Serving Trouble (Second Shot 1)

He frowned. She deserved a lot after all she’d been through. What had she said yesterday? Look all you want, I don’t fall for the good guys? But he wasn’t a saint. Not even close. If she accepted that, then maybe a night or two—­

“I just wanted to know if Caroline was part of your naked-­bull-­riding club,” Josie murmured. “If her membership might be current.”

“No. We were never involved,” he said without opening his eyes. “And for the record, sweetheart, you’re the only member of that club.”

Chapter Seven

“I HEAR YOUR staffing criteria has shifted from experienced bartenders to women who need a job.” Chad Summers walked up to the nearly empty bar twenty minutes after noon on Friday.

Noah glanced at the door to the back room. Josie was in there teaching Caroline how to use the commercial dishwasher, a skill Josie herself had only picked up a few days ago. The two women got along just fine now that he’d erased Josie’s concern that he’d been naked bull riding, or naked anything else, with Caroline.

And it probably helped that Caroline had taken a shower. Plus, his fellow marine had agreed to let him keep her gun in his safe. He just hoped they didn’t break the dishwasher during the lesson or he’d be serving everyone in plastic cups until he could replace it.

“They’re not pouring shots and mixing drinks,” Noah said.

“Yet,” Chad said.

“Yet,” Noah agreed. “What can I get for you?”

Moore Timber’s number one helicopter pilot pointed to Fern’s Hoppy Heaven, the special IPA half the country had stopped by to sample yesterday. At this rate, they’d need another keg by tomorrow. “I hear Josie helped you get that crazy beer. Pretty damn impressive for one of your strays.”

“One of my what?” Noah set the beer in front of Chad.

“Elvira told everyone in the coffee line at The Three Sisters this morning about how you’d taken in two women desperate for work and given them jobs. She claims you have a heart of gold.” Chad raised his glass. “All I can say is that it’s a damn good thing I found Lena in my bed before she met you.”

“Elvira’s full of shit,” Noah said and Chad laughed. Hell, they both knew that was a lie. He had a cocktail

waitress with a week’s experience who’d shown up on his doorstep damn near begging for the job. And a dishwasher who was wanted by the police. Plus, his former commanding officer might be hunting for Caroline. Oh, and she lived in his spare bedroom for now.

“Hey, Josh is planning to stop in later,” Chad said after taking one long drink from his beer. “Can he slip into the back and talk to Caroline? He wanted to check in and apologize for mistaking her for a tree-­hugger.”

“Sure, though I don’t think she took that as an insult.”

Chad snorted. “It is to Josh.”

Noah nodded. The men who’d built their lives around the timber industry, who took pride in caring for the land, harvesting and then replanting, they didn’t exactly get along with the tree-­huggers.

“After all the time Josh volunteered to the search, yeah he can head back when he gets here,” Noah said. “But he can’t see her alone.”

“Of course.” The door to the back room swung open and Josie walked in. Chad held up his beer. “To Josie, for making Big Buck’s the only bar with Fern’s Hoppy Heaven on tap outside of Portland!”

“To Josie!” a pair of college students echoed from the other end of the room.

She smiled and took a bow, then headed for the ser­vice side of the bar. He walked over to meet her. And yeah, his wide grin pretty much matched hers.

“You’re not getting another raise,” he said before she opened her mouth. She’d been angling for another increase since she’d witnessed the Hoppy Heaven’s popularity.

She leaned over the counter. “How about a bonus for giving the customers something else to raise their glasses to?”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched her gaze flicker to the tattoo on his bicep. Just for a second. Then she was staring back at him again, but he was the only one smiling like a fool. The challenge in her big green eyes erased the sullen mood she’d accused him of wearing like a cloak.

“I’ll think about it,” he said, flexing his arms. He hoped she wanted the kind of extra benefit he was thinking of offering her—­a kiss that would prove she’d carried the memory of that night in the barn around with her too.

JOSIE HAD STOPPED writing down orders by seven that evening. Nearly everyone who walked into the bar asked for a Fern’s Hoppy Heaven. And the few who requested a pop or a mixed drink, well, she’d gotten pretty good at remembering orders and linking faces with drinks.

One of the weekend bouncers had arrived early to help manage the crowd. She’d packed this place and secured her job. Noah wouldn’t dare take it away from her now.

She’d walked out of that meeting at the brewery feeling as if she could do anything. She could run this bar, pay her bills, and even secure a job for a woman trying to find her way back from a hell Josie could only imagine.