Hard Up: A Military Mafia Romance Read Free

beach at sunset. Her skin warm from the last rays, the sound of the ocean lulling her to sleep. Her body tanned and toned from spending all her time in the sand.
    “I should learn to surf,” she said to herself.
    “You’re not too far from the beach.”
    Vi’s eyes snapped open. Callum leaned against the doorway, wearing a leather jacket and a tight white t-shirt in a way that Vi found criminally sexy.
    “Oh… uh… you heard that, huh?” she managed, going red all over.
    “Yep.”
    “You want my jacket?” he asked.
    Her brows flew up as he started to slip out of his black leather jacket, but she held up a hand.
    “I’m good.”
    Callum stopped, then slid his jacket back on his shoulders. He just stood there, looking at her.
    “What are you doing out here?” she asked.
    “Just came to say that Old Tom wandered off,” he said. Callum stepped out of the doorway and began moving toward her.
    “Crap,” she muttered, pushing off the wall and standing up.
    “Dec’s watching the bar for you. You got a few minutes.”
    Vi bit her lip and glanced away.
    “You want me to go?” he asked.
    She looked at him, at the breadth of his shoulders, at the rugged line of his jaw.
    “No,” she said.
    At that, his lips lifted.
    “Maybe…” he started, but then he stilled.
    “Callum?” she asked, but he was looking over her shoulder.
    She craned her neck to see what put Callum on high alert, but no luck. The alleyway was empty, the taillights of a car receding from sight at the far end.
    “Later,” he said, shaking his head. “Gotta go back in.”
    “Okay,” she said. Vi somehow felt as though she’d failed some kind of test.
    He started to turn, then stopped. “Come inside.”
    “Um, okay,” she said, cringing at how uncertain she sounded. What was it about Callum that made her talk like a coltish teenage girl?
    Callum held the door open for her, watching the alley the whole while. As she moved past him he ushered her through the door, his hand briefly resting against her lower back.
    Just that simple touch made goosebumps break out on Vi’s arms. She shivered, and Callum gave her a look. An arched brow, a quirk of his lips. Like maybe he was thinking, oh yeah?
    Or, more likely, seriously?
    This crush was getting less and less amusing by the day. Vi needed to get the hell over it, whatever her fascination with Callum might be.
    Because there was no question about it: Callum had DANGEROUS written all over him.
    Sexy as he might be, he was the opposite of what Vi needed in her life right now.
    If only she could get that through her head…
    Sighing, she headed down the hall.

3
    S he pondered her crush all the way inside. Callum wasn’t even her type, all big and menacing. In college, she had always preferred quiet nerds — men who didn’t push her buttons, or order her around.
    Not that Callum talked to her enough to order her around, but… he seemed like the type.
    Maybe it was the mystery. She didn’t even know his last name.
    When they made it to the bar, Callum went to retake his bar stool.
    “You can sit if you want,” he said, nodding to the empty spot next to him.
    “Thanks for your permission,” Vi said, amused. “My break’s over now though.”
    He shrugged, as if to say, suit yourself. Vi realized that she had a bad habit of putting words to Callum's expressions and gestures, no matter how insignificant.
    “Can I get a drink over here?” called a newcomer from the end of the bar.
    Vi pursed her lips, picked up her bar towel, and moved away from the Black Saints.
    “What can I get you?” she asked. She looked at the newcomer curiously, noticing the shaggy raven hair peeping out of his black hoodie.
    “Got anything nice?” he asked, eyeing the liquor bottles behind Vi.
    “Got some Colonel Taylor and Maker’s under the bar here,” she said.
    Something about this guy gave her a bad feeling. He was jittery. Either he was nervous about something, or maybe just coked up. Every few