Temptation [h.s.] ✔

Chapter 34.

        I rub the lingering sleep from my eyes as I park my car outside the bar. The new bar. Aaron's bar.

        Kind of my bar.

        It's an odd feeling, knowing that, in twelve days, the bar will be ready to open and I'll be the guy—er, gal—in charge. The only thing I've ever really been in charge of before is my freakin' cat, and considering his lack of canned food, he'd argue that I do a pretty crappy job.

        I pause in the middle of the sidewalk and set a reminder to go to the store and get Angus some food. And food for me because my cupboards are seriously skinny right now.

        Tucking my phone in the pocket of my sweater, I walk into the bar, now named Indulgence.

        Not much has changed since Aaron brought me here a few days ago. There's still dust everywhere despite the use of dust sheets, and I'm still given a bright yellow hard-hat before I can go more than five steps.

        At least there are a million black marble tiles stacked in the corner ready to be laid on the floor.

        There are no tables, no curtains, no bar, but there's flooring.

        Reassuring.

        I wander around for a bit, aimlessly taking in what's going on. I'm getting ready to leave when one of the builders holding a floor plan waves for my attention. I make my way through tools and various construction items toward him.

        "Yes?"

        "Are you Liv Warren?"

        "Yes, that's me."

        He visibly relaxes. "Great. Miss, we have a problem with the bar."

        No, you don't. "What is it?"

        He sets the floor plan out on a stack of wood that will eventually become the stairs and points to the area where it meets the edge of the bar. "Because of the poor construction in the upper level, we have to bring the stairs out by another two feet." He runs his finger down the seating opposite the bar. "This will mean that you can't have seats here and it'll thin your walkway space from the seating area to the dance floor."

        I blink at the plans for a moment. "Give me a second." I walk away from him and pull out my phone to dial the number for Aaron's office.

        "Hello. Aaron Styles's office?"

        "Hi, Dottie. This is Liv. Is Aaron around?"

        "He's just about to go to a meeting. Is it urgent?"

        "It's pretty important, yeah."

        "Just a sec."

        I hear a rustle as she moves the phone then a low rumble of voices. Seconds later, Aaron comes on the line.

        "What can I do for you, Liv?"

        I explain everything the builder just said to me, but he cuts me off halfway through.

        "Shit. Okay, look. I can't be late for this meeting. Just do what you think is best, even if it means overriding the plans, all right?"

        "Uh"—shit—"sure."

        The line goes dead. I close my eyes and mutter a few choice words. I did not sign up for this.