Love Discovered in New York (The Washington Triplets) by Danielle Allen

now. But if she says anything else to me, I’m taking that bitch down.”
    Stephen laughed again and I saw a smile playing on Nicks lips. Rhiannon looked to be almost six feet tall and towered over my five-foot seven-inch frame. Before I could elaborate, Kelsey ran through the front door excitedly.
    “Bring on the celebrities!” Kelsey screamed as she ran up to the bar comically. Once she got close enough, I saw her eyes shift over all of our faces as she read the room. “What’s up?” she asked slowly.
    “There are two new hot bartenders and Mya is pissed—”
    “Stephen, shut your ass up,” I cut in, pushing his arm with both hands. I looked back over at Kelsey and continued, “The tall bit—”
    “Hey Jessica, Rhiannon, come here please!” Nicks shouted, interrupting me and ignoring the bickering he had grown accustomed to over the last two years.
    As the two women made their way over from the far end of the room, Kelsey walked around Stephen to stand next to me. Communicating with just our eyes, I raised my eyebrows, giving her a pointed look. She smirked and then turned to Nicks. “What’s wrong with them, Nicks? Clearly, they’ve pissed off my best friend.”
    Nicks cleared his throat. “We’ll talk about it later,” he mumbled under his breath, waving the two new bartenders over as they got closer to us. “I’m glad all of you ladies are here early,” he started. “Mya, Kelsey, I’d like you to meet Jessica and Rhiannon. They are the newest additions to the Duke & Duchess family.”
    “Hello,” Kelsey greeted them with a cheerful smile.
    “Hi,” Jessica replied shyly, looking from Kelsey to me and then back to Stephen and Nicks.
    “It’s so nice to meet you, Kelsey,” Rhiannon bubbled with so much forced sweetness, I did a double take. Her tone was completely different than when she was berating Jessica earlier.
    She is laying it on thick, I thought with an eye roll. Putting my hands on my hips, I looked at the blonde in disgust. I hate phony people almost as much as I hate bullies.
    Rhiannon looked at me and narrowed her eyes before giving me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Hi Mya… it’s nice to meet you.”
    I just looked at her blankly. It was not nice to meet her and I’m not going to stand here and tell that lie, I thought as I could feel everyone’s eyes on us. Her smile dropped into a smirk as the silence enveloped us momentarily.
    Cutting the tension, Nicks spoke up quickly. “Tonight is going to be huge. Apparently the cast of A Dangerous Affair had scheduled a wrap party at one of the ritzy Manhattan hotels, but the lead actor—Liam, Leo, Lenny, whatever his name is—allegedly trashed the place last night so they’ve been barred from having the event there. They called and here we are! So I need all hands on deck tonight. The caterer will be here any minute now and the guests will start arriving in an hour. The cast will arrive sometime after that.”
    Nicks’ laid-back demeanor would have convinced anyone that he was calm, but the speed in which he was talking alerted me to how much this event meant to him. The last time a group of celebrities descended upon Duke & Duchess, profits tripled. But with increased revenue, Nicks seemed stressed about the spotlight the bar was under.
    “Everything will be fine,” I assured him, giving him a warm smile. “We could just do our zones. Kelsey and I can take Jessica for the beginning of the night and then you and Stephen can take Rhiannon to end the night.”
    Nicks gave me a relieved smile and I could see his face visibly relax. “Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Mya. I’m also going to have Devin with you three so it’ll be at least one man in the mix.”
    “That means I get you two handsome men to myself tonight,” Rhiannon interjected flirtatiously.
    My eyes immediately found Kelsey’s and her facial expression was priceless. Giggling to myself, I pulled my long hair back into a ponytail and subtly motioned