The Bartender
Modern Love #1
By Piper Rayne
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: February 1, 2017
Synopsis
Who knew
sleeping with the enemy could be this fun?
Was the one
night stand a good idea?
Well, no.
Probably not in retrospect.
In my defense I had just
moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on
Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my
forehead.
So when the guy
behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d
be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has
the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his
t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you
that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation
are. You jump on that horse and ride it!
Pun fully and
completely intended. And accurate by the way.
I fully admit to
feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured
out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.
Excerpt
An hour and a half
later and hot stuff has come around the bar to take the seat beside me and join
me on my mission to get shit-faced. I have to admit, I’m enjoying his company,
but it doesn’t exactly make him Employee of the Year given the fact that he’s
supposed to be working.
“Won’t your boss be
mad that you’re drinking on the job?” I ask.
That damn dimple makes
another appearance again before he answers. “Nah, he’s cool. It’s dead in here
tonight. If anyone comes in, I’ll be sure they get what they need.” His gaze
rakes up and down my small frame, and I get the distinct impression that he’s
picturing me naked.
Jeez, I hope my
nakedness looks amazing in his brain. Given the half-crooked smile on his face,
I think it must. I wonder if his imagination is good enough to picture that
dimple in my ass that doesn’t ever seem to want to disappear, regardless of how
much I weigh.
As if he’s tempted
fate with his words, the bell over the door dings and an older gentleman walks
in and seats himself at one of the bar tables across the room.
“Be right back.” Cole
pats my hand before he rises from his seat.
It was an innocent
gesture, but it makes me think dirty things. The heat from his hand seeps up my
arm like a bee sting and settles somewhere in my chest.
I watch him walk away
and can’t help but notice the way his ass perfectly fills out his jeans. It
bunches and flexes as his long strides take him across the bar. Maybe Lennon is
right and it has been too long since I’ve been with a man.
It’s then that I
realize that Tinder dude still hasn’t shown up. The bar isn’t busy, probably
since it’s the middle of the week, and I’ve been chatting—okay, flirting—with
Cole and hadn’t realized how much time had passed. I grab my phone from my
purse and open the app to see that I have a new message. Pussylickr69: Not
coming. Sorry found someone else who wasn’t so much werk. Fury causes my
face to heat as I type out a quick reply that might be, and by that I mean most
definitely is, alcohol-fueled. Whiteebanter: Yeah, I can see how thirty
minutes of conversation is too much foreplay for you. Fuck you and your lack of
knowledge of the English language. You spell work with an ‘o,’
dipshit. There. That’ll show him. With a frown, I drop my phone back into
my purse.
“Everything okay?”
Cole asks as he takes the seat beside me again.
I sigh. “Yeah, I just
found out that Pussylicker isn’t coming anymore.”
Cole nearly spits out
the sip of drink he’s just taken and has a coughing fit before he fully
recovers. “Excuse me?”
“I was waiting for a
guy from Tinder to show up, but he just ditched me because apparently it was
too much work to have a drink with me before taking me back to his place to
bang me.” I spin my glass in place on the bar top.
“You’re trolling for
guys on Tinder?” Cole howls with laughter so hard he has to hold his stomach. I
love the way the laugh looks on his face—the way it crinkles his eyes at the
corners and how it showcases his perfect teeth. But all that aside, it’s
irritating.
“It’s not that funny.”
This guy might be hot, but right now he’s working my nerves.
“Actually, it is. Why
the hell would a woman like you resort to finding someone to fuck on
a dating site?”
The way the word
‘fuck’ rolls off his tongue has all my womanly parts contracting and wishing
that it was an invitation to do just that. But never mind that, because I’m
annoyed at him, I just barely remember through my drunken haze.
“What do you
mean a woman like me?” I try to do air quotes around the last part, but my
balance isn’t what it was three hours ago, and I almost topple off my stool, so
I quickly grab on to the bar in front of me.
“Beautiful.
Intelligent. Likable. Smartass.” He ticks each word off on one hand while he
speaks and he says it like he means it. I hold his stare for a minute before
realization dawns.
“Hey! I’m a B.I.L.F.
You know, like a M.I.L.F. Only different.” I’m so impressed that I thought of
that given my current state.
Cole chuckles with an
amused gleam in his eyes. “Only better,” he says.
Our gazes lock for a
beat and it’s at that moment I know that if I offer myself up to this guy,
he’ll be more than willing to send me on the walk of shame tomorrow morning.
Heat rushes into my cheeks and I look away. As much bravado as I had earlier
about my Tinder escapade, I’m not sure I can do this. Be this girl so full of
confidence that she bangs a stranger with no qualms about it.
My elation has
crash-landed on the ground as I realize I’m not able to pull the trigger and
make an advance toward him. I also know I’ll probably regret it forever because
this man is so far beyond good-looking that it’s a speck in the rear-view
mirror. Not to mention the fact that he’s sexy as hell and seems to be a decent
human being. Which is more impossible to find in the Bay area than someone who
doesn’t think they’re allergic to gluten.
I take a deep breath
and finish the last couple of gulps of my drink and push the glass in Cole’s
direction.
“Another, please.”
Cole tosses back the
rest of his drink and I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat while the
liquid slides down.
Damn. That is sexy.
Why is that sexy?
“I’m going to join you
for another as well.” He gets up off his bar stool and before walking away he
comes to stand directly behind me. “Assuming you want me to stick around?”
His breath washes
across my neck and my ear and I close my eyes for a brief moment to enjoy the
sensation. “I’d like that,” I say with all honesty.
“Good. I know the
first guy let you down, but don’t worry… I’ve been told I lick pussy like a
boss.”
And with that, he
walks away while I struggle to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest.
I’m out of my league
with this guy. I know it and there’s a good chance that he knows it, too.
But ask yourself this,
ladies… if you were called up to the big leagues from the minors,
would you say no?
Meet the Author
Piper Rayne, or
Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two.
Yep, you get two established authors for the price of one. You might be
wondering if you know us? Maybe you’ll read our books and figure it out. Maybe
you won’t. Does it really matter?
We aren’t trying to stamp ourselves with a top-secret label. We wanted to write without apology. We wanted to not be pigeon holed into a specific outline. We wanted to give readers a story without them assuming how the story will flow. Everyone has their favorite authors, right? And when you pick up their books, you expect something from them. Whether it’s an alpha male, heavy angst, a happily ever after, there’s something you are absolutely certain the book will contain. Heck, we’re readers, too, we get it.
What can we tell you about ourselves? We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.
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