Free Under the Surface by Anne Calhoun Page B

slipped in through the back door. Men did favors for women like Eve just to be near her. See her smile.
    After her last interaction with him, she wasn’t smiling. He took a deep breath and rolled his neck and shoulders to loosen up. Then he did the only thing he could to keep her safe. He went back to work.

 
    CHAPTER FIVE
    Just as the DJ cut the sound, Eve closed the front door behind the gum-smacking blonde with the spectacularly creative hairdo. The uncanny two a.m. quiet settled over the bar after closing, but rather than being soothing or seductive, tonight it jangled every one of Eve’s nerves.
    Her family accused her of acting on impulse. What they didn’t realize was that the impulses came from a lifetime of family values. They just showed up bigger, brighter, flashier than getting married and having kids, like opening Eye Candy or going to the cops with Lyle’s offer of much needed cash in exchange for fronting his illegal business. Ten years ago Lyle had treated her like his little sister, affectionate but without any of the teasing or bossing she endured from Caleb. What happened tonight was her first clue that Lyle Murphy would play rough.
    Cesar was putting away his stool in the storeroom when she cornered him.
    â€œWhat happened?” she asked, keeping her voice low and reassuring.
    â€œHe just kept coming,” Cesar said. “I didn’t think you’d want me to level him, so I let them in.”
    He had a point. He also had a ninth-grade education, no job skills, no legal work experience, and no future but the streets if she couldn’t keep him employed while he worked on his GED. “It’s okay,” she said. “I can deal with Lyle. Let him in but anyone who doesn’t meet our dress code has to wait outside. Keep them away from the queue.” Baggy pants and hip hop shirts were one thing, but no woman should have to listen to what she’d heard from Lyle’s bodyguards—“C’mon, drop it like it’s hot”—in the thirty seconds it took to get them upstairs.
    â€œI got it,” he confirmed. As he stood up he slipped a battered paperback copy of Moby Dick into his shorts pocket.
    â€œGood,” she said, then looked down at the book. “What’s this I hear about you skipping GED classes?”
    â€œIt’s the math,” he said, awkwardly shifting his shoulders. “History and English I got, but we started Algebra a couple weeks ago. X ’s and Y ’s. Balancing equations. It don’t make sense to me.”
    She heaved a mental sigh of relief. He wasn’t quitting, just having trouble with the work. Keeping her expression even, she said, “I’m pretty good at math, if you want some help.”
    â€œI dunno,” he said, hitching up his jeans. “I got a lot of late work.”
    â€œCome by before your next class. We’ll get you caught up. Walk Natalie to her car, then you’re done.” She handed him his share of the take for the night.
    Tom winked and nudged her shoulder. She knew he’d like to add benefits to their friendship, but his shoulder nudge didn’t register after Chad’s out-of-the-blue dominant move in the hallway. “Hey, Hot Stuff, a couple of us are heading over to Mario’s for drinks. You have plans?”
    One hand on her hip, Eve lifted one eyebrow at Tom. He grinned at her, unrepentant, but didn’t say anything else. She glanced at Chad. His eyes never left her face, but his personality had disappeared behind a brick wall. He looked distant, a little hard. Untouchable. Unapproachable. Maybe the reminder that she was his boss had put him off. So be it.
    â€œThanks, but I’m going to call it a night,” she said.
    Chad left with the rest of the guys without a backward glance. Let off their leash, the door slammed on a raucous discussion over the night’s best … best tits, best ass, best legs, and best in