Read Online Billionaire Bartender: A Second Chance Romance (The Buckeye Series) by Jo Henley - Free Book Online Page A

arms.
    The closer he got, the more real he became. Without makeup he had a rugged look with a short scruffy beard. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. His hazel eyes and fair complexion were complemented by his dark unruly curls. So many details she hadn’t noticed on her first visit. So many she’d forgotten since her first glance of Oscar.
    He plunked the case of beer on the counter providing Liz a good look at his biceps in motion, while stretching out his black t-shirt. “The boys bet against you. Thanks for proving them wrong,” he said with the same smile from Halloween that was even more mesmerizing without the fake blood and zombie makeup.
    “My pleasure.” She bumped her shoulder into Mitch’s. “Not a big crowd tonight.”
    “This is it.” Oscar tossed a towel over his shoulder and slipped behind the bar. “What can I get you?”
    “Anything other than that weird ass raw egg drink.”
    “Angela’s Eye Opener?” Oscar snickered. “I don’t serve them.” He bent around to pick up a dropped coaster from the floor. Liz stretched up off her barstool to catch a glimpse of his ass squeezed into his tight black jeans. That’s more like it. Yeah, I’m going to have fun tonight. She was still leering when he stood up. “What’s your speciality?” she asked, snapping back to reality.
    “I give customers what they want. Beer. Maybe a little rum, whiskey.”
    “How about a Rum & Coke?”
    “Too simple for a woman as complex as you.”
    Liz blushed at his compliment. Flirting with him was easy. Turning her head, she caught Mitch looking at her in awe. She pursed her lips his direction, then returned her attention to her bartender.
    “Let’s try this.” Oscar took a bottle off the shelf behind him. It was labeled Bacardi Torched Cherry. “A cherry coke. Bacardi style.” He finished off the drink with dark cola, a fresh cherry, and a skinny red straw.
    She sipped the cocktail, bypassing the straw, even though Mitch’s stare indicated he was dying to see her drink from it again. “Very nice.”
    “Great. Your whistle’s wet. Now go get my money,” Mitch said.
    “You want me to ask for it?” She peered around to the chatting trio and then back to Mitch. He begged quietly with big wide eyes. “Fine. Be right back.” She hopped up, adjusted the girls and over played the sexy walk across the bar.
    Their conversation stopped when she draped an arm over Dale’s shoulders. “Mitch says you bet against me.” Their speechless, mouths gaped open. Beers froze mid-drink in their hands. She’d caught the three inexperienced men off guard. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”
    Dale, was the first to find his voice. “I really do apologize.” He turned his head. His gaze was eye level with her chest. He half sighed. “I thought it was a fluke that you even came in here.” He cleared his throat and turned to the other two. “You both thought so too. Right?”
    With a raised eyebrow, she dared Jim to speak next.
    “Well . . . Um.” He peeked out over the top of the square-rimmed frames of his glasses, which confirmed tonight that they were not originally part of his Halloween costume. “Forgive me,” he said with a small bow.
    “Please accept my apologies.” Lee, wiped his palm on his pants several times before extended it out for her to take.
    “What’s a girl to do?” She overly exaggerated batting her eyelashes and locked her hands behind her back. A stance she took because she was not shaking any sweaty palms. “Let’s see.” She rocked back and forth on her heels, teasing and drawing out her forgiveness. “I—could—forgive—you. But—you have to pay up first.”
    Amidst more apologies, the men dug in their pockets and each produced a five.
    “You only bet five dollars on me?” she yelled to Mitch across the bar.
    “I believed in you, sugar,” he answered with a raised glass.
    “Believe this.” She gathered up the bills and shoved them deep into her