The Bartender (Book Three, Working Men)

By Ramona Gray

He goes down better than a shot of whiskey.

Rachel
Being a twenty-three year old virgin isn’t the worse thing in the world. Being a twenty-three year old virgin in love with a man who doesn’t know I exist? Tragic, right? Local bartender, Ren Parker, might not be into librarians with questionable fashion taste, but it doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about getting him alone in the library and breaking all the rules about quiet time.

But, a girl’s gotta be realistic, and I can’t stay a virgin forever. Picking up a nice guy at the bar to take my v-card is surprisingly easy. That is, until Ren discovers what I’m doing. Suddenly, the man I thought wouldn’t give me the time of day, has his hands all over me until my insides are shaken and stirred.

He says my virginity belongs to him and I’m more than happy to prove him right.

Ren
I’ve wanted Rachel Banks from the moment I saw her. Sweet and gorgeous with a body I can’t wait to have under me, she’s got my world turned upside down. But, a man like me isn’t meant to have a woman like her. Until the night I see her about to give away what’s mine.

Now, I’m insisting she belongs to me and I won’t rest until she gives me her innocence and her heart. I’m playing a dangerous game. I have a past, one that a woman like Rachel would never understand, and the right thing to do is let a better man have her.

Too bad I’ve never been good at giving up what’s mine.

Author’s Note: This is the third in a series of stand-alone short and dirty (So.Very.Dirty.) novellas of 20k or less. You do not need to read the first two stories to enjoy this one. If you’re looking for quick, one-handed (ahem) reads with insta-love, over-the-top alpha, blue-collar men then the trope-alicious Working Men series is for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ramona Gray
• Release date: May 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781988826301

Ramona Gray

Ramona Gray is a Canadian romance author. She lives in Alberta with her awesome husband and her mutant Chihuahua. She is addicted to home improvement shows, good coffee, and reading and writing about the steamier moments in life.Email her at: [e-mail] out her website: www.ramonagray.caSign up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/_cL75She also writes contemporary and paranormal romance under her alter-ego "Elizabeth Kelly". Check out Elizabeth's books at www.elizabethkelly.ca

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Rachel

M s. Banks, I can’t find the book.

I moved around the desk and followed the little girl across the library to the children’s section. It’s supposed to be right here, but it isn’t.

I scanned the shelf before studying the one above it. Here it is, Emily. It just got shelved wrong.

Isn’t it your job to shelve it right? The seven-year-old cocked her eyebrow at me, and I swallowed down my urge to laugh.

Everyone makes mistakes.

I guess. She took the book and then smiled at me. Sorry, Ms. Banks. I wasn’t trying to be mean. You’re a real good librarian.

"Thank you, Emily.

Emily? Em! C’mon, let’s go. Mom’s waiting for us in the car. Her older brother, Ethan, waved at her from across the library. C’mon, dummy!

Be quiet, Ethan! Emily yelled. You’re not supposed to yell in the library!

You’re yelling too!

Emily gave me a do-you-see-how-I-suffer look before marching toward the desk. I just gotta check this book out, and then I’m ready.

Ethan tossed the football he held into the air and caught it. Fine. I’m gonna go wait in the car with Mom.

Emily waited patiently as I scanned her card and her book into the system. I tucked a bookmark into the book and handed it to her. Remember, it’s due back in fourteen days.

I know. Hey, Ms. Banks?

Yes?

Why aren’t you married? Is it because you’re a librarian?

Why would you think that?

She shrugged. Ethan says that librarians never get married. They just go to work and then sit at home with their twelve cats. Do you have a cat, Ms. Banks?

No, I’m allergic. Not being married doesn’t have anything to do with being a librarian. Plenty of librarians are married, Emily.

Okay. She turned and walked away, apparently having lost interest in why I wasn’t married.

I watched her go, a small smile on my face, before glancing around the library. For a Saturday afternoon, it was surprisingly empty. Typically Saturday was our busiest day. A group of seniors usually met up after lunch to read the magazines and gossip quietly. The computer room was almost always full, and there was usually a table or two of students, their textbooks and tablets and laptops covering most of the table.

This afternoon, there were only three people in the computer room, the seniors had never shown up, and only half a dozen people perused the books. I walked to the cart of books at the end of the biography aisle and began to shelve them.

