Happy Hour

by Piper Rayne

  Great. Now I feel bad for her. She thought she had him and Lauren stole him away.

  Her friends are all whispering, and I wonder if they’ll pool all their money together. Lauren stands there, her paddle still raised in the air.

  The other woman shakes her head.

  “Then sold for one thousand dollars!” He points the gavel at Lauren.

  Mauro turns and heads off the stage.

  Lauren tosses the paddle in the middle of the table. “You can thank me on your wedding day.”

  “I didn’t want Mauro,” I argue, even if my stomach is too busy flipping and fluttering at the thought of a night alone with him.

  “Yes, you did. This is your chance. Either you find out he’s a complete douche and stop comparing every man you meet to him or you find out he’s everything you ever thought he was. Either way win-win.”

  “Okay, I need to be filled in here,” Vanessa says. “Especially since I’m supposed to be going out with his brother.” She points to Cristian’s bio in the book and narrows her eyes at me.

  “Later,” I say.

  “Fine. If this is the way we’re going to play it…” Vanessa turns away from our conversation and fixes her attention on the MC.

  “If you lost out on the first two Bianco’s, the third time’s the charm with the youngest or baby Bianco as he’s referred to by his brothers. If you love a bad boy who can’t keep it in his pants, then Luca Bianco is the man for you! Be prepared to dance the night away while swatting away the competition. Don’t bid unless you can handle yourself in a cat fight.” The MC chuckles. “Luca Bianco!” he says with flourish and points to the curtains.

  Luca comes out like he’s walking the catwalk of a fashion show, full of cocky confidence. He’s wearing his formal EMT outfit and he unbuttons his jacket, sliding out of it, swinging it over his shoulder as he spins around. His smile is flirtatious as his dark eyes scan over the women in the crowd.

  Where Cristian looked uncomfortable and Mauro looked a little irritated, it’s clear that Luca is in his element. He nods to the MC to get the bidding going.

  Paddles raise in the air as soon as it starts. Some lowering as the price steadily goes up.

  “Eight hundred?” The MC asks, and Vanessa raises her paddle behind Lauren’s head.

  “Eight to the pretty blonde in the back.” He smiles at her like he’s got a chance with her himself.

  Luca smiles too, and I wonder if it’s because he can see who’s bidding on him.

  “Eight fifty!” A woman shouts out from three tables over.

  “Nine hundred!” Vanessa stands.

  Lauren whips around, grabbing the paddle from Vanessa’s hands.

  “Don’t you dare.” She pulls on the paddle, but Vanessa pulls harder in the other direction.

  “Okay, ladies, no fighting,” The MC says.

  “Nine twenty-five!” the other woman yells.

  Vanessa wrenches the paddle back and Lauren lurches forward. “Nine fifty!” Vanessa stands and smiles, raising the paddle high in the air like they’re playing monkey in the middle.

  Lauren steps on a chair and stretches her small body forward. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” she says with wide eyes.

  I just look on and chuckle.

  “It’ll be fun. Maybe we can all go out together,” Vanessa says.

  I shake my head at her. That’ll be her excuse to give Cristian the cold shoulder I’m sure.

  “One thousand!” the other woman declares, smiling smugly at her friends like she’s got this.

  “Lauren you are the one who said we couldn’t fight the other on who they chose,” I remind her.

  “That’s before I thought she’d bid on him,” she says, him with disgust.

  I don’t know what she has against Luca Bianco and I wonder if my best friend has been keeping secrets from me.

  Unable to reach the paddle, Lauren teeters on the edge of the chair and has to crouch down before she falls.

  “Just tell me, what’s the highest you’ll go?” Vanessa asks the woman.

  The redheaded woman shrugs like game on. Vanessa blows at a strand of hair out of her vision. “Fifteen hundred!”

  “Vanessa!” I scold because she cannot afford that. She can’t even hold down a steady job. I mean, she pays me her rent in five, ten, and twenty dollar bills every month.

  “NO!” Lauren screams and stands trying to grab the paddle again.

