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“Aw, shit! Did I just hit you?” She pulled back her hand, and I saw a big red mark but no blood. Great, just fucking great.
This day was going from shit to deeper shit in no time fast. I told her to come in, and I’d get her ice. Why was she even here this early in the day? It was only ten, and we didn’t open the tavern until noon.
She made some flippant comment that I only half heard, and then I told her to have a seat near the bar while I went to get an ice pack from the first aid kit. When I finally went out to join her, I smacked my palm to the door just as I saw her face through the other side. Luckily, she saw it coming, and it didn’t strike her.
She hissed at me about being careful, and I snapped back at her. “Jesus Christ, Candy! What the hell are you doing back there? I thought you’d be sitting at a table.”
Somehow we managed to get over to a table without me doing more bodily damage to her.
“What is your problem?” She snapped at me.
“What?”
“You almost hit me again!”
I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. Alright, Bollard, you gotta get yourself under control before you hurt this woman more. Then after she leaves, you can grab a bottle of Jack and take a few hefty swigs.
Candy said something about not blaming her for being pissed off at someone else, and I wasn’t trying to, but I was so furious that I couldn’t calm myself down. I was watching my dream shatter around me and could do nothing to stop it.
Finally, I admitted to Candy that I was upset because I had just learned the tavern was being sold, and the building inspector was coming to see it this morning. “What are you doing here anyway? You know we aren’t open.”
Candy stuck out her slim hand, hiking a brow and smiling, “Hi, I’m the stuffy asswad that will inspect the property.”
My head dropped forward, and I sighed. “Well, fuck!” I shook my head as I lifted it again. “I’m sorry, Candy. I didn’t mean that.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “That’s okay, Bollard.”
I studied her face for a moment. Her blue eyes were almost the color of a bluebird’s tail. I lifted my hands again and asked, “Looks like there is a tiny scrape. Let me clean it.”
“Okay, please.”
I cupped her cheek in my hand while pressing a small cleansing wipe to her other cheek to clean the scratch. While I did, my eyes landed on hers, and the two of us stared at each other for several seconds. She had beautiful eyes. I shifted my gaze and noted her slim straight nose and smooth skin. Then I had to be stupid enough to notice the light-pink sheen on her full parted lips. Would it have a taste? Would it be sweet? Maybe taste like bubblegum or cotton candy? Her tongue peeked out and touched her bottom lip, and I suddenly had this undeniable urge to ravish that mouth.
My eyes jumped back to hers, and I found her pupils slightly more dilated as she stared back at me. I inhaled sharply and pulled the cleansing wipe away from her cheek, tearing my eyes from hers and trying to keep myself from yanking her to me and tasting her lip gloss.
“All clean,” I said softly.
“Why do you want to buy this place?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I have worked here since I was sixteen. Now that I’m not with the club anymore—”
Her palm flew up into the air. “Wait! You’re not with the motorcycle club anymore?”
I stared at her hand, then focused behind it and at her chest. Damn, that woman had some nice tits. I tore my eyes off her chest and picked up the ice pack. What the hell was I doing checking out Candy Winston?
“Yeah, I’m out.” When I looked at her again, she looked bewildered.
“But I thought you couldn’t get out. That’s what Cara told us; you had to die to get out.”
“After everyone got arrested, the charter went to hell, and they allowed people to leave on good terms if they wanted to.”
“And you did?”
“Yeah, I did. I figured I’d get out, start a new life, buy the tavern, maybe one day, find a woman to settle down with.”
She snickered. “You with a woman?”
I frowned at her. “Of course, me with a woman.”
