Page 5 of Affliction
“When?” He demands. Placing my glass down onto the table, I spin it between my fingers a few times before leveling Karson with a glare.
“Give me time to watch him a little more. Relax. You’re like a cracked out chihuahua. Down boy.” I say, cocking an eyebrow.
“Fuck you!” He laughs. “I’m gonna go get another beer. You want another drink?”
I give him a small nod before he stands and walks to the bar. Karson and I run our own private security company that provides personal protection for clients who pay a lot of money to ensure that their privacy and safety are our top priority. We have a group of men working for us that we trust, and have been trusted for quite some time. On occasion we hire someone new if we get new clients and don’t have the manpower for it. We keep them on a pretty short leash and monitor them closely, since they haven’t been around long enough to earn the level of trust we have in the men we’ve had on for a good amount of time.
A few months ago we hired a young kid, twenty-three, who can’t seem to understand that an NDA means he keeps his fucking mouth shut. Karson received a call today and found out this kid is using his new job title as a way to pull women and had dropped a couple of clients' names.
He fucked up.
I’m going to have to deal with him, and the thought gives me a migraine. While my best friend is ready to handle it right here and now, I want to watch him closely. Karson is more of a “shoot first ask questions later” type, whereas I like to give people the rope to hang themselves with, and then yank it tight and watch them squirm.
I lean back in my seat and start watching people in the bar. It seems like a laid back crowd; there’s a group of people playing pool at the table furthest from me, two girls playing darts, and the bar has people scattered the length of it. My friend grabs our drinks and heads back in our direction. That’s when I see the woman behind the bar. Her roasted chestnut-colored hair is up in a high ponytail that cascades down her back in big waves and a couple loose strands hang in her face. She has the biggest, breathtaking brown eyes–that I can tell are lighter in color because they still pop, even under the dim lighting of the bar. She gives a patron a soft smile and gives them her back. I’m completely frozen. My eyes rake her in as she turns to grab a bottle off the wall and her black t-shirt slides up, exposing a sliver of her smooth olive colored skin. That long ponytail that trails down her back leads my gaze to two dimples that sit just above the hem of her jeans. I’ve seen plenty of women before,obviously,but none of them have grabbed even a fraction of my attention. Nevermind, have me completely floored.
“Here you go man.” I hear Karson say as he slides my glass along the table, but I can't pull my gaze away from this girl who's completely stolen every bit of my focus with just a glimpse of her.
“Hellooooo, earth to Maverick.” Karson waves his hand in my face, effectively dragging my attention back to him, and pissing me off. My eyes meet his grey ones, and his confused expression tells me he knows he just landed on my shitlist.
Disruptive bastard.
My gaze slides back over to the bar and I lose sight of her as a group of four fill in the empty seats in front where she stands.
I’m going to rip off this asshole's arm for making me look away and then beat the people sitting in my viewing space away with it.
“Damn man, who pissed in your drink while I was gone? What’s with the face?”
“Who’s the bartender?” I ask, ignoring his question.
He turns to look back at the bar then faces me again. “I’m not sure of her name, she doesn't normally work on Thursdays. Ashlynn must be sick or something.” He pouts and lowers himself back into his seat across from me.
I arch a brow at his reaction to the thought of the other girl, Ashlynn I think he said, being out but I don't ask questions. I’ll save that for later.
Sliding my eyes back over to the bar I see her again, she’s laughing at something someone on the other side of the bar says, which sets my nerves on edge. Gripping my glass tightly in my hand, I watch their exchange for another moment before lifting the glass, and tossing my drink back. The amber liquid goes down with ease, leaving a slight burn in its wake and I place the glass back onto the table, my gaze never leaving the woman behind the bar. Looks like my plans for the rest of the night have changed, only one thing on my mind.
I need to know who she is.
After Karson and I leave the bar I head home, change into some dark jeans and a hoodie, grab my blacked out R1 and ride back to the bar. I park my bike down the street and walk the rest of the way, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. I’m not going to go back in, I just want to hang around outside across the parking lot and observe through the large window that takes up most of the front of the building. I watch the gorgeous bartender as she serves drinks, engages in small talk, cuts people off, and closes the place down all on her own. I make a mental note to find out who the owner of this place is and…persuadethem to have at least one more bartender, atmost a bouncer at all times. You never know who might be lurking around, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting bartender.
I watch as she successfully tosses out a middle-aged, married man–the tan line on his finger giving him away, who’s getting a little too handsy, by herself. My teeth nearly grind to dust and my knuckles almost split when I watch him lean across the bar to stroke her arm as she hands him his drink. She snatches his arm with her free hand and shoves it away, and I’m not sure what she says to him, but he walks out a short time later with his head down and ego bruised. I smile, and it only piques my interest further.
As people start making their way out after last call, I retreat to the wood line along the side of the bar. There’s a second window on this side of the building, allowing me to watch my girl clean while she sways to a song I can’t hear, and makes her way through the empty space, cleaning up after a long night.
My girl. Yeah, I like the sound of that.
Suddenly she freezes, a lost look on her face, almost as if stuck in a trance. She touches her chest and her shoulders slump. The sight is enough to make me want to burst through the door and right whatever wrong was done to her.
What happened sweetheart?
When she makes her way out of the building, I retreat back a bit more into the wood line, and a small branch snaps under my weight.
Shit.
My body freezes, and I hold my breath as her head snaps around so fast I surely think she’s going to give herself whiplash. She scans the area thoroughly, then runs to her car.Smart girl.She’s not entirely oblivious to her surroundings. She wastes no time starting her vehicle, and flipping on her high beams right at me. Luckily for me, I’m far enough back intothe trees that my form blends into the shadows. She waits a beat, then hauls ass out of the parking lot.
She’s smart, you can never be too sure what lurks in the woods at night. You never know who or what is watching. Stepping out of the woods, I watch her vehicle speed down the road and my lips pull to a smirk.
Can’t outrun me, Sweetheart.
