“Won’t know until I take a look.”
“Have at it, big guy.” Marlowe teased as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Hopefully, you can get her up and running again.”
“I’m sure I’ll have better luck than you two did.”
“Only because you have the special touch,” she replied playfully.
“You know it, baby.”
Marlowe’s eyes quickly skirted over me as she started to ease past me without saying a word. Hoping to get a smile or any kind of reaction from her, I gave her a wink and said, “Hey, Marlowe. How’s it going?”
“Hey, Rafe,” she answered bashfully as a light blush crept over her cheeks. “It’s going good.”
That’s all I got before she scooted by me and around the counter. I pretended not to watch as she made her way over to one of the back tables. I also pretended not to notice the way she kept glancing over in my direction. She was checking me out the entire time she was listening to some guy give his order, and I couldn’t lie, I enjoyed the way she watched me like hawk. I liked it a lot.
“Damn, brother. You’re gonna give the girl a complex if you keep gawking at her like that.”
“What the fuck? I’m not gawking at her.” I motioned my head in Marlowe’s direction. “Hell, she’s the one gawking at me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I leaned back against the edge of the cooler as I studied her further. “I just don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“How the hell can she swing for the other team? It just doesn’t make any fucking sense. I mean, damn, look at her. The girl’s a fucking knockout.” I glanced down at Country and added, “And you’ve seen the way she looks at me, right?”
“Like you’re a fucking perv?”
“No, fucktard.” I looked back over at Marlowe once again, and just like earlier, she was watching me out of the corner of her eye. “Like she’s interested. Like eat-me-up-with-a-spoon kind of interested.”
“Already told ya, brother. The chick doesn’t do dick.” Country tossed the wrench down on the counter as he stood and said, “She’s got a fucking girlfriend.”
“You know that for sure? I mean ... Have you actually met this girlfriend?”
“No, but I ain’t got to.” Country nodded his head over in Marlowe’s direction. “She’s shown no interest in me whatsoever. I mean zilch. Zero. Nada. Hell, that’s gotta say something.”
“Yeah, it says she’s got good fucking taste.” Before he rounded off with another snide comment, I motioned my hand over to the back of the cooler and asked, “You gonna be able to fix that thing or what?”
“Not today.” Country grumbled under his breath as he looked over to Gladys and said, “So, it looks like you were right. The damn thing needs a new condenser.”
“Well, shit. I knew it was coming. The stupid thing’s been on its last leg for weeks.”
“Then, why didn’t you get another one?”
Gladys threw her hands up as she fussed, “’Cause it was still working, and I ain’t about to just throw money away.”
“I wish you would just sell this shit-hole and be done with it.”
“I will when I’m good and ready. Now, mind ya business.”
“Um-hmm,” Country grumbled with a shake of his head. “Well, I’ve got to get to the club and I have plans after, so it’s gonna be a couple of days before I can get back here and fix it.”
“That’s gonna put us in a real bind.”
“Guess you should’ve thought about that when it started messing up on ya. Just keep throwing money into the dump.”
Tensions were building by the second, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before Country said something he’d regret. Hoping to stop things before they got out of hand, I stepped forward and announced, “Hold up, you two. I can fix it later tonight.”
“You sure?” Gladys asked, sounding hopeful.
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Praying I wasn’t biting off more than I could chew, I told them, “I’ll get one of the prospects to run by and grab the part, then I’ll come by after our shift at the club and install it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, no big deal.” I leaned over to get a better look at the burned up condenser, then said, “Shouldn’t take me more than an hour to replace it.”
“Well, aren’t you a life saver!” Gladys replied excitedly. “I’ll definitely owe ya one.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad to do it.”
After I sent a message to Badger, one of the prospects, letting him know which part to pick up, I helped Country gather his tools. As I followed him over to the door, I took a quick glance around the bar and was disappointed to find Marlowe was no longer watching my every move. I quickly shook the feeling, and moments later, Country and I were on our way to Stilettos.