Chapter Eleven
Hazel
Four nights at Bing’s had taught me exactly three things.
CL made a damn good margarita.
Crystal could carry nine beers at once without using a tray, which I considered some kind of witchcraft.
And Kori had absolutely no filter. None.
“What?” Kori asked.
I shook my head as I punched an order into the computer. “Nothing.”
“You’re looking at me.”
“Because you just told table twelve that if he snapped his fingers at you one more time, you were going to break them.”
“He stopped.” She shrugged.
“He did.”
“So I solved the problem.”
Crystal leaned around me to grab a stack of napkins. “She’s very anti-customer-service oriented.”
“Thank you.” Kori smiled.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I took it as one.”
I laughed and hit send on my order.
Somehow, in four days, the three of us had fallen into an easy rhythm.
Crystal had been at Bing’s for almost three years. She was blond, sarcastic, and somehow managed to look put together even after running around the bar for six hours. Kori had dark red hair, a loud laugh, and the ability to make friends with pretty much anyone who sat in her section.
Then there was me. The new girl from Ohio. Except I didn’t really feel like the new girl anymore.
Not with them.
The first night had been slow enough that Crystal and Kori had shown me everything without us getting slammed. The second and third nights had picked up a little, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
Tonight? Different story.
I glanced at the clock. Eight fifty-three.
Bing’s was packed.
Apparently, Friday night in Marshfield meant everybody and their brother descended on the same bar.
Almost every stool along the long bar was taken. The pool tables were surrounded by people waiting to play. Music blasted from the jukebox, and the small dance floor on the other side of the room was full.
Every table in my section was occupied except two.
And I was pretty sure those weren’t going to stay empty long.
I grabbed a tray from beneath the counter. “CL, I need two Bud Lights, a Miller Lite, one whiskey Coke, and a vodka cranberry.”
CL didn’t look up from the drink he was making. “Ticket in?”
“Just sent it.”
“Then stop talking to me.”
I gasped. “Rude.”
“Busy,” he corrected.
“I thought bartenders were supposed to be friendly.”
“Not this one.”
Kori slid past me. “He loves you.”
CL pointed at her without looking. “You too, shut it.”
“See?” Kori grinned. “Love.”
I laughed and headed toward my tables.
I dropped a check at one table, grabbed two empty bottles from another, and was halfway back toward the bar when the front doors opened.
I didn’t pay attention at first.
People had been coming in steadily all night.
Then I heard Kori. “Oh, hell yes.”
I stopped.
She was standing beside me with a tray balanced against her hip, staring toward the entrance.
“What?”
She nodded.
I followed her gaze.
Motorcycle cuts. A lot of them.
Eight men walked through the door like they owned the place.
Not because they were pushing people aside or making some big entrance. They just had that kind of presence.
I recognized the patches immediately.
GRAVE PROWLERS MC. WISCONSIN.
And walking near the front was Bone.
My stomach did a stupid little flip.
I ignored it. Or tried to.
He wore jeans, boots, a black T-shirt, and his cut. His dark hair looked slightly windblown, and his eyes moved around the bar as he walked in.
Then they landed on me and stopped.
Well, hello.
I was suddenly very aware of what I was wearing. Bing’s uniform wasn’t exactly a uniform. Black shorts or jeans and a fitted black T-shirt with the bar logo over the left side.
I’d gone with shorts tonight.
Bone noticed.
His gaze dropped, and when his eyes came back to my face, something had changed in his expression.
Heat crawled up my neck.
“God, I love when these guys come in,” Kori announced.
I tore my eyes away from Bone. “What?”
“The Prowlers.”
“I gathered that,” I laughed, “from their name being plastered on their back.”
“They tip big.”
Crystal appeared on my other side. “Very big.”
Kori nodded. “Like stupid big.”
Crystal reached across the bar just as CL set three bottles down. She grabbed all three. “This is going to be a good tip-out tonight.”
I glanced back toward the guys.
Four had moved toward one of the pool tables. The other four were heading directly toward the two empty tables in my section.
Of course they were.
Crystal noticed too. “I’ll take the guys at the pool table.”
“Thanks.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome.”
There was something about her smile I didn’t trust. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Why is everyone around here always saying nothing when they clearly mean something?”
Kori looked at me. “Because it’s fun.”
I rolled my eyes, then I pasted on my work smile.
Not that I needed to.
I knew one of the men sitting at that table—apparently a little too well, considering my body had noticed Bone before the rest of me had.
