Waking Hearts Page 2

  “Nice to meet you, Ryan. Enjoy the band!”

  Allie got two steps away before she felt a tug on her apron string. She stopped when she felt the weight of it slide off her hips. It landed with a thunk, the small bills and change she’d collected landing at the smug man’s feet.

  “Oops,” Ryan said with what someone had probably told him was a charming grin, still holding the dangling end of her apron. His buddies laughed. Her apron had landed on the floor, right between his spread legs, dollar bills and quarters rolling out.

  Refusing to let them get to her, Allie forced a smile. “You guys are such gentlemen. Would you mind picking that up for me?”

  “If I do,” Ryan said, “what do I get as a thank-you?”

  Nothing, you little asswipe. You’re the one who pulled it off in the first place.

  “Guys, I’m not trying to spoil your fun, but I really don’t have time for this. I’m working.”

  Allie could see table seven’s drinks sitting on the bar, and Jim was glaring at her customers. She was now losing tips dealing with these Mad Men wannabes. If Ollie had been there, one of them would have already come out and given the men a warning. But with Ollie out, Jim was stuck behind the bar.

  “Tell you what,” Allie said, leaning down to the arrogant man’s ear. “You can pick up my apron for me right now—” She heard the back door open and a moment later, Ollie walked down the back hall with a case of whiskey, Caleb Gilbert trailing behind. Finally. “You do that, and I’ll forget you’ve been a pain in my ass all night.” Allie looked up and glanced across the table at a younger man whose cheeks held a slight blush before she looked back at Ryan. “How’s that sound, sweetheart? Trust me. This is Oliver Campbell’s bar. You don’t want to mess with his servers.”

  Ryan’s smile was tight. His eyes held hers. “Oh, I don’t think your thug boss wants to bother upstanding citizens like us.”

  Another one of the men at the table was starting to look embarrassed. “Ry, let it go. She’s busy, and I want to listen to the band.” He moved to bend over and pick up Allie’s apron, but Ryan stepped on the hand that reached out.

  “Ow! What the fuck, Ryan?”

  He was still staring at Allie, a smile on his lips. “She can pick it up.”

  Allie heard a thunk as the case of whiskey hit the bar. “I warned you,” she said, crossing her arms as she saw Ollie stride across the floor. There was a lull in the music, and the bar quieted as if just realizing something was going on in their midst.

  Ollie jerked his chin at the band and said, “Play.”

  Immediately the drummer picked up again, the guitarist stepped forward, and the singer raised his hands, drawing the attention of the crowd.

  Ryan had scooted back in his chair, crossing his arms and reaching for his drink as Ollie approached the table.

  Ollie snagged the shot glass from Ryan’s fingers and put it on the table. “You’re done.” He turned to Allie. “They paid up?”

  “Yeah. They settled up and then this guy pulled my apron off.”

  Ollie scowled. “What are you, twelve?”

  Ryan’s eyes flashed. “Hey—”

  “Pick her apron up and get out of here.”

  Ryan stood, deliberately kicking her apron under the table and scattering more of the cash.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Allie said.

  Ollie didn’t say another word. He grabbed the man by the back of the suit and lifted him in the air.

  “What the fuck?” Ryan yelped. “Put me down! Andrew, call the cops. Your bar is mine, asshole. My lawyer is going to have a field day with this.”

  “Shut the hell up,” Ollie muttered, looking at the other men at the table with an impassive expression. “Any of you guys have manners? Pick up her apron while I go have a talk with your friend.”

  The whole bar watched as Ollie walked a puffing Ryan down the back hall, and the three men scrambled to pick up the money and stuff it back in Allie’s apron. The band, bless their hearts, continued to play.

  The blushing one handed Allie her apron with a nervous smile while the other two got out their phones. Caleb wandered over from the bar.

  “Allie, you okay?”

  “Yep.” She smiled. “These gentlemen were just leaving me a very nice tip for making their neighbors wait on their drinks.” She looked over at table seven. “Sorry, guys!”

  “No problem,” one shouted.

