Page 52 of Christmas at Hart's Ridge

I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing.

Jasmine cringed. “Please let her take the hint,” she muttered to me as she poured a round of shots. “I can’t watch. Secondhand embarrassment.”

“Come on,” Amber protested. “I hear you’re up for anything. As long as a person has a pussy and a pulse. I have both of those.”

Wow, crude. My gaze shot to Luke’s face just in time to see hurt flash across his features. Suddenly I was furious. This bitch had some nerve, coming in here and saying shit like that to him. Like just because he was good in bed she was somehow entitled to experience that for herself, no matter how he felt about it.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said simply, then moved to the opposite end of the bar.

My eyes narrowed on Amber. She looked annoyed as she sipped her wine, her gaze glued to Luke.

Oh,hellno.

She was pretty, in that Evergreen way that screamed money. Was it only a month ago that I was so jealous of women like her, deigning to come down from their resort town to slum it with the hot bartender? I wasn’t jealous now. No, I was enraged.

I stormed forward.

“You have to leave,” I told her.

She arched a perfectly shaped brow at me. “I haven’t finished my drink.” She gestured to the half-full glass of chardonnay in front of her.

“Let me help you with that.” I grabbed the stem and tossed the contents into her lap. “There, you’re done. Out you go. And don’t come back. We don’t serve your kind here.”

She blinked wide, shocked eyes at me. “Sluts?”

Damn it, that was kind of funny. Under different circumstances, maybe we could have been friends. If she hadn’t been so absolutely terrible to Luke. “Jerks,” I clarified primly. “You are ajerk.”

“We are one hundred percent slut positive at Goat’s Tavern,” Jasmine chimed in at my elbow.

“Fucking hell,” Luke muttered behind us.

“You hurt my—” I barely stopped myself from saying boyfriend. “Luke’s feelings. I would demand you apologize, but I don’t think your words are worth all that much.”

Her mouth dropped open. She glanced at Luke. Shame flashed in her eyes. Then she snapped her mouth closed without saying anything, grabbed her purse, and gave a brisk nod. Her cheeks were flushed as she hopped off her barstool.

On her way out the door, she paused, looking at Luke. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never been that rude to anyone in my life. I’m just not used to rejection, I guess.”

I rolled my eyes. But Luke simply nodded. “Thank you.”

“My Luke?” Jasmine hissed at me, repeating my earlier words.

I cringed. “I didn’t mean it like that.” But I did. Luke was mine. Mine to defend. Mine to love.

Shit.

Jasmine laughed. “Sure, babe. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

“Bethany,” Luke growled behind me, making me jump. “My office. Now.”

Uh oh.

Chapter 20

Luke

“Areyougoingtofire me?” Bethany asked as I ushered her into my office and shut the door behind us.

“Fire you?”

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