Bodie by Nyssa Kathryn

Chapter 3

Maya rushed down the street toward Inwood Bar. She was ten minutes late.

Argh. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could believe it. After all, she’d barely slept for weeks. It was only a matter of time before she crashed.

But, heck, she wished she’d at least set an alarm when she’d shut her eyes on the couch. It would have saved her from having to throw on her work clothes like a lunatic and all but sprint to the bar.

Dammit. She was already a below-par bartender. Add being late to the mix and why wouldn’t Trish fire her?

Maya couldn’t afford to lose her job. No one else in town was hiring and moving was expensive.

The very idea of that happening had a tremor of unease coursing down her spine.

Reaching Inwood, Maya rushed through the front door, immediately catching sight of Trish behind the bar. The owner was mixing drinks for some regulars. She looked over at Maya and gave her a smile.

She returned the smile, followed by what she hoped was an apologetic look. A please-for-the-love-of-god-don’t-fire-me look.

The other woman gave her a nod before turning back to the drinks.

Did that mean she wasn’t mad? Maya wasn’t an expert on reading people but Trish appeared okay. Maybe that meant she would be okay. The place wasn’t too busy, so perhaps the other woman would be lenient.

Beelining for the back room, Maya had only taken one step inside when her feet abruptly came to a stop.

A man stood in front of her. A shirtless man. A shirtless man facing her with cords upon cords of muscles spanning his tanned chest.

Maya’s mouth went dry. The guy had the most perfect body she’d ever seen.

When her gaze rose to his face, she found herself staring into a set of familiar brown eyes. Not familiar because she knew the man. Far from it. Familiar because his intense stare had clashed with her own not nine hours ago.

A smile curved his lips. It did nothing to slow her beating heart. “Maya. We meet again.”

Maya swallowed, trying to wet her throat. “What are you doing here?”

Only staff were allowed in this room. It held a small couch, a round table, and cubbies for staff to leave their belongings. Unless he planned to rob one of the workers, she couldn’t think of why he would be back here.

Bodie pulled a white shirt over his head. She hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it. The muscles in his thick arms bunched and the ones on his chest rippled.

Oh, sweet Jesus, the man was built like a Greek god.

Once the shirt was in place, it stuck to his body like a second skin. Showing off every hard ridge of muscle.

It probably would have been polite for Maya to look away. But the very idea of doing so seemed impossible.

“Sorry. I spilled a drink on my last shirt. Luckily, I brought a spare.” His voice was deep, making the hairs on her arms stand on end. “To answer your question, Trish just hired me to work behind the bar, so you’ll be seeing quite a bit more of me.”

He was working here? With her?

“I thought…I mean, I didn’t know Trish was hiring.”

God, she couldn’t even get her words out.

Bodie lifted a shoulder. “Maybe she took pity on me. A man passing through town, begging for a job.”

Her brows lifted. The man’s circumstances had quite a resemblance to her own.

He took a step forward, and Maya’s heart skipped a beat. This close, she was breathing his scent. His woodsy, all-male scent that made her want to lean closer.

Was it strange that she had a sudden urge to run her hands down his chest?

He tilted his head to the side. “I should get out there.”

Oh…she was blocking his exit. While she’d been mauling him with her eyes, he’d been waiting to get out.

Heat rushed to her cheeks in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Maya took hurried steps to move aside. Unfortunately, in her haste, her feet somehow tangled with each other, and she almost toppled over. Would have toppled over had Bodie’s hands not shot out to grab her arms.

“Whoa, you okay, darlin’?”

His fingers fully encircled her arm. His hands warm and firm on her skin.

Okay? No, she wasn’t okay. Her head was at war with her libido. It was as if the sight of a shirtless man, this shirtless man, had short-circuited her brain. Either that or turned the thing to mush.

Mentally shaking her head, Maya gently pulled her arms free. Bodie released her immediately. “I’m okay. Thank you.”

One side of his mouth lifted, showing one of his delicious dimples. “I’ll see you out there.”

He gave her a wink before leaving the room. A wink that had her stomach doing somersaults. Maya spent the next ten seconds standing there, trying to calm her overheated body.

What the heck was going on? Yes, the man was attractive. Probably the most attractive guy she’d ever laid eyes on. But did that mean she should turn into a blubbering mess?

She gently touched the tops of her arms where his hands had been.

Glancing around the small room, Maya’s eyes paused on the clock. Crap! She was now fifteen minutes late for her shift.

Crap, crap, crap.

Shoving her bag into one of the cubbies, Maya quickly dashed out to the front.

