Read Online Serving Trouble by Sara Jane Stone - Free Book Online Page A

“But he can’t see her alone.”
    â€œOf course.” The door to the back room swung open and Josie walked in. Chad held up his beer. “To Josie, for making Big Buck’s the only bar with Fern’s Hoppy Heaven on tap outside of Portland!”
    â€œTo Josie!” a pair of college students echoed from the other end of the room.
    She smiled and took a bow, then headed for the ser­vice side of the bar. He walked over to meet her. And yeah, his wide grin pretty much matched hers.
    â€œYou’re not getting another raise,” he said before she opened her mouth. She’d been angling for another increase since she’d witnessed the Hoppy Heaven’s popularity.
    She leaned over the counter. “How about a bonus for giving the customers something else to raise their glasses to?”
    He crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched her gaze flicker to the tattoo on his bicep. Just for a second. Then she was staring back at him again, but he was the only one smiling like a fool. The challenge in her big green eyes erased the sullen mood she’d accused him of wearing like a cloak.
    â€œI’ll think about it,” he said, flexing his arms. He hoped she wanted the kind of extra benefit he was thinking of offering her—­a kiss that would prove she’d carried the memory of that night in the barn around with her too.
    J OSIE HAD STOPPED writing down orders by seven that evening. Nearly everyone who walked into the bar asked for a Fern’s Hoppy Heaven. And the few who requested a pop or a mixed drink, well, she’d gotten pretty good at remembering orders and linking faces with drinks.
    One of the weekend bouncers had arrived early to help manage the crowd. She’d packed this place and secured her job. Noah wouldn’t dare take it away from her now.
    She’d walked out of that meeting at the brewery feeling as if she could do anything. She could run this bar, pay her bills, and even secure a job for a woman trying to find her way back from a hell Josie could only imagine.
    And I could fight the fear holding me back from stealing a peek beneath Noah’s Big Buck’s T-­shirt at the muscles he fine-­tuned over the past few years.
    A touch. A taste. Nothing serious. Nothing that might lead to more.
    Well, physically she was ready. It had been almost two years since she’d had sex. But sex led to broken hearts. Especially sex with Noah. And if they messed up with the birth control—­a baby.
    She couldn’t risk losing another child. It would break her. She wasn’t strong enough. Not yet, when she hadn’t even finished paying for the first loss. But even after she sent that last check, she knew the grief, the guilt, the feeling of failure, none of it would ever fully recede.
    Still, a kiss, maybe two—­that was different. She wasn’t afraid of one simple kiss. OK, maybe a little scared that she might start to feel something for him the second his lips touched hers. But she didn’t want to live in fear.
    â€œHey, Josie,” Noah called from behind the bar. “Are you all right? Need a break?”
    She turned to him and saw his furrowed brow. Concern shone in his blue eyes. “I’m fine,” she said, knowing he’d vault over the bar if he thought she needed a full-­blown rescue. But she didn’t. Not this time.
    Just a kiss to prove she was stronger than the imaginary demons trying to keep a hold on her. A kiss to prove the confident woman who walked into that meeting yesterday wasn’t a mirage.
    â€œGood. Then do you mind taking Josh back to see our new dishwasher? I’m swamped, but he wanted to say hi. And she might feel better if you’re there,” he called over the buzz of the crowd.
    She nodded in agreement and scanned the ­people at the bar looking for the redheaded Summers brother. Josh waved and headed over.
    â€œThe woman of the hour,” Josh