the next two days things were worse than ever between Sawyer and Whisky. The coffee shop offer hung between them like a huge, insurmountable wedge, slowly driving them further and further apart. They didn’t talk about the offer any more—there was nothing to really say. They were stuck. It came down to making a choice; either she took the offer or she turned it down and things stayed as they were.

Taking the offer meant that she would most likely end up living back in the apartment in the city, and Sawyer would remain here. It would be okay for a while—they’d survived before, commuting and spending a few days a week apart. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was Sawyer would forever be tied to the club and they would never have a normal family life. She could accept that for now…but what would happen once they had kids? It wasn’t something she wanted for a while yet—not with her coffee shop dream still burning so strong…but one day she knew she would. What sort of family life would it be having Sawyer forever living at the club, trying to head off potential trouble? What happened when another threat reared its head? You couldn’t have bodyguards following kids to school and holing up in the club during a lockdown! How could she put children at risk, exposing them to this sometimes violent lifestyle?