Page 1 of Loving the Mountain Man
Chapter One
“Dammit guys, just get out of my bar!”
Two of the burliest bear-like men you could imagine decided to have a fight right in the middle of Mack’s place. She’d come out from behind the bar to get in between the two of them.
“Awe come on Mack; we didn’t mean to.”
“Yeah, you did Lester and it’s the second time this week. I’m still making repairs after you trashed the place a month ago. I can’t afford to have you guys in here.”
“We’ll pay for the repairs, honest.”
“Gosh, where have I heard that before Joey?”
Literally every time they’ve broken something, they’ve offered to pay but she never has seen the money. It’s as if they don’t remember anything they do or say when they are drunk, which is pretty much everyone’s MO when they get drunk at a bar.
“Please don’t kick us out, we love your bar. Nobody else makes our nachos like you do.”
Mack really hated to be the bad guy, but constantly fixing the bar was getting expensive. Glasses break all the time, not to mention replacing tables and chairs isn’t cheap.
“I’m sorry…no, actually I’m not, I’m not sorry at all. This is the last chance for both of you, hear me? Do it again and I’ll boot both your asses out that door with my own foot. Then I’ll hire a bouncer to keep you out for good.”
Mack needed to get a check on her emotions before she showed a side of herself no one here would like or understand for that matter.
“Okay, okay, we’re done, promise.” Both men held up their hands in surrender. “We’ll sit and behave the rest of the night. Can we still get our nachos?”
She laughed on the inside. These guys were pretty amazing humans. It’s just the guys in them that one had to be better than the other and it always led to fights. They were funny and loyal but also the epitome of drunks if there ever were any/. They did love their food though.
“I’ll make your nachos, but from this moment on, you are on probation. I will be watching you very closely so don’t even step a single toe out of line, hear me?”
They both agreed, nodding their heads profusely.
“Okay, go sit back down, be nice, and I’ll bring them out when I’m done.”
As they walked away, she wondered about who these two guys were on a personal level. Were they just friends, and did they have wives somewhere? If she was making their dinner just about every night, then she imagined there were no significant others, but she really didn’t think it her place to ask that kindof personal question. As was usually common with people being chatty at bars, those two men were not.
She knew deep down that they meant well.
Mack walked back behind the bar and into the kitchen area to start making the nachos when she heard a deep voice coming from the bar. He wasn’t asking for anything unusual, but the voice gave her goosebumps. All over her body. She took a chance and peeked around the corner of the doorway to catch a glimpse of the owner of that baritone. She waited for her bar server to move one direction or the other and then he was there, in all his godly glory.
She could tell he wasn’t from around their town; he had the look of your typical tourist but damn he was handsome, and big. His hair was dark and cut short, which was normal for a guy, and his beard was there but not nearly as full as some she’d seen. It was the same shade of deep brown as hers. His shirt was tight across his chest, showing defined pecks when he stretched to take his jacket off.
“Good lord above.”
She was drooling. Wouldn’t that be a lovely thing for anybody out there to see. She would be more than embarrassed. Mack was the owner of the place, and a bear. She had a reputation to uphold. When she’d decided to go back to cooking the food, it was the exact moment he chose to lock eyes with her. She couldn’t move out of his line of site fast enough.
Standing back in front of her prep counter, she tried to calm herself. Hundreds of men came into the bar on a weekly basis; this one was no different. Just a stranger. She’d never let any of them bother her before and she didn’t need to start now.
Mack ran the plates of nachos through the hot rollers to melt the cheese then after a few minutes, put salsa and sourcream onto the plates, steeled a cheeky grin on her face and walked right by the stranger to deliver the food.
When she sat the nachos on the table, she was surprised to see the men were drinking water. Or at least she thought it was water. They’d never been vodka drinkers, so it was the logical answer anyway.
When she returned to the bar area, one of her bar servers, Becca, stopped her.
“Hey, if you’re looking for a bouncer, that guy at the end seems pretty large and capable.”
“I’m not sure If I’ll go that route yet or not. Did you already say something to him?”
“No but he did hear you talking to Lester and Joey and asked if you were looking for someone to handle the heavy lifting.”
