“Find a new storefront that isn’t across the street from Dick and Bobby’s?” Not that I could even hope to afford it. Also, this location is prime, which is obviously what the owners of D&B realized.
“It really is an awful name for a restaurant.” He gives his head a shake. “Anyway, we need to get as many loyal customers as we can before that place opens.”
“Agreed.”
“We should host combined events to get even more people to come out. Have big simultaneous promotions.”
I stare at him from over the rim of my delicious alcohol-laced coffee.
“You have to admit it’s a good idea.” He plucks another cupcake from the box.
“What about the Best Bar competition?”
“We can still compete against each other for best bar thing, but this is a way bigger threat, and more important because it has the potential to flush both of our businesses down the toilet.” He bites into the chocolate cupcake.
“So you want us to work together?”
He nods. “Yeah, what do you say?”
“Okay. We can do it, but it’s an even split on events and promotions. And we have to promote each other equally on our social media.”
“That’s a good idea.” He wipes his hand on his pants and holds it out. “Deal?”
I slip mine into his. “Deal.”
There are far worse people I could get into bed with—proverbially speaking, of course.
chapter fourteen
Coordination Nation
Blaire
Over the next few days, Ronan and I work out a calendar of events leading up to the Christmas holidays. I’m a visual person so I color coordinate everything, and send it to him via email, but I also print a copy and have it blown up in color so we can post it in our respective shops. On top of that, I have daily social media posts prepared.
It’s Thursday and tonight I have trivia night followed by Ronan’s karaoke. The timing is great, since the quarterfinals for Best Bar are going to be announced next week, narrowing it down to the top twenty-five bars. I’m pretty excited about it, because now that we’re working together, I don’t have to worry about him starting early and stealing my business, although he stopped doing that a while ago. Plus we both have specials, and if they move from one bar to the other they get an additional coupon to use for a future event, which means more incentive to keep coming back.
I have a plan, but to orchestrate it I need to acquire some pertinent information about Ronan and free up a couple of hours this afternoon. I could get the information by asking him, but I kind of want it to be a fun surprise. It’s nine in the morning, and Ronan usually isn’t in until closer to ten, so I step out into the back alley. As I expected, the back door of The Knight Cap is propped open with a wedge.
I peek inside but don’t make my presence known. Instead I sneak down the hall. It’s a bit of a feat, considering I’m wearing heels and have to go extra-high on my tippy toes so they don’t click on the floor.
I pass the bar to get to Ronan’s office. I scan the area, spotting Lars and one of the female servers close talking. They’re too wrapped up in each other to notice me, so I make it past them undetected and slip into Ronan’s office. It still hasn’t been updated like the rest of the place, but it smells like his cologne. The same old dilapidated chair with a full-blown butt groove and picked-apart armrests sits in front of the ancient, pitted desk.
Originally, I found this office rather disgusting, but now, knowing what I do about this place it’s sweet that Ronan hasn’t changed a thing about it.
In the corner is a coat rack. I smile when I spot what I’m looking for—two plaid shirts hanging from the hooks. I nab one and check the size. It’s an extra large, as I suspected, considering his broad shoulders, not to mention how thick his biceps are. I bring the shirt to my nose and inhale. It holds the faint scent of laundry detergent, his cologne, and the pervasive odor of fried food that comes from working in a bar. I always smell like vanilla, butter, icing sugar, and sometimes coffee. I decide it’s a good idea to take the shirt with me, because sizing can vary depending on the store, so it will be good to