Cash (Sexy Bastard #2) by Eve Jagger
To my Mother. I love you more than all the stars in the sky, and all the blades of grass on the earth.
Your Petunia Pig. Xx
CHAPTER ONE
Cash
There are two things in life that need to be handled with care: cocktails and women. Push a woman too far and you’ll end up stuck outside in nothing but your boxers—take my word for it, it’s not pretty. Shake a cocktail too hard and you kill the flavor. But when it all comes together, it’s magic in my very capable hands.
Altitude is packed, but it’s been this way since we opened. The long bar spreads out before me and the crowd gathers, ready for a show. I fell into tending bar as a way to put myself through school and even after four years of grade-A education, I’d still rather shake, stir, and muddle my way through life.
The bottles fit easily in my hands as I measure out rum and lime juice. The woman across from me wears a blue dress that she might have had painted on, and the gold chain around her neck leads the eye straight to her assets. I give her a winning smile that’s been proven to melt more than one heart.
To all the men in the bar: I’m not sorry, but her attention’s on me.
She twirls a piece of a hair around her finger and I can imagine what it’d look like spread out on my bed. Straining the cocktail into a glass, I reach for the garnish but Blue Dress Beauty is already reaching for her drink. I grab her wrist. Under my fingers her pulse jumps and I meet her eyes. This one is definitely ready to play. She gives me a wink.
“Not done yet,” I say, releasing her.
“I don’t know if I can wait.”
“Oh, I think you can. You’re gonna enjoy this,” I tell her, my voice low and deep. I grab a fresh sprig of mint and tear off some leaves, keeping eye contact the whole time.
“What did that mint ever do to you?” she asks, flirty.
“It’s been very bad.”
She arches an eyebrow at me. “It’s not the only thing being bad tonight.”
I smack the leaves. “A quick spank and it releases all the flavor.” I wink, drop the mint into the drink and present it to her. “Taste it now.”
She tries the drink. Nothing like a beautiful woman enjoying a perfect cocktail—except perhaps a woman after sex. I lean in so I can whisper in her ear. “You see? Better things come to those who wait.”
“And if I’m in a hurry—?”
I’m just about to tell her exactly what’ll happen if she’s in a hurry when a masculine voice interrupts my train of thought.
“Traci?”
A guy strolls over. He drapes an arm around her shoulders, and she rolls her eyes at me and tries to play him off.
“Nice of you to show up. I was just getting a drink.” She gives me another wink. A girl like her could send that man packing in two seconds flat, and I might as well help her along. My MO doesn’t include backing down from douchebags like this guy.
The man takes the drink from her and gulps, “Not bad,” he shrugs. “I’ll have the same as my girlfriend.” That remark is pointed at me. Hint taken. I make another drink, and slide it across the bar.
“To those who wait,” the woman raises her glass. She gives me a suggestive lick of her lips, the kind of gesture designed to make me think about that mouth wrapped around my cock.
But it’s too late. Never gonna happen now, lady. There are enough single women in this bar, and I don’t go for someone who’s already taken. I get back to work, until I hear a chuckle.
Jackson is behind the bar, grabbing some beers.
“Hey, back off, this is my turf,” I joke. “You build the bars, I serve the booze.”
“Yeah, yeah. Maybe if you weren’t so busy flirting, I wouldn’t have to get them myself.”
“I can multi-task just fine,” I shoot back. “But anytime you need lessons with the ladies, I’ll be happy to help you out. Start with the basics, you know, save my advanced skills course for later.” I spot a couple of hot blondes arrive, arm in arm and looking for a good time. “Speaking of which, double trouble 101, over in the corner.”
Jackson snorts. “Someday, I’ll enjoy watching someone tie you down.”
“Never gonna happen,” I say, saluting him with my beer. I take a drink and set it aside. It’s back into the trenches, and there is nothing like working my way through a room.
Jackson tosses me another beer and I grab it, juggling the other two in a move that’s more flash than technical. The patrons cheer. This is the life. Some guys can be happy with just one woman, but I figure, why deny the rest of them the pleasure?
I move through the line of the bar, mixing drinks and taking names. A brunette with a come-and-fuck-me smile looks from me to the menu.
“What you want is not on that menu,” I say, plucking it out of her grasp and easily tossing it over my shoulder.