by Tiffany Snow
“Let me go,” I said, still trying to be nice but firm.
“C’mon,” he slurred, his breath rank with beer, “we’d have a real good time. You’ve got a helluva rack, babe.”
The other guys hooted and laughed, encouraging the idiot drunk who had a hold of me. Over his shoulder, I caught Jill’s eye and she nodded, hurrying away. When crap like this happened and it was only women on the floor, we’d go grab Jeff. Jeff used to be in the Army and was a big guy. He had tattoos up and down his arms and shaved his head. A cigarette often hung out of his mouth while he cooked, but Romeo was too scared of Jeff to tell him he wasn’t supposed to smoke in the kitchen.
The guy who had a hold of me reached over, and to my shock, pulled the neckline of my shirt so he could leer down at my breasts. Enough was enough, I thought, grabbing one of the ice cold beers I’d just delivered to the table. With a quick flick of my wrist, I threw the liquid into his face.
He howled in outrage, abruptly releasing me. The other guys at the table seemed stunned speechless before they started guffawing at their beer-soaked friend.
I turned to beat a hasty retreat, but was abruptly caught up short when the guy grabbed my ponytail. I gritted my teeth in pain as he turned me back around, his hand moving to the back of my neck and squeezing.
“You fucking bitch,” he snarled, his face contorted with rage.
“Hey Bob, let her go, man,” one of his buddies said uneasily. None of them were laughing now as they watched. I also noticed none of them tried to intervene. Cowards. Looked like chivalry really was dead. Bob’s hand tightened on the back of my neck and I tried not to grimace, but it hurt. I pulled at his arm, but couldn’t budge him. Sometimes it really sucked to be a woman, I thought grimly. What I wouldn’t give to be a guy, 6’2”, and built right about now.
“You’re hurting me, Bob,” I managed to grit out, hoping one of his friends might show some sense before this got even uglier. And where the hell was Jeff?
“C’mon, Bob,” another guy said, “let’s go somewhere else, man.”
“If I already got a beer dumped on me, I should at least get to cop a feel, right sugar?” Bob sneered.
“Let her go and I might consider not breaking your arm.”
I knew that voice. My stomach knitted itself into knots even as relief flowed through me. Bob raised his gaze to peer behind me.
“Fuck off,” he said dismissively.
Things happened too fast then for me to follow. All I knew was that in the next few seconds, I was free of Bob’s hold and Kade had him face down on the table, his arm bent at an unnatural angle behind his back. Blood flowed freely from Bob’s nose and glass lay shattered amongst the beer spilled all over the floor. Damn it. Now I’d have to mop up the whole freaking mess.
Bob’s friends scrambled away, their jaws agape, and I noticed several tables nearby had gone quiet as people turned to see the commotion. Bob’s face was contorted with pain. Kade bent down to whisper something in Bob’s ear.
“I...I’m sorry,” Bob babbled to me in his prone position as blood dripped from his nose to the table. “I’m a...” He paused as Kade whispered again in his ear. “I’m a fucking asshole and-” Kade whispered again. “-and won’t bother you again. I swear.” He howled as Kade pulled his arm up a bit further while hissing something in his ear.
Kade stepped back and Bob’s friends quickly gathered him up and hustled out the door.
The people that had stopped to stare started talking amongst themselves again, and I was grateful to not be the center of attention any longer. Just then, Jill and Jeff hurried up to me.
“What happened?” Jill asked anxiously, looking at the mess on the floor and the empty table. “Are they gone?”
“Yeah,” I said, shakily pushing my hair back from my face. “They’re gone. Thanks anyway, though.” My ponytail had come loose so I nervously redid it, wrapping the band tightly around my hair.
Jeff gave a grunt and returned to the kitchen while Jill went to fetch a mop. Grabbing my tray from where it had fallen, I crouched and started picking up glass, my movements quick and jerky. On top of having to clean up their mess, they'd also stiffed me for their tab. Assholes.
“You all right?”
