Free Redemption: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 3) by Anna Lowe

head at her.
    Not here. Not now.
    And just like that, her chance was gone, if it ever existed at all.
    “Um, Sarah. The bill?” Janna asked.
    By the time she rang up the bill and turned back to Soren, his face was just as stony as it had been before, and another little fissure spread through her heart. She loved him so much, it hurt. Missed him so much, she could burst.
    Drawing a weary hand over her eyes, she told herself to give him up and concentrate on the baby. That was her future. Her and the baby.
    And emptiness, too?
the little voice inside her cried.
    An eternity later, the football game ended, and the crowd finally started to clear out. There was a rush of bills to ring up, but then a lull, and everyone who had been working the saloon stared blankly into space, catching their breath.
    “Wow,” Janna murmured. “What a crazy couple of hours.”
    Sarah stared through the warped pattern thrown by the water glass Soren had silently placed in her hand and nodded to herself.
    No kidding. What a crazy couple of hours.



Chapter Ten

    Soren wiped the last glass and put it in its place while Janna rinsed the sink.
    “Holy crap,” Simon sighed, flipping the last chair onto the last table that Jessica had just wiped down. “What a night.”
    What a night
could apply to a dozen different things, but whichever Simon meant, Soren heartily agreed.
    For him, that list of a dozen things could have started with Sarah, Sarah, and Sarah. Having her so close to him. Sensing her honeysuckle scent waft pure and clean above all the other smells in the bar. Hearing her voice and catching glimpses of her smile. Seeing the light shine off her hair. The natural red hue was peeking through the auburn dye, and seeing that made it seem even more like old times. They’d both been too busy working to feel the awkwardness that stood between them these days, and that felt good. Really good.
    “Can I just say, we totally rocked?” Janna added. She gave Emma a high five and grinned at Cole, who was wringing out a mop.
    “We make a good team,” Cole agreed.
    Soren nodded. They had been a good team. A great team, in fact. Their ragtag little troop of wolves and bears was carving a future out for itself in this unlikely corner of the world. Him, his brother, his clan mates, and Sarah.
    God, she fit right in.
    Her and the baby,
his bear said.
    He looked up, wondering if she was already asleep. Jessica hadn’t allowed Sarah to help with cleanup, no matter how hard Sarah insisted, which was a good thing. Sarah was tough — supertough — but a seven-or-eight-months pregnant woman shouldn’t pull as many hours as she had that day. There was no way in hell he’d let her help with clean up. It was a damn good thing Jessica had done the talking, because if he’d had to, he would have ruined everything.
    He was no good at talking. No good at explaining. No good at saying all the things his bear had been trying to get him to say over the past couple of weeks.
    Like,
Sarah, we need to talk.
    Or,
Sarah, I wish I’d done a hundred things differently.
    Or,
Sarah, I love you. Do you love me?
    His bear was so sure she loved him, and he was starting to wonder himself. She hadn’t said a word about the father of the baby. Maybe the bastard had taken off? The way Sarah looked at him sometimes gutted his heart. Her eyes would fill with hope and wonder and regret — exactly the things that bottled up his throat every time he looked at her and tried to produce anything more than a choked sound.
    But tonight had been a little more relaxed — if he could use
relaxed
to describe the hubbub in the saloon that night. A little more normal, almost. Well,
normal
was still nowhere near right, but better than before, anyway.
    “I’m not sure if I ever want the sports bar’s business again,” Jessica said as she slumped against the wall.
    Soren cleared his throat gruffly. He was alpha here; time to pep up his clan. “Good job, everyone. Thanks.”
    He locked