Page 14 of Stone Cold Bad (Stone Brothers #1)

TWELVE

JADE

S usan, the woman who usually served drinks with Amy, couldn’t get her car started.

Jack tossed me an apron and a tray and told me to just follow what Amy was doing.

I was nervous as heck at first. I was sure I would spill everyone’s drinks, but the customers weren’t the spoiled, whiny type like some of Ray’s snooty friends.

Everyone was kickback and not terribly demanding.

They knew I was in training. They were a rowdy, loud and hard drinking bunch just out to have a good time.

My bad case of nerves eventually dissolved.

After a few hours, I found myself enjoying the work, and the tips were a nice addition. Susan’s misfortune had made it my lucky night. Jack seemed to take notice that I was handling the server job without too much trouble. I hoped that meant I’d be off dishwashing soon.

One table, a booth near the bar, was filled with four fishermen who’d come in from a long day on the water.

They smelled of salt and fish and sweat, but they ordered a lot of drinks and they tipped well, so it was easy to put up with their manly aroma.

I placed their fourth pitcher of beer on the table.

The beers were finally catching up to them.

The one who they called Bobby lifted a wavering finger at me. “You’d make a very pretty mermaid with that silvery-white hair.” His words were slow and stretched out from the beer.

“Thank you. But I’m not sure how successful I’d be without a fish tail.”

Their laughter vibrated the table in the booth.

I spun around to head back to the bar for some more drinks just as Hunter walked inside.

The serious flood of nerves I’d been dealing with when I first started waiting tables returned ten-fold when Colt walked in behind him.

As if there had been some weird magnetic field between us, Colt’s green gaze instantly found mine.

We stared at each other as if stuck together.

I broke away first and returned to the bar.

Amy was behind the counter filling a pitcher of beer. Her eyes were glued to Hunter as he made his way across the room. Chairs scraped the floor as all three brothers sat down at one of my tables.

I shot Amy an anxious look, and she read my mind. “I’ll wait on them. You can take my table over by the window. But I’ve got to warn you, they’re kind of obnoxious. I’ve never seen them before. Apparently, they’re just passing through. Thank god.”

I looked over at the window table. There were three guys wearing leather motorcycle jackets and smug expressions.

One had shaved blond hair and a jaw and forehead that reminded me of Frankenstein.

He caught me looking over at them and winked.

I looked quickly away. “You’re right, they look obnoxious.

But I’ll still trade with you.” I lifted some glasses from the shelves under the counter.

Amy, who never missed a damn thing, saw that my hand was shaking.

She took the glass from my fingers and placed it on the tray.

“You need to tell yourself that it’s just Colt.

He may not look it, but he’s just a mere mortal who happens to look like a fucking Adonis, and, unfortunately, he’s just as smooth as a Greek god too.

But he’s just a man. Now take a deep breath. ”

I stopped and pulled in a long, slow breath, then released it. Amy’s eyes widened at someone behind me. I looked at her. She winked, assuring me that it was Colt.

I turned around. His smile immediately sent the usual flurry of butterflies bouncing around in my stomach. “They’ve got you waiting tables, huh?”

“Susan had car problems. I’ll be back on dishes tomorrow, but I don’t mind.”

“How was the fishing?” I asked. They’d left early in the morning, and I had been relieved to have the house to myself for a few hours. I’d had a chance to reflect on everything that had happened in the last few days. The peace and solitude had felt like a long, luxurious soak in a bubble bath.

Colt combed his fingers back through his hair.

“Fishing wasn’t the best, but we all made it back.

” He, of course, didn’t have the same semi-rank odor of the other fishermen I’d just served beer to.

I’d already figured that fishing wasn’t really their thing, but it was none of my business.

What I did know was that I certainly didn’t need to get tangled up with another guy who was always one step away from jail.

Of course, I could have been jumping to conclusions.

The three brothers could have been up to something completely legitimate out there on the water.

But they didn’t exactly look or act like choir boys.

The complete opposite, in fact. I probably wasn’t jumping too far.

“Are you waiting on our table?” Colt asked. “We need a pitcher and some tequila shots too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amy said from behind the counter. “Keep your panties on. I’ll get it to you in a second.”

I tried to scoot past him, but he blocked me.

It was only for a brief moment, but it felt as if hot static charges flew back and forth between us.

I didn’t have the courage to even look up at him.

It was always best to avoid his face, those green eyes, that cool, calm exterior that made me a trembling mess inside.

He finally stepped back. His fingers brushed my arm as I slipped past him.

I felt his light touch all the way across the floor as if his fingers had seared my skin.

The only way I was going to survive the rest of the work shift was by completely ignoring his presence.

I was never the type of girl to fall into a nervous muddle about a guy.

I couldn’t understand why Colt had me so distracted.

Right from the start, in the utility closet, the way I’d immediately succumbed to him when he pressed his hand between my legs, it was as if he’d cast me under his spell.

But I needed to break myself free of it, and fast.

I’d been avoiding the table by the window, but the big dude with the square head had waved Amy over. I walked toward him. “Hi, I’m Jade, and I’ll be your server for the rest of the night.” I glanced down at their beer bottles. “Another round?”

One of the men had a nasty scar running across his cheek.

He had thin lips that he kept licking with the tip of his tongue, reminding me of a snake.

