I'd be lying if I said I wasn't distracted by the big, quiet alpha sitting quietly in my corner all night. It didn't help that Kit, my cousin, kept hissing at me that I'd better "hit that" or she would.

"Paws off," I hissed right back at her. "Dibs."

She sniffed. "Have you licked him?" 

I rolled my eyes at her reference to our childhood method of calling dibs. "Does he look like someone who'd let you lick him just to claim him?"

She peered around me lustfully. "Probably not. But I sure wouldn't mind trying."

"Shoo!" After that, I couldn't get the idea of licking him out of my mind. Behind his ear. Down his neck. His shoulder. His chest. Lower.

Dallas hadn't been wrong—I worked a lot. But I did play a lot to offset that. If I found most of my partners here, while working? Well, that was just making good use of a resource. I usually spent the evening weighing my choices, though. Not too drunk. Not too sober. Not too young. Not too small. I did like my men big and bear-like, even if they weren't actually bears. The fact that Dallas was one was yet another point in his favor. And the intensity of his sweet-woody maple scent intensified my desire to take him home with me. 

I was torn on whether I wanted the coyote to show up or not tonight. On the one hand, it would be ridiculously hot to see Dallas take that jerk down a peg or two. The sleaze factor was strong with that one, and he was a shitty tipper. But on the other, I could really put that pent-up aggression to good use. And make no mistake, Dallas was a ball of burning fire. On the surface, he was all honey and soft, cuddly teddy bear, but one thing bartending was good for was teaching you how to see beneath the surface. I didn't know whether Dallas knew it or not, but he was a volcano just bursting to unload. The idea of him unloading on me weakened my knees and I closed my eyes until it passed.

"Hey, Nick! You working or sleeping?" Justin, one of my regulars, yelled at me.

"Do you want beer or do you want piss water?" I yelled back at him. "Bad idea to piss off your bartender." I joked back and forth with his crew for a few minutes, only glancing back at Dallas once I'd refreshed all their drinks. His soft blue eyes were on me, and he didn't flinch away when I caught him. Damn. That man was all alpha, and I was going to do whatever it took to get him in bed with me.

Unfortunately, it was a busy night, and while I stopped by frequently to refill his glass, even after he switched to water, I was afraid every time I turned around that this would be the time when his seat would be empty. But every time, he was still there. I hoped he wasn't too disappointed that it appeared his coyote friend wasn't stopping by tonight.

At last call, I approached him with a shot glass. "What'll it be? Your choice, on the house."

"What'll it take to get you to take it with me?"

"Well..." I drawled. "We'll definitely have to go top shelf, and you'll have to wait until we're officially closed."

He tapped his thick fingers on the bar, drawing my attention and imagination to them. "Is that an invitation?"

I gulped. It wasn't many men who could make me feel so off balance, but Dallas's quiet, unassuming demeanor over that core of heat and strength made me feel so twisted around I barely knew which way was up. 

"That's definitely an invitation." 

He pushed the shot glass back. "Then I'll wait."

I dragged Kit into the back as soon as I could. "Can you cover closing for me?"

She rolled her eyes upward. "Duh. I've been planning on it since I saw you ogling over your hunky bear over there."

I gave her a quick hug. "I'd say I owed you one, but you still owe me from that Swedish god."

Kat closed her eyes and shivered in remembered pleasure. "So worth it. Now count your drawer and get out of here."

There were definitely benefits to working in the family business. I counted my drawer and then handed everything over to Kit, swiping Aunt Jo's bottle of moonshine from behind the regular bottles of alcohol. We didn't sell it. It was the really good stuff. Besides the fact that it wasn't actually legal.

I poured two shots from the narrow mouth jar, smiling at Dallas's raised eyebrow. 

"What's this?"

"Drink, first." I twisted the lid back on the moonshine and picked up my shot glass, tapping it to Dallas's before tapping it against the bar and downing it. 

Dallas hesitated before copying me, tapping his glass against the bar. He frowned at the glass. "That doesn't taste like there's any alcohol in it."

"Oh, it'll jump up and bite you on the ass if you're not careful. Just about the best white lightning you'll find in the state of Tennessee."

"But it tastes like strawberry," Dallas protested.

"You complaining?" I asked, grabbing my keys and stepping out from the bar. 

"Not at all," he said, following me out the door. "It's just surprising."

I paused outside of the building and Dallas slid his hand around my waist. "I hope your place is close, little fox, because all I've got is my little sedan, and I'd like to take my time with you. I'm not looking for a quick blow job in the back of my car."

I slid my arm around his back and into his jean's pocket with a shiver, squeezing the tight muscle with a sense of anticipation. "I hope you're not taking blow jobs off the table completely."

"Not at all, little fox." His voice was deep and rumbling, practically a growl.  The sound went straight to my dick, which had been in a state of half-attention ever since he walked in the door. 

"Luck for you, I'm terribly lazy, and I live right across the street." 

Dallas's eyes glinted with pleasure. "Convenient."

"That was my thought," I agreed, and I lead the way. I couldn't wait to see what was under Dallas's big leather jacket and tight pants. I wanted him to rub that big beard all over my body, scratch me all up with it. I wanted—too many things for one night. But I was going to try and fit as many of them in tonight as possible.