AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One
Hudson
We were about to have a problem.
And byweI meant that jock hassling one of the brewery’s customers halfway across the dining room from where I was tending bar. I’d had my eyes on the dark-haired beauty since she’d walked into Ferrazzi Brewing thirty minutes ago. Was she mine? Not yet. But with the possessive feelings rising inside me, she might as well have been.
Eyes wide while she sank back in her chair, she shook her head while the guy’s face twisted into an ugly look of determination. I couldn’t hear his words, but I knew they weren’t nice.
Throwing down my cloth, I sailed toward the cut in the bar heading toward the pair.
“Jordie, you’ve got the bar,” I growled over my shoulder at my cousin. Two years younger than me, he worked side by side with me most days—when he wasn’t taking classes for his final year of college.
“Sure thing, boss,” he called, and I didn’t need to look to know he was smirking at me. Bastard. I knew he’d be watching the byplay with the eye of a journalist, so he could relay everything back to my family—especially my parents who firmly believed it was time I thought about settling down. At twenty-freaking-four. Just because my dad was year older than I was now when they’d married, it didn’t mean it was my plan. I had three older siblings, two of whom who were single. My parents should pester them.
Sadly, I knew they did.
Still, I refused to acknowledge that this beauty had grabbed my heart in just the same way my mom and dad always claimed had happened to them.
“Is there a problem?” I growled, closing in on the pair as the guy started to loom forward. Fuck, I wasn’t an expert, but even I knew that was gonna get him shitall. Stupid ass.
His head jerked my way, anger lighting the depths. “No.”
Ignoring him, because I knew he was lying, I glanced over at the woman. My heart lurched, instant reaction like a sucker-punch to my gut. I’d never seen eyes the color of hers, the blue-green of the water in the Caribbean, rimmed by dark lashes that made them seem even brighter.
Glossy, chestnut hair fell around her shoulders in a sleek curtain, framing her delicate pixie-like features.
I almost forgot how to speak.
“Is he bothering you?” I asked, finding my words.
Her fearful gaze flitted toward him for a split-second before she met my stare and slowly nodded, a double dip of her chin that was so small, I might have missed it if my sole attention wasn’t fully captivated by her.
“That’s what I thought,” I murmurer. “Look,” I gritted at him. “How ‘bout you shove off and—”
“How about you go back to the bar and mind your own fucking business? My boys and I need some shots.”
My fingers curled on the back of the chair in front of me to keep from doing something rash. I leaned forward slightly.
“How about…” I started low and deadly. “You go back to your table, close out your tab and get the fuck out of here.”
“You can’t—”
I lifted and eyebrow. “I absolutely can. And if you want to talk to my bosses, I can certainly arrange it. Though I’ve gotta tell you, I’m a whole lot nicer than my dad or uncles will be when they get here.”
“Fucking asshole,” he muttered, stalking away. “She’s a bitch anyway.”
I drew in a breath, seeing red. The feel of cool fingers over mine was the only thing that stopped me. I moved my other hand to cover hers, and glanced toward the doors where Jack and Simon, our security, stood sentry. Catching Jack’s eye, I indicated toward the back of the retreating man and handed off the problem to him. Jack immediately straightened and headed that way.
With that problem in hand, I turned back to the beauty who’d captured me. Pulling out the chair I’d been a second from splintering, I took a seat.
“Hi. I’m Hudson Ferrazzi.”
She gave me a small smile and a slight nod. Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip before she drew the lip between her teeth.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said, nodding toward the guy. “We don’t usually have problems like that here.”
She grimaced a smile to indicate she understood and nodded again.
