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“Awesome.” Nicola snagged one of the aprons on the shelf that Tommie had pointed to. They finally walked out to the main bar area and Tommie showed her where things were. She told her all about the drink specials and gave her a crash course on what to expect.

Nicola hadn’t expected to like it there so far, but it was looking like this job might not be an awful fit. She’d been hesitant because Abagail owned the place, but it didn’t seem she was there all that often, and that when she did show up, she stayed out of the day-to-day business.

Hours passed, and Nicola was picking everything up easily enough. She hauled over a drink order to a group of guys who were just starting a round of poker with their cigars stinking up the place. Nicola was going to have to get used to that and make sure that she showered and put on clean clothes when she went to visit Alanna. Her sister didn’t need to be exposed to any of that.

She was just heading back to the bar when a new group of young guys came in. They were already loud and pulling theattention of customers and employees alike. Nicola scrunched her nose at them and then went cold.

Warren was in the middle of that group.

“Shit.” She ducked into the kitchen area and clenched her fists trying to calm her racing heart. Abagail hadn’t mentioned that Warren frequented the bar. When they were together he often went to the bar with the boys, but he’d never mentionedwhichone. She should have known better.

“Nicola!” Tommie called to her. “There’s a new table for you.”

Nicola cringed. She was probably getting handed the table of asshats because she was new and no one else wanted to deal with them. And Nicola had been out with those guys before, they were absolute jerks to waitstaff anywhere. But she needed this job.

“Nicola!”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” She cleared her throat. This was either going to work in her favor or it was going to work against her. She had no idea what kind of mood Warren was going to be in today, and that would pretty much determine the direction this went. She put on the best war face that she could manage and headed straight for the table, leaving Tommie and the bartender behind. This wasn’t going to end well. Nicola already knew that. “What drinks can I get for you?”

The noise stopped abruptly.

“Dude! It’s your ex!” Dominic pointed at her and then gaped at Warren. “She’s a waitress?”

“She’s not one of us,” Warren muttered back, glaring at her. “Though I didn’t think you’d stoop so low as to work at Aunt Abagail’s bar.”

Nicola swallowed her pride and puffed up her chest. “What drinks do you want?”

Warren snorted and shook his head, moving to stand next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulder, tugging her into his side. “She really thinks that she still has a job here.”

He waved over to the bar, getting Tommie’s attention. She came over, looking curiously at Nicola before focusing on Warren. “Yes, Mr. Kerrbox.”

Warren sneered, and it was the ugliest look Nicola had ever seen on his face. “Did she tell you why she was fired from her last job?”

Nicola’s heart sank.

“She stole straight from the till.”

“Warren, you don’t have to be cruel. You know I need this job,” Nicola murmured under her breath, hoping that some of the decency she’d seen in Warren would pop back up.

“And she fucked the boss.”

That wasn’t an all-out lie, and it meant that he was going to play dirty. Tommie frowned at Nicola and then shook her head. “Did you steal from the till?”

Nicola should just lie. It might save her another day or two before they called her former boss and found out, but Warren wasn’t lying about that first accusation. She had stolen. Because she’d been starving and she needed to pay off Alanna’s bill in order to keep her there. She’d been desperate.

“Yes.” She wasn’t going to explain herself either. She was tired of that. She was tired of Warren fucking up her life. “I can see myself out.”

Warren tugged her back to his side, sliding a hand down her body from her breast to her waist to her hip and onto her ass, slapping her butt hard. She cringed, spinning around, her hand fisted. She jabbed him in the nose. She heard the crunch and felt it against her hand. Blood poured from his face, down over his chin and onto his shirt.

Satisfaction was the only thing that she felt.

And she leaned into it. “Fuck off, Warren. And get a damn life.” Without hesitating, she ripped the apron from around herhips and threw it at Tommie. “Don’t bother. I know what you’re going to say.”

“Call the cops!” Warren whined.

Nicola ignored him. She walked straight for the door and stepped outside into the cold drizzling rain. She breathed heavily as she started down the road, just needing to get as far away from there as possible. She needed space between him and her, and she needed to clear her head.

What the hell was Abagail going to think now?