Lori Foster (2 page)

The woman left reluctantly—but she did leave.

Just as they all did.

And that’s the way he wanted it. Usually. But odd as it seemed, even though they hadn’t yet hit the sheets, he enjoyed Avery’s company.

Hell, he liked it so much that he’d made her the bartender as soon as he’d bought the bar. If he wanted her to stick around—and he did—there’d have to be no more sex in the office.

Unless it was sex with Avery.

And wasn’t that one hell of a nice idea?

* * *

I
N
THE
PAST
year, Avery had learned all sorts of things about herself. She was stronger than she’d ever realized. More determined. More resilient.

But it took every bit of her confidence to walk back into that bar before her shift. She couldn’t rid her brain of the darkly sensual image of Rowdy involved in such an intimate act. How he’d looked, how he’d sounded.
So hot.

Being honest with herself, she knew that jealousy ran hand in hand with curiosity. They didn’t have an agreement, so he hadn’t betrayed her in any way. But she still felt...a lot.

Rowdy lived life by his own rules. How freeing might that be?

He took care of his business and accepted his responsibilities, but when it came to personal relationships, he avoided commitments and instead indulged a healthy sexual appetite. She wasn’t as pathetically naive now as she’d been a year ago, but she knew a badass bad boy like Rowdy was so far out of her realm of experience that it left her dizzy.

She couldn’t play with him without getting burned. She couldn’t indulge him without risking a broken heart.

Sadly, there wasn’t anything she could do with him—except work—so she might as well put anything more intimate from her mind.

But now that she’d seen him during a release...

No,
Avery told herself,
stop thinking about it!

Not even Rowdy was around when she returned and began rushing through her setup. She had enough to do that for a while, she managed not to stew.

At 3:00 p.m., only half an hour before he needed to open the doors, Rowdy strode in. Wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt, freshly showered and with his hair still damp, he looked as delicious as ever.

She braced herself for the inevitable awkwardness, what Rowdy would say, what she would say.

It didn’t happen.

Rowdy went right to work setting up. Jones, the newly hired cook, and Ella, one of the three waitresses, also bustled about. The prep work kept them all too busy for chitchat.

She looked away as Rowdy stocked the cash register with small bills and change. She occupied herself elsewhere when he set up the dry-erase board with the day’s specials. She chatted up Ella while Rowdy did a general run-through of the bar.

But all the while, she was far too aware of him.

Rowdy, damn him, acted as if nothing had happened.

Maybe, for him, it hadn’t been a big deal at all. Maybe getting busted in an intimate sex act was something he took in stride.

He did repeatedly look her way. Avery knew because she felt it every time. The man had a way of looking that felt more like a hot, physical touch.

As the night wore on and customers crowded in, Avery’s tension grew. She’d expected Rowdy to confront her, at the very least to ask her why she’d been in the bar so early.

But he didn’t.

Was
he
avoiding
her?
Well, he’d have to eventually talk with her, but she wanted to put it off as long as possible. She still had to figure out what to say.

Best-case scenario, she’d follow his lead and play it off like it hardly had an impact at all.

During the dinner hour, while much of the crowd ordered off the limited menu, Avery took the time to tidy her work area. She didn’t have a barback so keeping the bar prepared was one of her main responsibilities. Whenever possible, she reorganized things.

Hustling along the length of the countertop, she grabbed up empty straw wrappers and cocktail napkins and wiped up a few spills. When she turned toward the sink, she almost plowed into Rowdy. Stumbling back two steps, taken off guard, she scowled up at him. “What?”

He didn’t seem to mind her acerbic tone. “Going to ignore me all night?”

A deep inhalation didn’t help. She said without thinking, “You were ignoring me.”

“No.” He turned them both so that he blocked her from view of the customers. “But every time I looked at you, you got so red faced I thought you might faint.”

Yeah, and now that he mentioned it, heat scalded her cheeks. Hoping to exude disinterest, Avery tried to elbow him out of her way. He was so rock solid that she didn’t budge him a single inch, so she stepped around him with haste. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bull.” He crossed his arms and leaned back on the bar. “We have to talk about it.”

