Falling for Trouble

“Hey, shuga.” She turned her attention to the two guys who had just sat at the bar. They looked rough, like they’d just gone mudding and didn’t care how filthy they were. They had to be in their thirties, but might look younger if they cleaned the shit off their faces.

Sophia smiled and set a napkin in front of each of them. “What would you guys like?”

“You with nothin’ on, honey.”

Sophia forced herself not to roll her eyes. She had heard so many lame pickup lines throughout the years that this one didn’t even hit the top five. When she didn’t respond, just cocked one of her brows, they both sobered and mumbled their choice of beer. She set the two longnecks in front of them and went to the other end of the bar to help a group of girls who were part of a bachelorette party.

“Soph.” When she handed the last girl her frilly drink, complete with an umbrella, she turned to look at Hunter. His hands were in the front pockets of his jeans, and his black T-shirt with the Tiny’s logo in the upper left-hand side stretched across his flat, hard chest.

The corner of his mouth was tilted in a smile. He was good-looking, very good-looking honestly. His blond hair was a little shaggy, brushing the tops of his ears, but not overgrown like he needed a haircut. His eyes, though, his eyes were a whole other story. They were so dark they looked like onyx.

They seemed to penetrate the very recesses of her soul. He was big and tall, not as muscular as Abe, but toned like a swimmer would be. Dammit, why did she have to compare him and every other guy to Abe?

“What’s up, Hunter?”

He looked at his watch. “You get off in an hour, right?”

Well, shit, she had a feeling she was going to be asked to stay over. Not that she didn’t need the money, but she had a date with a bottle of cheap wine, Johnny Depp, and a pint of ice cream.

When Abe asked if she wanted to hang out tonight, she declined. He wasn’t stupid and would know she was avoiding him, but he was just smart enough not to pry. Oh, he tried to get her to talk about what her deal was two weeks ago, was actually still trying to get her to talk, but she kept brushing it off with an excuse about being on her period and moody.

Of course those had been all lies. Keeping her distance seemed like the right thing to do with her emotions still rampant.

“Yeah.” She dried her hands off on an already damp rag.

“Can I speak with you in the back?”

Shit. Had she done something wrong? Hunter never wanted to talk to the help unless something was wrong. Thinking back, she tried to recall if her till had been correct the times she closed. Abe hadn’t gotten in a fight since that drunken night, so it wasn’t that Hunter meant to tell her Abe had to cut the shit.

“Yeah, sure.” She told the other bartender she’d be right back and followed Hunter to his office. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Abe watching her over the rim of his bottle. All she could see were his eyes beneath the bill of his cap, but they were smoldering.

Furrowing her brow, she turned back around and went into Hunter’s office. He shut the door behind her and gestured to her to have a seat.

Well shit, could her life get any more complicated?10Abe watched Sophia disappear with Hunter. God, she was so damn beautiful. It was more than just physical though. She was just as gorgeous on the inside as she was on the outside. Since that strange morning two weeks ago, he hadn’t felt right.

There was something different with her, but every time he asked her, she changed the subject and got antsy.

He told himself if she had been hurt, he would know right off the bat and that their relationship would warrant her to tell him. He told her he would start being a better person, and he was making true on that. All he wanted to do was spend all his free time with her, but recently she seemed to pull away from him, emotionally and physically.

Thoughts of him holding her, her small frame curled into his body, like she knew that was where she was meant to be, undid him every time. A part of Abe hoped she would realize there was so much more to them than just being friends.

He took another long pull from his beer and turned back to the men at his table. Red was watching him with a knowing look. At least his boss didn’t feel the need to call him out on his clear infatuation with Sophia.