I looked up. Kade had crouched down next to me. He looked remarkably calm for someone that had just broken a man’s arm quicker than I could tie my shoelaces.
“I’m fine,” I said, forcing my lips into a smile that felt it might crack my face.
Kade’s brow lifted in a silent question that I ignored, returning my attention to the mess. After a moment or two, Kade began helping me pick up the glass. Jill came back with a mop, and before long it looked like nothing had happened.
I returned to my position behind the bar, having fallen behind now, and was glad to have plenty to do. It wasn’t until after ten that things began to slow down as people drifted out the door.
Since it was quieter, I could hear the Christmas music playing over the speakers and quietly sang along to one of my favorites, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” while I washed glasses. Kade sat at the end of the bar, nursing a cup of coffee. We hadn’t said anything else to each other and I avoided going down toward him.
The door to the bar opened again and I glanced up to see if someone was going out or coming in. The glass I’d been drying slipped out of my fingers and back into the water, but I didn’t notice. My eyes were fixed on Blane, who had just entered, and the tiny blonde attached to his arm.
I couldn’t believe it. He was bringing another woman here? Right under my nose? I blinked, pressing my eyes tightly shut, before reopening them. I had to be seeing things. But no, they were sliding into a booth together.
“Excuse me, bartender, can I get a refill?”
I automatically turned to see who needed me and saw it was Kade that had spoken. Grabbing up the coffee pot, I walked down to where he sat.
“Play along, remember?” he said in an undertone, as I poured more coffee in his mug. My eyes jerked up to his. His head tipped ever so slightly towards where Blane and the girl sat. With a start, I realized what Blane and he meant. This was a setup. So whoever was stalking me would think Blane and I had broken up.
The relief I felt was so strong I should have been embarrassed. Instead, I was just absurdly glad. I gave Kade a quick nod to let him know I understood.
“Oh my God!”
I turned around to see Tish standing by the bar, her eyes locked on Blane.
“Isn’t that your boyfriend?” she asked me.
“Yeah,” I confirmed grimly.
“Who’s the chick?”
“No idea.”
“If I were you I’d be getting my ass over there and finding out,” she advised.
We both watched as Blane took the woman’s hand in his and she laughed at something he said. Jealousy spiked hard inside me, even though I knew this was a setup.
“Stay here,” Tish said suddenly, “I’ll get the lay of the land. Be right back.”
She snagged two glasses of ice water and I watched as she delivered them to Blane’s table. She chatted with them for a minute, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. A few moments later, she was back.
“Well?” I asked, anxious to hear what she had found out.
“What an asshole,” she snorted. “The girl said it’s their first date. He’s a jerk. Cheating on you and bringing her here, of all places. You guys have a fight or something? Is he trying to get back at you?”
“No,” I said. “No fight. Maybe he just doesn’t like doing the break up scene. Figured I’d get the idea if he brought someone here.” I infused my voice with bitter anger, which wasn't that hard.
“Whatever,” Tish said, disgust evident in her voice. “He’s a dick, my friend. Better off without him.”
“Should I go over there?” I asked her.
“Depends,” she shrugged. “You want revenge or dignity?”
Our eyes met in mutual agreement.
; “Revenge,” I replied evenly.
“Dish it up, girlfriend,” she encouraged.
I took a deep breath and walked over to the booth. Close up, I got a better look at the girl. She was young and petite, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked up at me expectantly, a smile on her face. I ignored her and turned to Blane.
“Hi, Blane,” I said pleasantly, though I could feel my palms sweating. This felt much too real and I tried to keep in mind what Kade had said. “Who’s your friend?”
“Kathleen,” Blane said, looking uncomfortable, “I didn’t realize you were working tonight.”
I smiled tightly. “Well, I am. So tell me, who’s your friend?”
“My name is Apryl,” the girl interjected, holding out her hand to be shaken. “But it’s not spelled like the month – it’s a y instead of an i.” Her voice was high and delicate, like the rest of her, and I automatically gave her hand a perfunctory shake.
