Summer Fling: Compass Girls, Book 3 Read Free

fucked up again.”
    Bruce scowled at her. “Nice language, Jade.”
    “Bite me.”  
    Bruce had some nerve, calling her out for her foul mouth. She’d learned most of her more colorful four-letter words from him.
    To prove her point, her boss came behind the bar, muttering, “Son of a mother fucking cock-sucking bitch.”  
    She shot him an I told you so look when he pulled down the lever of the tap and was spurted by a large glob of foam. He narrowed his eyes and grunted. “I don’t need to hear your lecture again.”  
    She’d been after him to replace the antiquated set-up behind the bar for a couple years. Nobody dealt with kegs and taps anymore, but Bruce was a creature of comfort for whom change came hard.  
    Hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to fix the thing and they’d get the Bottoms Up system she’d been lusting after since she started bartending at Spurs. No matter how many times she explained to Bruce that it would fill the cups from the bottom, quickly, efficiently and without too much head, he just rolled his eyes and said he didn’t need that fancy-schmancy shit in his place. Bruce prided himself on running an old-fashioned redneck bar.
    Regardless, Jade knew it didn’t matter. Keg taps would become obsolete and he’d have to come over to her way of thinking eventually. That or he’d do as he had been threatening for months and sell the place to someone else so it would be their problem, not his.
    Sienna and Daniel had actually tried to convince Jade to buy Spurs. She’d laughed at the suggestion, but every now and then, she considered all the improvements she could make and was tempted.
    After several minutes of cursing and futzing with the ancient tap, Bruce looked at her. “I’m going to have to run out to my truck to grab some tools. Hold down the fort.”
    Jade nodded, then glanced around the place. It was Friday night, which meant a full house. Dorian Whitacre and his brothers had set up their instruments and were playing a fast country song—loudly. The dance floor was packed with ranch hands and roughnecks kicking up their heels and celebrating the beginning of the weekend. Any time the Whitacre brothers performed it guaranteed a big crowd.  
    A quick peek in the back room proved every pool table had already been claimed. She saw Liam bent over, lining up a shot. If she weren’t working, she’d challenge him to a game. Though she’d never beat him, she had definitely come closer than any of the yahoos he was currently fleecing. While hustling wasn’t strictly allowed in Spurs, Bruce usually turned a blind eye. He sold a hell of a lot of beer to the guys in that back room, so he wasn’t about to bite the hand that fed him.
    Liam had become a regular at Spurs in the past few years. She’d been surprised when he started showing up on Friday nights shortly after she’d been hired. Sienna insisted he’d taken up playing pool simply because it gave him an excuse to hang out at Spurs to keep an eye on her. Jade had dismissed her cousin’s supposition as a load of bullshit.  
    She figured that, like most of the cowboys in Compton Pass, Liam liked to kick back with a cold one at the end of a long week and blow off some steam. Whenever he wasn’t shooting pool, he’d find a woman to dance with. Jade had watched him leave with more than a few of the local single ladies at the end of the night and he certainly wasn’t keeping an eye on her as he sashayed out the door.
    Sometimes she’d ask him about his dates, but Liam was always evasive, claiming it was a casual thing or a one-night deal. He hadn’t had a steady girlfriend since Celia. Jade wondered if he’d ever love anyone like he’d loved his fiancée. It was sweet in a very sad way.  
    For the past eight years, they had a standing date, meeting at the cemetery just before midnight on her birthday. She’d visit George while Liam took flowers to Celia. Usually they met at the gate to the churchyard. After they’d spoken