At the breaking point, she started to blast him, but instead got caught up in the flex of his biceps, how his soft cotton T-shirt stretched over his chest, how the denim of his jeans had faded over his...fly.

Stifling a groan, she set out more napkins and clean glasses just to give her hands something to do—other than reach for him. “About what?”

“Avery,” he chastised. “You know what I’m talking about.”

A spark of temper smashed through some of her embarrassment. She gave a quick glance around, but no one was close enough to overhear. “Are you talking about your inappropriate behavior in your office?”

“Yeah.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “That.”

Well, if he could be so blasé, she would be, too. “Sorry about interrupting. Hope you didn’t—” she almost choked “—stop on my account.”

“I’d just finished anyway—but then, you know that, don’t you?”

Breath strangled in her throat.

He lowered his voice to a husky rumble. “I mean, since you watched.”

Shooting up to her tiptoes, Avery growled, “I was
shocked!
And actually, I figured you two had stayed at it for hours after I fled the scene.”

“No.” His humor faded until he looked far too serious. “I’m sorry you walked in on that.”

Before she could censor her mouth, she heard herself say, “But you’re not sorry you did it?”

As if sizing her up, Rowdy watched her without replying.

Good grief. Rushing, Avery pulled out the bags of peanuts and pretzels to refill the bowls. “Forget I said that. Not my business.”

“I’ve asked you—”

“I know you have,” she said, a little too loud and way too fast. Her rusty laugh wouldn’t convince anyone. “And if not me, then someone else, right?” Anyone else.

Way to make her feel special.

“Avery—”

She plopped the bowl up on the bar so hard that peanuts jumped out. “Believe me, Rowdy, I get it.”

“I don’t think you do.”

For whatever reason, that really annoyed her. Hands on her hips, her cheeks hot, she faced him. “You want sex. Constantly.”

He glanced around, then took her arm and pulled her aside again. “Keep it down, why don’t you?”

Already on a roll, she continued. “With any willing woman. I’m not ready, so you—”

“It’s not like that.”

“No?”
Just shut up, Avery.
But of course she didn’t. Around Rowdy, she lost much of her control. “Then how exactly is it?”

He dismissed that question with a shake of his head and asked one of his own. “What do you mean you’re not ready?”

Oh, crap.

Shifting closer, his gaze bored into hers. “You haven’t asked me to wait, Avery. Not once. All I’ve heard from you is a flat no.”

She stared up at him—and badly wanted to say,
Wait.

As if he knew her thoughts, he whispered, “Avery—” and the bar’s landline phone rang, cutting off whatever Rowdy had planned to say.

She started to reach for it, but he beat her to it.

Watching her, he said into the phone, “Rowdy’s bar and grill.” He might have adopted her suggested name for the place, but he rarely referred to it that way. “How can I help you?” His eyes narrowed. “Yes, she’s here. Hold on.” He held the phone out to her.

Avery lifted her brows. “For me?”

“You’re Avery Mullins, right?”

She stepped back so fast she bumped into the bar.
Someone had asked for her by name?
An invisible fist squeezed her lungs. “Who is it?”

Concern and suspicion narrowed Rowdy’s gaze. “He didn’t say.”

He.
Thoughts churning, unreasonable worry blooming, Avery tried to decide what to do, how to act.

Rowdy covered the phone. “What’s the problem?”

She chewed her bottom lip. Surely it was just a customer, a bar question maybe. The caller couldn’t know that the owner himself had picked up and could share any info needed....

Rowdy moved so close, they almost touched. “Want me to take the call for you?”

He was so big, so impressively male, that he inadvertently emphasized the differences in their sizes, making her feel even smaller and far too vulnerable.

Feelings she’d tried to bury deep.

“No.” She was an independent adult—time to act like one. “No, of course not.” She tried to smile, but didn’t feel real successful. Taking the phone from him, she said with only a modicum of caution, “Hello?”