  Another said, “Almost as entertaining as the band.”

  One of Ryan’s silent friends was holding up his phone and glancing down the hall where Ollie and Ryan had disappeared. “Shouldn’t one of us call the cops? What’s that guy going to do to Ryan?”

  Caleb hooked his hands in his pockets, his thumb behind the badge at his waist. “I am the cops. And Ollie was going to have a chat with him. Didn’t you hear?”

  Allie didn’t have time for this.

  She hustled to the bar and delivered table seven, then picked up empties on two before she took orders from the pool room. Stupid men and their stupid posturing. Her ex, Joe, was exactly the same kind of guy as that idiot, Ryan. Never knew when to just back down and let things go. Had to keep pushing until—

  “Allie!”

  Tracey yelled her name just as Dani came to grab her order pad.

  “Go,” Dani said. “Tracey says you need to calm him down.”

  “What?”

  “Ollie lost his temper on that idiot. I’ll cover your tables. Go.”

  What alternate dimension was this? Who decided that starting fights with a grizzly bear shifter was a good idea? Granted, the stupid human didn’t know that Ollie was a grizzly, but he was clearly outmatched.

  Tracey grabbed her arm as she headed down the hall that led to the bathrooms, Ollie’s office, and the door to the employee parking lot. “Try to get him calmed down. We’ll take care of the front. Caleb can help.”

  When Allie burst through the back door, she saw Ollie standing over Ryan, who was on his knees.

  “Go for it,” Ollie said. “Stand up again. See what happens.”

  His voice might have been quiet, but Allie could hear the thinly veiled rage. Ollie didn’t lose his temper often. Something Ryan said must have really set him off.

  “Ollie!” Allie saw how far gone he really was when he glanced over his shoulder. Combined with the look of quiet rage was a split cheek that made Allie’s temper spike. “Did he hit you?”

  “Sucker punch.” He turned and grabbed Ryan by the hair to pull him to his feet. “Apologize to her. Now.”

  Tugging him to his feet brought the man’s face into the light. Ollie had been careful. There was only a shadow of a bruise by Ryan’s jaw and his lip was split, but Allie could see the pale skin and hunched shoulders that told her his ribs were more battered than his pretty face.

  “Sorry,” the once-arrogant man said through bloody teeth. “I’m sorry. Didn’t… didn’t know about your kids or anything, okay? Just thought we were having fun.”

  “Fun? You’ve got a messed-up sense of fun, mister.”

  Ryan watched Ollie, who hadn’t said another word. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was your girl, all right?”

  “I’m not his girl,” Allie yelled. “And that doesn’t matter anyway.”

  Ryan glanced nervously at Ollie again.

  “What matters,” Allie continued, “is you don’t treat a woman like that. You don’t treat anyone like that. Learn some manners and don’t come back here. Ever.”

  “Okay. I won’t. I promise.”

  Ollie dropped him, and Ryan scrambled toward the front of the bar, kicking up dust in the cold light of the parking lot as Allie turned to Ollie.

  She put a hand on his chest. “Let me see.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  She grabbed his chin to angle his head down, and he winced.

  “Allie-girl—”

  “Was he wearing a ring or something? How did he open up your cheek like this? You look like you might need stitche
s.”

  “He was talking shit. I got distracted. I’ll go to Ted’s and have her patch me up.”

  Her other hand rose to his shoulder, and her fingers stroked the beard over his jaw before she could think. His shoulders were rock hard with adrenaline. Sometimes Allie forgot how big he really was. She barely came to his chest.

  “Ollie…”

  She ached. She wanted to slip her arms around his waist and lean into him. Press her face into his chest until he settled down and hugged her back. Make him laugh and smile and erase the awful wall that had risen between them. Allie could feel her heartbeat pick up as she leaned closer.

  Without a word, Ollie grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from his jaw, looking back toward the bar as he said, “We need to get back inside. Talk to Caleb and make sure that punk doesn’t cause any problems.”

