Free Reese by Terri Anne Browning Page A

just gave him a nod as I placed his Irish brew in front of him.
                  “Hey hotness.” I glanced up from setting a fresh beer in front of Bubba to find Jake, Maddox, Mason and the brothers seated at the other end of the bar bar. The group that had been seated there just a few moments earlier where now seated in the back where Corbin and Stone stood talking to the obvious fans. Stone was grinning and shaking hands while the men seemed in awe of the beast that was actually a man.
                  As if sensing my gaze, Stone turned his head and gave me a smile. I ignored it and him as I went over to the rest of the crew. “What’s your poison?” I asked.
                  Maddox gave me a strange look. “You look tense. Everything going alright this evening? Anyone been getting out of hand?”
                  “Nope. How about a beer?” I offered, wanting to serve them and move on.
                  “How about a few shots?” Jake suggested. “We just had a very successful afternoon and we need to celebrate.”
                  I lined up five shots of Patron and then put a beer in front of each of them. “Let me know if you need anything else.” I told them and moved back down to the end of the bar where Bubba was talking to Biker One.
                  “I apologize.”
                  I frowned. Biker One had spoken as soon as I returned to his end of the bar. “Excuse me?”
                  He blew out a long breath, which was not pleasant smelling in the least. “I apologize for the way I behaved over the weekend.”
                  I shrugged. “Okay.”
                  “Okay? That’s it? No lectures? No making me grovel or some such bullshit?” He seemed shocked and that made me smile, a little.
                  “Yes. No lectures. No grudges . I’m the bartender : the law, the judge , and the jury here. But I am not your mother, wife, or whatever. You get out of line, I kick your ass, and you don’t get out of line again. It is just that simple. Ask Bubba.” I nodded my head in the other biker’s direction.
                  “Don’t mess with Goth Girl.” He saluted me with his beer and took a long pull from the long neck. “Only I forget sometimes…But she is kind enough to remind me.” He chuckled. “And she is why I don’t go anywhere but to Safe Haven.”
                  “Good answer, Bubba.” I put a fresh beer in front of him. “This one is on me.”

Chapter 8
                  Ten minutes after Stone and his crew arrived with Maddox I ventured back over to their end of the bar. They had been drinking their beers and having a good time. B ut I had mostly ignored them. Even when they had tried to call me over to talk them, I had started up a conversation with Biker One and Bubba instead.
                  Now their beers were all gone and I had no choice but to get them fresh ones. I set five beers down, without really looking at them. It wasn’t that I was angry with them. I was just self-conscious. Apparently to them I was just some girl that their boss and friend was having a good time with until he moved on to the next city. I didn’t like nor want that label: Groupie. “Anything else?” I asked.
                  “Are you mad at us?” Mason asked, looking concerned. I was not angry at him, Jake or any of the others. They had nothing to do with what was going on between me and Stone. I just couldn’t bring myself to be a part of their little group hurting the way I was.
                  “No.”
                  “Then what’s with the cold shoulder, hotness?” Jake asked, his tattooed head wrinkled with his frown. “Don’t you want to play with us anymore?” He gave me a little pout that I was sure other females would have found extremely