The cold silence sounded louder than a shout.

Her heart started pounding a wild tattoo. The way Rowdy studied her didn’t help. She said again, a little louder, “Hello?”

She heard a faint laugh—and the line went dead.

Worry burned into real alarm.

“Avery?”

From now on, she’d have to be more careful. No more walking out to the bus alone. No more getting to her apartment unprepared for the worst.

“All right, enough.” Rowdy took her shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

And no reason to share her absurd past with Rowdy. “Nothing is wrong.” Nothing that he could fix. Not that she’d let him anyway.

She’d gotten along well enough before meeting Rowdy.

And since he didn’t want to get tied down, well, she’d get along fine and dandy without him still.

“Nothing, huh? That’s why you’re strangling the phone?” He took the receiver from her, put it to his ear.

“He hung up.” Avery turned to do a few refills along the bar. When she finished, Rowdy still stood there. Waiting. Maybe she’d misunderstood. “You say he asked for me? Like, he asked to speak to the bartender?”

“Actually, he asked if Avery Mullins was working.”

Well...that sucked. Not many ways she could spin that, except for assuming the worst.

Someone had found her.

Rowdy caught her arm and gently pulled her around. “You work for me.”

“Seriously? How did I miss that?”

His gaze narrowed with bad attitude. “Don’t be a smart-ass.”

“Sorry. Right, I work for you.” She loved her job, so she should really be tending customers instead of fretting. “If you’d get out of my way, I could get more done.”

He searched her face, realized she wouldn’t be swayed and growled a sound of exasperation. “Stick around tonight after we close. I need to talk to you.”

She opened her mouth to refuse him, but he cut her off before she could say a single word.

“Work related.” The bad attitude remained. “Ella will be there, too.”

Oh. Well, then...“I can only stay till two-thirty.” After that, she’d miss the bus, and no way did she want to pay for cab fare.

He nodded his acceptance of that. “Won’t take long.”

“Okay, then.”

Still holding her arm, he brushed his thumb over her skin. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Ahhh. Rowdy had his faults, sure, but he was also caring, protective.

And he possessed more raw masculine appeal than should be legal.

“I’m absolutely positive.” She’d worked hard to get her life together. No way would she backslide now.

Someone said, “Rowdy!” with far too much familiarity. They both turned to look, seeking out the voice.

Two blondes and a brunette waved at him, but Avery didn’t see a redhead anywhere. She crossed her arms and curled her lip. “If you decide to use your office again, I suggest you lock the door.”

Rowdy touched her chin, lifting her face. “We’ll talk after work.”

“About work,” she clarified, but he’d already left her, circling out from behind the bar to greet the trio of women.

* * *

T
HE
MOON
AND
a flickering lamppost illuminated the dark night. A cold wind cut through his coat. He turned up his collar and, shoes crunching on the gravel lot, paced away from the pay phone. Churning satisfaction almost brought him to a laugh.

He had her now.

Avery Mullins might have thought herself well hidden, but with enough money he could uncover anyone—or hide the darkest secret. It had taken a year, but soon it’d all be over.

He couldn’t wait to see her again. Everyone would be happier when she returned to her rightful place. Never again would he be so careless. They’d both miscalculated in a big way: he’d underestimated her resourcefulness, she’d misjudged his determination.

He’d match his bank account to her gumption any day.

Soon, he’d right the wrongs. Avery would never again play him for a fool.

CHAPTER TWO

A
VERY
LOCKED
HER
teeth together and tried to ignore them. Impossible. The women hanging on Rowdy were pretty, sexy and on the make. If Rowdy started for his office with them, she’d...what? Quit? Not likely.

She could just throw cold water on them. She eyed the seltzer water under the bar. It had possibilities.

But as she waited on customers, Rowdy disengaged from the women and then had to dodge others who tried to cling to him. He was polite to them all, but only polite.

Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Not to her.

He glanced up and caught her scowl. With a wink and a small smile, he went about greeting customers.