  Humiliation colored her cheeks red as she dropped her hands. “Right. Sorry. It’s still busy. I’ll go back inside and get back to work. Why don’t you run to Ted’s house and have her look at your cheek? Caleb can help at the bar. Dani’s station has cooled off, so she can help on the floor. We’ll take care of it.”

  He gave her a brittle laugh. “Organizing the world again, Allison?”

  Ollie was the only one who called her Allison anymore. Not since her mom died. And he hadn’t done it in months.

  She forced a smile past the burn of embarrassment and the memory of his jaw under her fingertips.

  “Well, you know me. That’s what I do. Can’t turn off the mom after fifteen years, you know?”

  “I guess not.”

  Damn men with their damn inscrutable expressions. Allie tried not to run back into the bar. She headed straight for the women’s restroom and leaned against the door, pressing her hands to hot cheeks.

  Get a grip, you idiot. Oliver Campbell is not for you.

  Chapter Two

  “YOU’RE AN IDIOT.” TEODORA “TED” VASQUEZ slapped a bandage onto his cheek and shoved him out of the chair. “I’m tempted to tell Tía Maria how big an idiot you really are, but even I’m not that mean.”

  The last thing Ollie needed was his cousin tattling on him to his grandmother like they were still ten years old. He glared at Alex McCann, Ted’s husband, across the room. “A little help here?”

  “Sorry, man. I think you’re being an idiot too.”

  Ollie shook his head and tried to banish the memory of Allie’s soft hands on his chest. Her fingers brushing his jaw. With the bear riding him, pumped full of adrenaline and still pissed at that sorry little puke of an investment banker, he’d been seconds away from taking what he’d wanted for years.

  Years.

  “How long are you going to wait?” Alex was talking again.

  Ted was muttering under her breath in Spanish. She was family, but damn, the woman could be annoying as hell sometimes. She was best friends with the coy little fox, but Ollie knew she was also trustworthy.

  “She’s not even divorced yet.”

  “She filed six months ago,” Alex said.

  “But it’s not final.”

  “’Cause she can’t find the bastard!” Ted yelled. “You really think if Joe comes waltzing back into town she’s gonna give him the time of day?”

  “No.” He paused. “I don’t know. They have four kids and fifteen years together. She’s not the kind of woman who just dismisses that.”

  Ted froze. “I’m going to forget you said that so I don’t have to give you a matching bruise on your right cheek. After everything she’s found out about him? The drugs. The debt he piled up and left her with. Added to that the way he completely abandoned his kids? She’s done with him. Trust me. Done.”

  “Even if she is definitely done with Joe, I have no interest in being her rebound.”

  Ted froze and across the room Alex visibly winced.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Rebound.” He didn’t back down from her glare. “What do you think? She’s going to want to settle down with some asshole a year after her deadbeat husband left her? Yeah, I’m seeing that working out great.”

  “So you’re an asshole now?”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “Yes, it is,” Ted said, ice dripping from her words. “You said ‘settle down with some asshole,’ implying that one, you’re an asshole, and two, she’d settle down with one again. I’m not talking about the bullshit you hear at your bar, Ollie. I’m not talking about some theoretical relationship between two people who just met. I’m talking about you. You and Allie. Two people who should have been together from the beginning if you hadn’t dragged your ass in high school and let Joe I’m-a-lazy-ass-who-can’t-be-bothered-to-take-care-of-my-family Russell sweep in and convince her he’d give her the moon and stars!”

  Alex bit his lip, clearly trying not to laugh. “That’s a long nickname, baby.”

  Ted shot a glare at her husband and turned back to Ollie, shaking her head. “You have no idea.”

  “No idea about what?”

  “How bad it was.”

  Ollie could swear his heart stopped beating for a second. “How bad was it?”

  “You have your secrets. She has hers. You want to know? You want to get real with her? You ask Allie, not me.”

  Ollie stopped talking. It was what he usually did when he didn’t want to discuss feelings with his cousin, of all people. His cousin, who seemed determined to drive him crazy.

  He had a plan. He’d waited for Allie Smith for twenty years, and he could wait a little longer if it meant she came to him with a whole heart.

