Fierce-Hyde (Fierce Matchmaking #17)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

“ T he usual tonight?”

“How about sex on the beach,” Tori said.

Tori Miller looked at Bryon, the hot bartender who normally worked during the week. She rarely came in for a drink on the weekends when it’d be busy.

“Sex on the beach sounds like something I could use right now too,” Bryon said.

She laughed. He was flirting with her like he always did, but she knew he was gay.

Tori heard the snort next to her and looked to her right. A guy was sitting there staring into his whiskey. She couldn’t tell if he had made the noise, or if it was aimed at her and Byron.

She shrugged and went back to Bryon while he mixed her drink. Her normal wine wasn’t going to cut it today.

Bryon set the citrus concoction down. “Thanks,” she said, picking up the fruity drink and taking a sip. Peach and orange exploded on her tongue, then the bitter notes of cranberry and vodka chased it.

“Rough day?” Bryon asked.

“I’ve had better,” she said.

Her job as a Program Manager for a not-for-profit had her overseeing counselors and prevention educators who worked in schools, the community, and saw patients in the office.

There was a time she’d been doing all those things and she missed it more than she realized.

Especially when being the boss came with duties like firing an employee who was good but just made a stupid mistake.

But it was a big mistake, and she had no choice, even though her bleeding heart didn’t want to let Lena go.

Got to play by the rules. At least she did.

“Tell me all about it,” Bryon said. “Better yet, hold on.”

She took another sip while Bryon moved to the guy two stools next to her. His whiskey was gone and Bryon poured him another.

“Can I get some nachos?” she asked when he came back to her.

“I’ll put the order in now,” Bryon said. “Which is smart since you don’t want to be drinking the hard stuff on an empty stomach.”

“You’re too good for me,” she said, winking at him.

She took another sip and looked around the bar. Her eyes landed on the stranger to her right again.

He was still staring ahead. She wondered if he was drunk or just drowning his sorrows. Maybe trying to take the edge off of a bad day like her.

Her counseling background couldn’t let her leave well enough alone and she opened her mouth to ask if he was okay, but her phone rang in her purse.

At the same time, a guy bumped into her on her left getting to the bar, but she turned and reached for her phone in her purse hanging closer to the stranger.

She saw it was Lena and knew she shouldn’t be talking to her right now. She’d have to follow the HR policies and silenced the call.

“Are you an idiot?”

Her eyes glanced up quickly to see who that was being asked of.

It was her!

And this time she knew it was the sexy stranger talking.

“Excuse me?” she asked, her spine straight enough that she wondered if her skin was stretching with her bones wanting to poke through.

“You turned your back on a drink in a bar. Don’t you know anything?” the guy snarled. If he wasn’t being such a dick, she might admire his bright blue eyes against his dark hair. But instead, he was insulting her. Before she could reply, he continued on. “That guy on the other side of you could have just slipped something in your drink. Or maybe you want that.”

Her face paled and she spun to her drink. The person who had been there was gone, but Bryon was shaking his head at her. The bartender had eyes everywhere and knew what was going on.

She turned back to the stranger who’d rudely offered his advice... No, not advice. Judgment!

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. And to think that you can say that to me tells me either you’re drunk, an idiot, or an asshole. You take your pick.”

He threw the rest of his drink back and stormed out of the bar.

Not drunk, that was for sure. She was watching and nothing showed in his actions that he couldn’t handle what he’d been drinking.

“That was a bit over the top,” Bryon said. “I was ready to toss him out myself if you didn’t just light the crematory to burn him to ash. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

She let her shoulders drop, the tension not melting away, but at least her muscles weren’t tingling while they kept her rigid like she was ready to pounce into battle.

Tori couldn’t remember ever doing that in her life.

“Neither did I,” she said. “You know, before he opened his mouth, he was somewhat of a treat to look at.”

“He was,” Bryon said, wiggling his eyebrows. “But now, I feel bad for any woman that ends up with him.”

“Sure you’re not his type?” she asked, smiling.

“Nope,” Bryon said. “He likes the women. I could tell. He’s one of those fuckboys through and through.”

Bryon was a pro at pegging people.

“Figures,” she said. “Sounds like anyone that spent over five minutes around him would be nothing more than an idiot.”