by Kensie King
I rolled my eyes. “Dramatic tonight, aren’t you?”
“You’re the one getting eyeballed by Tate Porter. Tate Porter.” She sagged against the counter. “You know how many men—or even women—would die to have him look their way. God, those sexy eyes. And his muscles. And…”
She went on to describe just about every feature, muscle, and other extremity on Tate that I’d already noticed a billion times. Yes, Tate was sexy. Outrageously sexy. But he was my boss.
“And he was staring at you,” Bea finished. She turned to check her hair in the mirror, a shaggy pixie cut that suited her small features. “I think he wants you.”
“Bea.”
“No joke. He looks at you like that all the time.”
“Like what?” I asked, staring at her reflection in the mirror. I wanted to deny what she was saying but the other part of me wanted desperately for it to be true.
“Like he wants to devour you.”
My dick twitched. Devour. That sounded so…intimate. Rough. Necessary. Like dragging yourself through the desert to finally find a cup of water. You’d die without it.
I set my hand over my heart as it started to pick up speed. “You’re making me hot,” I joked, trying to make light of what she was saying.
Bea gave me a light shove. “You are hot. But not my type.”
I turned to the door, ready to get to work, but Bea jumped in front of me.
“One more thing.”
My stomach dropped. I didn’t want to talk about why I was late. Or why I had a split lip I’d tried fairly unsuccessfully to ice and then cover up.
“Did he do this to you?” she asked, eyes dropping to my mouth.
“No.”
“Be honest.”
I tried to give her a smile, but when it made my mouth ache, I gave her a hug instead. “I swear, it wasn’t him.”
Not this time. No, this time it was someone worse.
“But Liam…” Bee’s voice dipped in concern. She was the only one who knew the truth about my shitty life. I loved her for trying to protect me and take care of me, but things were too bad for that now.
“Come on,” I told her. “Let’s get to work and you can talk to me all about Tate’s generous…assets.”
Her eyes lit again. “I’m so bummed he’s gay! Maybe I could turn him—you know, with some slow kisses in the dark and a very low-cut shirt.”
I swallowed down laughter. “I’d like to see you try. But then I’d be jealous, so maybe try that on someone else this time.”
She smiled at me as we left the women’s room. “For you, Liam. Anything.”
Chapter 2
TATE
I knew my crew would hold things together tonight even though the band brought in dozens more people than we expected. More than even Mason expected—and he was the brain and business behind all this.
Toxic.
It hadn’t been a dream so much as an idea fueled by copious amounts of alcohol and the desire to forget our shared woes by creating something new. By showing the haters that we could be bigger and better than anyone ever imagined.
I grinned to myself as I walked to the office in back to store some money in the safe. Okay, so we weren’t exactly changing the world in huge ways, but we were still changing lives in little ways.
Every time someone came into the bar with the same kinds of woes me and Mason had founded this bar on, they got something to forget their troubles and maybe a little advice. Life was Toxic. I knew that without a doubt. My history had shoved it in my face repeatedly. So coming to Toxic gave people a night to drown their sorrows before they fought back. Also, our employees were like family, all of them needing jobs and needing to be part of something their personal lives couldn’t give them.
The bar was making a difference whether it looked like that to those on the outside or not.
I twirled the dial on the safe, waited for the beep, and then tossed the zipper bag full of money inside.
With a sigh, I remembered the first night I saw Liam West. If anyone had needed a job, it had been young Liam. The man who looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. The man I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. Dreaming about.
I always did have a soft spot for the underdog—and that was how I couldn’t help but picture Liam. The man was quiet, soft-spoken—at least around me, and always on time.
I frowned. Except for tonight.
I sat at the desk in the office, making a tent of my fingers under my chin. My gut told me something was wrong. Liam had looked upset. Rushed. And I swore I saw shadows under the man’s eyes.
Or maybe it was a bruise…my jaw clenched. If anyone had done anything to Tate, I wouldn’t hesitate to take them down.
Bea. I stood from the desk. She was Liam’s best friend. I could ask her—just sort of bring it about casually while we worked. Just so it wasn’t obvious.
After all, I knew nothing about the man, and it wasn’t like we’d ever spent any time together. Much to my regret. But I was the boss and I tried to be friendly without overstepping the bounds.
And with Liam, I knew I had to be extra cautious. It wouldn’t take much for me to overstep those bounds—to grab Liam and pull him into the office. To cup his face in between my hands and kiss him until the world dropped away around us. To get Liam to confide in me, to trust me.
