Gambling on Her Dragon (Charmed in Vegas Book 2) (15 page)

Jessica bit her lip, thinking about the long road she’d traveled in the past few months. Maybe she and Janna could finally stop looking over their shoulders and catch their breath.

“That’s the place,” Tina replied, waving to the two-story building owned by her pack. “Blue Moon Saloon.”

Jess drew in a long breath and slowed to look it over.

She couldn’t have conjured anything more
Wild West
out of her imagination if she’d tried. The whole historic center of the old town was like that — a high-altitude frontier town, barely dragged into modern times.

“Perfect location, just a block off Whiskey Row.” Tina nodded in pride.

Jessica’s inner wolf whined.
I like home better.

Yes, well, home was gone, and she could never go back to that place.

Want my mate,
the wolf whimpered.

Yeah, well.
He didn’t want us.
When would the stupid beast get that through its head?

Anger worked better than the grief that welled up every time she thought of that part of her past, so she hung on to it for the time being. She combed her long, brown hair back and stood at her full five foot eight. She needed this job, damn it. She’d get it.

“This is so cute!” Janna exclaimed. “Don’t you think, Jess?”

She took in the peeling paint, the dusty windows.
Cute
might describe the empty shop to the right, but not the saloon, which was dark and dreary, just like the people who gravitated toward a place like that, she’d bet. Waitressing, she didn’t mind. But getting her ass pinched… No, thanks.

She glanced at her reflection in the glass and grimaced at her worn jeans and checkered top. Maybe she didn’t have to worry about getting harassed. She’d gone from lean and athletic to downright gaunt in the past couple of months.

“The saloon ran well for years — well enough to pay the rent, at least — but the man we were leasing it to retired, and the new guys only took it over a month ago.”

Jess raised an eyebrow in a question.

Tina gave a tiny nod and lowered her voice. “Shifters, like us. None of the neighbors know.” Her stern look made it clear that none of the neighbors could ever find out. That was a given in the shifter world. The constant secrecy, the veil of normalcy. Shifters could blend in perfectly as long as they kept their beast sides tightly leashed.

Tina tilted her head toward the wooded hills surrounding the town. “Good place to run when you need a break.”

When your wolf needs a break
, she meant. Every shifter needed a chance to let their inner animals run free — and not only under the light of a full moon.

“The building is over a hundred years old,” Tina went on, speaking louder again.

Yes, she could see it in the detailed moldings, the ornate windows, the false front.

“The ground floor is really three units, but two were combined for the saloon.”

Jessica’s eyes kept traveling to the smaller place on the right. The cute one. “What’s in there?”

Tina sighed. “It used to be a small art gallery. Before that, a café. But we haven’t been able to find a renter for it in years.”

God, if she had some start-up capital… Jessica shook the thought off. It would take a hell of a lot of tips to get to the point where she could even think about that. And until she had peace of mind about the rogues hounding her… Why even wish?

“You can live upstairs,” Tina said. “If you’re sure you don’t want to stay on the ranch. We do have the space, you know.”

Jess wasn’t sure about anything, but living among a pack of strangers didn’t really appeal. Not even a whole pack of wolves as nice as Tina. Plus, neither Jess nor Janna had their own wheels, and even if they did, the forty-five-minute commute into town each day — and each late night — would be a bit much.

“This will be fine,” Jess said, trying to keep doubt out of her voice.

“It will need some work…” Tina warned.

Jessica wondered if she meant the saloon, the apartment upstairs, or the whole new life she faced now.

“…and you’ll have to share a bathroom with the guys…”

“No problem!” Janna chirped.

God, Jessica hoped not. That was the other unknown in the equation. She’d have to live under the same roof as her new boss or bosses. Who were the two men running the place, anyway? Shifters, was all she knew.

“They’re good guys,” Tina added quickly. “Hard-working. Honest.”

She sure hoped so.

“…a little rough around the edges, maybe…”

Jess pictured natty beards, worn jeans, western drawls.

“…but I’m sure they’ll be fine. And they can really use your help.”

That was another thing. Everything Tina
didn’t
say suggested the saloon wasn’t exactly off to a stellar start. Not that Jess minded hard work, but it would be nice to be part of a successful, competent team.

“Anything you need, you let me know,” Tina said.

“Thanks,” Jess said, meeting her eyes so Tina knew she meant it. The she-wolf had gone out of her way to help Jess and Janna from the very start.

She’s got a soft spot for outcasts,
Tina’s mate, Rick, had explained back on the ranch, when he’d looked at Tina like she was the sun and he was the moon, devoted to orbiting faithfully to the end of his days.

The saloon doors — a pair of real saloon doors that swung both ways — split open, and a tall figure strode out.

“Hello, Ty,” Tina said while Jessica and Janna hung back.

Tina was probably the only person west of the Missouri who could greet that man so casually. Jessica’s eyes hit the ground, and not just because it was a required sign of submission to the alpha of Twin Moon pack. The man had a pointed, laser glare, and sheer wolf power sloughed off him in waves.

“Hi,” he growled.

Once upon a time, Jess had made a habit of showing such men she wasn’t easily impressed, but she’d been on the run long enough to know to keep her place. Just in case.

“Don’t mind my brother,” Tina whispered out of the corner of her mouth, then swept right by him and into the saloon.

Ty Hawthorne held the left half of the saloon door open in a surprisingly polite gesture for an alpha that powerful, and for a moment, the
watch-your-step-on-my-turf
aura he gave off softened to a more gentle,
you’ll-be-safe-here
.

