He nodded once.

After I finished with the guy next to him, I turned my attention to the rebel in the middle of a sea of pastel polo preppies.

“What can I get for you?”

“What do you know how to make?” God, the voice matched his face. Sexy, deep, and intense.

Apparently, he’d been sitting there for a while and figured out I wasn’t the best bartender. “Beer,” I grinned. “I know how to make beer.”

I caught a glimpse of a lip twitch—I thought. “The owner realized when he hired you that you only knew one drink recipe?”

“Actually, he didn’t exactly hire me. I’m filling in for a friend, and I honestly don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I think I might’ve even given the last guy the wrong change.”

The guy was quiet. He seemed to be studying me, and it made me uneasy. I didn’t know many actual badasses, and this guy was clearly a badass.

“So…what can I get for you?”

Rather than answer, he stood and took off his leather jacket. I gulped getting a look at the muscles bulging from the plain white T-shirt he wore. Tattoos covered his arms, coiling around like ivy to cover every inch of skin. I had the craziest urge to examine them up close—ask him what each of them meant.

“What’s your name?” He hadn’t taken his eyes off of me, yet I didn’t really feel like he was checking me out. It was confusing and intriguing at the same time.

“Gia.”

“Gia.” He repeated after me. “Tell me, Gia, what would the owner think if he knew you were behind that bar giving out wrong change and pissing off his customers?”

This guy might’ve been sexy as hell, but his sudden change in tone had warning bells going off. Yet, I didn’t walk away or call Oak. I stood there answering like an idiot. An idiot who vomited truth when she got nervous. “I’m thinking the owner would probably be pissed off. He wouldn’t see it as me doing a good deed for a friend who had to leave in an emergency.”

“And why is that?”

“Well…I heard he’s a prick.”

He cocked a brow. “Yes. I’ve met him, and he is a prick.”

Even though he’d agreed with me, it didn’t sound like he was on my side at all. I needed to extricate myself from this bizarre conversation. “So…would you like my specialty…a beer?”

“Sure.”

“What kind?”

He shook his head slowly. “You pick.”

Relieved to escape for a few minutes, I walked over to the tap, pulled a beer mug from the crate under the counter, and started to fill it with the local beer that Riley had told me to push. Still feeling those eyes on me, I glanced back over my shoulder at my rebel customer and found him staring. He didn’t even have the courtesy to pretend he wasn’t when I’d caught him.

“That’ll be six dollars,” I said setting down the full mug.

“Eight.”

“Pardon?”

“The beer, it’s eight bucks, not six.” He seemed a bit annoyed.

“Oh. You’re correcting me so you can pay more?”

The bouncer-manager-tree walked up to the bar and stood next to my customer. “Liquor delivery came late and was short four bottles. Receipt is under the cash drawer, boss.”

It took a minute for what I’d heard to sink in. My eyes widened. “Did you say…boss?”

Badass glared at me. “That’s right, Gia. I’m the prick. I own this place.” His mouth curved into a smile that was anything but happy. “Now, get the fuck out of my bar and tell your friend she’s fired.”

Shit!

He was the boss.

I figured this guy for some kind of drifter passing through town on his bike, not the owner of the entire establishment.

Everyone was staring at me as I scrambled to find the right words.

“You can’t do that. You can’t fire her. Don’t blame Riley because I can’t make drinks to save my life. That’s not her fault. She was trying to do a good thing by having me step in because of her family emergency. She could have just left you high and dry. Don’t punish her for my incompetence.”

When the bouncer approached again, the prick held out his hand without breaking his stare, which was firmly directed at me. “Not now, Freddie.”

“Sorry, boss. I have to let you know that Elaina just called out. She’s not coming back to work at all. Decided to head to the City with her boyfriend. They both got auditions for some play. She said she’s really sorry but that she quit.”

The prick ran his hands through his hair in frustration and gritted his teeth. “What the fuck?” He looked like he was going to blow. He let out a deep sigh then closed his eyes to compose himself. When he opened them, he just glared at me.

He was so intimidating, but I wasn’t about to let him see me sweat. I needed to stand my ground and defend what I knew in my heart was right.