  She finally loses her balance and crashes into Vanessa who can’t stop them from falling. They topple to the ground in a tangle of limbs, but Vanessa is sure to keep the paddle in the air.

  “Nice,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Do you counter?” the MC asks the redhead and she sits down in her seat, picking up her glass and downing the rest of her wine.

  “Sold to the lady on the floor wrestling her friend. Have fun with that one, Luca.”

  “Just how I like them,” Luca says before he saunters off stage.

  “It’s over,” I say to my friends still wrestling for the paddle on the floor. Classy, aren’t we?

  Lauren sits up on her knees, not bothering to straighten her dress or fix her messy hair. She could probably go a couple more rounds.

  “See, you’re perfect to fight off the competition,” I say and laugh.

  Lauren narrows her eyes at me.

  Vanessa stands, instantly situating her hair and dress. “Jeez, Lauren. It’s just a date.”

  “A date I won’t be going on. You just wasted fifteen hundred dollars.” Lauren stomps off toward the bar.

  I could use a drink too. I stand and begin to follow her, but my feet stop when Mauro comes into sight.

  He’s got a beer in his hand talking to a golden-blonde haired woman in an elegant dress that reveals her nice figure. He always did love the blondes. I remember some of the girls he was linked to in high school—Tasha Needlebrook, Holly Jenkins, Katie Iverson. All blonde, all thin, and all cheerleaders. The woman smiles, touching his bicep. Back when we were younger I was used to seeing the girls fall all over him, but what cuts me right now is his wide smile toward her. He’s hanging on every word she’s saying. Jealously rips through my body like a taser.

  Trying to shake off the unwelcome emotion, I continue on my way to the bar.

  “Tequila shot. Now.” Lauren slaps the top of the roll in bar set-up outside the ballroom. Her rudeness pulls a few stares our way.

  “Sorry Miss, we don't have tequila,” the kind women who served me earlier says without the friendly smile this time. “You want gin or vodka?”

  “Vodka and I need two then.”

  “I’ll just give you a double.” The bartender pulls out a regular highball glass and pours in more vodka than Lauren should consume.

  Lauren downs most of it in one gulp.

  Luca comes out from the ballroom and I notice Vanessa laying out piles of cash on the table to pay for Lauren’s date. The women accepting the payment glance at one another, looking a little unsure.

  “You think she’s hooking?” Lauren asks me, seeing the same thing I am.

  Who carries fifteen hundred in cash in their purse?

  “No. She would never do that.”

  Silently, I second guess myself…the hours she keeps, the cash she always has on hand, the way she’s always so shady about where she’s been.

  Nope. I know my friend and she is not sleeping with men for money. But she’s definitely up to something.

  “You’re probably right,” Lauren says.

  Luca stops when he spots Vanessa, leaning his hip against the table, eyeing her like she’s his next meal.

  “Great, now he thinks she bought him,” Lauren says.

  Vanessa nods to us and Luca steps to the side to look past Vanessa and smiles even bigger when he spots Lauren.

  Hmm, maybe he remembers us.

  “I’m going to go pay.” I head over to the table, but Lauren stays where she’s at, ordering another drink.

  “Hey, can I ha
ve the number for my date?” Cristian approaches another lady working at the table as I’m paying.

  “She’s right here,” the woman says to him and points to me.

  I finish tearing off my check and hand it to the other lady. “Actually, it’s her.” I point over to Vanessa who’s wandered off away from the table.

  His face pales when he sees her and then he turns to me, doing a double take. “Maddie?” he squints like he did earlier on stage.

  I nod. The fact that he recognizes me does nothing to boost my ego. I may have a metal free mouth, contacts, and lost forty pounds, but apparently, I’m still ‘Fatty Maddie’ at heart.

  He wraps me in his strong arms, pulling me to him. When he backs up he has the first real smile I’ve seen on his face the entire night.

  “Oh man, we have to catch up. I don’t think I’ve seen you since high school,” he says.

