Page 61 of Taken By Storm

“Guess it’s a waste of time to ask ifyouwant to come,” Jace said to Levi as they reached the stairs.

Levi wiggled his eyebrows. “Total waste of time. I’m going to call Kasi to see if she’s still up. If she is, I’m heading to Lucky Penny Farm to steal a good night kiss or twenty.”

“You’re pussy-whipped,” Jace said good-naturedly. “But that’s all right. Just means there are more girls at the bar for me, Theo, and Mav.”

Levi pulled his phone out of his back pocket just as it started to ring. “Speak of the devil,” he said, showing his brother Theo’s name on the screen.

“What’s up, Theo?” Levi said as he and Jace started climbing the stairs.

“I was wondering how the destemmer repairs are going,” Theo said.

“Just finished.”

“That was quick. Jace?”

“Yup.”

“In that case, thought you might be interested in joining me and Maverick at the bar,” Theo said.

“Nope. Just told Jace I’m heading over to Kasi’s.”

“It would be a wasted trip,” Theo replied.

Levi frowned. “Why?”

“Because your girl is here with Remi, and the two of them look like they’re trying to set some kind of record for most lemon drop shots pounded in a single evening.”

“Kasi’s at Whiskey Abbey?”

Jace had been about to enter his bedroom, but he stopped when he heard Levi’s question.

“She sure is. Dancing up a storm and looking as pretty as ever. Thought you might want to know that, considering there are more than a few young bucks circling her and Remi on the floor. Assholes look like sharks going in for the kill—and fucking Scottie Grover is leading the charge.”

Levi hadn’t felt an ounce of jealousy in his life before falling for Kasi. But after hearing his brother mention other men jostling to get Kasi’s attention, his green-eyed monster roared to life.

“Keep the assholes away from her,” Levi said through gritted teeth. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up the phone.

“Meet you downstairs in fifteen?” Jace asked, obviously hearing enough to know Levi would be going to the bar. “I need to grab a shower really quick.”

“Same,” Levi grunted. “But make it ten.”

Jace laughed and gave him a thumbs-up.

Thirty minutes later,Levi and his kid brother walked into Whiskey Abbey. Given the number of cars in the parking lot, he’d say ladies’ night was an inspired idea on the part of the bar’s owner, Abbey Wagner.

Abbey was a Gracemont transplant, moving into town a decade earlier. After retiring from government work, she’d decided she wanted a slower pace of life, somewhere away from the hubbub of Washington, D.C. She claimed she’d always wanted to run her own bar, so she made her way to Gracemont, where she’d spotted a For Sale ad in the newspaper for a bar.

Prior to renovating the older building and breathing new life into it, Whiskey Abbey had been a sagging, run-down dive simply called The Bar, and the only patrons of the previous place had been a dozen or so grizzled old guys who preferred shots of whiskey to spending time with their wives.

Abbey had changed all that with her establishment, finding ways to entice most of the residents of Gracemont to stop by for a drink at least once during the week.

On Tuesday nights, she ran a music bingo game, Thursday was trivia night, and on Fridays and Saturdays, she always had some local musical talent performing. And while all those nights drew in decent crowds, the one night that seemed to overshadow them all was Wednesday—Ladies’ Night—where there weredrink specials for the women and the floor was crowded as everyone kicked up their heels to country music.

Levi nodded when he spotted Theo waving to capture his attention. He and Jace made their way through the crowd. Levi kept glancing toward the dance floor, trying to find Kasi, but he couldn’t see her. There were too many damn people out there bumping and grinding.

Maverick pulled out the stool next to him, gesturing for Levi to sit, while Jace claimed the other empty chair next to Theo. “We ordered beer as soon as you said you were coming because this place is slammed, and the poor waitresses are behind. They just delivered these a couple of minutes ago, so they should be nice and cold,” Maverick said, pointing to the round on the table between them.

Levi nodded his thanks, taking a sip as his gaze traveled around the room.

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