Since they’d opened a few weeks ago, Rowdy made a point of doing every job, overseeing every aspect of the operation and mingling with the crowd. The men enjoyed the casual setup of the bar, but Avery suspected the women came as much for Rowdy as for anything else the bar offered.

It had taken a while to get the interior refurbished. A lot of the equipment had to be repaired, and what couldn’t be fixed Rowdy had replaced with used. To save money, he’d done much of the work himself, putting fresh paint on the walls, scrubbing the floors and windows, making sure everything was as shiny and clean as he could make it.

Whenever possible, Avery had pitched in, working side by side with him...and falling harder every second.

She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about Rowdy, but from the day she’d met him, she’d been sinking under his rough-edged charm. Add his gorgeous face to that strong, honed body, and he made spectacular eye candy.

But it was so much more than his physical appeal. Rowdy smiled as if he knew all her secrets, looked at her as if they’d already been intimate. He had confidence down to a fine art, and faced each day with a fearless type of daring.

She knew he did his best to hide it, but there was something supersensitive and attentive in the way he treated life—his own and others.

When Rowdy’s sister had married Detective Logan Riske, Rowdy had inherited a cop as a brother-in-law. She smiled, thinking of how he’d reacted to that. Overall, he didn’t trust the police. But from what she’d seen, he got along well with Logan, and with Detective Reese Bareden, Logan’s partner.

The majority of Rowdy’s background remained a mystery to her, but it didn’t take a psychic to know he’d had a rough life, that he was street-smart and survival savvy. Odds were he’d spent some time on the wrong side of the law, and that accounted for his feelings toward police officers.

Busy washing glasses, Avery didn’t see Rowdy when he came around the back of the bar with her. She turned and ran into him.

Blast the man. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”

“Wasn’t sneaking.” Gaze dark with suggestion, he shifted past her. “I’m refilling drinks.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Using chitchat as a cover, Avery tried not to think about seeing him in such a compromising situation earlier. “It’s busy tonight.”

“We’re getting there.” He gave her a quick once-over. “How are you holding up?”

Avery froze. “What do you mean?”

“Like you said, it’s busy. You need any help?”

Oh.
Get it together, Avery.
Rowdy didn’t care that she had seen him in such a private situation, and that said a lot. “I can handle it. No problem.”

“Let me know if it gets to be too much.” He picked up the tray and started back out to the floor. “I’ll be over in a little while to give you a break.”

“Okay.” Seeing the shift of muscles as he walked away curled her toes in her shoes. Not an uncommon reaction to the sight of him.

A rush of customers kept her too busy to daydream. She liked when things got hopping because it put her in a zone. She found a rhythm and lost herself in the work. She felt...Zen.

When things eased up again, she spotted Rowdy at the back of the bar, inserting himself into an escalating argument between two men and a woman. A chair tipped over. Voices rose.

Before things got out of hand, Rowdy had it back under control. The men subsided. Rowdy had that type of “don’t mess with me” influence. The woman flounced off angrily, and neither of the men attempted to stop her.

Half smiling, Avery watched Rowdy right the chair, which had her recalling how he’d looked during off-hours while working on the bar. The way his biceps bulged when toting heavy equipment. How his thighs flexed when he bent. Those ripped abs when he’d lifted his T-shirt to wipe sweat from his brow.

The sheer pleasure on his face each time he completed a task.

Though Rowdy hadn’t been entirely comfortable with it, he’d gotten help from his new family and friends, too. Seeing them together had taken a little getting used to.

Standing six feet four inches tall, she considered Rowdy supersized. His brother-in-law, Logan, was a few inches shorter, their friend Reese a few inches taller and Logan’s brother, Dash, was a similar height to Rowdy. But physical differences aside, the men couldn’t be more different.

As cops, Logan and Reese were watchful, serious. But Rowdy had a vigilant, even expectant edge to his nature that made him more so. The detectives would relax; Rowdy never seemed to let down his guard.

