Waking Hearts Read Free Page A

hustled to the bar and delivered table seven, then picked up empties on two before she took orders from the pool room. Stupid men and their stupid posturing. Her ex, Joe, was exactly the same kind of guy as that idiot, Ryan. Never knew when to just back down and let things go. Had to keep pushing until—
    “Allie!”
    Tracey yelled her name just as Dani came to grab her order pad.
    “Go,” Dani said. “Tracey says you need to calm him down.”
    “What?”
    “Ollie lost his temper on that idiot. I’ll cover your tables. Go.”
    What alternate dimension was this? Who decided that starting fights with a grizzly bear shifter was a good idea? Granted, the stupid human didn’t know that Ollie was a grizzly, but he was clearly outmatched.
    Tracey grabbed her arm as she headed down the hall that led to the bathrooms, Ollie’s office, and the door to the employee parking lot. “Try to get him calmed down. We’ll take care of the front. Caleb can help.”
    When Allie burst through the back door, she saw Ollie standing over Ryan, who was on his knees.
    “Go for it,” Ollie said. “Stand up again. See what happens.”
    His voice might have been quiet, but Allie could hear the thinly veiled rage. Ollie didn’t lose his temper often. Something Ryan said must have really set him off.
    “Ollie!” Allie saw how far gone he really was when he glanced over his shoulder. Combined with the look of quiet rage was a split cheek that made Allie’s temper spike. “Did he hit you?”
    “Sucker punch.” He turned and grabbed Ryan by the hair to pull him to his feet. “Apologize to her. Now.”
    Tugging him to his feet brought the man’s face into the light. Ollie had been careful. There was only a shadow of a bruise by Ryan’s jaw and his lip was split, but Allie could see the pale skin and hunched shoulders that told her his ribs were more battered than his pretty face.
    “Sorry,” the once-arrogant man said through bloody teeth. “I’m sorry. Didn’t… didn’t know about your kids or anything, okay? Just thought we were having fun.”
    “Fun? You’ve got a messed-up sense of fun, mister.”
    Ryan watched Ollie, who hadn’t said another word. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was your girl, all right?”
    “I’m not his girl,” Allie yelled. “And that doesn’t matter anyway.”
    Ryan glanced nervously at Ollie again.
    “What matters,” Allie continued, “is you don’t treat a woman like that. You don’t treat anyone like that. Learn some manners and don’t come back here. Ever.”
    “Okay. I won’t. I promise.”
    Ollie dropped him, and Ryan scrambled toward the front of the bar, kicking up dust in the cold light of the parking lot as Allie turned to Ollie.
    She put a hand on his chest. “Let me see.”
    “It’s nothing.”
    She grabbed his chin to angle his head down, and he winced.
    “Allie-girl—”
    “Was he wearing a ring or something? How did he open up your cheek like this? You look like you might need stitches.”
    “He was talking shit. I got distracted. I’ll go to Ted’s and have her patch me up.”
    Her other hand rose to his shoulder, and her fingers stroked the beard over his jaw before she could think. His shoulders were rock hard with adrenaline. Sometimes Allie forgot how big he really was. She barely came to his chest.
    “Ollie…”
    She ached. She wanted to slip her arms around his waist and lean into him. Press her face into his chest until he settled down and hugged her back. Make him laugh and smile and erase the awful wall that had risen between them. Allie could feel her heartbeat pick up as she leaned closer.
    Without a word, Ollie grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from his jaw, looking back toward the bar as he said, “We need to get back inside. Talk to Caleb and make sure that punk doesn’t cause any problems.”
    Humiliation colored her cheeks red as she dropped her hands. “Right. Sorry. It’s still busy. I’ll go back inside and get back to work. Why