Page 1 of Love That Sass

Prologue

Gwendolyn stared at her phone as she stood in the parking lot ofSerious Moonlight Roadhouse & Bar.

The neon pink sign cut a path across the dark night skies, and she shivered despite the jacket she wore. It was September in Blue Valley, and that meant mother nature was going through her moods. It was like the seasons had menopause. But that was typical New Jersey weather.

She wished she was looking at a message from a boyfriend or reading an email with good news for a change. Unfortunately for Gwen, it was another bill she couldn’t afford. But this one had the not so subtle subject line “last warning” in bold red letters.

Dang it.

She’d already been to every restaurant and bar in a five-mile radius, which was the farthest she could go in a U-drive rideshare car with her limited budget, to apply for open positions. So far, she’d struck out.

Serious Moonlight was her last chance. With Pop’s medical bills piling up, and the fee for the assisted living facility he lived in almost doubling this year, Gwen needed every dollar she could earn.

“Don’t worry, Pop. I won’t let you down,” she whispered, pulling up a selfie she’d taken of herself and the man who’d raised her.

Pop had taken her in after her parents abandoned her and did his best to raise her with the same morals and ethics that as a deacon in the church, he valued. She did her best to abide by his rules and managed fairly well, except for a wild streak in college.

Attending art school in Manhattan meant plenty of changes for the small town Jersey girl, and Gwen had lost her heart and almost lost her virginity to a fast-talking man at the restaurant where she’d gotten a job. He’d done a number on her, and after two years, she’d come back home with her tail tucked between her legs.

Pop had welcomed her, of course, with open arms, and she finished her degree at a local school, getting her teacher’s certification as well. For a couple of years, everything was fine. She avoided men, of course, but Gwen was building a life she could be proud of.

Then Pop got sick, and they had to sell the condo to keep up with the bills. His dementia had advanced to such, she had to stay home with him, losing her teaching job in the process. The time had finally arrived where she could no longer give him the care he needed, and with a broken heart, she had him placed in the best assisted care center in the area. The price was hefty, and she hocked everything they had. But the thing about money was no matter how much you had, it never seemed to be enough.

The facility had given her thirty days to come up with the latest late payment. It was money she did not have, but she would do anything to get it. Well, almost anything.

There were things a good girl like Gwen would never do. Even if she’d sunk to an all-time low. No matter. She could live on cold cereal and instant ramen if Pop needed her to.

“You can do this,” she murmured, putting her crossbody bag to rights, shoving her phone inside. “It’s just a job. At a bar. A biker bar.”

Her eyes went wide at the row of gleaming motorcycles lined up outside the place.

Holy crap.

She’d heard from a waitress at the last place she’d filled out an application that Serious Moonlight was the best game in town if you needed to earn money fast.

The owners were a close-knit group of friends, all drop-dead gorgeous. The latter info seemed irrelevant to Gwen, but it had been given as a sort of a warning.

Apparently, prospective employees were ferreted out if their interest in the owners was too blatant. From what she had gathered, the owners, listed as the DWMC, were so gorgeous, people just threw themselves at them.

Whatever.

Sex was not one of her motivators. Gwen was just not in the market for a fling. She’d survived one horrible relationship, and that was all the experience of the opposite sex she intended to have until the day she got married.

The owners seemed to have a good reputation, far as she could tell. Apparently, they treated their staff very well. Paid well, too, not to mention the tips, which was all Gwen needed to hear. She did not care about the other stuff.

Just then, the doors open, and music poured out into the lot. Her eyes went wide as an enormous bald man covered in tattoos held a smaller, skinnier man over his shoulder and was muttering something aboutcrazy femalesandjealous mates.

Mates? Maybe he was Australian.

She watched for a moment before biting the bullet and heading inside. It didn’t matter. She was there for a job. That was all.

“Gimme back my strippers!” someone,a woman, yelled from inside. Then, an older blonde woman, followed by an older man, came rushing out of those same doors.

“Patricia! You get back here!”

Oh my. What am I walking into?

Didn’t matter. Gwendolyn Hoffer needed a job, and according to the Blue Valley patch, Serious Moonlight was looking for staff. It was a match made in heaven, far as she was concerned.

---