Logan’s brother, Dash, owned a construction company. From what Avery could tell, he took pride in his work, but once the workday ended, he was all about pleasure. He charmed women with ease.

But again, Rowdy had him beat. An air of danger sharpened everything about Rowdy: his appeal, his looks, his attitude and his capability.

His success with women.

It seemed to her that Rowdy either worked or indulged in female company. Overall he seemed tireless, and very determined to make the bar a success. He stayed after she left, and was almost always there when she arrived.

Today... Well, he’d been there, all right.
Really
early. Did he often stay the night at the bar? Had he indulged in other liaisons in his office?

Ella approached for a drink order. “Crisis averted,” she quipped, talking about how Rowdy had defused the situation. “He’s the whole package, isn’t he?”

“He does a great job,” Avery agreed.

At thirty-four, Ella was eight years older than her. Unlike Avery, the waitress wore heeled shoes and a low-cut top, and she never stopped smiling. Forever flirting, she called everyone “sweetie” or “sugar,” and she liked to touch. Nothing too intimate, at least not while working. But she did like to get close.

On some women, that barhop personality might seem clichéd, but not on Ella, who was too sincere and far too caring to be anything other than original.

Twining a long lock of her dark brown hair around a finger, Ella leaned on the bar while Avery filled three whiskey shots. “What do you think the meeting is about tonight?”

Avery shrugged. “Rowdy didn’t say, so who knows?”

“Jones was hoping he’d finally get some help in the back. That poor baby works up a sweat every night.”

While Avery would never call the midsixties, lean-and-mean cook a “baby,” she agreed that he had his hands full. Jones, like Ella, was a happy guy. He wore his long graying hair in a ponytail, had more tats than Avery could count, and cursed while cooking—especially during the busier nights.

When possible, one of the waitresses lent him a hand, but those times were few and far between. Rowdy had hoped to keep three waitresses full-time, but only Ella had accepted. The other two, who enjoyed the tips they’d made while dancing the pole, hadn’t appreciated Rowdy’s decision to remove it. They’d dropped to part-time, their schedules rotating so they could pick up work at a club.

“I doubt it has anything to do with the kitchen since we’re getting together late.” With some remodeling still underway, Rowdy often called meetings. If it involved the cook, he’d have collected them before work because the kitchen closed at eleven.

“Well, no matter. He always pays us well when he keeps us over, so I don’t mind.” Ella picked up her tray. “Rowdy sure is something.”

Yeah, he was something all right. Big. Macho.

Oversexed.

Sashaying with each step, Ella strolled away.

Even without the pole, Ella made a killing in tips. But then, it was a busy night, so Avery didn’t do so badly, either.

At 1:00 a.m., when Rowdy gave the last call, Avery was more than ready to call it a night. Twice Rowdy had given her a break, but she’d yet to see him off his feet.

Finally, when the last guest was out the door and Rowdy had locked up, they gathered in the break room. As soon as Avery and Ella took a seat at the round table, Rowdy said, “Sorry, Ella, but we’re switching to a uniform.”

“Why are you sorry, sugar?” Ella crossed her long legs. “I’ve worn uniforms before. Some of them are real cute.”

“Not this kind.” Rowdy laid out the black, unisex, crew neck T-shirt with the bar name on the front in neon yellow. “Nothing sexy, Ella. I want everyone wearing the shirt with jeans.” He shook an apron from a bag. “And one of these.”

Avery eyed the black utilitarian aprons with the same logo as the T-shirts. “I like them.”

Ella looked horrified.

“You get three each. If I could, I’d pony up one for each day of the week, but hopefully, for now, these’ll get you through.”

“You’ll look incredible, Ella,” Avery told her. “It’ll be like a tease. All the men will wonder what they’re not seeing.”

“It’s not the same.” She located her size, hesitated, then put the shirts back and took a size smaller. “I better not lose tips because of this.”

“I doubt you will,” Rowdy said, “because the customers love you. But all the same, I’m giving you a raise. Additional buck an hour.”

