While LeighAnn quickly got settled in and started dressing, Kitty returned to the bar room and Matt, who was leaning against the bar. "Sam, a beer please." She looked at Matt. "What do you think about my new employee?"
"Well, she sure is pretty." Matt shrugged. "Other than that, I don't know, especially her being your dealer. You know how I feel about that."
"Um hum." Kitty nodded. "But you don't have a say in this. I do. And I say she's my new dealer." Kitty wasn't as sure of that as she sounded but something in Matt's reaction to the younger woman made Kitty want to disagree with him. She knew that wasn't really logical, but logical emotions were sometimes hard to come by when dealing with Matt Dillon.
"How much do you know about her?" Matt pressed. "I mean have you seen her play or anything?"
"What's the interrogation about, Matt?" Kitty answered with a question of her own. "You don't usually question me on who I hire in here."
"No," Matt agreed, "I don't. But then you don't usually hire dealers like her either. I can see where she'd be a good draw for business, as pretty as she is, but I'm afraid she could be a good draw for trouble as well."
"Maybe." Kitty shrugged. "But somehow I don't think so. There's something about LeighAnn that makes me believe I will be lucky to have her here."
"Well," Matt swallowed the last of his beer. "Like you said, it's your business. I just hope you're right."
Kitty waited until Matt turned to leave before answering. "I am." She grinned. "I just hope you'll be alright."
"Me?" Matt frowned, not understanding what she meant.
"Uh hum." She nodded. "I mean when you saw LeighAnn your eyes bugged out so far they had to hurt. You might want to see Doc about it."
Matt ducked his head, pulling his hat down lower on his forehead and shook his head at her as he left the saloon, chased by Kitty's laughter.
Letting out a deep breath, LeighAnn checked her appearance in the mirror above the bureau. After a quick examination of the dresses in the closet, she opted in favor of one she already had. Short sleeved blue satin with a lacy bodice; it was one of her favorite dresses. It didn't have sequins and the bodice was perhaps not as low but she preferred it that way.
LeighAnn knew women in her profession were expected to show more than decent women but she wasn't comfortable with that. LeighAnn was anything but conceited. However, she was aware that she was an attractive woman and quite often men who were looking at her, paid little attention to her clothing.
Still after studying herself in the mirror for a moment, she decided something more was needed. Reaching into her bag, underneath a false bottom, she pulled out a small bag. Opening it, she extracted a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a silver ring with a blue, heart-shaped stone. All were pieces special to her and all only served to enhance the all over look she was going for. A quick fluff of her naturally curly hair, which she fretted over endlessly, and LeighAnn was out of the room ready to start her new job.
As she descended the stairs, she was acutely aware of the attention she was drawing. But she kept her head high and focused on her objective of reaching the bar and the side of her new employer. "Miss Kitty." She said as she approached. "Sorry it took me so long."
"Don't worry about it." Kitty smiled as she surveyed the beautiful young woman next to her. "I have a feeling the men in here will think you were worth the wait."
"I certainly hope so." LeighAnn grinned.
Kitty chuckled as she took her arm. "Oh, they will."
After showing LeighAnn around the building, Kitty explained the duties LeighAnn would now be performing. Although LeighAnn would primarily be the new dealer, Kitty explained that she would also need to fill in delivering drinks or working behind the bar depending on the need.
"I try really hard not to overwork any of my employees or have them doing work that I wouldn't do myself." Kitty explained. "So I have all my employees able to handle all the jobs here, same as me."
"Including dealing?" LeighAnn arched a brow. She'd heard, through friends of hers, that Kitty Russell was one of the best dealers in the west.
"Well," Kitty gave her head a quick shake, "that's something else entirely. I prefer to just have one dealer. And if you're as good as I think you might be, that'll be you."
LeighAnn merely nodded. She suspected there was more to the story but decided to let it go for the time being. When she and Kitty made it back to the end of the bar, LeighAnn spotted a tray with two glasses and a bottle on it that Sam had just placed on the bar top. "Well, looks like its time for me to go to work." She smiled at Kitty. "Sam, which table do these go to?"
"That one on the left." Sam nodded his head to a table with two men slouched down in their chairs, patiently waiting.
"I've got it." LeighAnn picked up the tray and headed off before Kitty could approve or object.
"Well, she's not afraid of work." Sam commented as she left.
"No, she sure isn't." Kitty answered happily.
For the first three hours, LeighAnn along with the other two girls, Jenny and Olive, worked serving drinks, listening to stories and flirting just enough with the customers to get them to buy more drinks. LeighAnn noticed that neither of the two other girls went out of bounds with the customers and should a man try to get them or her to do so, Kitty or Sam was quick to step in. She also noticed that both Kitty and Sam worked right alongside them with Kitty pitching in to help deliver drinks when business got really busy. LeighAnn appreciated that her new employer was a part of the process instead of above it.
LeighAnn had just returned an empty tray to the bar when Kitty called her over. "I just had some men come in looking for a game." Kitty told her. "You ready to start the main part of your job?"
"I am." LeighAnn's voice and manner was a lot more confident than she felt inside. It wasn't that she couldn't deal. And it wasn't that she wasn't any good at it. But she'd always before played with people she knew and never really played in any sort of high stakes game. However, a saloon was dangerous and no place to show any sort of weakness, especially if you were a woman. 'Well,' she told herself, 'no time like the present to see what I can do.'
TBC
