Melt For Me (Against All Odds Book 3) Read Free Page B

Adams.”
    “You got it.” The bartender garnished her drinks with cherries, then set them on the end of the bar for the server. After swiping her hands on her apron, she reached for a mug from the freezer behind her, lined up the tap and glass, and pulled. “Your fans are all waiting for an encore.”
    Tate glanced over his shoulder toward the group who’d recognized him in the corner of the bar and begged him to play something. Normally, he wouldn’t have indulged their request, but they’d been so eager, and honestly, part of him had hoped to impress Ella. He’d envisioned her walking in, hearing his voice, smiling, and—
    A frown turned his lips down. Yeah, she’d been real impressed. Impressed enough to pretty much tell him to get out of her bar and never come back.
    The bartender set his mug in front of him, and, not feeling up to singing again, Tate shrugged and nodded toward his beer. The group answered with overly enthusiastic waves, then went back to their conversations.
    Which was great, except as Tate swiveled toward his glass, the taste he suddenly had wasn’t for beer. It was for a cute brunette who obviously didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.
    “So, you know Ella, huh?” The bartender wiped out a glass and set it on the shelf behind her.
    Tate licked the foam from his lips and lowered his mug. “Yeah. We go back a few years.”
    “Interesting. She’s never mentioned you.”
    Tate huffed. That wasn’t a surprise either.
    He glanced toward the door on the far side of the bar, the one he’d noticed earlier led to stairs that went up to the second floor and what he assumed was Ella’s office. Then to the old double doors that opened to the street. Wide windowpanes in each door were painted with the words Yuletide Spirits . Beyond, white flakes floated in the air, growing in thickness, catching in the trees and already covering the cars and sidewalks in a layer of white.
    Yeah, bolting now before the snow got any worse was probably the best idea. Every man had regrets, right? That didn’t mean there was anything he could do about them. Some things were probably safer left in the past. If he’d really seen a spark in Ella’s eyes like he thought, the universe would have given him a sign he was supposed to stay. Such as that group hounding him to play again until he said yes, or Ella coming back into the bar while he sat here, or—
    The bells above the double doors jingled, and a man dressed in a khaki sheriff’s uniform, a wide-brimmed hat, and dark jacket, stepped into the bar and shook snow from his shoulders. “Quick announcement, folks. The highway’s closed until further notice. Landslide took out both lanes. Make yourselves comfortable.”
    —or a landslide blocking his only route out of town.
    Wide-eyed, Tate turned back to his beer. The bartender winked as she wiped out another glass. “Hope you don’t have anywhere to be just yet.”
    Swallowing a mouthful of beer, Tate shook his head, more stunned by the timing than he wanted to admit. “Not just yet. No.”
    “Good.” She set the clean glass on another shelf at her back. “Got a place to stay?”  
    Tate hadn’t even thought about a place to stay. He’d only rolled into town an hour ago. But right now getting a room wasn’t a bad idea. It’d give him time to decide how to approach Ella next. “There’s gotta be a motel in town, right?”
    “There is. A couple, actually.”
    Tate reached for his wallet to pay for his beer.
    “But they’re all full this time of year.”
    His fingers stilled against the leather. Shit. Of course they were full. It was Christmas week in America’s cutest holiday town.
    “Good thing I know of a room you can rent,” the bartender said. “And it’s cheap.”
    Tate’s eyes narrowed. “How cheap?”
    “Free.”
    Crap . The girl was pretty, midtwenties, attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way. But in his line of work, he had plenty of attractive girls offering