That got her smiling again. “Really?”

“We’re doing better than I’d expected, and you’ve really given a hundred percent.”

“Aren’t you the sweetest ever?” Ella dropped the shirts and left her seat to give Rowdy an enthusiastic hug.

Clearly thankful for that reaction, Rowdy hugged her off her feet and kissed the top of her head.

He looked so relieved that Avery assumed he must have been expecting more of an argument.

Over the top of Ella’s head he met her gaze, and slowly eased the other waitress away.

Did he think she’d be jealous of Ella? No. She knew Rowdy valued Ella as an employee, nothing more.

Ella beamed up at him. “Is there anything else, sugar?”

“Nope. That’s it.” He put her shirts and aprons in a bag for her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Ella gave him a loud kiss on the cheek, stroked his chest once and headed for the back door with her share of the new garments.

From her chair, Avery could see out the break room, through the kitchen to the back door. She watched Rowdy lock the door and then return to her. He dropped into a chair. “One down,” he muttered.

Grinning, Avery asked, “She had you worried?”

“A little.” He rolled his shoulders, rubbed the back of his neck. “I like Ella. She’s a hard worker with a great outlook. Never complains. Smiles at all the customers. But man, she does like to put it out there on display.”

“And here I thought you enjoyed that sort of thing.”

“Somewhere else, sure. But we’re trying to be a different type of bar, remember.”

Realization hit. “So the uniform shirts were your way of downplaying Ella’s assets without hurting her feelings?”

He shrugged. “It seemed better than telling her that she was showing too much boob.”

Avery laughed. “An ingenious move.” She picked up a shirt to better examine the logo. “And I like this. Casual but classy.”

“It’ll go with your jeans.”

Since that’s all she wore while working, she appreciated the effort. “Thanks for that. Just so you know, if you’d produced some cheesy uni that either looked ridiculous or like a fetish, I would have refused.”

“I figured.” Rowdy watched her as she gathered up three shirts and the aprons. “Looks like you’re doing the opposite of Ella.”

“How’s that?”

“A size larger than you need, versus her size smaller. You hide your figure. Ella flaunts hers. But I guess it balances out.”

“It’s not that I’m hiding anything.” Though she had stopped dressing to attract attention a while ago. “It can get pretty fast paced behind the bar. I need freedom of movement. Comfort is more important to me than anything else.”

“Avery?”

She folded the shirts. “Hmm?”

He didn’t move from his seat, didn’t change his tone, so it took her by surprise when he asked, “Why were you early today?”

Pausing, Avery felt the memories flood back in on her.

Rowdy’s deep, rough groan.

His taut expression while coming.

Flustered, she avoided his gaze while fussing with the garments. “I left my phone here last night.”

Slowly, Rowdy leaned forward in his seat and crossed his arms on the tabletop. “You could have gotten it when you got here.”

And instead she’d caught him getting his jollies in the office. “I needed to make a call before my shift started.”

“Yeah? Who did you call?”

No way would she tell him she’d planned to set a doctor’s appointment to get on the pill...because she’d wanted him to get his jollies with her.

But definitely
not
in the office. “It doesn’t matter now.”

He picked up that bad attitude again. “A boyfriend?”

Avery did a double take. “Where in the world did you come up with that?”

“You got a call from a man. Someone you’re seeing?”

“I... No. That was probably a wrong call or something.” She hoped. Waving off the question, she admitted, “I’m not seeing anyone.”

There was a heavy pause before Rowdy asked softly, “No?”

Refusing to admit it again, she checked the clock on the wall. “I need to go or I’ll miss the bus.”

His gaze searching her face, he came to his feet with her. “Bus?”

“Did you think I walked?”

“No, but I assumed...” He shook his head. “I’ll drive you home.”

“Nooo, you will not.” It was difficult enough being with him in a break room; a closed car would be too much temptation. “Thanks anyway.”

Irritation honed his tone. “Damn it, Avery, this is a tricky situation for me.”