Page 8 of The Hearts We've Broken
The guys nodded and started walking away from the bar. The new girl scooted over to Liv, but I didn’t get a chance to speak to her before I realized the guys were going to leave me out of the game.
“Hey! What about me?” I protested as I took a few large strides to catch up to the boys.
Jake wrinkled his nose. “No offense, man, but you kinda suck at pool.”
I huffed. “I do not.”
“Remember that time you immediately hit in the eight ball?” Reid justhadto remind me ofthe one timeI hit the eight ball in and lost the game on default.
“He has a point.” Hayden shrugged. He had filled in for Colter right before Eight-Ball-Gate.
“It wasone time,” I groaned. “But fine. I’ll sit this one out.”
They all looked satisfied, and I leaned against the wall as Jake racked the balls. “Good Time” by Alan Jackson blared from the speakers overhead, and I scanned the room in hopes of finding someone good enough to play my fake girlfriend for a few weeks. Looks were always a factor, but this time I knew I had to find someone with a goodpersonality. Someone who could keep up with me and not only take jokes but dish them out, too. A firecracker like Ellison, although maybe not as ruthless…to me at least.
A group in the corner caught my eye for a brief moment, but I recognized one of them, so that was an immediate no. A redheaded woman sitting at the bar had a nice smile, and I’d never seen her before. However, was a tourist passing through the right option for this? The question was enough for me to hesitate. Good thing, because shortly after, a big burly man sat next to her, placing his hand on the back of her stool.
Finally, a brunette in bootcut jeans and a flannel walked through the front doors. I’d seen her around town a couple times, but I didn’t think she was enrolled at the community college. May have been a vet tech or something. I was pretty sure I’d seen her helping out behind the chutes at the Bucking Horse Sale. Fine enough for me.
I rolled my shoulders back a couple times before I started toward the woman—whom I’d made eye contact with now.
But before I could reach her, a flash of blonde hair and piercing blue eyes stopped me in my tracks.
The new girl. The bartender.
“You’re Mikey Tucker, right?” she asked. She wasn’t much shorter than me, and I was able to look her straight in the face, meeting her eyes.
I nodded, my eyebrow quirking up.
“Perfect,” she muttered before smashing her lips against mine.
My eyes widened before I leaned into the kiss, closing my eyes and placing my hands on her jaw. She wrappedher arms around me, running one hand through my hair and resting the other on my back.
When she opened her mouth, I slid my tongue past her lips, swiping it against hers. She tasted like peaches, a delicate sweetness with a hint of something tart.
“Let’s get out of here,” she murmured against my mouth as she ran one hand down the front of my chest.
I pulled away, eyes snapping open. “Wait, but aren’t you the new bartender? Don’t you have to work?” I glanced toward the bar where Liv and the other bartender, Nico, were standing behind the counter watching us.
“They’ve got it covered. Come on, Casanova, you really gonna turn me down?” Her lips curved up in a sinful smirk, and blood rushed to my crotch.
I raked my eyes up and down her body, surveying her. Her hair fell just below the swell of her breasts. Her figure, although slim, sported generous curves—hips I wanted to squeeze while pounding into her from behind.
Fuck.
I was supposed to be finding a girl todate, not a one-night stand. But she practically threw herself into my arms. Maybe she’d be up for it. I was willing to find out.
“Come on.” I took her hand, pulling her out of the bar to my pickup. The guys would figure it out soon enough when they noticed I wasn’t there. They wouldn’t need to come looking for me.
The chill of the night air did nothing to cool me down as I pressed the girl against the passenger door of my pickup and our tongues tangled together. My dick swelled in my pants, and I ground my hips against her front, craving the friction. Someone whistled as they passed, and I flipped them the bird.
“Maybe we should…” She turned her head toward the people passing.
As I lightly grasped her chin, pulling it back toward me, my voice rumbled in my throat. “Ignore them.”
Her pupils dilated at the sound of my voice, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Before I could move my lips toward hers again, she reached down, cupping the front of my jeans over the visible outline of my hard-on. A sharp breath escaped her lips, and she flicked her eyes down then back up to me.
“Like what you see, Peach?” I teased, flashing her a cocky grin.