I grabbed four cocktail napkins and headed over. Bone had taken the chair that put his back toward the wall.
The other three men were talking when I reached them.
“Hey, guys.”
Three faces turned toward me.
Bone was already looking.
I smiled. “Welcome to Bing’s. What can I get you?”
One of the men leaned back in his chair.
He had TACO on his cut. His eyes moved over me. “Jesus. When did Bing’s hire you?”
I laughed. “Four days ago.”
“Best decision this place ever made.”
Bone’s head turned. “Taco.” One word. That was it.
Taco looked at him, and Bone stared back. Something passed between them that I couldn’t read.
Taco’s eyebrows lifted slightly, then his mouth curved into a grin. “I’m complimenting the waitress,” Taco said.
“I heard you.”
“Wasn’t disrespectful.”
“Didn’t say it was.”
Taco stared at him for another second and then looked at me. His grin got bigger, but something had changed. Whatever interest had been in his expression a second ago was gone. Or at least tucked away. “Beer,” he said.
I glanced at Bone. He was looking at me again, not Taco.
Me.
I had absolutely no idea what had just happened. Maybe motorcycle club guys communicated telepathically.
“What kind?” I asked Taco.
“Whatever’s cold.”
“That narrows it down to almost everything.”
“Dealer?” Taco asked.
The man next to him leaned forward.
“Same. CL will know.”
I looked at the third guy with ROWDY on his chest. “Same.”
“And you?” My eyes landed on Bone.
“Same.”
“Four beers that only CL will know what kind. Easy enough.”
Taco put a hand over his heart. “I like easy.” Bone looked at him and Taco immediately lifted both hands. “Talking about beer.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.
Bone caught it. “You can laugh.”
That was what he’d told me the first time we’d met, so I did. “Be right back.”
I turned toward the bar, and I could feel him watching me.
I knew how that sounded, but I’d worked around men for years and I knew the difference between some asshole staring at my ass and someone simply paying attention to me.
Bone was paying attention. A lot of it.
I didn’t hate it.
That might’ve been the problem.
I reached the bar.
“Four beers.”
CL opened the cooler and stared at me. “You know there’s an ordering system, right?”
I held up my hands. “I don’t know how to put in the system, ‘four beers of whatever kind you think the four guys from the Grave Prowlers will drink.’” I tipped my head to the side. “Is there a button for that?”
He shook his head and put four bottles on my tray. “Go away.”
I carried the beers back.
Taco and Rowdy had disappeared. I spotted them at the jukebox, arguing over the screen. Dealer was gone too.
That left Bone and one other man at the table. I recognized him from the day all the motorcycles had stopped at Pink’s house. His cut said MYTH.
I set a beer in front of him. “Myth?”
He looked at his patch. “Good guess.”
“I’m very observant.”
“I’ve heard.”
I glanced at Bone. His eyes narrowed slightly. “What does that mean?”
Myth reached for a beer. “Nothing.”
I laughed. “See? There it is again.”
“What?”
“Everyone says ‘nothing’ around you when they clearly mean something.”
Bone looked at Myth. Myth took a long drink of beer. “Don’t drag me into whatever this is.”
“What is this?” Bone asked.
“No idea.”
“You started it and now I’m ending it.” I slid Bone’s beer toward him.
His fingers closed around the bottle. “How’s the job?”
I blinked. The question was simple, and it still surprised me. “Good.”
“You like it?”
“So far.”
“Crowd hasn’t scared you off?”
I put a hand on my hip and shook my head. “Disappointed?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “No.”
“Because you seemed pretty convinced I couldn’t handle Bing’s.”
“Never said that.”
“You implied it,” I laughed.
“I told you it gets rough.”
“And?”
“And I was right.”
I looked around. “Looks fine to me.”
“It’s nine o’clock.”
“Is there a magical transformation at midnight?”
“Sometimes.”
I laughed.
Bone took a drink. “You making decent money?”
There it was again, actual interest.
Not flirting. Not some throwaway question because I happened to be standing beside him. He wanted to know.
“Pretty good so far. Tonight should be better.”
“Fridays usually are.”
“You really do know everything about this place.”
“Been coming here a long time.”
“Should I be concerned?”
“Probably.”
I smiled and his eyes dropped to my mouth. That little rush went through me again.
A phone started ringing and Myth pulled his from his pocket. He glanced at the screen. “Fuck.”
