Page 8 of Same Rogue
He chewed the corner of his lip. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, but she was working, and she wasn’t his. She had customers to talk to. She had ChaseThisD to entertain. And that was okay, right? She wasn’t his and he wasn’t hers.
He still belonged to a ghost.
Goodnight, Bartender Kit. Send.
Chapter Four
Kit had met a dozen cool people tonight, at least. She’d met one turd tonight though, and he was getting on her nerves. She was a professional though, and there was one just like Chase at every bar. The ones who thought they were better than everyone and women should flock to them. The ones who got rude if a woman denied them and started taking shots at her in front of everyone in some egotistical play to make her look like he was above her.
So lame.
“You’re really not going to give me your number?” the guy—Chase as he had introduced himself earlier—asked quietly as she set a whiskey and Coke he ordered in front of him. This was his last one before she cut him off. She’d already okayed it with Anna quietly in the back.
“I don’t date customers,” she said with a polite smile.
He grabbed her hand before she left and a snarl rattled up her throat. She pulled her hand away and kept her eyes downturned. Sometimes the wolf scared humans.
“Oh, I heard that, pretty little bitch,” he said low, a baiting smile on his lips.
“Don’t call me that,” she warned him.
“A bitch is a female dog, and I know what you are.”
“Everyone in here knows what I am,” she said, glaring up at him. “I’m not hiding it. That doesn’t get you a free pass to call me names.” Kit tipped her head toward his drink. “Drink that and then it’s time for you to go.”
“Nah, the night is young, Kit. I’ve got a couple hours left before last call.”
“You don’t get a last call. All these nice people in here do, but you don’t.”
She walked farther down the bar and hoped no one sitting near Chase would need a drink any time soon. She didn’t want to be anywhere around him for a few minutes until she could get her animal settled down. The wolf wanted to rip his throat out. She hated the term ‘bitch.’ The Second of her last Pack, Seth, loved calling the females that. She’d almost paired with him. Not her choice. She was actually ignoring three texts from Seth, just from tonight. He was wanting to get her back to the Pack and back under his control. He was one of those guys. Her Alpha hadn’t realized it yet, but Seth was a rotten apple. All it took was one to rot the barrel, and Seth had been working overtime lately. He would be Alpha soon if someone didn’t wise up and stop him.
Not her job anymore.
Not until we go back, her wolf whispered across her mind. Fuck. She was right.
She would head there tomorrow and back to the chaos she’d been so happy and relieved to leave behind.
Everything had gone sideways today. Seth was going to be the king of the I-told-you-so’s when she got back to Alabama. God she was furious with those cat-fishers. That was so messed up. She would never trust anyone ever again.
God, she hated that she was going to have to go back home with her tail tucked between her legs. The Pack really wouldn’t let her live any of this down.
A sense of dread filled her just thinking about it.
“Hey, Kit,” Chase called. “These nice ladies need drinks.” He was slurring pretty good at this point.
Kit inhaled for a three count and prayed for patience, then glanced over at where a couple of newcomers had just sat down near Chase.
He was currently chugging the remainder of his whiskey and Coke. Great.
She plastered a smile and set the last drink on a tray for one of the servers, smiled at them when they thanked her, and carried the drinks toward a table in the corner. She still didn’t know the table numbers here or any of the servers names except for Anna, but that was okay. She wasn’t staying past the night.
No point in getting to know people here. She would always remember this place though. If it weren’t for Chase, it would be all good vibes, and she totally fed off that stuff.
As she made her way toward Chase’s direction to serve the ladies near him, the front door opened, and something made her look. Time slowed as she saw the behemoth of a man filling up the entire doorframe. He wore a black T-shirt, and dark jeans, and a plain black baseball cap with no logo. When he lifted his eyes to her, they were glowing gold.
Recognition zinged through her like a lightning strike.
Bridger was here.