Maybe even love me.
I swallowed hard. No. Last time I’d let myself fall in love like that, my heart was torn clean in two. I wasn’t sure if I could risk it again. Especially not with one of my employees.
Still…wouldn’t hurt to make sure Liam was doing okay.
The office door opened just as I reached for it. My breath hissed out in surprise.
Mason grinned at me. “Surprised you, huh? You’re not the only one who’s jumpy tonight.”
“You didn’t—” I broke off and changed the direction of the conversation. Sometimes Mason was too perceptive for his own good. “Who else is jumpy?”
“West. I swear his face went white when I came around the corner and bumped into him.”
My heart clenched. His face went white? What the hell? Something was definitely going on.
“Just thought you might want to know,” Mason said, his familiar grin still plastered on his face.
“Why’s that?”
Mason shrugged. “It’s kind of obvious.”
I shifted toward the door, already knowing where this conversation was going, but still trying to play dumb.
“You can’t keep your eyes off of him.” Mason shook his head before I could protest. “Don’t try to deny it. We’ve all seen it.”
Who had seen it? Surely not everyone else he worked with? He hadn’t been that obvious, had he? Of course he watched Liam sometimes. When no one else was looking. When he thought maybe he might be ready to try something again, to leave the past and take a step with someone new.
But then he’d get his head on straight and forget about it—at least, he’d try.
“You always go for the underdog,” Mason said, the exact same thing I had been thinking about myself just moments ago.
“I don’t—fuck, Mason. I’m not going for anything—or anyone.”
“Why not? He’s cute. He’s a good worker. He’s…” Mason lifted a shoulder. “Totally not my type. But he’d be perfect for you.”
I clenched my jaw. That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. I wanted Mason to talk some sense into me. To make me stop lusting over Liam, not make me want the man even more.
“He’s an employee,” I said, yanking the door open. Suddenly irritated.
Mason followed me down the hall, the music from the band getting louder as we walked. “Rules are meant to be broken.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured to the bar. “It’s getting busy—I’m going to help out.”
Mason hollered something after me I didn’t bother question. Probably something else about how rules were the bane of his existence. That he didn’t g
et where he was in his life by following the rules.
I knew all too well why Mason laughed in the face of rules. Because he’d been burned by rules in the past. He’d thought being faithful to his partner was what he was supposed to do. Too bad his partner hadn’t agreed.
I knew Liam was around here somewhere, but I kept professional. The group of girls at the end of the bar wanted shots of tequila. Done. Blonde with the huge breasts and eyes for the lead singer of the bad—cranberry and vodka. I scanned her face briefly to keep it in mind. Her eyes were already blurry, and I had a feeling she was headed toward trying to forget this night ever existed.
No problem. The cab company was always around this time of night, to get everyone home safely.
I turned around and grazed elbows with someone.
“Sorry.” I heard the quiet voice before I could say anything.
I glanced up, my own apology dying on my tongue. Liam. His hair was tousled, a few strands feathering over his forehead. His glasses slid down on his nose, cute round metal rims that reminded me of a librarian. My gaze automatically dropped to his lips and…
Shit. What was that? On his lip?
He’d managed to make most of the swelling go away, but I could still easily see the split where he’d clearly been hit. I reached for his arm, instantly concerned.
“Liam—what happened? Are you—”
“It’s fine.” He glanced away, eyes darting around the crowd. “I—I slipped on the stairs. It—”
“An ice pack,” I said, my hand still on his arm. “We can find one and get this taken care of.”
Liam gave a nervous laugh. “It’s fine. Completely fine. I’m just embarrassed. I—” He gently pulled away from my grasp. “Really, I’m fine. It’s busy.”
The noise had picked up around us, but I hadn’t noticed any of it. Not when I saw Liam’s split lip. And Mason had said he was jumpy.
My stomach twisted. No, I didn’t believe his story that he’d fallen. And even so, I wanted to help him. I wanted…
As Liam turned back to the glasses, I pulled myself together. It wasn’t any of my business. I kept trying to remind myself of that.
But again, the employees were like family and if one of them was hurting or in trouble, it weighed on me.
No worries. I’d just keep an eye on Liam—from a distance. And when I was sure he was okay, I’d forget about my feelings all over again and we could both get on with our lives.
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