Jess took a last, deep breath and walked through the doors, feeling as if she were leaping into a deep, murky pool.

At first, she couldn’t see anything, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, she could make out the trappings of an authentic saloon. Four poker tables stood in the middle, and booths lined the sides. A weathered sign on the right read,
Check your guns at the door
, and it was hard to tell whether the message was a gag or not. Otherwise, the walls were decorated with black-and-white scenes of the frontier town in days gone by — all covered with enough dust to suggest that the new management hadn’t changed the decor. Or the menu, judging by the faded chicken-scratch on the chalkboard by the front door. Not a soul in sight, but then, it was ten in the morning — before opening time.

Janna, of course, waltzed right in. “Great! A pool table.”

There was a dartboard, too, a standup piano, and an old jukebox to one side. But the centerpiece of the saloon, and the thing that had Jess halt dead in her tracks, was the bar itself. A huge, oak masterpiece that took up all of the back wall. Bottles of booze glittered in the light bouncing off the huge mirror in the middle section, and an antique Winchester hung over the top. But it was the woodwork that caught her eye. Intricately carved wooden supports held up each of the many shelves, and a mountain scene was etched into the upper panel. A wolf howled at the moon, a bear waded in a stream, and an eagle soared overhead.

“Gorgeous,” she murmured.

A finely crafted latticework covered the entire upper section, all the way to the molded tin ceiling of the room. The bar itself was polished to a glow in the sunlight filtering through the windows, as was the brass footrail underneath.

Two things were immediately evident. First, someone had put a hell of a lot of time into carving that bar a long, long time ago. Second, someone very recently had put a hell of a lot of time into restoring it all.

“Nice, huh?” Tina murmured.

“More than nice. It’s spectacular,” she agreed.

“My great-uncle made it, ninety years ago.”

Pool balls clicked behind them, and Jessica spun to see her sister blow at the tip of a pool stick like a gunslinger who’d just made the perfect shot. Knowing Janna, it
was
a perfect shot. But didn’t they have more important things to do, like meeting their new boss?

Jessica looked around. Spider webs filled the other corners of the place, but damn did that bar gleam. If the guy put as much work into the rest of the place as he had into the bar, it wouldn’t be half bad. But the tables were crooked, the chairs chipped. The saloon had seen more than one brawl in its time. She was sure of that.

“Hello?” Tina called. Her voice echoed down a narrow hallway that appeared to lead to the kitchen and a back room.

“Coming,” a deep voice came from out of sight.

Jessica’s wolf perked its ears. Froze. Practically pointed like a goddamn hunting dog, too. She gave it a mental swat, but the beast didn’t budge. What the hell was that about?

Her nostrils flared, but all she could pick up was the scent of the shifters around her and the stale smell of French fries.

“Be right there,” a second voice came. A low, rumbly voice, like that of a bear roused from his den.

Her wolf soul had been slumbering for most of the morning, but now, it jumped up and down, growling at the bars of its cage. Wagging its tail frantically from a crazy cocktail of mixed emotions. Excitement with a splash of hope, a touch of arousal, and a whole lot of fear, clinking around like a couple of ice cubes in a whiskey glass.

What?
She wanted to scream at her wolf.
What?

Two square-shouldered forms stepped out of the shadows of the hallway, one half a step ahead of the other. Big, burly men who moved like bulldozers, confident that any living thing would back the hell out of their way. Each slowed to brush a shoulder against the doorframe as he came through, the way some shifters did to mark their turf.

Short, sandy hair. Scruffy stubble. Dark, wary eyes. Huge, steely hands clenched into fists. Two men who couldn’t be anything but brothers.

A warm rush of adrenaline exploded inside her and bounced around her veins, and her mind whirled.
Not possible. It couldn’t be…

Part of her wanted to flee; the other part wanted to leap into an embrace. The man in front looked permanently stern, while the one behind smiled. At least, he did until he spotted her.

“Jessica Macks,” Tina started the introductions, “meet—”

“Simon,” Jess blurted, looking over the shoulder of the first man toward the second. “Voss,” she finished, going weak in the knees.

The man she’d never stopped loving, no matter how hard she tried. The bear shifter who still inhabited all of her dreams.

Mate!
Her wolf whimpered in joy.
Mate!

Blue eyes the color of the coldest, clearest alpine lake locked on hers and refused to let go.

“Jessica,” he murmured, too low for human ears.

Her wolf did a crazy tap dance.
Mate! Mine!

“Wow!” Janna exclaimed, clueless as ever. “Simon?” Then she turned to the older brother — the one who was bigger, broader, and burlier, but only by a hair. “Soren? Oh my God! It really is you.”

“Good to see you,” Soren mumbled as his eyes darted between Jess and Simon.

“This is amazing!” Janna declared.

Tina tipped her head sideways in a gesture that said,
This is unexpected.

Jessica shook her head furiously, trying to break Simon’s unwavering gaze.
This is not possible.
No way. No how. The man who’d pretended to love her, then cast her aside?

“This…” Simon uttered in his deep, edgy bass. A sound like a shovel scraping against rock, guaranteed to send tingles to every fenced-off corner of her body and mind. “This will never work.”

Jess edged toward the doorway, trying to keep the wobbling pieces of her heart together long enough to make her escape.

She shook her head and echoed him, trying to convince her wolf. “This will never work.”

# # #

Damnation
is Book 1 in the
Blue Moon Saloon
series. Get
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