Free Letting Go by Madison Stevens Page A

but that wasn’t a first for him. People had always felt uneasy around him. Because of his massive frame, towering height and hard expression, most people were wary of him. That was just the way he wanted it though. Made things easier.
    Then that little prick showed up and ruined everything. Now, he had to watch out for her. Make sure he didn’t cross the line.
    Nope, he had told her once, but apparently she needed to be told again.
    Not only was the boyfriend an issue, but his friends were a pain in the ass. Tossing coasters around, changing the TV and, in general, acting like they were the big men on campus. Not on his turf they weren’t.
    “No high school bullshit in my bar.” Jake folded his hands over his chest and looked down at the phone. “If you and your little boyfriend are having a spat,” he turned to glower at the top of her head, “do it when you get off.”
    The phone buzzed loudly on the counter as another text came through. Sarah’s eyes shot to Jake, and he could see the horror reflected in the blue-gray pools.
    His rage boiled. He snatched up the phone.
    “Let’s see what this is all about.” Jake slid his fingers over the phone. Up popped the text. He nearly choked when a picture of two naked bodies came up instead.
    “What the hell!” Jake just couldn’t wrap his mind around what he saw. Why would sweet Sarah be getting pictures like this?
     
    Sarah grabbed the phone out of Jake’s hand and stared at the screen. She had moved past being sad to just angry.
    “Are you seriously sending dirty pictures on the clock?” he asked.
    Sarah whipped her eyes back to Jake.
    That. Was. It. She was tired of taking crap and starting right now, that was over.
    “I guess you really didn’t need this job that much.” His eyes were calling her the names his mouth didn’t dare.
    Sarah set the phone on the bar. Her fingers ached from the grip she had on it. She reached over to a nearby mug and slammed it down on the phone. The screen split across the top, and half the face turned to white lines. She sat the mug next to the phone and turned to her boss.
    The surprised expression on his face was well worth the price of the phone. Squaring off with the man haunting her dreams aroused her in ways that she never expected. Her nipples perked up under the blue floral dress. She was certain that a rosy blush had spread across her body and only made the exposed flesh above the low-cut dress stand out more.
    No turning back now.
     
    “Oh, I need this job all right,” Sarah leaned forward to articulate her point. “But if that means I get fired because my ex-boyfriend is a dirty cheating son of a bitch…well, so be it.”
    Jake felt like shit. No, more than shit. He was giving her grief when she just found out she had been cheated on.
    “Sarah, I’m—”
    “Kay, well I got beer to stock.”
    She slid her butt along the side of the bar to get around him. The narrow walkway was barely large enough for her to pass, with him in the way it became quite the struggle. Jake turned toward her, in hopes she might look at him and see the apology etched in his face.
    As she swept by, he felt the brush of her breast on his muscled chest and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. The hard pebbles were hard to miss. Her breath hitched, and he prayed she would just look at him. She kept her face down, as it turned an even darker shade of red.
    He had never seen anything so erotic and wholesome at the same time. When she walked into the back, he pondered what had just happened.
     
    ***
     
    Sarah leaned forward on the shelves. Both hands stretched above her on the ledge as she lowered her head to steady her nerves. Never had she been so angry. Or out of control. Or so completely turned on. She had been so angry with Lance for making a fool out of her. Then Jake came in with his stern smart-assed ways, and she just wanted to bite his nipple and then kiss the hell out of him. A giggle bubbled out as she imagined what he would