  I chat with Cristian for a while and he volunteers to buy me a drink, but he should really be trying to win over Vanessa.

  “So, I don’t get it, if you bought me…”

  “We switched paddles and bid for each other.”

  He nods like, he now gets it. “Are you trying to get me fired?” he whispers.

  My eyes linger on Vanessa who’s now talking with her dad and the blonde she chatted up in line who ended up winning the date with him. The woman’s arm slides through her dad’s and much to Vanessa’s delight I’m sure, they already look cozy.

  “Why would you say that?” I ask, looking back over to him.

  “Her dad is my Commander,” he bites out. “I can’t go on a date with her. I’ll end up working traffic patrol.”

  When I’d made the bid, I hadn’t known. “I’m sorry. I’m sure John won’t get mad at you taking her out for one date when it’s such a great cause.”

  “Have you met the man?” he says with sarcasm and an arched brow.

  Vanessa leaves her father and approaches us. Her self-confidence is like something I’ve never seen before. “Cristian,” she says his name coldly. “I’m sure you don’t want to go out with me as much as I don’t want to go out with you. I’ve already informed Maddie that she wasted her money, so let’s shake on the fact we’ll call it even.” She holds out her hand for him to shake.

  Cristian’s lips tick up for a second and he crosses his arms in front of him. Just like Mauro, he’s grown into quite the man.

  “Sorry, but I’m not really into letting my friend waste her money. I’m sure you have some hang up on a man in blue because of your daddy, but we are going to go out.”

  Interesting. A complete one eighty from what he had just said to me. I guess there’s no faster way to have a man interested in you than to make it clear that you’re not interested in him.

  Confrontation makes me itchy and I can tell from Vanessa’s eyes that a storm is brewing.

  “I’ll leave you two to discuss,” I say and slink off.

  Luca and Lauren are standing together now at the bar and he’s laughing while Lauren stares blankly at him. I could venture back into the ballroom or maybe be a wallflower until they’re ready to leave. I’m not unaccustomed to watching from the sidelines when we all go out together.

  A callused hand lands softly on my forearm. “Excuse me,” a deep voice says.

  I stop and circle around. My entire body shuts down for a second as Mauro Bianco stands front and center only a couple of feet away from me.

  “I heard you were the winning bid for me. Well, not for me, but a date. Which I guess is technically still me.” He shakes his head, chuckling to himself.

  I giggle.

  He holds his hand out. “Let’s start over.” His smile is infectious. His eyes, alluring. His muscles, worth salivating over. I’m back to being that sophomore girl again. “I’m Mauro Bianco. Thanks for coming out to support such a good cause.”

  “Hi. I’m… Madison Kelly.”

  His smile grows and my gut twists, my palms sweaty, my heart pounding against my chest as I wait with baited breath.

  “Nice to meet you,” he says.

  The knife twists in my gut and then slices my heart for thinking that he’d remember me. Of course, he doesn’t.

  I was always invisible to him.

  FLIRTING WITH FIRE

  COMING

  9.13.18

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  FREE BOOK! SCROLL ahead for a sneak peek into an enemies-to-lovers FREE book, CHARMED BY THE BARTENDER. You can’t miss meeting Cole Webber! “The laughs, the swooning, it was all perfection.” ~ Amazon Reviewer

  CHARMED BY THE BARTENDER Sneak Peek

  * * *

  I need another jolt of liquid courage before this guy shows up. I look up to order another drink expecting to see the pretty blonde who’s been serving me all night, but instead my eyes meet a set of hazel eyes fringed with dark lashes. Those eyes are set in the face of a guy whose bone structure would make any model jealous. Further inspection tells me that his body is no less impressive. Muscles bulge beneath his taut t-shirt, the hard planes of his chest and abs clearly visible beneath. My gaze darts back up to his face to see a half-crooked smile and a gleam in his eyes that tells me he knows how hot he is.

  After some work to reconnect my brain synapses with my tongue I’m finally able to speak.

  “Hey. You don’t look like the last bartender,” I say and push my empty glass toward him.

