Page 28 of Live Love Steal
I stared at the two fingers of whiskey left in my glass and debated quitting. “I hate my boss,” I confessed to the glass.
“Whoo-kay. My work’s done.” Bear slid off the stool, taking his glass and the bottle Smoke left on the bar with him.
“Hey, come back here with that.” My glass was almost empty.
“Coward!” Tits yelled at his back.
He stopped and glared over his shoulder. “I know you didn’t mean that.”
Tits tipped her head, calculating. “If you weren’t a coward, you’d ride my bike.”
His face changed to horror. “The word you’re looking for is ‘fool’ as in, no one is dumb enough to ride that piece of shit you call a motorcycle.”
She stood up. “Take that back.”
“Why? It’s true.” Laughter from his audience seemed to agree with him. Tits wasn’t having it, though. She marched over to start yelling at Bear.
I swiveled around to watch them argue it out. This was fun. Why hadn’t I come here before? The Destroyers’ bar was nice, in a really run-down sort of way. They obviously decorated with whatever they had on hand and didn’t bother trying to match anything. Which meant it all gelled in an eclectic way. The vibe was one part, ‘I don’t give a fuck,’ mixed with one part, ‘I’ll kick your ass.’ My kind of place.
Smoke dropped a bottled water in front of me.
“Thank you.” That was kind of him. I cracked the seal and let the coldness take the bite off the whiskey fumes dancing in my nose.
“Sketch, huh?”
I ran my gaze up and down his shape from face to waist. He wasn’t a slouch, looks-wise, if you liked them big, dark, and hairy, but not Bear’s style of furry and hairy. Smoke was kind of …watchful. I didn’t like that at all. I preferred them wild, crazy… and quietly scary like…
Speak of the devil. Sketch emerged from that door he’d disappeared behind when we walked in. I smiled. I’d seen that man naked. And licked him while he was naked. I bit my lip and admired the way he walked. It was one part prowl and two parts stealth. Damn.
Then I noticed the man behind him.
“Holy shit.” The words popped out of my mouth.
Smoke groaned. “Aw, fuck. Don’t let Tits hear you say it like that. She’ll shiv ya.”
I whipped around to question him with my expression. He read my face easily.
“Wolf is Tit’s husband. And she’s the jealous type.”
Oh. He’d just saved my bacon. Because it looked like she’d won the argument against Bear. Which meant that of all the people in the room, she was the most dangerous. Except maybe her husband. Wowza… I kept that thought to myself. In my head, I tried to remember that I wasn’t attracted to the Viking type. Long blond hair and big shoulders did nothing for me. Nothing at all. But dang, he’d look hot carrying a sword.
“Is that whiskey?” Sketch looked at the nearly empty glass in my hand.
“Bourbon,” I clarified. I deeply inhaled the complex aroma and swirled the alcohol in the glass to draw out some of the spicier notes.
He winced. “Smoke?” he asked his friend for help.
“It’s Bear’s special stock.”
“Oh, fuck.” Sketch pulled the glass out of my hand and replaced it with the water bottle I’d set down. “Don’t drink anymore.”
“But it’s good. I’d hate to waste it.” I could still taste the sweet, smoky apple flavor.
“She’s had a glass and a half.”
Sketch slammed the rest of my glass.
“That’s mine!”
