Page 6 of The Oath We Take

I’m not one hundred percent sure she even likes me anymore because of it. But I know if she ever made a move towards me, it would be impossible to keep my hands off her, which, if Butcher ever found out about it, would be the last time I put my hands anywhere.

So, we do this dance. One where I let her close, but as soon as it feels unbearable, like I can’t take another breath without touching her, I do something to push her away.

When she returns to the bar, she places it down on the counter. I pull my wallet from my pocket to pay, but she puts her hand out to stop me. “No. Don’t want any disappointed customers because of warm beer. It’s on the house.”

Before I can argue, she’s fixed her smile and moved on to the next customer. And now I feel like a double heel because not only did I chip away at that smile of hers, but I also ripped off her bar to the tune of a beer bottle.

“Fuck me,” I mutter to myself as I watch her hips sway beneath tight jeans that hug her ass.

“Atom,” Catfish says, slapping my shoulder. “This is Nina and her friend Savannah. They’re on a road trip from Dallas, headed to the University of Utah to finish their final year of college. They wanted to say thanks in person.”

“Thank you,” they both say at the same time, which is…weird.

For Catfish’s sake, I nod. “Get you girls a drink?”

“Please,” Nina says. “Lemon drop martini for me.”

I remember Ember once joking about how they tasted like alcoholic toilet cleaner.

“Same for me,” Savannah says.

“Catfish?”

He grins. “I’ll have another beer.”

I turn back to the bar, hoping Ember will catch my eye again. But before she has time to spot me, one of the other bartenders, a guy, jumps in. “What can I get you?”

I place the order but keep my back to Catfish and the two girls. I’m really not in the mood to make small talk. I watch as the bartender mixes the drinks and then grabs the beer, but in my peripheral vision, I see an attractive-looking fucker, tall too, lean over the bar and whisper something into Ember’s ear.

Normally, I’m a great judge of Ember’s body language after all these years of watching out for her. But I can’t tell if she wants this guy’s attention or not.

He’s got the look of a cowboy, but it’s a little too…polished. The jeans fit like they’re meant to but don’t have a single wrinkle and aren’t frayed around the hem after years of wear. The plaid shirt over the T-shirt looks fine, but there are still fold lines down the front and back, like it just came out of a packet.

Ember shakes her head at something he says, and I see it. She loses her smile for half a second. I push back my stool, still watching.

He’s trying to persuade her to do something she doesn’t want to. He’s gesturing to a table he’s sitting at with two friends.

And no fucking way I’m going to let him force her.

2

EMBER

“C’mon,” the customer who introduced himself as Rocco says. “Come join us. It’ll be fun. And I won’t tell your boss.”

I laugh at that. “You wouldn’t need to. Iamthe boss. Now, do you need any more drinks before I ring all these up?”

“Even better,” he says, unrelenting. “There’s nothing hotter than a capable woman running her own business. And before that sounds condescending, I come from a long line of women who have run their own businesses. I respect it. Truly.”

Good-lookingandraised by strong women. There must be something else wrong with the guy. Bet he’s married. “If you respect it that much, you should go back to your table and let me do it.”

I smile as I deliberately move out of his grasp, but as I do, I catch Atom on his feet, his brow furrowed.

It’s hard to figure out if he really cares. He’d have to be utterly clueless to miss the tension when we’re in the same room. But he’s put so much energy into keeping distance between us, maybe he doesn’t see me the same way anymore. Plus, he’s more likely figuring out whether to call my father because a guy touched my shoulder or calculating whether he’s going to do more damage by taking on this guy too.

Last time he saw a guy make an aggressive move on me, he beat the guy to a pulp, and I banned him from the bar for six months. Tonight, he did the same for a woman he barely knows. It’s not that I wasn’t grateful, but I can take care of myself.

I hold out my palm, face down, and gesture for him to sit.

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