AllFreeNovel
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He’s not overly gorgeous. Not exceedingly handsome. But damn. It’s not just one feature; there’s much about him to notice.
The bartender, Ranger, fills a glass of beer and sets it in front of the obscure man messing with my internal thermostat. Ranger reaches for a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. He heads my way and proceeds to pour me a shot.
“Ah.” I watch the bartender. “I didn’t order that.”
He tops off the small glass, lifts the bottle, and glances at Lix. “He did,” he says and walks away.
Oh-ho! Did he now?
If I ever needed help breaking the ice with Felix Daxon, Ranger gave it to me. I wasn’t sure how I would start a conversation with the man.
Thank you, Ranger.
I pivot my head to the left just in time to catch Lix pulling the glass from his glistening lips.
“Excuse me,” I say in a raised tone, annoyed by my reaction to his mouth. “Did you buy me this?”
He follows my pointed finger to the shot, scratches his cheek with a slight head tilt, and smiles. “I did.”
His piercing blue eyes land on mine. I open my mouth, but for the first time in my entire life, I can’t find any words. And that’s odd for a journalist.
He glances at the shot. “Did you want something else?” His left eyebrow rises in a cute and sexy quizzical manner. I hate that too. “Not a whiskey girl?”
Pissed that my brain used the words cute and sexy to describe the jerk, I retort, “I’m not a ‘buy me a drink and then have your way with me’ kind of girl. In fact, I’m not a girl at all.”
His upper lip twitches. His heated, bold inspection and smoldering eyes melt every inch of my body. “What are you, then?”
I lift my chin. “A woman.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” His eyes ice over. “But don’t take it personally.”
“What? Being a woman?”
“No. The drink.” He chuckles, shoving the tips of his fingers into the front pocket of his jeans as if to get comfortable.
Dammit! I’m in knots. He’s at ease. I wouldn’t say I like that as well.
Ranger reappears, dropping the rag on the counter for a quick wipe. “That’ll be sixty-two.” He glances at Lix. “Or do you want to start a tab?”
“Sixty-two?” I look up at the bartender. “For a beer and a shot of whiskey?”
“Yeah, that’d be a lot.” The bartender laughs, swiping the hundred Lix placed on the bar. “No.” Ranger turns to me. “He bought a round of shots for everyone.” He waves at the three older men sitting at the end of the bar.
They lift their shots and smile at Lix.
Lix tilts his beer at them in return. “Like I said.” With a crooked smile, his flaming blue eyes sway my way. “Don’t take it personally.”
“So that’s your usual. A beer and a round of shots for the bar?”
He turns to the side, facing me. His eyes casually roll over my body again. “Yes.”
Why? Whenever he looks at me, it feels like I just got in my car after it sat for the past eight hours in Florida’s hottest summer heat.
I flash to his beer. “Where’s your shot?”
“I don’t drink the hard stuff.”
I lift my eyes back to his. “Why?”
