Page 30 of Long Hard Road
“Madison.” He was standing across from me now, leaning over the bar to catch my chin with his thumb and tilt it up. His gray eyes were dark in the dimness of the bar. “You are safe with me. I promise. No asshole is going to even get close to you.”
“I can’t be with you all the time, Nate.”
“Why not? I don’t have a lot going on. As long as you don’t mind spending your nights here, I can be your personal bodyguard.” He winked one of those beautiful eyes at me. “I’m even willing to pull some overnight shifts.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to call my security team tomorrow. This stalker was on my porch. It’s going to take more than a zealous neighbor with a lot of free time to keep me protected.”
Nate scowled. “I’m former military, Madison. I’m not just some country boy who moonlights as a bartender.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I reached out and touched his forearm. The muscles beneath my fingers were tense. I trailed my fingers softly from his wrist to the bend of his arm. “I do feel safe with you, Nate, but my security team does a lot more than just follow me places and be intimidating.”
He grabbed my beer and finished it in two big swallows. “Fine. You do whatever you need to do, but I’m not going to stop watching your back.”
“Good.” I felt a real smile creep over my face for the first time since reading that note on my porch. “I like it when you stare at my ass, Sullivan.”
“It’s a great ass.” He smirked and reached for a bottle of whiskey. After pouring two shots, he handed one to me and lifted the second one. “It’s an ass worth toasting.”
“I am not taking a shot for that!”
He sighed like I was being the most difficult customer ever. “Fine. You do the toast.”
“To hot neighbors and cold showers,” I said with a grin.
Nate laughed before tapping his shot glass against mine. “I’ll reluctantly drink to that. Thought I’d prefer not to need those cold showers.”
“Play your cards right and maybe you won’t.” We both downed our shots without hesitation, Nate taking his in one big swallow while I had to take a second to finish mine. When I put down the glass next to his, our fingers brushed in the lightest of touches. My eyes locked on his intense stare, electricity sparking in the air between us.
“Stay close to the bar tonight, okay? It’s going to get crowded and I want to keep you in sight.” Nate snagged a set of keys from the bar top.
“Do you think this stalker is going to try something in front of a bunch of people?”
He shook his head. “No, angel, I don’t. But there’s a lot of dumbass men in this town who are going to take one look at you and forget how to act like gentlemen.”
“But not you?” My core was aching as he stepped close to me, hand brushing my cheek as he leaned down.
He leaned even closer, lips nearly touching my ear, and said, “The only way I’m going to stop being a gentleman around you is if you’re begging me not to be one.”
11
NATE
It was a busy night. People were itching to be out socializing after staying inside during the snowstorm. I had another bartender on shift to help out, but we were still falling behind on customer orders. It probably didn’t help that most of my attention stayed on Madison.
As I had predicted, nearly every man who came into the bar noticed her and about half of them didn’t take long to shoot their shot. She turned down every drink offer with a polite smile and when a couple of the guys didn’t take a hint, she dropped the polite act and I found an excuse to interrupt their conversation.
“Would you rather sit in the office?” I asked after chasing away yet another unworthy contender for her affections.
“No. I like watching you work.” She eyed the line of empty glasses that needed to be taken back to the dishwasher. “Are you sure I can’t help? Please? I’d really prefer to be doing something useful.”
“Chasing away male suitors isn’t useful?” I teased, ignoring the hands that were waving me down from people trying to place drink orders. “Aren’t you looking for a man to test your flirting skills on?”
“Nah. I already found him.” She winked and my damn dick nearly stood at attention. Against my better judgment, I waved a hand for her to get up.
“I’ll put you to work, but only if you promise to stay behind this bar.” I tapped a hand on the solid wood.
She jumped to her feet and shoved her way through the crowd until she could slip through the opening and join me on the other side. “Why do I have to stay back here? You don’t trust me to mingle with the customers?”
“I don’t trust them to mingle with you.” I shot a quick glare at one of the guys I went to high school with who was leaning over the bar to get a better look at Madison’s ass. “Can you start grabbing some of these empties? Bottles go in that trashcan and the glasses need to go in back to run through the dishwasher.”