Heart's a Mess Read Free Page B

fuck’s sake,” Duncan moaned
melodramatically. “If I have to spend another day with you making cow eyes at
her it’s not going to end well.”
    Alex ignored him.
    “She looks hot in that low-cut top
tonight.”
    His hackles rose. “Don’t.”
    “Maybe I’ll go talk to her. Since you don’t
have the balls, and all.” Duncan grinned at him, amusement lighting his eyes.
Though Alex could only see the one. His brother had plastered his fringe down
over half his face to cover the black eye from two days back. “She looks like a
lot of woman to handle, if you know what I mean. Might be best if I take charge
of this particular staff situation.”
    Alex had advanced on the little prick,
fists clenched tight, before he even knew what he was doing. “You want another
black eye?” he growled, loudly enough to make the closest pub patrons cast
curious looks in their direction. Shit.
    “No, numbnuts. I want you to grow a pair
and go woo the girl already.”
    “She wants to be left alone.”
    “Right. That’s why she’s sneaking looks at
you every time you’re not looking at her.”
    That stopped him. “She is?”
    Hope grabbed him by the throat.
    Until John rapped his knuckles on the other
side of the bar. “Service.”
    “What do you want?” Duncan barked at him.
    With one raised brow, John leaned across
the bar. “You two idiots are making a scene. Again. Cut it out. And give me a
bottle of the ‘01 Mount Cooma. I’ve got some truffles that I want to try it out
with.”
    “He won’t go talk to her,” Duncan said,
reaching for the requested bottle of wine.
    “That’s coming out of your pay,” Alex
informed his older brother.
    John just shrugged. “It’s worth it. Who
won’t he go talk to?”
    “Are you kidding me?” Dunc asked. “How
could you possibly not have noticed him drooling over Violet?”
    “Violet?” John accepted the bottle,
checking the label with care. “That the new girl?”
    “Yes,” said Dunc. “The one Marie’s training
up to manage the restaurant so she can have time off. You might recall we had a
meeting about it?”
    His brother just looked at them blankly.
Which shouldn’t have surprised Alex but did. John’s range of focus was
amazingly narrow. If it didn’t directly involve him or his kitchen then the man
remained oblivious.
    “You know, Johnny. Your world is a small,
pathetic place,” said Dunc.
    “Wherein I am God.” John’s smile was all
teeth. “Marie doesn’t need help running the restaurant. What would she even
want nights off for? This place is her life.”
    “I guess she wants more of a life,” said
Alex.
    “Yeah. Right.” His older brother scoffed
and wandered away, bottle of wine in hand. “Bye.”
    “You really want to end up like him?” asked
Duncan. “Spending your free time alone, jerking off to a bottle of wine and
some fungus?”
    “Are truffles fungus?”
    “Fucked if I know.” Duncan shrugged. “Go
talk to the girl. Please.”
    His gaze zoomed straight to where she stood
wiping down a table. Didn’t matter where in the room she might be, he could
feel her whereabouts and immediately put his eyes on her. It was a hell of a
super power and a little scary, to be frank. Since when had he been so tuned in
to any woman?
    Tonight she had on a plain black dress that
fit her just right, and as Duncan said, gave him amazing glimpses of an expanse
of creamy cleavage. It had short sleeves and the flowers tattooed on her arm
peeked out from underneath. Her hair was up in some fifties-style ’do and her
cherry-red lips shone like the sweetest ripe fruit. He had no idea how the
woman had gotten beneath his skin so fast but he wanted beneath hers,
constantly.
    Marie said something and Vi threw her head
back, laughing raucously, completely unselfconscious. Something low in his guts
tightened. His dick knew exactly what it wanted and no one else would do. Fuck
she was pretty and what a gorgeous laugh. But as if conscious of his voyeurism,
she