  “You’re right. She’s much cuter than I am.”

  His grin widens. And oh! There’s a dimple, too. I’ve always been a sucker for a guy with a dimple. Then again, who isn’t? I think of dimples as being the key to the chastity belt.

  “Ready for a refill?” He nods down to the empty glass.

  When I remember that a stranger is on his way to meet me so we can have sex together, panic flares inside me. I desperately need that drink.

  “Yes!” I say with too much enthusiasm.

  He doesn’t comment on my over-excited nature, thankfully. “What’ll you have?”

  I ponder for a moment, thinking that I need something stronger than what I’ve been drinking—I’m going to need to be buzzed for this—but unsure what to order. “Something that will put hair on my chest,” is my brilliant response to his question.

  His gaze darts down to my cleavage. “Now why would you want to go and ruin a perfectly good chest like that?” He arches a brow, but instead of waiting for me to reply, he turns and begins to make my drink.

  My face heats and a small portion of the confidence I’ve lacked lately returns. I smile to myself as he grabs a glass and adds ice to it, enjoying the way the muscles in his arms contract and relax as he sets about his work.

  I’m so lost in ogling his body that I barely notice when he sets a drink in front of me.

  “For the lady,” he says in that deep, slightly raspy voice.

  “Thank you.” I lean forward and draw the drink up the straw, not missing the way he’s watching my lips with intense focus. The sweetness of the cola hits my tongue first and then the taste of whiskey followed by something else I can’t place. “This is really good. What’s it called?”

  “A Stiffy.” One corner of his lip tips up in a grin.

  “What’s in it?” I ask as I lean in for another sip. I’ve never been a huge whiskey drinker, but this stuff goes down smooth.

  “It’s my own creation.” He winks and leans over the bar so close to me that his lips are practically touching my ear. “If I told you there’s no telling the things I’d have to do to you to keep you quiet.”

  A shiver runs up my spine and he must notice because he chuckles as he backs away, amusement lighting his eyes.

  “What’s your name?” he asks.

  “Whitney Knight. Most of my good friends call me Whit, though.”

  He places both palms on the bar top and lets his weight transfer to them, causing all the muscles to bunch up. Not that I not
ice because that would be slutty since I have another guy on his way here to screw my brains out.

  The scent of his cologne wafts my way as he leans in just a little. “I hope I have the pleasure of being able to call you Whit someday then.”

  I swallow hard, my tongue feeling heavy in my mouth. “What’s your name?” I ask in a breathy voice that probably gives away how turned on I am at that moment.

  “Cole,” he says simply.

  Cole. Just one look at this guy and I know he’s trouble. What I can’t be sure of yet is whether he’s more trouble than he’s worth.

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  Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings

  The last book in a series is always sad for us, but as you know, one day you’ll see these couples again. Maybe when you least expect it!

  * * *

  As we mentioned in the Manic Monday CUR, this book idea was born from Piper. She already had the idea for an enemies-to-lovers book about a woman falling for her ex-husband’s divorce lawyer who she despised. We were able to work with this idea and bring in the other two books to develop an entire series.

  * * *

  We’ve loved writing this series! We’ve loved giving you three very different heroes and heroines with three very different versions of what happily ever after means to them. Each one is a little different, but no less valid in our eyes. To some couples HEA means a white picket fence, two point five kids and a dog. To others, it means just the two of you navigating life’s ups and downs, but knowing you’re doing it together.

  * * *

  Rayne has especially loved being able to write these stories set in her hometown of Chicago. Which brings us to the next topic… The Bianco Brothers.

  * * *

  Lucky for Rayne, we’ll be staying in Chicago for another series. Mauro, Cristian and Luca Bianco will be our heroes for the upcoming series, The Blue Collar Brothers. We’ve given you a glimpse into our heroines. We’re going to let you in on a little secret. For Charity Case we went back to single point of view, giving you only the girls side of the story. But we couldn’t tease you with the Bianco brothers and not let you be in their head, so you guessed it—DUAL POV!