Page 1 of Smooth Sailing

PROLOGUE

BEAT-UP CHAIRS

Big Petey

Denver, Colorado

Not too long ago…

Thursday Night

The bar wasn’t the worst Pete had been in, it wasn’t the best either.

But it was a bar, a busy one, and shit went down in bars, busy, seedy, or neither.

And shit was going down.

That was why he tensed, and Rush, sitting across from him in a back corner booth, tensed with him.

They’d seen the dipshit on the barstool cop a feel of a woman’s ass as she walked by with her friends. They’d seen her negative reaction to that unwanted touch.

And they’d seen how Harlan McCain hadn’t missed either.

Now, Harlan, a bouncer at the bar, was on the move.

Pete knew Harlan also hadn’t missed the man on the barstool had a crew with him.

And that bar had one bouncer.

Harlan.

That didn’t stop the man from walking right up to Barstool and having a few words.

Unsurprisingly, those words didn’t go well.

Even if Harlan appeared to be going about things calmly and rationally, the situation deteriorated. Barstool got off his seat, going right into a two-handed shove on Harlan without the man doing a thing to stop him.

His buds all exited their seats and gathered around.

Harlan went back a step at the shove, but that was it.

Except Harlan kept talking.

Barstool got in his face, and it was clear he wasn’t sharing the weather.

Harlan stayed cool, and when Barstool finally shut up, he kept calm and kept talking with some easily read head and hand motions that indicated Barstool, and his buds, were invited to walk out the front door.

Barstool, either drunk, stupid, or both, took a step back, cocking an arm to throw a punch.

This caused Pete to prepare to move.

It also caused Harlan to dodge, and while dodging, take Barstool by the back neck of his shirt, the back waistband of his jeans and frog-march him right out the front door.

His crew followed, and their set faces and body language shared what they intended to do when this shit went outside.

Pete and Rush instantly slid out of their booth.

Harlan was a big guy. Tall. Built. And the man’s muscle wasn’t lean, it was bulky.

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