Page 3 of Ivory's Familiars

“Geez, I’m sorry, boss. I was just coming to check you were okay. Libby told me there was trouble.”

Ivory smiled, Lee was a little overprotective, “It’s fine, Lee. Nothing to worry about. One punch – not even what you would call a scuffle.”

He frowned, his blue eyes glaring daggers at the door as if daring the trouble-makers to come back, “I was on my break in the back, otherwise I would have been here. I’ve told you before that we need to hire bouncers for this place. We get so many more lowlifes now that the bypass has closed.”

Ivory sighed, pushing past Lee and picking up a stack of dirty glasses on her way back to the bar. The closure of the bypass six months ago had very likely saved her business. Tourists, businessmen, and truckers were now forced to pass through their small town instead of going around it. Business was booming. So much so that she had been able to hire Lee in the first place. Although, he was right about their clientele, which was far more varied than it used to be. As such, there was bound to be the odd troublemaker or two. So far, she and her current staff had been able to handle them easily enough. Besides, she didn’t mind a good pub fight once in a while – made the place more authentic.

She hadn’t heard or seen what had prompted the large man to sucker punch Trucker Pete, but she figured it was something to do with Pete’s foul mouth. Pete was a regular whenever he was on one of his supply runs for his trucking company. Largely, he was well behaved but he was a mean drunk when he had too much whiskey in him. If she had have been working the bar tonight, she would have cut him off three drinks ago. But she had been in the back working on her accounts – and checking her mail. Something she did rather obsessively these days thanks to her new little pen pal. Not wanting to get caught up in those depressing thoughts once again, she turned to Lee who had followed her back behind the bar;

“We don’t need bouncers. They’d ruin the ambience of the place. Besides,” she cut him off before he could argue further, “the only reason I stepped in was because those guys would have wiped the floor with Pete and his team and then used them as toothpicks.”

And she had no doubt that was true. All three of them were tall – likely a few inches over six feet – far taller than her own five-foot-seven frame. She’d had to raise her head to look them in the eyes – and oh, what magnificent eyes they had been too. Even in the dark interior of the bar she had been able to see that each of the men had green eyes, albeit in varying shades. Maybe they were brothers? Their postures and familiarity hinted they were close. Whatever they were, they were three of the best specimens she’d had the pleasure of laying her eyes on in years.

“Boss? Ivory!”

“Huh?” she looked up to see Lee frowning at her. Oops, he must have been trying to gain her attention for a while now.Head back in the game, Ivory. You have enough complications without adding three strange men to the mix, “I’m sorry, Lee. What did you say?”

“I asked if you were sure you wanted to close up tonight. I can stay back, help out.”

Ivory smiled. He really was a good guy – too bad she didn’t find him as attractive as those strangers. If she had, she would have taken him up on his offer of a date when he had first started working for her. But he just didn’t ring any of her bells, “No, thanks. It’s your night to finish early. I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s already slowing down. I’ll be closing up on time,” she answered in response to his offer.

Lee nodded, moving back to the front of the bar to serve. He still had one hour left on shift. Pleased that Lee wasn’t going to argue with her, she picked up the rack of dirty glasses and walked them back to the kitchen and the industrial dishwasher.

“Well, fuck me sideways. Did you get a gander at those three?”

Ivory didn’t even jump at the voice or blink at the crass words as she continued to stack the dishwasher, “You are so articulate, Libby.”

“Hey, you didn’t hire me for my mouth,” was the quick, sassy reply.

Libby Fontane was another employee – waitress and bartender extraordinaire – who never failed to get the best tips. She was classically beautiful with blonde hair, blue eyes, full lips, and an even fuller cleavage. And she also happened to be Ivory’s best friend.

Hitting the big green button on the stainless-steel appliance, she turned and ran a critical eye over the blonde bombshell, “Remind me; why did I hire you again?”

“Ha ha – you’re hilarious. But seriously, who were they? Did you get their names? Where are they staying? Do you think they’ll be back?”

Rolling her eyes, Ivory leaned back against the counter, deciding it was easier to answer Libby’s questions than it was to ignore them. Libby was rather tenacious, “I have no idea who they were, no – I didn’t get their names, no clue where they’re staying, and I highly doubt they’ll be back. I’m sure they were just passing through.”

That last statement brought a twinge of disappointment. She would have really liked to have seen them all again. Which was nuts, she assured herself. She had only laid eyes on them for a total of three minutes.

“Ivory!” Libby moaned, “Don’t tell me you wasted a perfectly good opportunity to finally get some action. How long has it been since you got laid again? A year?”

She glared at her friend, “It has not been a year!” eleven and a half months was not a year, she assured herself, “Besides, what opportunity? They hightailed it out of here quick-smart.”

Libby’s eyes widened in apparent disbelief, “You’re kidding right? Couldn’t you feel the heat they were generating in your direction? Hell, I was across the room and I could feel it.”

Ivory burst out laughing – she couldn’t help it. Hers was not a face that generated heat. Especially not from three sex gods with broad shoulders and cotton tee shirts that stretched tightly across defined pectorals and biceps. She looked down at herself and saw faded black jeans, a plain black tee shirt, and serviceable black shoes. She gestured to herself, “I’m not sure how they held back with all ofthisstanding in front of them.”

“I’m serious, Ivory. My horny radar is foolproof. And those men were most definitely horny – for you. All of them, I might add,” Libby’s face was quite earnest – an unusual look for her.

Snorting, Ivory shook her head, “I really wish that was true but because I live on planet Earth and not planet Orgasm, I’m thinking my celibacy is safe for a while yet.”

“But …”

“Besides,” she cut in, “what in the world would I do with three of them at once?”

Libby shook her head sadly as if Ivory was the biggest disappointment in the world, “Oh, honey. That may be the most depressing thing I have ever heard you say.”

They stared at each other solemnly for a few seconds before breaking into a fit of giggles that would make fourth graders proud. She didn’t really need a pack of men when she had friends like Libby. Although she had lied – she knew exactly what she would do if she had the three of them in her bed at once.

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