Uneven Odds

Chapter One

Julian

I knew from the moment I saw her walk into the bar that I had to have her. There was a light about her that cut through the gloom and misery of the bar, illuminating the place the way no neon jukebox ever could. And in the land of honky tonk and country music, that said a hell of a lot.

Her mouth had a stubborn quality, like she could argue with you for hours and never get tired of fighting with you, and the determination in her eyes told me she would never lose.

My father always said there were two kind of women in this world, ones you could easily tame and ones that would leave you broken. I knew instantly what kind of woman she was. she was the kind of woman that would leave you broken and bloody on the floor and still begging for more.

Her and the girl she'd come in with, walked up to the bar. "What can I get you ladies?" I asked over the roar of the Georgia Satellites pouring out of the jukebox.

The taller of the two leaned across the bar, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. "What would you recommend?" she asked in a sultry voice.

I laughed as I picked up a glass and began pouring alcohol into it. The jukebox shifted from the Georgia Satellites to a rocking Chris Young song. "Well," I said, "It depends."

"On?"

"What kind of trouble you ladies are looking to get into tonight," I said with a lazy smile at her friend.

The brunette glanced over her shoulder at her friend who shrugged. "Well," the brunette said. "What would you offer if I said we were looking to get into lots of trouble?"

"Sex with the bartender," I replied.

The honey blonde's mouth fell open in a delicate little 'O.' She shook her head no as the brunette slapped the bar and said, "When and where?"

I laughed again, more to be polite than anything. That was definitely not a new one. I added the ingredients, some rum, strawberry schnapps, a splash of cranberry juice and topped it off with orange juice, the slid the drinks across the bar. "Thirteen even sweetness."

She slid a twenty across the bar and winked. "Keep the change." Grabbing the drinks, she turned and shoved one to the blonde. Together they wandered off toward the pool tables. I watched for a few minutes, then turned my attention back to the throng of people trying to get my attention.

With one eye on the blonde and her friend and one on the bar, I made drinks on autopilot, watching her sit back and watch her friend get all the attention. There was something about her that made me think she felt like either she was above all this or maybe that she was just content to sit back and observe.

At that moment, she looked up, her eye meeting mine, and smiled, ducking her head as her hair hid her face.

"Hey, man, pay attention!" a voice said from behind me. I ignored it and kept watching the blonde. Hands belong to the voice punched my arm. "Julian, come on, pay attention."

I turned and looked at my best friend and co-owner, Liam, and smiled. "Sorry man, hot chick at the pool tables is checking me out."

Liam rolled his eyes and poured a shot of whiskey for a tall guy in a cowboy hat. He slid it across the bar and moved on to the next person. "She's not checking you out," Liam said matter of fact. "She was checking me out."

"The hell she was," I snorted. "You look like the wrong end of a pig."

"And you don't?" Liam laughed.

"Hell no man, I'm the finest looking thing in here."

Liam shot me a look that said we'd see about that. He climbed up onto the bar and held his hands to his mouth, shouting out, "Hey!"

The noise in the bar kept going, people drinking, Blake Shelton crooning out of the jukebox, laughter and a few yells from the pool table area.

"Hey you assholes, shut the hell up for a second," he yelled.

A few people turned and looked, seeing Liam on the bar, they quieted down and hushed the people around them.

"There, that's better," he said. "Look here, me and Julian got a problem. You see, he thinks this pretty little blond," he looked across the bar trying to find her. "Wait, Julian which one is it?"

I ignored him and he looked again and shrugged. "Anyways, he thinks she was checking him out, and I say she was looking at me, which lead Julian to say he was the finest thing in the bar tonight. I want you ladies to decide, who's better looking; me or Julian. Winner gets bragging rights for a year, loser buys a round for the bar."

Rolling my eyes, I climbed up onto the top of the bar. "How you planning on deciding who wins, genius?"

"Whoever gets the loudest screams and I don't want no dudes screaming at me," he said. "Ladies only."

I punched him lightly on the arm and smiled wickedly. "Alright, Ace, go for it."

Liam smiled. "I'll go first, on the count of three, ladies, ready; one, two, three."

The bar erupted into a mass of screaming females, holler, whistling and stomping their boots on the floor. Liam turned to me, a smile on his face like he knew he'd already won.

I nodded, shaking my head as if conceding defeat. Liam clasped my shoulder and turned to his adoring fans. "Not bad," he said. "but we still gotta give old Julian over here his fair shake."

I grabbed the hem of my tee shirt and waited as he counted to three, on three I pulled the shirt over my head and spun it above my head like a dancer from that cheesy male stripper movie a few years ago.

The bar erupted into a cacophony of cat calls and whistles, the whole lot of women going crazier than a cat in a bathtub.

I turned to Liam, shrugging unapologetically. "Sorry bro, but I think I won."

"Asshole, you cheated."

"Be more specific next time," I laughed, jumping off the bar and pulling my shirt back over my head.

The women in the bar groaned simultaneously and flocked to the bar. "Come on down ladies, come get your free drinks from the sexier bartender in the place."

Liam shot me a dirty look before jumping down off the bar. I looked up and right across the bar from me stood the brunette and the blonde.