Yet another girl who misspelled her name. My eyes slid to Blane’s. Seriously? Where did he find them? Blane’s lips twitched as he read my face and he quickly looked away.
“Are you a friend of Blane’s?” Apryl asked curiously.
“Well,” I said, drawing out the syllable, “up until about five minutes ago, I thought I was his girlfriend. But I’m guessing that’s no longer the case, right Blane?”
“Girlfriend?” Apryl looked at Blane, alarmed. “You never said you had a girlfriend!”
“Ex-girlfriend,” Blane corrected, his poker face back in place. “We broke up.”
“You got that right,” I said, injecting anger in my voice. “We are so over.”
I grabbed a glass of ice water and dumped it in Blane’s lap. That made it twice in one night that I’d thrown a drink on someone, a personal record.
Apryl gasped, and I noted with satisfaction that so did Blane. I turned on my heel and hurried away before I started laughing at the look on Blane’s face. Returning to the bar, Tish held up her palm and I high-fived her. I shot a quick glance at Kade. One corner of his mouth was twisted upward in a smirk and he raised his coffee cup to me, as if in a toast, before taking a drink.
Blane and Apryl left quickly after that. Blane’s slacks were soaked, which I’m sure didn’t feel that great once he was outside in the freezing cold.
Glancing at the clock, I saw there were only a couple hours until close. The bar emptied as I did my prep work for the dayshift tomorrow until only myself, Kade and the waitresses remained. We stopped serving food at eleven so Jeff was gone, too.
“You saw the schedule for the weekend, right?” Tish asked me as she leaned against the bar.
“No,” I answered. “Why?”
“Romeo added you to the schedule Friday,” she said.
“What!” I exclaimed. “Dammit! I had plans!” Friday was Kandi’s Christmas party.
Tish shrugged. “I know, me too. He said there’s supposed to be some big storm Saturday so he thought Friday would be busy.”
Crap. I wondered if that meant Blane would skip the party or go alone, and decided I probably didn’t want to know the answer to that question.
I headed back to the storeroom to get a few bottles to replenish the bar stock. It was quiet back here as I searched the shelves for what I needed.
“Kat.”
I spun around, my heart in my throat at hearing a voice in the dark. I watched as Blane stepped out of the shadows and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Blane,” I said, my heart still pounding, “you scared me to death.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, moving closer. The light was behind him so I couldn’t make him out clearly.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, confused.
“I just wanted to make sure you knew tonight wasn’t real, that it was a setup,” he replied, stepping into my personal space.
“Kade told me,” I said evenly. In the back of my mind, I wondered if Blane had kissed Apryl good night, but there was no way I was going to ask. “She was very pretty.”
“Not as pretty as you,” he said quietly. His hand reached out, the backs of his knuckles trailing a gentle path down my cheek.
I had to hand it to him, he could sure deliver a line. “What a smooth operator you are,” I said, only half in jest.
“Is that what you think I am?” he asked seriously.
“Aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer, lowering his head to kiss me. At the last second, an image of Apryl and Blane kissing flashed through my mind and I turned my head slightly. Blane’s lips grazed my cheek.
As if he could read my mind, Blane whispered, “I didn’t kiss her.” His mouth moved to cover mine and this time I didn’t turn away.
It was several minutes before we came up for air and when we did, I was tingling from my head to my toes. From the speed of Blane’s heartbeat underneath my fingers, he felt the same.
“I’d better go,” Blane whispered against my skin, his mouth marking a trail down the side of my neck.
“I see the cold water didn’t do any lasting damage,” I teased him, the hard length of him pressing against me.
“Remind me not to piss you off,” he said softly into my ear. His warm breath on my skin gave me goosebumps.
Blane tightened his arms around me, pulling me up to my toes as he pressed one more hard kiss to my lips.
“Stay safe,” he whispered, then he was gone.