He looked pointedly at my breasts. “The other girl had more buttons undone,” he said.

“Don’t think we’ll be tipping you as well unless you show a little more cleavage. ”

I ignored the comment. “I’ll bring you another round.” I leaned over to pick up the beer bottles.

The square faced man leaned over to make a point of looking at my legs. “Those are some nice panties under that teeny skirt.” I straightened, again ignoring the comment and reminding myself that they were drunk. I knew, too well, how awful some people could be when they’d had too much alcohol.

They whistled loudly as I walked back across to the bar.

As hard as I’d tried to ignore him, my eyes flicked in Colt’s direction.

He was sitting up straight staring hard at the three jerks at the window table.

The evening had been going so well, but it was disintegrating fast. There were still two hours before closing, and with the way the beer was flowing, the place would be filled with drunks long before the doors were locked. I just had to keep my wits about me.

Just as I had that thought, four women walked into the place.

The second they spotted the Stone brothers, they headed their direction.

Two of them pulled up chairs, one of them climbed onto Slade’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him.

The fourth, a curvy girl with long, dark hair and cherry red lips climbed onto Colt’s lap.

His arm went around her, blowing apart my fleeting fantasy that he would push her away instead.

Amy came over to grab some limes and salt. “I really hate those girls. We went to school with them. Two of them just got back home from college for summer break. The one sitting next to Hunter?—”

“You mean the one who was decent enough to pull up a chair instead of a lap?”

“Yeah, she’s not quite as forward as her two giggly friends, but she’s sly.

She’s going to some school on the east coast. Her family owns that big house that sits up on the hill overlooking the bay.

She’s always had a big thing for Hunter.

Naturally, her father would never approve, but she still likes to follow him around like a lost puppy.

” Amy looked upset and that was rare for her.

I touched her arm as she picked up her tray. “And she’s got nothing on you, Amy. Really.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. She can have him. He’s nothing but trouble anyhow.” She carried off her tray.

Reluctantly, I delivered the beers over to the three creepy customers.

Now that the women had joined the Stone brothers, I was exceptionally glad not to have their table.

I could put up with a few rude comments and lascivious tongue movements if it meant not having to wait on Colt while some girl was wrapped around him.

I forced a polite smile as I placed the beers down on the table. The three men sat silently and watched me. I was just about to make a clean escape with my tray, but as I turned, the man with the scar leaned over and grabbed my ass.

The only thing I’d heard was a shocked female gasp and a chair scraping the ground.

A stunned silence followed. I hadn’t seen him grab the guy.

Hell, I hadn’t even seen him move across the room.

Colt had the man who’d grabbed me in his grasp.

Then, in one fluid movement, he threw the man against the wall.

His friends flew out of the booth and lunged at Colt, but Hunter and Slade, who had raced over too, made a wall with their bodies.

Jack came out of his office with a sawed off baseball bat. “Damnit, Colt, you’re going to pay if there’s any damage.”

“No damage, Jack. Just this asshole’s face, but considering how fucking ugly—” Colt raised his fist to hit the man.

“No!” I yelled. “Stop, Colt. What the hell are you doing?”

He looked at me. It seemed he’d almost surprised himself with his actions.

“Let him go.” I broke into sobs and raced out the door.

I had no place to run. I had nothing. I had no car, no home, no family. Staying with Ray would have been like staying in hell, but now that I’d stepped out into the world, the reality of my bleak situation was smacking me hard. I leaned against the back of Amy’s car and covered my face to cry.

Footsteps crunched the gravel in the parking lot. I lifted my face from my hands. Colt stood nearby, looking dangerous and confused and a little less angry than a few seconds before.

“That little testosterone exhibition will get me fired, and I really needed that job.” A laugh popped from my mouth. “I ran out here and realized I didn’t even have a fucking car to hide in. I’ve got nothing, and now I’ll be out of a job.”

“I’ll talk to Jack. He won’t fire you. I’m sorry, Jade.

I saw that guy grab you and— I’m sorry.” He turned around and took three steps, then stopped.

“No. You know what? Fuck it.” He strode toward me.

I gasped as he grabbed my arms. “I’m not fucking sorry.

” His mouth slammed down over mine. The kiss was punishing, hard, hungry and I wanted more.

My lips parted farther, and his kiss deepened, making my knees weaken to butter.

I was nearly breathless when he lifted his mouth from mine.

His eyes were vivid green as he gazed down at me.

“Seeing that guy touch you was too much. I couldn’t stop myself.

Before I knew it, I was flying across that bar thinking, he touched you and I was going to have to pound him for it.

No one fucking touches you except me.” His mouth came down over mine again.

He held me so tightly, I was sure he’d squeeze the breath from me.

“Since I had you pressed up against the wall in that closet, I knew that you had to be mine,” he whispered against my mouth.

My mind was a hurricane of emotions, but his last words were like a fist to my chest. I stepped back and pulled away from his arms. The last thing I needed was to be another man’s possession. Even a man as heartbreaking as Colt.

He stared at me with a look of hurt as if now he’d taken a fist to the chest. I wiped my tears away and took a breath. If I had any chance at independence, I was going to have to stop crying like a little girl. I walked past him, leaving him standing in the parking lot as I returned to my job.