Bone’s attention shifted immediately. “What?”
Myth shook his head. “Probably nothing.” He stood. “I gotta take this.”
Bone nodded and Myth moved away from the table.
Bone leaned back in his chair. “You look different.”
I glanced down at myself. “It’s the incredibly fashionable Bing’s T-shirt.”
“Not the shirt.”
My eyes came back to his. “What is it?”
He took a slow drink from his beer. “I don’t know.”
“Very helpful.”
“Hair, maybe.”
I reached up. I’d left it down tonight, though it was already starting to annoy me enough that I’d probably have it tied back within an hour. “You’ve seen my hair down.”
“At dinner.”
“So that can’t be it.”
“No.”
His eyes moved over my face, then lower. Slow enough that I caught it.
My stomach tightened.
“Maybe it’s the shorts.”
There was no missing the meaning in that.
I looked down, then back at him. “You like my shorts?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
His mouth twitched. “Careful, Hazel.”
“With?”
“Putting words in my mouth.”
My eyes dropped to his mouth before I could stop myself. “I can think of other things to put there.”
Oh.
My.
God.
Had I actually said that?
Bone went completely still.
His eyes darkened and his tongue slowly dragged across his bottom lip.
Heat shot straight through me.
“Hazel!” The shout broke whatever the hell had just happened.
I turned and a table of four men in work shirts was waving me over. I’d served them two rounds already. Mechanics from one of the shops in town, if the names stitched over their pockets and grease still staining a couple of their hands were anything to go by.
I looked back at Bone. He hadn’t moved.
“If you need anything, holler at me.”
His gaze held mine. “I will.”
Jesus.
I turned away before I did something stupid, like continue that conversation.
“Another round?” I asked as I reached the mechanics.
“Finally,” one of them said.
I smiled, barely. “I was gone three minutes.”
“Felt like twenty.”
“I’m sure it was traumatic,” I mumbled.
His friends laughed.
The loudest one leaned back in his chair. “Four more.”
“You got it.”
“And shots,” he added.
“What kind?”
He shrugged. “Surprise us.”
“That’s dangerous,” I tried to joke.
“So are we.”
I looked at him and he grinned. I did not. Men who had to announce they were dangerous usually weren’t.
“Four beers. Four shots.”
I turned and a hand caught my wrist. I stopped, looked down, and then at the man holding me. “Let go.”
He smiled. “Relax.”
“I’m relaxed.” I looked pointedly at his hand. “You’ve got about two seconds before you’re not.”
His friends got quieter.
The man laughed. “Just trying to get your attention.”
“You had it when I took your order.” His grip loosened and I pulled my wrist free. “Don’t touch me again.”
“Come on, sweetheart,” he tried to coo.
“Nope.”
“What?”
“No, sweetheart.” I did not take bullshit names from half-drunks.
His friends started laughing and his face reddened. “Jesus. You’re uptight.”
“And you’re thirsty. Do you want the beers or not?”
One of his buddies slapped the table. “Just shut the fuck up, Eric.”
Eric glared at him.
I smiled. “See? Eric’s friend gets it.”
The table erupted. Even Eric cracked a reluctant smile.
“Four beers,” he muttered.
“Four beers,” I echoed.
“And the shots.”
“I’ll surprise you.” I turned and then stopped.
Bone was watching me.
He hadn’t gotten out of his chair. Hadn’t come charging across the room. Hadn’t done anything, but the easy expression he’d had while talking to me was gone. Completely.
His beer sat untouched in front of him, his jaw was tight, and his eyes weren’t on me anymore.
They were on Eric. Something about the look made a little shiver run down my spine.
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and Bone’s gaze moved back to me. I gave him a small smile and his jaw relaxed.
“CL, four beers and four shots of something that’ll make them regret asking me to choose,” I rattled off when I got to the bar.
“Malort.”
I stopped. “What’s Malort?”
He looked at me. “You’re new here.”
“Obviously.”
He reached for a bottle, and I glanced over my shoulder.
Myth was back by Bone, and they were talking intently to each other. Maybe that phone call Myth had gotten wasn’t good.
I faced the bar and told myself I needed to stop checking on Bone.
Four days ago, I hadn’t known whether I’d even like working here.
Now I had friends, good tips, and a kickass next-door neighbor.
I grabbed the beers CL set down and put them on my tray.
I absolutely was not going to spend the rest of my shift checking where Bone was. Absolutely not.