"Ladies," I said smoothly. "Did you enjoy your sex with the bartender?"

The brunette leaned across the bar, "I sure did," she purred.

"What about you?" I asked, leaning around the brunette and focusing on the blond.

She nodded. "I did. It didn't have too much alcohol. It was good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Can I get you something else?"

"I guess so."

"Along the same lines, something kinda fruity?"

She nodded and I began mixing her a drink. Liam had dubbed it the Woo Woo drink after these spring breakers who'd come in last year and once they had a few drinks in them, their favorite words became woo, woo!

Luke Bryan came on the jukebox: Woo Woo!

Some couple put on a wicked two step routine: Woo Woo!

Their girlfriend got sick and puked on the pool table: Woo woo!

I handed it to her and watched her take a sip. "This is good," she said between sips. "What's it called?"

"I call it Can I get your name and number please?"

A red flush washed across her face, she ducked her head, hiding her blush.

"I swear, I'm not a stalker or a crazy person, I'm just a guy who works in a bar and saw a girl that I'd like to get to know a little better."

Blondie looked up, squared her shoulders and smiled. "Got a pen?"

Holy shit, I thought first, then, fuck, do I have a pen?

I scrambled around behind the bar for what felt like forever, then my hip vibrated. Dumb ass, I thought as I unclasped my phone from my waist and handed it to the blonde. "Just call your phone then I'll save your number."

She dialed my phone, hers ringing in her purse, ended the call and handed my phone back to me. "There you go," she said with a smile.

"What's your name?"

"Grace," she said. "Grace Finley."

"Well Grace, it is a pleasure to meet you. As you may have heard, I'm Julian Galloway. Owner and bartender of this fine establishment."

Grace laughed, ducking her head. "It's nice to meet you too," she said. "Thanks for the drink. I'll let you get back to work. See you later."

She grabbed her brunette friend by the arm and disappeared into the crowd. Liam sidled up next to me. "That's what I lost two grand worth of booze over?"

I shrugged as I popped the top off a long neck bottle of beer. "Consider it an investment. People are happy, and when people are happy they tell their friends about this amazing bar with a ridiculously sexy bartender. Win, win. Now shut up and pour these ladies over here a drink."

It was almost four by the time I shut off the lights and locked up the bar. My truck was the lone survivor holding down the parking lot. I slid behind the wheel and stuck the key in the ignition, yawning as the truck roared to life.

The radio blared to life, and I quickly turned it down. After listening to loud and rowdy music all night I wanted some peace and quiet. I turned out of the bar parking lot and turned toward home.

From the driveway I could hear Sirius howling. Poor dog, I thought, I should have made Amanda take him when she moved out. But no, I had to go and be the good guy and keep him when she came crying about her mama being allergic.

I shook my head. Dumb dog. He probably ate up at least three shoes and most likely gnawed the opposite leg of the coffee table off. He was lucky it wasn't the rainy season yet and the river was low or else I'd toss him in and see if he could swim.

Damn Amanda. I thought bitterly as I parked the truck and cut the lights. The howling inside turned even more mournful. I sighed and opened the truck door, thankful that was closest neighbor was almost three miles away.

"Shut up Sirius," I called as I slammed the door. "Or I'll go find the one that shouldn't be named and feed you to him!"

I shook my head as I climbed the porch steps and let myself into the house I'd lived in my entire life. As I turned the lights on and survey the damage, I could have thrown the dog into the river, rainy season or not. Scattered across the room were tan pieces of leather, rubber and shoe lace. The remaining piece of the sole was hanging precariously on the edge of the coffee table – which had escaped unscathed – while the shoes mate sat next to the front door in pristine condition.

Sirius, Amanda's almost full grown black lab named for that character from the wizard books that she was so in love with, sat on the couch looking at me with watery eyes. He cocked his head toward the shoe then back to me as if to say, you left it on the floor dumb ass, what did you think I'd do to it?

I shook my head and began cleaning up the mess, talking to the dog the whole time. "Just wait you asshole, first thing after I wake up, I'm going to buy you a tiny little crate and then I'm going to stuff you in, like a sardine in a can."

Sirius woofed and jumped off the couch, doggedly eyeing the reaming boot. He circled around me,sniffing, creeping closer and closer to the boot.

"Touch it and I will personally skin you and wear your fur to the bar," I growled at him.

He trotted over and licked my face before retreating to his corner of the living room, flopping down with a sigh that said I bored him, and began gnawing on a rawhide.

I shot the dog a dirty look and dumped the mass of chewed up leather into the garbage. Almost two hundred dollars down the drain all because I was too soft to tell my ex-girlfriend I would keep her dog rather than turning him over to a shelter where he probably belonged so he could torture the people there.

In the kitchen, I grabbed a glass of water and some aspirin and carried them to the living room. Setting them down on the coffee table, I flopped down onto the couch and toed my shoes off, stretched out and turned the TV on.

Some early morning show was on, the people talking about the countries latest scandals. Fifteen minutes later, I still wasn't paying attention to the show, instead, my thoughts were at the bar and beautiful blonde who'd come crashing into my world like a meteorite.