Free Beautiful Disaster (A Pirate Romance book, Historical Romance) by Heather C. Myers Page B

known just how gorgeous she was, but he could tell she knew how to move her body.  With every step, those hips of hers swayed to the side, and…
     
    “It’s easy to fall in love with her, isn’t it?” a voice asked from beside him.
     
    “Yeah,” Johnny replied absentmindedly, before furrowing his brow and glancing at the bar manager.  “Wait, what?  Love?  Forgive me for saying, mate, but love is not exactly the word I would use.”
     
    “Oh yeah?” Brian asked, pushing his brows up.  “You’re not a fan of the emotion?”
     
    It had been an hour, give or take, since Izzy had brought him here, and as she had told Brian, he was definitely a fast learner.  He was successfully helping Brian serve drinks at the bar, and yes, he had been asked if he was Johnny Depp, the movie star.  Of course he wasn’t.  And here he thought it was so bloody obvious.
     
    “Not particularly, no,” Johnny replied airily, mixing another drink he wasn’t exactly sure the title of.  They all had the most random names he had ever heard – a Cosmo-whatever, Sex on the Beach (now that, he would definitely be up for), a Screwdriver – he just didn’t understand.  However, he was good at memorizing what alcohol, juice, and ice went where, and because of his quickness, he was rewarded with money.  “Tips,” Izzy had called them.
     
    “May I inquire as to why?” Brian asked, gathering some beer from the tap in a glass mug before shooting Johnny a sideways glance.
     
    “Love is a commitment,” Johnny said, handing the drink to the waiting patron before starting on another one.  “Love is depending on somebody for happiness.  Love is monogamy.”  He physically shuddered at such a thought and shook his head, causing his dark hair to move along with him.  “Love is pain, anger, and at moments, passion.  But passion can be found anywhere.  You do not need love to have passion, and at this point in my life, passion is all I’m looking for.”
     
    “I see,” Brian said after a moment, studying the man next to him.  Johnny looked as though he actually meant every word he said, and Brian sighed, before patting his new employee on the back.  “Well, Johnny, then I feel sorry for you.”
     
    “Really?” Johnny asked, generally intrigued as he grabbed a glass mug from behind the bar before looking over at the older man with his dark gaze.  “And why is that?”
     
    “You look at love in the wrong way,” Brian told him, mixing another drink.  “You see, love is just a word that describes all the feelings that we’re feeling when we strongly like a person.  There is no definition to the word, except the one you give it.  So if you truly believe that love is what you say, then it’s no wonder you stay away from it.  But remember, you can always change the definition so you’re more open to it.”
     
    “And what is love to you?” Johnny asked him, giving the man a pointed but polite stare.
     
    Brian smiled at this, glancing down at his left hand where there was a single golden band on his ring finger.  “Love is…”  He paused as he furrowed his brow before tilting his head and then trying again.  “Love is…”
     
    “Love is money,” a voice interrupted, causing both men to look over at who had spoken.  She was wearing the same t-shirt as Izzy was, except she had tightened it, and redesigned it, so the back wasn’t cloth at all; only lace that criss-crossed and held the shirt together occupied her long back.  She had dark blue eyes and deep, burgundy hair.  Her pants were tight leather, and she hand on some sort of boots.  If Izzy was beautiful, then this woman exuded sexuality.  “Love is sex.”  She walked behind the bar and up to Johnny so that she was inches from his frame.  “I’m Candace, but everyone here calls me Candy.”
     
    “Johnny,” he replied, a tiny smirk tugging the corners of his lips as he placed his hand in hers.  He immediately recognized the look