  Ollie couldn’t handle being a way station for her. He wasn’t being dramatic. He just knew that he’d break if she tried him on and discarded him because she wasn’t ready. He’d held his peace for fifteen years, and once he had her, he wouldn’t be able to let go.

  “Tell me something, Oso.” Ted used his childhood nickname, but it did little to soften her words. “So what if she does end up having a rebound relationship, huh? You think you’re going to be able to handle seeing her go out with another guy under your nose? And what if it turns serious? What happens then?”

  Gut-churning rage in his stomach. Ollie stood without thinking, his hands clenched at his sides. His eyes narrowed at Ted when she sighed.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  IT was just his luck that Tracey had called Allie in to work early on Friday afternoon. Just his luck he’d have to watch her bustling around his bar in her skinny blue jeans and fitted black T-shirt, her apron tied at the waist and the bow perched at the top of her ass. Four kids had added to her figure since high school, but not in any way Ollie would complain about.

  When she’d been younger, she’d been so tiny his awkward teenage self had nightmares about finally getting up the guts to make a move, only to end up breaking something. Fifteen years had made her no less attractive but a little more substantial. The bear in him approved.

  When she’d been married and the torment of her had been a constant ache in his gut, he’d dated. He’d dated plenty. But not anyone who would remind him of Allie. Tall, slim girls with dark hair and barely there smiles. No blondes. No short, curvy temptations. Dating anyone who even resembled her was completely off-limits.

  She was filling out the specials board, her back to him, that little bow taunting him. “Ollie, did we get everything in the delivery this morning?”

  He tore his eyes away from her ass and back to the newspaper. “Yeah.”

  “You want to put the Firestone DBA back on special then? That was selling really well last weekend.”

  “Sure.”

  “Or do you want me to try a different ale and leave the DBA at regular price?”

  “Whatever you think.”

  She shot him a tight smile and put the Firestone back on special before she quickly filled out the rest of the board with the regular weekend deals.

  Her instincts were good, and he probably should have given her better feedback, but he was t
rying not to stare at her. Or glare. He couldn’t not notice her, but he knew he’d been acting like a Neanderthal. He didn’t want to be such a bastard, but he couldn’t find his balance with her anymore.

  When Allie had been married, it hadn’t been an issue. She was off-limits. Not even a possibility on the horizon. Because she wasn’t that kind of woman, and he wasn’t that kind of man. Because of that, he’d been able to be her friend, cherish her and her kids, and ignore the slowly degenerating asshole she’d hooked herself to when she was sixteen.

  But now…

  “What if she does end up having a rebound relationship, huh? You think you’re going to be able to handle seeing her go out with another guy under your nose?”

  Ollie knew the answer to that. He’d go insane. But he also didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t think of a way to broach the topic without coming across as a presumptuous asshole.

  Morning, Allison. I’ve been in love with you for about twenty years now. Would you like to go out for coffee? Or maybe just marry me and put me out of my misery?

  Hey, Allie. I know you’re still in the middle of a divorce, but how about coming over for dinner? Bring the kids. Feel free to have them pick out rooms while they’re here.

  Allie was frowning as she looked out the window. “Ollie?”

  “Yeah?” he growled. Yes, growled. His grandmother would have slapped the back of his head if she’d heard him.

  “Caleb is coming up the road.”

  Well, shit. It would be just his luck if that little asswipe from the night before decided to file charges that Caleb couldn’t ignore. To be fair, the surveillance camera would have picked up that the banker swung first. Unfortunately, it would also pick up that Ollie busted his ribs more than was strictly necessary.

  He folded the paper and put it under the bar, surprised that Caleb hadn’t called. They’d been friends for two years now. Ollie was godfather to Jena and Caleb’s little girl. If anyone had made a complaint, Caleb would have called, which left Ollie wondering why the chief of police was really coming up the road at four in the afternoon on a Friday.

  He heard Jim bang the kitchen door and start the prep for dinner, heard him and Tracey chatting and flirting. Nearly twenty years and the two of them were still nuts about each other.