Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
When I see the image of them touching, I explode out of my chair and launch the remote control at the stone fireplace. It explodes into pieces against the rock.
“Fuck it,” I grunt as I march across the room and turn the TV off. I turn to Charlie who’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. “I’m going!”
Ten minutes later, I’m racing down the mountain in my silver truck. I threw a fresh pair of dark jeans on and a navy blue button-up shirt—the nicest clothes I have—and left as soon as I could.
I speed into town, park on the side of the road, and get out with my heart racing.
Cliffside Tavern is up ahead. It’s late—about nine-thirty—so it’s the only thing on the street that’s open. A Creedence Clearwater Rival song is wafting out through the open door and the warm lighting is spilling onto the street, inviting you inside.
A few people are smoking on the wooden porch, a string of small lanterns hanging over their heads.
Normally, I like it here. Sometimes I grab a drink with my Search and Rescue buddies, Aiden and Julian, after work.
But right now, I just want to burn the whole place down. I want to take it apart brick by brick so I don’t have to picture my girl in here surrounded by horny men anymore.
I stomp up the wooden steps with a scowl on my face. The guy leaning on the doorframe quickly backs away when he sees me coming.
I march right past him into the bar with my hands squeezed into fists.
People stop talking. They look at me like an angry bull just entered the place.
I ignore them all and scan the packed room, looking for the girl of my dreams.
A deep possessive growl rumbles out of my tight chest when I spot her in the back. She’s sitting alone at a table of two with a big muscular man standing in front of her. He’s talking to her, hitting on her, trying to take what’s mine.
I let out another rage-filled growl and stomp over, about to break every bone in his body.
Chapter Three
Colin
“Mine.” It’s all I can say as I grab the man’s big shoulder and yank him away from my girl.
Molly gasps. Her shocked eyes dart up to me as the man flies back.
“Colin!” she says, staring at me in shock. “What are you doing?!”
I’m so stunned by her beauty that I don’t notice the man charging forward. He slams his shoulder into my stomach while wrapping his arms around my legs and picking me up. He slams me into the wall with the momentum of a train behind him.
Even while I’m in the middle of a fight, it’s hard to look away from Molly. I still can’t believe she’s here.
She explodes out of her chair and comes racing over, separating us as the man stands back up with his fists cocked.
“Colin!” she screeches. “He’s the bartender! He was just taking my order!”
I turn away from her and quickly look the guy over. Black shirt, apron around his waist, black running shoes—shit, he is the bartender. I recognize him now.
I drop my head with a sigh. This girl always got me so fired up. It was always hard to control myself around her and apparently, that hasn’t gone away. It appears to have gotten worse with age.
“I’m so sorry,” she says to the bartender. “He won’t be any more trouble, I promise.”
He’s staring me down, probably wondering if he should kick me out of the bar. He can try, but if Molly is staying, then I’m staying.
“We’re just going to have a quick drink and leave,” she says as people begin to turn back to their tables now that the show is over. “Plus, he’s a big tipper. A huge tipper.”
He’s glaring at me with his hands on his hips.
I shrug and he lets out a long breath.
“Fine. But if he acts like a toddler again, you’re both out of here.”
“Thank you,” Molly says as we both sit down at the table. “We’ll have two beers please.”
He grunts as he looks me up and down and then leaves without a word.
Silence hovers over the table as Molly stares at me. The corner of her mouth curls up and she starts giggling.
“What?” I grunt.
“He called you a toddler.” Her giggles quickly turn into deep belly laughs.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I say as she covers her mouth with her arm, trying to stop herself from laughing, but the harder she tries, the harder she laughs. “Laugh it up.”
If it was any other person in the world, I’d be annoyed that they were laughing at me, but with Molly, I’m not. I’ve always loved watching her laugh. Her eyes get all shiny, her shoulders shake, and there’s pure joy on that gorgeous face.