Free The Promise of Surrender by Liliana Hart Page A

had already thinned out to head home for dinner. The live music didn’t start until ten o’clock, so they still had time to play and be able to hear themselves.
    Duffey’s didn’t cater to the tourist crowd. It was a local bar with sawdust on the floors, scarred tables, and draft beer and a small selection of wine. There were no mixed drinks or cocktails. Trophy antlers hung on all the walls and she was pretty sure they’d never seen a dust rag.
    Zeke went to the bar to order drinks and chatted with Duffey while he was waiting. She’d learned over the last several years that Duffey never smiled. He’d owned the bar for close to fifty years, and from the pictures hanging on the wall, he hadn’t changed a bit in those fifty years. He always wore a white undershirt and trousers with a larger white butcher apron tied several times around his scrawny waist. The tuft of gray hair circling the bald patch on the top of his hair was coarse and wiry, and round, wire-framed glasses sat perched at the end of his nose. His lips were thin and he always looked like he’d just swallowed something sour.
    Mia had learned early on that the best course of action was to stay off his radar, so she headed toward the back room where the pool tables were located. She passed Jana Metcalfe along the way. Jana had been a waitress at Duffey’s since long before Mia had moved there. She was pleasantly plump and somewhere in her mid to late thirties, and she always had a wide and infectious smile.
    “Is the pool table taken?” Mia asked her.
    “A group just cleared out. It’s all yours.” She gathered empties from a table, balancing the tray and making it look effortless. “It’s good to see Zeke back in town,” she said, conversationally. “Almost didn’t recognize him. He looks a lot different than he did at nineteen.” She winked and chuckled. “He spent a lot of summers here. Lord, he and those MacKenzies got into some trouble. I’m surprised Duffey even lets any of them in the door.”
    “He must not be too mad,” Mia said. “They’re talking to each other.”
    “That’s because Duffey is still trying to get Zeke to pay for some damages. Duffey just likes to complain. He’ll overcharge Zeke for the beers and then he’ll feel like he’s gotten away with something. Let me give you a tip. When you’re ready to order anything else, come find me. I’ll make sure your ticket is right.”
    Mia shook her head and smiled. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
    “Hey, you guys have had a rough week. Duffey should be giving you the beer.” Jana stretched her neck out to the side to look around the corner toward Duffey. “Don’t tell him I said that. That man’s never given away a thing in his life.”
    “Why do you work for him?”
    “I’m his granddaughter.” Jana winked and smiled again, and then hefted the tray onto her shoulder and headed toward the kitchen.
    Mia already felt the tension draining from her shoulders. Zeke had been right. It was nice to get out. They’d been cooped up at the shop or her apartment all week. It had been nothing but work and worry.
    She headed to the far back of the restaurant and took the little hallway to the left. It was a private room they sometimes used for bachelor parties, but it was the only area big enough for the pool table. She tossed her leather jacket over a chair and went to check the cues. And then she racked the balls and waited for Zeke to arrive. Spot her a couple balls her ass.
     
    * * * *
     
    Zeke came in with a pitcher of beer and two frosted mugs, and it was a damned good thing he’d had a good grip on them. Mia was his every fantasy, and the sight of her leaning on her cue stick in worn jeans and a stretchy white top made his cock hard enough to drive nails. She’d let the natural curl in her hair reign free and it flowed down her back, tempting him.
    The thought crossed his mind that he might be better off tossing her over his shoulder and heading back home, but then