To Professor, With Love (Forbidden Men 2)

“Fuck,” Ten growled, mirroring my thoughts, before he lifted his voice and called across the empty bar. “Yo, Jess. Where’s Huey and Louie?” The twins were actually named Heath and Landon, but Ten tended to assign everyone his own nickname.

Jess had never been an Oren Tenning fan, so she narrowed him a harsh glower. “Where do you think? They quit. Probably didn’t want to work with your punk ass anymore. Here’s his replacement. Someone show him what to do.”

With that, she turned away and started back into the office.

“Hey,” Ten called after her. “What about the other one?”

Jessie paused and glanced back to arch one intimidating eyebrow. “Other one what?”

“This place is going to be overrun within an hour, woman. We need at least five guys working tonight, not three and some clueless newbie. Are you seriously just going to replace both the twins with this one douche?”

The clueless newbie douche in question sent him a sidelong look that seemed more amused than insulted by the remark while Jess hissed with aggravation.

“Yeah, I am. So show him what to do.” With that, she slammed back into her office, leaving the three of us alone in the bar.

“She totally wants me.” Ten sniffed knowingly at the closed door, while I sighed and set my hands on my hips, taking in the new guy.

God, I couldn’t wait until Jess’s dad returned to work. He’d recently had open-heart surgery, and she’d taken over while he was down. But if he didn’t hurry his ass up and recover soon, his precious baby girl was going to run his nightclub into the ground.

Tipping my head up in greeting, I said, “Hey. What’s your name?”

The new guy shoved his hands into his back pockets and tore his attention away from Ten to glance my way. “Mason,” he said. “Mason Lowe.”

I nodded. “Nice to meet you. You ever bartend before?”

When Lowe shook his head, Ten snorted and slapped me in the stomach. “He’s all yours, baby.” Dismissing us both, he returned to his job of taking the chairs off the tables.

“Fine,” I called. “We get the bar then; you wait tables.”

“What the fuck ever. Make the new guy wait tables.”

“Shit, you want him to quit on his first night?”

Ten paused to study Lowe from head to foot. Then he nodded. “Yeah, with a pretty face like his, he’d be molested beyond repair within the first five minutes. I’ll take the tables. But just for tonight.” He pointed threateningly at Lowe. “You got that, newbie?”

Lowe was beginning to look a little alarmed. “What’s he talking about? I thought this was just a regular bar.”

Humph. There was nothing regular about Forbidden. But to reassure him, I said, “It is.” With a friendly pat on his back, I shrugged. “Don’t listen to Ten. He’s just sore because his vagina got ridden too hard last night.”

“Fucker,” Ten called from across the room.

I ignored him, focusing on Lowe. “But every Thursday is ladies’ night. So it’ll probably get a little crazy. Drinks are fifty percent off for every woman who comes in, which means a lot of drunk, handsy chicks are going to try to get a piece of you...all night long.”

A green tinge immediately coated Lowe’s face. “Great,” he muttered weakly.

With a laugh, I slugged my elbow into his arm. “Trust me. It is. Your tips will triple. But seriously. You might want to protect the boys. I recommend wearing a cup every Thursday from here on out.”

“Sure.” With a gulp and longing glance toward the exit, Lowe nodded.

“Your accent’s different,” I noted as I led him toward the bar. “Where’re you from?”

“Florida. Just moved here a couple months ago.”

“Dude.” Appearing out of nowhere, Ten plopped down on a stool and rested his elbows on the bar while he frowned at Lowe. “Why the hell would you leave Florida for fucking Ellamore, Illinois?”

Mason shrugged as if it was no big deal. “My girlfriend’s from here. She wanted to come home.”

Ten snorted. “Wait, wait, wait. You traveled halfway across the country for some pussy? Damn, that’s lame.”