Love on the Rocks (Bar Tenders) Read Free

then moved along the bar, shaking Tara’s next. He nudged his colleague aside, heedless to the fact he was still trying to mix the drinks, in a bid to reach Justin.
    Justin noted Eric’s pushiness, and something about it annoyed him, but he took Eric’s hand anyway. “Justin.”
    Eric looked into his eyes as he groped his hand. His touch was warm and confident, sending electric pulses up Justin’s arm. From one touch, Justin knew instinctively that if he were to go to bed with Eric, they’d have a struggle for dominance.
    Which could be fun.
    “Great to meet you.” Eric’s blue eyes danced with intent. “Stick around,” he added, apparently to Justin. “It’ll calm down later on. I can make you a drink then.” With that, he extracted himself and flitted away, leaving his colleague to continue serving.
    The brunet got on with mixing the drinks, placing three beautifully crafted cocktails in front of them. It wasn’t Justin’s round, but he produced his wallet, mostly as an excuse to command the barman’s attention. He took longer than necessary to find the correct money, instead putting all his concentration into flirting. “What was your name?” he asked with a smile. He’d heard Eric say it, but being an unusual name it hadn’t stuck in Justin’s memory.
    Dark eyes fixed on his, though the playfulness in them had disappeared. “Yena,” he said quietly.
    Justin still couldn’t get it. “Pardon?”
    “Yena,” he said again, an edge to his voice.
    “That’s a nice name,” Tara said.
    Still unsure, Justin asked, “How’d you spell that?”
    Yena looked at him, this time in disbelief. “Y-E-N-A,” he said flatly. “Look”—he glanced along the bar—“I’ve got to serve someone else, can you…?”
    He didn’t say hurry up , but Justin heard it clearly. He felt slightly deflated at being rushed. “Oh, sure. Sorry.” He handed over a note, which Yena whipped out of his hand before he had a chance to say anything else. As he marched off to the till, Justin glanced at Tam, frowning at him in confusion.
    Tam shrugged in answer. Either he didn’t know why Yena was cross, or he didn’t care.
    When Yena returned with the change, Justin decided to lay on the charm. “Keep it.” He smiled warmly. “Put it towards tips.”
    Yena looked surprised. “But there’s over five quid here.”
    Justin waved it away. “Please.”
    “All right.” Yena glanced at him, unsure. “Thanks.”
    “You’re wel—”
    Yena turned away, and that was that.
    “—come.” Justin snorted. “ Well .”
    Tara was already sipping her drink, oblivious to Justin’s troubles. “Mm, these are good.”
    “You bet.” Tam raised his drink, catching Justin’s eye. “Cheers, dears.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” Justin picked up his glass to down a large amount. Cocktails always made things better. He scanned along the bar, looking for Yena.
    What’d happened? Had Eric’s interruption annoyed Yena somehow? Or was it something else? Justin couldn’t work it out.

Chapter Two
     
    A S E RIC had promised, the bar’s patrons did thin out as the night wore on. As it approached one a.m., the bar staff weren’t as rushed and were able to slow down and chat more.
    Well, Justin noticed that Eric did most of the chatting. He guessed Eric was the supervisor, from the laid-back way he asked his staff to carry out jobs, confident they wouldn’t say no. It left him free to mix drinks slowly and flirt for all he was worth.
    Eric flitted back and forth to their spot a number of times, managing to keep up a conversation with them. He oozed confidence, and was very good at eye-fucking. Even though Justin noticed Eric doing it to a number of his male customers, including Tam, when Eric turned his intense gaze on Justin, it was hard not to succumb.
    But someone else kept drawing Justin’s attention, and that someone appeared to be keeping his distance. In contrast to Eric’s overconfidence, Yena was almost shy. They couldn’t have