The Square Peg by Jane Davitt, Alexa Snow

under the impression we can’t afford one,” Shane said. “Speaking of which,
    how is it you can leave your office job in the middle of the day to come shout at me?
    You’d better not get sacked. You’re the only one of us with a proper income.”
    “I’d better be careful,” Benedict agreed. “I was planning on keeping my regular
    job until we can turn this place around. I don’t want to think what would happen if I
    didn’t have health insurance and I got sick.”
    “Suffer like the rest of us.” Shane knew he was lucky to be healthy. He couldn’t
    remember the last time he’d had anything worse than a mild head cold. “Is it
    reasonable to think you’ll be able to manage two jobs?”
    The Square Peg
    41
    “As reasonable as thinking we’ll be able to get this place to make a profit,”
    Benedict said, then looked sorry he had. “No, don’t worry; we’ll figure it out. I think the
    first thing we need to do is take a good hard look at our expenses and see where we can
    cut costs. It’s possible we can save some money buying from a different wholesaler.
    And I was thinking…”He hesitated.
    “Go on, say it, whatever it is.”
    “I was thinking, one way to cut costs is to eliminate staff.”
    “No. No fucking way.” Shane knew he was getting up in Benedict’s face again, but
    this wasn’t something he was prepared to allow. “We’re open seven days a week, and
    we’ve got two shifts running. Even if I worked every day and most shifts—and hell,
    some weeks I do—we can’t get by on less than we have. You haven’t seen us at the
    weekend when it gets busy. We need three behind that bar, easy.”
    “No, but I’ve been here twice and seen more people behind the bar than in front of
    it.”
    “In the day, midweek, yeah, it’s quiet, but we go laying people off, good people,
    with experience, when we turn this place around and need more staff again, they won’t
    come back. Why would they?” He counted off on his fingers. “Me, Vin, Dave, Shelly,
    Patrick. That’s bare bones. How the hell can we cut any of them?”
    “Well…” Benedict didn’t look convinced, but Shane stood his ground, knowing he
    looked pugnacious, but not caring. They were his people, his friends. He could be tough
    with them when needed—he was no pushover—but he knew them, and he wasn’t
    sacking them. No fucking way. If this ship sank, they’d go down together.
    “Right then, let me put it this way: I’m willing to bend like a fucking sapling when
    you say things need to change, but there are a few things I won’t be able to compromise
    on, and this is one of them. These people are Square Peg. They stay.” Shane folded his
    arms over his chest.
    “Okay, I get it.” Benedict leaned against the table, then rubbed a hand over the
    back of his neck. “What are the other things?”
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    Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow
    “What?”
    “The other things you can’t compromise about?”
    “Well, I don’t know yet, do I? I won’t until the situations arise.”
    Benedict gave him a suspicious look. “That’s convenient. No, I’m kidding, I
    swear!” He was laughing now. “I’m sorry, I have a screwed-up sense of humor. I can’t
    help it.”
    “Yeah? Maybe you should try harder.” Shane winked as he said it, trusting
    Benedict to get he was joking too. Christ, the man was appealing when he laughed.
    “There are a few things I could work on,” Benedict agreed, smooth as silk. “Like
    getting you to bend for me.”
    Shane caught his breath, unsure how he was meant to take that. Normally, he
    didn’t have to guess if a man was coming on to him. The hard-on straining the front of
    their jeans, the hand grabbing his ass, and a slurred out “Wanna fuck?” weren’t easy to
    misinterpret. Having his innocently meant words turned back at him like that,
    though…
    “Okay, well, my day at the office is shot, so I think we should take advantage of
    the time and do some brainstorming, maybe divide up the stuff