Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2) - Jiffy Kate Page 0,16

something they don’t have. I can’t even put my finger on it, but it’s there.

Red hair flying around her peaches-and-cream skin.

Nice, tight little ass, poured into the jeans she’s wearing.

Plump lips wrapping around the lyrics of the song.

And moves like a porn star.

“Off the bar,” I bark out, gripping her calf to get her attention. I don’t know if I’m more pissed off at myself for being affected by her or her for putting me in this position. Or the mother fuckers down the bar for looking at her like she’s their next meal.

“No,” she says, yanking her leg out of my grip and I swear, I just saw her teeth.

This one might bite.

When she squats down on a low note, I take advantage of her proximity and grab her under the arms, scooping up under her legs, as I whisk her off the bar top.

“Put me down!” she cries, her fist banging on my chest.

I get a glimpse of sexy kitten heels coming way too close to my face and back away. “Whoa,” I whisper, not trying to gain an audience, and I’d rather not have to restrain her, but I need her to listen to me and promise she won’t get back on the bar.

“I said,” she starts, her voice getting louder, fists stronger. With my good arm, I hold hers down to the side of her body as I reposition her back on the barstool, my hand going over her mouth.

When her gorgeous green eyes, full of fire, hit mine, I feel it as if it were an actual punch.

With her chest heaving and my dick springing to life, I swallow. Hard.

“I’m going to need you to calm down, alright?” I ask, hoping for a nod or something to let me know she’s feeling me right now, but all I get is a sassy glare. When I finally take my hand off her mouth and release some of the hold on her shoulders, she sags a little in what feels like defeat. “No more dancing on the bar.”

“Floyd,” she calls out over her shoulder. “I’m gonna need another shot of José.”

Floyd’s eyebrows shoot up in question and I just shrug. Someone should probably cut her off, but I don’t really want to be that guy. She’s obviously got something going on … pretty girl in a strip club, drinking alone. That doesn’t exactly scream typical Saturday night. I want to press, ask her what her story is, but seeing that we haven’t even officially been introduced, I decide to leave it alone.

I should leave her alone, but instead, after I’m convinced she’s back to occupying the barstool instead of the bar top, I walk back to my spot … well, my new spot … and watch.

She throws a couple more back and I start cringing every time she holds her hand up for another drink. I want to tell her that this is probably going to hurt more than whatever she’s nursing … break-up, job, shitty friends … She’ll probably regret her choices tomorrow.

But sometimes, we’ve just gotta live and learn.

And sometimes it’s worth it, anything to drown out the pain.

I’ve definitely been there before.

“A round for all my friends,” she calls out a while later, motioning to the few men sitting down the bar from her. They smile, shaking their heads in her direction, and I wonder if they know her. The way they’re eyeballing her, I’d have to guess they do.

What’s her reputation?

What’s her story?

Curiosity killed the cat, Cage.

Leave it alone.

“Crazy bitch,” I hear one of them mutter and my head cocks to the side. Clearing my throat, I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him until he feels my stare and looks up to meet my eyes.

Nervously, he looks down at the bar and then offers a small, apologetic smile.

That’s what I thought.

Again, I don’t know her, but I’m not going to let anyone get away with calling her names.

When she motions to Floyd for another, I catch his attention and shake my head. He walks back toward the back of the bar, grabbing a clean glass, and I’m about to say something when I watch him pour straight mix over the ice, trim it with a lime, and set it down in front of her.

“You’re so good to me, Floyd,” she says, her words thick and slow. “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

Floyd smiles softly, holding a hint of something I can’t quite put my finger on, and shakes