Death of Me | Now Published to Kindle and Paperback!

Unwelcomed Visitors

"Familiar faces, I guess," he answered, nodding towards me, and then behind me. Tossing a glance over my shoulder, I spotted Dante emerging from the back room. "And the service is always good, so I can't complain."

"Just keep those generous tips coming and I won't have a reason to either," I teased, moving back to get a beer from the tap for someone farther down the bar.

Chris just shook his head. "You're ridiculous, Jules," he told me, raising his glass in my direction.

"Hey," I said with a shrug as I walked backwards. "You're one of the main people paying for these," I informed him before gesturing to the tattoos on my arm.

For the most part, I serviced regulars and a few people that ventured to my side of the bar, but most people went to Anthony. He just had this aura about him that drew people in. So as I stood off to the side conversing with Chris, I didn't notice the new person plop himself down next to the easy-going businessman. "Jack and coke," the person ordered, rather loudly.

Something sparked in the back of my mind, but I ignored it as I spun back to our assortment of liquor and snatched the Jack Daniel's off the shelf. "Single or double?" I questioned without turning around as I filled the glass with ice.

"Double."

After the drink was poured I moved to hand it to the man. However when I gave it to him, his hand wrapped around mine, causing my eyes to snap up to meet his. "Am I ever going to get away from you people?" I groaned.

Brandon grinned before taking the drink from me. "Not anytime soon," he stated.

Chris just raised his eyebrows before laying down a fifty and sliding it my way. "See you tomorrow, Jules," he said, waving before disappearing into the crowd.

Brandon's eyes about popped out of their sockets before I took the money and deposited it into the cash register. Once I had the change in hand I placed it in the tip jar. "So how many times have you banged him?" he bluntly asked.

My cheeks heated, but more from anger than embarrassment. "None," I snapped, glaring at the impish grin on his face. "Now go away."

"You're not going to hit me again?" he teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'd get fired if I did that, otherwise I might break your nose," I replied, trying to sound as sweet as possible.

A call from farther down the bar caught my attention so I left Brandon to take the order. After serving the poor kid who looked like it was his first time in a bar a beer, I returned to the irritating member of Vince's gang. "How'd you learn to punch like that anyway?" he questioned as I began to wipe down the bar.

"Practice," I simply answered. "Are you my new tail?"

"Nope," he replied, causing me to whip my head up in time to see him wave me off. "We actually come here all the time. Vince, Luke, and a couple others are back there," he informed me, jerking his thumb behind him. Peering over his shoulder, it wasn't hard to locate Vince and the rest of them in one of the corner booths. The gang leader in question was already watching me, and when our gazes locked I narrowed my eyes before refocusing on Brandon. "When we saw you working they sent me up because they have a bet going on how long it'll take you to deck me again."

At that a grin broke out across my face before I lightly chuckled. "Well they're going to be disappointed. I'd rather not lose my job." Hearing my name being called, I twisted to see Anthony was trying to get my attention. Sending Brandon an apologetic look, I moved towards the other bartender. "What's up?"