Blood & Bones: Judge (Blood Fury MC 3)

Dodge leaned into her. “Tips good.”

Yes, but how much would those big tips cost her? “I’m okay with the customers I have right now.”

Dodge straightened and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shrug and move away.

Cassie blew out a breath and took the two beers to the waiting customers. She made a quick round checking on all the occupied tables and then froze as she saw Judge move to one, both American bulldogs casually following him. With a satisfied look on his face, he folded his length into a chair and the dogs settled nearby.

Daisy would love those dogs, absolutely go bonkers over them. She was always begging for a dog, but she was too young to be responsible for one. Maybe once they found a place, she’d let her daughter have a guinea pig or something.

Until then...

Until then, she needed tips to get her own place where she could start fresh.

And to get tips, she needed to be nice to customers.

Being nice meant striking up a conversation.

Judge was no different than any other customer in Crazy Pete’s.

Or that was what she told herself.

Because if she looked deep enough, something about the huge biker kept catching her attention.

Maybe it was the way he had talked to Daisy. Maybe it was the way he had been with her.

Maybe it was his larger than life presence every time she’d run into him.

Even so, she just needed to put her head down and work on moving forward.

Judge could be a huge speed bump. One she didn’t need to hit right now. Especially since she was currently running with only one wheel instead of a whole set. And that one wheel had damage already.

The table was empty in front of him and she glanced toward the bar where he had been previously sitting. He’d downed the beer Dodge had served him at the bar and left the empty glass behind.

Just so she’d have to wait on him.

With a sigh, she braced herself and headed over to him, stopping opposite of where he sat so they’d have the table between them.

She plastered on a smile. “Hi.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners, locked on hers and he jerked up his chin. “Yo.” His grunt was so guttural, it sounded like it came deep from within the cavern of his chest. She imagined he could be very loud when he needed to be.

But he didn’t seem the booming type. More on the quiet side unless he had a reason to raise his voice. And most people probably hoped they weren’t that reason. Because she was also sure when he yelled, he could be very scary. His voice, his height—which had to be six-two or six-three—his long, thick beard, those intense green eyes that probably missed nothing...

“What can I get you?”

“Just wanna talk.”

Cassie quickly glanced around the interior of the bar. “I’m busy.”

“Woulda talked to you at the bar, but you refused to wait on me.”

“I didn’t refuse.”

He cocked an eyebrow. His head was covered with a dark gray beanie. Not once had she seen his hair and she wondered if it was as long as his beard. She didn’t like beards that long. She liked them neat and trimmed, where it didn’t hide a man’s features. Maybe a little shorter than Dodge’s.

Though, Judge’s beard seemed to emphasize his nicely shaped lips and those green eyes. And his cheekbones.

He’d probably be really handsome without all that shaggy hair. The hair Daisy was determined to pet.

“I didn’t realize Manning Grove was so small...”

He leaned back and crossed his thick arms over his very broad chest covered in a snug dark gray thermal and his leather biker vest.

“That I’d run into the same people so often,” she finished.

He still said nothing. But his eyes had a lot to say.

She just didn’t speak that language.

“Or maybe it’s not just coincidence.”

She finally realized after talking to him now a few times, what his voice reminded her of.

Slow moving thunder.

“Could be that my MC owns half this bar. Could be that Stella belongs to the club and she owns the other half. Could be the reason.”

“Could be. But I don’t think that’s it.”

Both eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Then what is it?”

“I don’t know. Only you know. You knew my name before I even gave it to you.”

“Still haven’t given it to me.”

“That’s right, I haven’t. But somehow you know it. You know where I work, and I just started here.”

“Just coincidence.”

Cassie dropped her head slightly and stared straight into those green eyes. “Bullshit.”

His lips twitched slightly before he pinned them together.

What the hell was he hiding?

Probably no more than she was.

Damn.

“Beer?” She didn’t wait for his answer and spun on her heel to head back to the bar.

A few minutes later, she returned, mentally cursing the tremble in her hand as she placed the full glass down in front of him. She avoided his eyes. “Would you like to start a tab?”