Your virginity is mine, Rachel. Mine to take, mine to own.

I whirled around, my heart thudding in my chest. There was no one behind me. Ren’s deep voice was just in my head. The way it had been nearly every hour since I’d left Ren’s Bar last night. It was driving me insane, making me lose sleep and not eat, and shelve the damn books wrong. It was stupid even to think he was here. He never came to the library.

I shook my head to clear it and shelved the book I held before grabbing another.

No one looks at you, no one touches you, no one fucks you but me. Is that clear, sweetheart? Say it.

No one fucks me, but you, Ren, I murmured before looking around. Thank God there was no one near me. I rested my burning forehead against the shelf of books. The temptation to go back, to relive that moment from last night, was too hard to resist. I closed my eyes and let it consume me.

You’re gorgeous. You know that, right? Elliott held me too tightly as we danced, his gaze glued to my exposed cleavage.

I tried to wiggle back a little. I was starting to regret coming to the bar tonight. I’d gone to Ren’s bar for two reasons. One – to support my best friend Madison, who was trying to make her crush jealous, and two – to try and make my crush jealous. I’d failed miserably at it, despite dressing sexier than I usually did. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. I still wore my hair up in a bun, and my tights and ankle-length skirt completely covered my round ass and chunky thighs. But I’d let Madison convince me to wear a shirt four sizes too small that barely covered my breasts.

Anyway, it was a waste of energy. I’d been lusting after Ren Parker for months. I’d even had the silly idea that he would be the one I’d give my virginity to, even though he’d never once looked at me like he wanted me. So, when Madison told me of her plan to make Jacob jealous, I’d temporarily lost my mind and decided to try the same thing with Ren.

Only it hadn’t – wasn’t – working. Whenever I went to Ren’s bar, he usually at least acknowledged me, but tonight he hadn’t looked at me once. It was like he was deliberately avoiding me. I shouldn’t have been as hurt as I was. I don’t think I’d had a single conversation with the man beyond, Hi. Nice weather, huh?

I was hurt, though. Hurt enough that I decided I’d take Elliott home and use him to rid me of my pesky virginity once and for all. I was a twenty-three-year-old virgin and embarrassed about it. I was also self-conscious about my looks, but Elliott seemed to be a boob guy. Maybe he’d be so busy with them, he wouldn’t notice how round my stomach was or how thick my thighs were.

Of course, now I was second-guessing my decision to screw Elliott. It wasn’t just the way he couldn’t stop leering at my breasts. It was his bad breath, his blank look when I’d asked him what his favourite book was, the erection he wasn’t even trying to disguise as we danced. Did I really want to give up my v-card to someone who didn’t even read for pleasure?

Ren liked to read. I’d never seen him at the library, but I’d seen him at the coffee shop a few times with a book. A real book. Not a tablet or an e-reader, but a paper book. It was totally snobby of me, but knowing that he liked to read paper books only deepened my attraction to him. Like, wet in the pussy, tingly in the nipples, attracted to him.

What can I say? Hot guys who read turn me on.

Did you hear me? Elliott asked

I tried to smile. Uh, thanks for the compliment. Listen, do you think you could stop holding me so – oh!

A hand gripped my arm and pulled me away from Elliott so hard that I stumbled in my sensible heels. I stared at the man holding my arm. Ren? What are you doing?

You’re touching what’s mine. Ren wasn’t even looking at me. He glared daggers at Elliott, and the younger man immediately took a step back, holding up his hands.

Hey, she never said she had a guy.

I don’t, I said. He’s not my -

Hush, Rachel.

I hushed. It wasn’t so much what Ren said, but how he said it. I wasn’t one for blind obedience to a man, but the tone of Ren’s voice had me shutting my mouth with a snap.

You don’t ever touch her again. Do you understand? Ren said.

Yeah, I get it, Elliott said sullenly.

Let’s go, Ren said to me.

Go where?

He didn’t reply, just started off the dance floor. He still held my arm, and I had no choice but to follow him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jacob standing behind Madison. Ren led me into his office, and just before he closed the door, I saw Madison put her arm around Jacob’s waist.

The door shut, and Ren dropped my arm.