Page 22 of Guarded Secrets
Oh hell no.
Owen rounded the end of the bar, only stopping when Keeley flashed him a warning look.
“Jaxon, what are you doing here?”
“Why, I’m visiting you, of course. I couldn’t believe it when I heard you’d moved back to your little hometown. I’ve looked around a bit. I’ll give you that it’s quaint but, honey, you’ll be bored out of your gourd in weeks. There’s nothing to do here.” He spoke in an overly loud voice, glancing around like he was checking that he had an audience. Man-bun’s scan of the room checked when he caught sight of Owen, eyes narrowed and with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Hands off, pal.” The guy jumped at the growled words.
“No worries, dude.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Keeley’s my girl.”
Owen stepped forward. “The hell she is. Get your hands off her.”
“Owen, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it.” She looked pointedly at the guy’s hand still on her arm and he had the sense to release her. “You’re myex-boyfriend, Jaxon, and hardly even that. We casually dated, and only for a couple months.”
“They were a good couple months though, right, sweet thing? Take a break and have a drink with me. I’ll pay if you can get us a discount.” He winked. Owen had a hard-and-fast rule never to trust a dude who winked, and when this douche did it, he had to fight the urge to mess up his mustache with a punch in the face.
Keeley must’ve sensed Owen was close to violence because she gave him a narrow-eyed look. “I’m taking my break.” She pointed to a table in a quiet corner and told man-bun, “Go sit down. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The asshole had the temerity to give Owen a two-finger salute as he sauntered off.
“I don’t like assholes in my place,” Owen growled.
“Kind of hard to filter out all the assholes.” She circled the bar and grabbed a couple glasses and filled them with ice, water, and lemon slices. It made him feel marginally better she wasn’t drinking with the guy.
Owen returned behind the bar and began filling orders to get caught up. He also paid attention to the two in the corner.
Keeley appeared to be giving it to him with both barrels, talking emphatically and gesturing, while man-bun’s body language went from cocky and open to insolent and surly, his movements jerky as he emphasized whatever he was saying.
Finally, he shoved up from the table, bending to say something in Keeley’s ear. What she said back had him whirling around to stare daggers at Owen. He was all attitude as he sauntered toward the door, flipping Owen the bird over his shoulder before pushing through.
Keeley took their glasses through to the kitchen. Owen caught up with her as she stood at the sink, eyes closed, breathing through her nose like it would somehow settle her. “Take your break. Go sit in my office.”
Her eyes flared open. “I already had my break. I’m fine. I need to get back to work.”
“You’re not fine, princess. You had a run-in with an asshole with a fucking stupid man-bun. My office is quiet. Go sit in there.” When it didn’t look like she was moving, he added, “That’s an order.”
She scowled, and he thought she’d blast him. But then her shoulders sagged and she gave a terse nod and crossed to his office, shutting the door firmly behind her.
He gave her five minutes before checking on her.
She looked better, sitting tilted back in his chair, though he’d caught her rubbing her forehead. He closed the door behind him, using his foot to roll her chair over so he had room to lean back against the edge of his desk. His office was claustrophobic to begin with, and with both of them in the space it was damned cramped.
“What’d he want?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. He kept his eyes determinedly on hers when the move pushed up her breasts.
“First, you can’t give me orders. Even as my boss, you can ask, but you can’t order.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Here’s the thing, princess. Sometimes I’ll give you an order and you’ll have to obey it. I was a Marine, I was a cop. That’s how I operate. If it’s important, I’ll give an order and you’ll follow it.”
“Baloney. It’s not like me taking a break in your office was a life-or-death situation. If you want me to do something, ask nicely.”
“It was for your own good.”
“I’ll decide what’s for my own good.”
He shook his head. “We’ll come back to this later. What’d he want?”
