Prologue
TOREN
A few days earlier
“Gonna suck without you at the plant,” Jace says. I’m two beers deep, and my place is close enough for me to walk home. If not, the guy beside me will drop me off and head home with his woman, Willow. His little sister, Jade, works behind the bar here at The Social; no doubt Locke, her man and Jace’s childhood best friend, will be showing up before too long. Talk about a shit show when that blew up. The gossip mill went to fuckin’ town and wouldn’t shut up about it until they all reconciled.
“Your actin’ like we don’t have weekly poker night. Not like I’m movin’ halfway around the world. Shit, I’m just workin’ from home.”
“Want another?” Jade asks, sliding a tray of nachos our way.
“Sure,” I reply.
“Not for me. Gotta drive,” Jace says to his sister.
“You got it.” She taps the bar top before moving to grab drinks for everyone who need another round.
“Know you’re not movin’, also know the people at the mill aren’t you. Means I’m gonna get more fuckin’ work than I know what to do with.” The music changes from one song to the next, this one a well-known classic from Bad Company.Feel Like Making Love.My thumb taps the beat on my beer bottle. Thisplace will start to fill up as the night goes on, and in doing so, it gives me more to see as I people watch.
“Thinkin’ you just don’t wanna work anymore. Then again, if I were your age, I wouldn’t either.” My eyes catch on a group of women looking at the piece of art Ronnie commissioned from me not long ago. The guys heard I’d been working with metal, creating wall art that mimicked the river and surrounding areas of Jace’s land, then the requests started coming in. So much so that I got clever.
That whole ‘work smarter, not harder’ mantra kicked in. I’d noticed the interest—the unsolicited emails, messages on social media, and my own cousin telling me to get my shit together and to let her help me. Which I did. She set up my website, a presence on some type of this or that thing. All I know is Julliette comes home once a month, takes more videos and pictures of me working, the artwork, and whatever else she can squeeze in, then it’s all set up for the month, she gets a percentage, which I gladly pay her, and it keeps the orders and my bank account flush.
“Fuck you, man.” Jace turns around, his gaze nowhere near where mine is, and that’s because Willow walks in with Locke. He’s up and out of his chair before I can respond. Figured that’d happen regardless. All the guys in our group are rooted deeply when it comes to the women in their life, not that I can blame them. Shit, I’d be the same if I met the one. Since that hasn’t happened yet, here I fucking sit.
My attention returns to the group of women glancing at the metal art piece. It wasn’t one of my more difficult pieces, the raised metal with the script being the bar’s name, plus a couple of other details where they can add a vinyl album and empty bottles, which it looks like they’ve started to do. The problem Ronnie and her dad had was settling on where to put it. It’s big, bigger than I’d thought they want, and covers nearly an entire wall.
“Here’s your beer, Toren,” Jade says behind me.
“Thanks. Be right back,” I toss over my shoulder when I see the crowd thinning except for the woman who’s had my eye the entire fucking time. I move through the bar, walking around the pool tables and people playing darts; there’s even a makeshift dance floor where there wasn’t one before. It seems Ronnie, with likely the help of Jade, has nailed the old man down and is making some good changes these days.
“Nice, huh?” I say over her shoulder. She turns around. Her long, dark hair effortlessly cascades down in one smooth sheath and past her shoulders. Her skin glows with a sun-kissed warmth, but it’s her eyes that are the most striking: deep, expressive, and slightly guarded. Enough to make you want to earn whatever secrets she’s protecting.
“It’s amazing.” She’s wearing a simple white top that fits tightly enough to give me a glimpse of her shape; goddamn, is it pretty. The fabric lifts with the simplest of movements, revealing a teasing sliver of her stomach. It makes me want to glide my fingers across her skin. Her low-slung jeans hug her hips in an effortless and confident way, and the heels on her feet do even more for her. No wonder Jace was gone for Willow when he saw her in a pair.
She leans in slightly, whether it’s because of the deep thrum of the music and her body is swaying or because I’ve got some kind of effect on her, I’ve got no idea.
“That it is.” I’m confident, not cocky. I’ve rarely had a client want changes at the last minute or say they didn’t like what I’ve created. The proof is in the costs of my work.
“Do you know the artist?” she asks. Standing here with her feels like stepping into something dangerous in the most irresistible way, the kind of moment you hear your friends talk about when they find the one.
“Yeah, that would be me.”
“No way. I mean, no offense, but I’m not buying it. We’re in a bar, and I’ve heard plenty of pick-up lines. Nice try.” I’m at a loss for words. Who I am is not a big secret around here, it’s out of the area that I’m pretty damn anonymous, and while I’d tell her to ask any of the women who know me because they wouldn’t lie, the guys in the group are a bunch of clowns and would probably work against me. I’m not able to get two words out. She’s already walking away before I can get my thoughts together. And in doing so, I’m left standing looking at the missing pieces I’m trying to put together.
At least it’s one hell of a view. The subtle sway of her hips draws my attention to her heart-shaped ass. I watch for a few moments too long, and when she looks over her shoulder, she shakes her head and continues on her path further away from me. The mystery woman goes one way, and I go the other, back to my friends, beer, and food.
“Crash and burn,” Jace says when I make it back to the bar.
“Damn, that’s harsh, man,” Locke replies. He’s behind the bar with Jade and has his arm tossed over her shoulder.
“Yeah, well, we can’t all be easy to please.” Jade looks from me to her brother and man.
“What happened?” Willow asks with an edge of worry.
“Don’t mind them. It wasn’t easy to break through Colt’s tough-guy exterior, either.” Sable joins the group along with the man whose tough-guy attitude she definitely broke. Being a single dad meant protecting not just himself, but his daughter, too.
“She doesn’t believe I’m the artist.” I shrug my shoulders and take another sip of my beer only to realize it’s empty. Jade, being the observant one in the group, grabs me another; doesn’t make a comment, just slides me the bottle.
