Love Is Louder by Antoinette Candela, Paige Maroney Read Free Book Online

for a minute before I resume assisting the other two bartenders for the next hour.
    “Hey, can we get some drinks here?”
    I pull my eyes up as I’m grabbing a couple of beers for my current customer while listening to the band on stage performing a pretty good rendition of Train’s “Drive By.”
    “What do you need?” I shift my eyes slightly to the right where the voice emanates, completely caught off guard by my newest customer, the one and only James Fleming. He raises an eyebrow and catches my gaze and then flicks his eyes down the length of the bar and back to me in obvious shock.
    The last thing I want to do is chitchat with James, but it would be nice to bust his balls like I did in high school now that I know he’s up to his old tricks. It’s just really none of my business, though.
    “Mason...Mason Marks?” he asks.
    “The one and only,” I answer, extending my hand. He shakes it firmly and smirks. Or is that a fucking sneer? “Welcome to Bull and Bear.”
    He casts his eyes across the room and back at me. “Busy tonight.” One of his hands rakes though his hair, the other he shoves into his pocket.
    “Yeah, open mic night is a hit,” I state as his blonde companion saunters up, smiles at me, and wraps her hand around his bicep.
    “Did you get our drinks, hon?”
    Hon? Hmmm. This guy is a piece of shit.
    I feel bad for his pretty wife sitting at home alone. I’m going to call him out for the asshole he is. I have a shocker for him, just like in the old days. What I plan to do is for Brie, because she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.
    “Yeah, Lisa, I’ll bring them over. Just want to catch up with an old friend .”
    “Okay, and a water, if you don’t mind,” she adds, leaning in close so her bountiful tits brush up against his arm.
    “Be right there.” He throws his credit card onto the bar with cocky arrogance and discreetly admires her ass as she walks away.
    Friend.
    He won’t be using that term after I expose him for what he is and what he’s always been. A cheating bastard .
    “Can I have a couple of vodkas and cranberries and two shots of Patrón ?”
    “And a water?” I chuckle as I start his drinks.
    “Yeah...women. Shit,” he says, thrumming his fingers on the bar.
    “Yeah, can’t live with them. Can’t live without them.”
    It looks like this asshole has the best of both worlds.
    “Got that right,” he says as he starts to get comfortable with the conversation, lost in his own self-importance.
    This is going to be fun.
    “So, I took care of your washer today.”
    “Washer?” He pulls his eyes to mine.
    “Yeah...Marks Service Techs. You called us to come out to your place to service your washer.”
    “So...” He throws his eyebrows up in surprise. “That’s you, too?”
    “Yeah, that’s me, and your washer is all set.”
    “Thanks, man. I tried to figure it out, but I’m not a handy man.”
    Yeah, I called that one.
    “Your wife seems very nice,” I say as I start his vodkas and cranberries.
    “Brie.” He chuckles nervously. “You met her.”
    “A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Too bad she’s at home while you’re out tonight with Lisa .”
    He pushes away from the bar and narrows his eyes. “I suggest you mind your own business,” he rumbles, his jaw twitching. I can tell by his body language he’s winding up to give me a piece of his mind.
    “Well, it is a pretty wedding picture you have on the wall there. What are those words again? ‘For better or for worse’?”
    “Stay out of it. It’s not what you think,” he counters as the veins in his neck pulse.
    “Hmmm...Married man. Another woman. I don’t know.” I slide his drinks in front of him as I take his credit card. “Looks like cheating to me.”I deadpan. “Should I start a tab for you guys?”
    “No, we don’t plan on staying here.” He snatches the drinks from the bar as Lisa appears, lingering by his side as we continue our friendly banter.
    “Well, that