distributor, not to mention deal with the public. I don't see how—"
"I'll hire you as the manager," he blurted.
She gawked at him.
Acting fast, he added, "Your friends will be safe here."
Anything she wanted, he'd give her. The deal she'd struck with Walker couldn't happen. If that meant putting her in charge, or hell, handing over the bar to her, he would.
She'd worked at the lounge for several years. She knew how to keep a bar afloat. It couldn't be too hard to have her do the same thing here.
"Oh, I don't know..." She frowned. "Serving drinks is different than managing."
"You can do it." He crossed his arms and hooked his hands under his armpits. "I don't expect perfection. We're all starting this from scratch. For now, it's not going to be much more than a party full of Tarkio members until word gets around that it's open to the public. If you run into problems, there will be a room full of people willing to help you out. I'll help you. We can be partners."
"That hasn't worked in the past."
"This is business."
She studied him. "You're serious.
"Dead." He locked on to her eyes and swallowed. "Please."
She looked away. He reached out to turn her attention back to him and dropped his hand to his side. Nobody needed to tell him to walk softly with her, or she'd bolt away from the offer.
"Give me six weeks of your time. Two weeks to help me get this place open, and four weeks of you and your friends working here, trying to build up a customer base. After that, if you're miserable, you can leave," he said.
All he needed was time. Time to figure out how he could keep her in his life without her knowing what transpired in the past.
She turned her head and looked up at him. "How am I supposed to be around you all the time?"
"We'll work it out."
"Hm." Her lips thinned, and she inhaled swiftly. "What kind of money are you talking about?"
Adrenaline rushed through him. He had her thinking. "Name your price."
Her cheeks flushed, and she walked around the room, ignoring him. As long as she was thinking about the offer and ultimately would agree, she could spend the whole evening asking him questions.
She walked to the back of the empty room, looked at him, and pointed at the door. He nodded, giving her permission to look at the rest of the area. There was another empty room, smaller and with a lower ceiling. In that space, stairs led up to a studio apartment.
Staying back, he let her go on her own. All he saw was a space for partying. It wasn't hard to whip up a counter, roll in some refrigerators, and tap a keg or two. While he knew there was more to running a bar, he wanted to start out simple where Tarkio members were comfortable to hang out when they weren't at the clubhouse.
Usually, the members went to Riverside Bar across town. But there were nights that they stayed away. As time went by, the place was turning more into a sports bar, centering their nights around pool tournaments and dart games—not exactly their scene.
There were two titty bars in Missoula. Kingston Bar and a rinky-dink saloon with two dancers that'd been there for at least five years and looked as if every customer had enjoyed them after hours.
Faye returned to him with pinched brows and turmoil in her stormy eyes. He swallowed, needing her to agree. If she refused, there wasn't much more he could do. Walker would let Priest know that Faye was leaving him, and he'd have to let her go.
"This is a huge endeavor, Curley." She slid her hands into the pockets of the leather jacket. "I like the idea of having my friends working somewhere like this, only because I know they'll be protected by Tarkio. I think they'd also agree that the atmosphere could be better than at Kingston if business was good. Though tips are going to be less."
"But...?" he said, hearing her hesitation.
"I'm scared." She looked him straight in the eyes. "You and I are like dynamite."
He chuckled for the first time today. That was one way to describe them. The spark between them exploded if he got too close to her.
She blinked an extra beat. "You've got me for six weeks, and I'll let the others know. I'm not going to answer for them."
The tension left his chest, and he dipped his chin. "It'll work