Chapter 2
Alex was so damn mad she couldn’t even see straight. Why did people have to be such assholes? Bending she used her towel to mop up the milkshake that had been intentionally dumped on the ground. This group of four men always came into the restaurant on her shift, and she knew it was intentional. One of them, Fitz she’d heard his friends call him, always asked her out and she always refused. The result? No tip and a huge mess. The idiot would actually wait a week and then show back up with his friends and ask her out again like his mistreatment of her the week before was somehow forgotten or was supposed to make her see the error of her ways and change her mind. Idiots! God, she hated men, and she hated this job even more. She’d been waiting to hear back from her friend, Stoney, about a job opening at the StoneCrow Wild Life Refuge. She knew it was more but didn’t even want to think about what was going on up in the Highwood Mountains for fear of any of the local cidiots finding out. There was too much at stake.
The bell over the door chimed, and she didn’t bother peeking up. Probably just more disgusting men to ruin her day. “Be right with you.”
Slapping the now brown rag onto her tray, she stood and hurried behind the counter before tossing the rag into the sink and washing her hands. Glancing up, she saw broad shoulders in a back booth and groaned inwardly. Snagging a menu, she straightened her apron and headed for the waiting customer. “Hello,” she offered lamely as she placed the menu on the table. “Can I get you something to drink?”
The guy didn’t look at her and didn’t pick up the menu. “Water.”
“Water it is. I’ll give you a few minutes with the menu.” Walking back to the counter she busied herself filling a glass with ice. Her eyes shot to the large behemoth in the both. He was huge. She could see the muscles of his back through the material of his form-fitting gray shirt. Her eyes skimmed over his jeans and down to the black boots peeking out of from the hem of the denim. You could tell a lot about a man by his shoes, and these ones were nice. Functional, clean, yet badass enough to suit the wearer.
Cold water tickled her fingers, and she looked down to realize her ogling had caused the guy’s drink to overflow. Pulling the glass from the soda fountain, she dumped some of the water into the drain tray and used a clean cloth to wipe the glass down as she headed back to the table.
“Here ya go.” She set the cup down. “One water.” Pulling her pen from behind her ear and her order booklet from her apron she asked, “What can I get you?”
The guy shoved the menu away but still didn’t look up, which was a shame. She was curious about what his face looked like.
“Just the water.” He responded gruffly. “I’m looking for Alex.”
Her heart startled hard and then she remembered Alexander Cady, her co-worker who washed the dishes on weekends. “A-Alex isn’t working today.” When the man didn’t respond, she asked, “You a friend?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “When will he be working? I’d like to see him?”
Alex relaxed a little. If the guy was Alexander’s friend, then he couldn’t be too bad. “Weekends,” she supplied. “He’ll be here on Friday ‘bout noonish.”
The guy grunted as if dissatisfied then took a sip of his water.
“You got his number?” She asked and then supplied helpfully, “You should give him a call; let him know you’re here. Town’s pretty small. He could probably meet you.”
“No,” the guy set his water down and looked up at her and holy shit!
He was smoking hot with raven black hair brushed back from the strong bones of his face. He was all high cheekbones, masculine jaw, and five o’clock shadow. Beneath frowning dark brows, piercing blue eyes pinned her hard. Alex was so temporarily mesmerized by the guy’s sheer beauty that she came hurtling back to earth with his next words.
“I lost Mr. Hayworth’s number a while back.”
Alex dropped the menu. Holy shit!
Adrenaline flooded her system, and her brain screamed at her to run. Instead, she stalled by quickly bending to retrieve the menu. “Uhhhh. Alex Hayworth, huh?” The guy wasn’t here for her co-worker, Alex. He was here for her! Standing slowly, she prayed he didn’t notice the sudden flush on her cheeks or shaking menu she held in her trembling hands. The guy’s gaze sliced to her and she froze in her slow retreat. His nostrils flared, and blue eyes narrowed as he slowly pushed up from the table.
“Alex?”
Shit! She threw the menu at his face and spun for the back door. She didn’t stop to see if he was following as she zig-zagged through the kitchen and shoved the back door open before racing down the alley. With no idea who in the hell the guy was, or why he’d be looking for her, she wasn’t going to take a chance at finding out.
She was mid-run when both feet left the ground as strong arms clamped around her middle.
“Put me down you mother fucker!” she shrieked and threw her head back. It connected with something and stars exploded in her sight. Behind her, she heard a grunt and then a muttered curse. Still, she fought. Lifting a foot, she shoved it back hoping to connect with a knee and wishing she’d have worn her hiking boots instead of plain old tennis shoes. She missed, but the momentum nearly made the guy drop her. He cursed again and then she was tossed in the air where she flailed like a scared cat. Trying to twist around mid-air, she landed with a great “oomph” as the guy’s shoulder connected with her stomach.
SMACK!
A loud crack rent the air. It took a second for the sting to kick in before she realized that he’d just spanked her.
This sonofa…
“Lady, calm the hell down before I spank you again.”
Reaching a hand back, she buried it in the soft black hair at the nape of his neck and jerked hard!