It took several minutes and even more deep breaths before I felt normal enough to return to the bar. Halfway there, I realized I’d forgotten the bottles I’d originally gone into the storeroom for and had to go back. When I returned and started stocking the shelves, Kade took a long look at me.
“Christ,” he huffed in exasperation, rolling his eyes. “Blane couldn’t stay away, could he.” It wasn’t a question.
I looked away, embarrassed that he could read the signs so easily on me.
“Blane doesn’t usually do something so stupid,” Kade snorted derisively.
My anger flared and I sprang to Blane’s defense. “He made sure he wasn’t seen,” I protested.
“You don’t know that,” Kade said evenly. “And neither does he. It was a dumb move.”
I looked away, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the bar.
“We’re going to have to fix it,” Kade said.
“How?”
Kade smirked, which made my insides twist uncomfortably. Somehow I knew I wasn’t going to like his method of “fixing” it.
“Ever pick up a customer, princess?”
I spun away, hoping he was joking though the knot in my stomach said he wasn’t. Sure enough, when it came time to close he held my coat for me, his eyebrow twitching upward and daring me to protest. I pressed my lips together and pushed my arms into the sleeves. Leaving him where he stood, I went to grab my purse from under the bar.
“Hey girl,” Tish said, sidling up to me and eyeing Kade as she shrugged on her own coat. “You, uh, taking a friend home tonight?”
“Um, yeah, I guess so,” I said uneasily, then tried to cover it up with a fake smile.
“He’s hot,” she said appreciatively, looking at Kade standing some distance away, waiting for me. “I saw him staring at you the whole night. Not really your type, though.” Tish knew I never picked up guys at the bar.
“Well, my type went home with another woman tonight,” I said evenly.
“Can’t argue with that,” she said, then grinned. “Well, have fun. Be safe. And I want to hear all about it tomorrow night.” She winked and left, the front door swinging shut behind her. I locked it and headed to the back, Kade at my heels. Before I could open the door, Kade stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“Try to make it look good,” he said, “or at least, believable.”
I didn’t really know what he was talking about, so I just nodded and followed him out the open door. I locked it, then was utterly taken aback when Kade spun me around and pressed me against the wall, his arms on either side of my head
caging me.
“What are you doing?” I squeaked, alarmed. He was so near, I could smell the sweet leather of his jacket.
“Making it look good,” he said evenly. “Pretend you like me and I’ll do the same.”
He bent down, nuzzling the side of my neck. The stubble on his jaw scraped my skin and I shivered. This was so not a good idea.
“Put your arms around my neck,” he ordered softly.
Hesitantly, I obeyed, my hands clutching the supple leather covering his shoulders.
“Blane’s not going to like you doing this,” I hissed in his ear.
“Blane told me to keep you alive,” he replied curtly, even as his hands dropped to slip inside my coat. I stiffened when they closed around my waist. “This nutjob needs to think you and Blane are through, that you have no influence over him. So I’ll do what I have to do.”
I jumped when I felt him press open-mouthed kisses to the skin of my neck.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear.
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, praying this would be over soon. I couldn’t say I appreciated Kade’s attitude, doing “what he had to do.” My feminine pride stung. Was it that much of a chore to pretend to like me, I wondered grudgingly, then I wanted to kick myself for the ludicrous thought.
Kade’s arms slid around my back and he pressed closer, insinuating a leg between mine. My pulse skittered at the warmth of his body, lean and hard and wrapped around me. His tongue touched the bare skin of my collar bone and I sucked in my breath.
Warm wetness marked my skin as his lips and tongue traced the edge of my shirt over the curve of my breasts. My heart hammered in my chest and I struggled to remember this was just an act, this was Blane’s brother trying to keep me alive.
My fingers had a mind of their own, threading through his hair as his head bent over my breasts. The locks were as long and silky as I remembered them being. Kade’s leg pressed against a very sensitive area between my thighs and I gasped. His hands moved to cup my ass and hold me against him and I was stunned to feel his erection pressing against my hip.
