Page 61 of Corrupting Ivy

“It’s not funny.”

Remy stepped out of the storeroom with a case of beer. Oh God, she’s gonna yell at me again. I braced myself for an ass-chewing, but instead, she put the case down and joined me at the other end of the bar and helped.

“It’s better than watching Girls Gone Wild.”

I glared, then threw my ice at him. I didn’t even know what that was, but it sounded stupid. Jake and Randall talked in hushed tones while I busied myself with helping customers. Once everyone had their drinks, I took a break, handing them both a scotch and interrupted their serious-looking conversation. “What are we talking about over here?” I asked, leaning on the bar.

Jake tossed a glance to Randall, then swigged the scotch.

“Work.”

“Ah, computer stuff. Sounds titillating.”

Jake chuckled, looked over his shoulder at the crowd, then back again.

He shared a body full of tattoos similar to Randall, although they were all unique to him.

“Why ones and zeros?” I asked, pointing to his knuckle tattoo.

“It’s binary.”

“What is that?”

“Computer language,” Randall said, filling in for him.

“Gotcha.”

“Ivy, over here, would ya?” Remy hollered from the other end of the bar.

“Duty calls.” I tapped the bar before them, then wandered over to Remy, who was stacking glasses. “What’s up?”

“What happened to your face?”

I touched my fingers to the ache. “Rachel Stuart is what. She has it in her head that there is a thing between Otis and I. This time, she took it too far.”

She bobbed her head back, then cocked her head to the side, her gaze lowering down to my throat. “Is that from him?” Remy’s slim fingers touched the side of my neck and scowled. “Is he treating you right? ‘Cause God as my witness, I’ll grab my twenty-gage right now. I know a place the cops will never look.”

I smiled, warmed by her momma bear protectiveness. My mother did nothing but protect herself. “He’s being good to me. Really good.” I placed my hand on her arm. “I appreciate the concern.”

“Honey, it’s tolerance. I have a lack of it with abuse.”

“I don't think you have to worry about that with him.”

She scoffed as if I missed the punchline. “No, there are more important things to worry about with that one. He’s got more demons than hell can contain, Ivy. He likes to think he has them reined in on a tight leash, but I’m not so sure.” She tapped the bar, took a deep breath, and glanced over my shoulder. “Just be careful, as I told you before.”

I swallowed the lump of fear building in my throat. She had me questioning decisions I thought were perfectly acceptable, and turned them into doubt.

She maneuvered around me and disappeared into the storeroom with Randall on her heels.

Mr. Grady sat down at the far end of the bar, and I walked over to help him. “Hi. What can I get you?”

“Just a beer is fine.”

“Coming up.”

I grabbed a beer on tap, letting the head spill over, then handed it to him.

“Did you hear?” A woman said to her friend as she started to gossip.

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