Free Letting Go by Madison Stevens

The bright light of the phone blurred as tears filled Sarah’s eyes. The cheating louse didn’t even have the balls to tell her in person. What was worse, she knew the end was coming and couldn’t do anything about it. Hell, by that point she didn’t even know if she wanted to. Sarah might have spent two years with Lance, but in the past six months, the flame had all but petered out. Of course, it didn’t help getting a photo of the bastard with his face sandwiched between some girl’s tits prior to the lame text breakup.
    She slammed the face of the phone down on the counter in front of her and blinked the tears away. The text didn’t matter. Sarah had real things to deal with.
    “Whoa, look at that phone any harder and it just might burst into flames,” a deep male voice rumbled from behind her.
    Sarah had been so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t noticed Jake had come from his office in the back of the building. Her heart picked up the pace. She knew she shouldn’t let him affect her, but everything about him just seemed so…dangerous.
    Of course, that was the look he sought. It wasn’t just that he was built like a house, muscles bulging in ways she didn’t even know they could, but the air around him crackled with energy.
    Sarah stared at his hands and then his arms. The definition of his muscles helped outline the various tattoos. It was obvious the artists had taken into account the contours and made them work to highlight the art. Every inch of skin just looked so hard and unyielding. It was amazing they were even able to tattoo him at all.
    Jake’s bicep twitched as if it knew she was staring, and her gaze jumped to his face. His shaggy brown hair dipped in front of his face, but she could see his pale green eyes narrowed on her. He didn’t seem to be happy. His lips pressed together, and the stubble on his face only emphasized the hard line of his jaw. Embarrassed at being caught ogling her boss, she turned to wipe off the bar. It was bad enough he didn’t like her. She didn’t want to give him any reason to let her go. She needed this job.
    As she scrubbed the invisible spots from the bar, she could feel his stare and dared to take a side-glance.
    “Were you crying?” Jake placed a hand on the bar beside her and leaned in. The spicy scent of his soap tickled her nose and made her insides flutter. She spun sideways in order to put more space between them. Her butt bumped the wall behind her signifying the end of the line.
    “It’s fine,” she said. “I was just…” She stopped when she saw the muscles in his hand flex as he gripped the bar.
    “Just what?” Jake moved closer, drawing her attention back to his eyes.
    Sarah swallowed hard. Whatever lame excuse she could have come up with wasn’t going to work. Everything in her screamed that he had seen her display.
    “Yes,” she said quietly. Her attention dropped to his black t-shirt. Somehow, focusing on his chest seemed like the better option. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    Jake had already warned her about drama the first time Lance came to the bar. All she could hope now was that the lecture wouldn’t end with her getting the boot.
     
    His hand clenched the bar until his knuckles popped from the strain. Lord it had been a tough few months with Sarah around. The last person in the world he wanted to hire was the sweet bubbly blonde. Her doe-eyed expression gave her an innocence that just didn’t sit right with him. Just past her shoulders, her golden hair bounced as she walked, accentuating other jiggling assets he wasn’t willing to give thought to…much.
    What sort of girl walked into a biker bar wearing a cotton-candy pink sweater and a skirt? Apparently one who wanted a job. Wasn’t like people were lining up to work at the Road House.
    It actually hadn’t been so bad having her. The crew liked her and as long as Jake stayed out of the way, she seemed to like working there. He could tell he set her on edge,