Trish was standing in almost the exact spot she’d been when Maya entered. Only now, Bodie stood beside her. Trish was helping him mix a drink.

Moving to stand on Trish’s other side, Maya wrung her hands while she waited for her to turn in her direction. When she did, Maya gave another apologetic smile. “I am so sorry I’m late. It won’t happen again.”

She felt like she should offer the woman some kind of explanation, but the only one she had was that she’d taken a nap that ran long. Then, after already being late, she’d spent another five minutes ogling the new employee.

Yeah, no. Maya wouldn’t be offering Trish an explanation.

Trish shot a look at her watch before turning back to Maya. “Only fifteen minutes, hon. Don’t sweat it. These things happen.”

A long, relieved sigh released from Maya’s chest, the tight band of worry loosening.

Good. She wasn’t fired. She wouldn’t be on the street. Not today, anyway.

Trish leaned closer. “I think your shirt’s inside out.”

Maya’s eyes dropped to her shirt. Darn it, it was. She’d barely spared herself a look in the mirror before rushing out the door.

Trish chuckled. “The amount of time’s I’ve done that…” She turned back to Bodie, while Maya ran to the staff room and fixed the shirt.

Good lord, what a miserable afternoon.

Maya returned to the bar and began serving drinks. She slipped into the role of bartender quickly, even though the job in no way came easy to her. She was a scientist. Her jobs during high school and college had all been in tutoring. This was a new world to her. And she was as far from a natural at it as one could get.

In a way, that was kind of good. It meant she had to really focus on the tasks at hand. Focus on what she was pouring into the glasses, on balancing them on the tray. It took all of her attention, meaning there was no time to think about other stuff. People who might be searching for her. Atrocities she’d witnessed. Health problems.

At least, that was usually the case. Tonight, she was focused on something else. Or rather, someone. Every so often, Bodie would brush close behind her. Or ask a question in his sexy-as-sin voice. One time, he reached across her body for a bottle of whiskey. His arm had brushed her stomach and caused a spike of awareness to course through her core.

It was a big distraction.

Sneaking a glance beside her, she saw him unscrew a cap off a beer. His biceps rippled. Heat washed over her torso.

“You got a new fella?”

Maya’s gaze flew to the man in front of her, a smile already curving her lips.

Roe was a regular at the bar and had been Maya’s first customer. He was there each and every night, always sitting on the same stool.

He’d mentioned that he was a retired police officer, but she never would have guessed. He had a gentleness about him.

She grabbed a glass and filled it with his favorite beer. “If you mean, did Trish hire a new fella? Then the answer is yes. His name is Bodie.”

She could see Roe inspecting Bodie as she pushed the beer across the bar, his easygoing air dimming as he studied the other man with assessing eyes. His expression remained like that for a few seconds before he nodded in what looked to be approval.

“Good. It’s about time Trish hired some muscle around here. You women are too vulnerable.”

Working in this bar was actually the safest Maya had felt in quite a while. She almost felt camouflaged amongst the crowd.

“I haven’t seen too many people who would warrant ‘muscle.’”

Not in Keystone, anyway. In New York, she’d seen a different type of muscle. A muscle that was far from normal.

Roe’s features hardened. “Erring on the side of caution is always smart. You never know what’s going to pop up on a normal day at work.”

Ice trickled down Maya’s back at his words. She knew that better than anybody. She’d lived it. She definitely hadn’t expected people to walk into her lab and kill every colleague on shift.

Maya nodded. “It’ll be nice having him around.”

Giving Roe one last smile, Maya turned to the next customer. She tried to force her mind off his words. Off the memories they evoked. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t distract herself.

You never know what’s going to pop up on a normal day at work.

She still remembered the conversation she’d been having with Belinda moments before her friend had died. They’d been discussing the other woman’s teapots.

Belinda had been describing her collection. Apparently, she had a lot. She’d even invited Maya over to see them.

Maya had laughed. She would’ve been all too happy to spend time with the other woman. Friendships were in short supply. Unfortunately, she’d never had a chance to accept the invitation.

For a moment, Maya stopped what she was doing. Pushing back the memories that came next. Of what happened to Belinda moments later.

Sometimes it was easy to suppress them. Today, for some reason, it was a lot harder. The ugliness crept into her mind and clouded every other thought.

Suddenly, a body brushed against her back. A hard, warm body.

Her gaze swung up and clashed with Bodie’s. He was reaching for something above her head. His lips stretched into a smile that went all the way to his eyes.

“Sorry, darlin’, just grabbing a new bottle of whiskey.”

She returned his smile. She couldn’t not. “Bottles are also kept under the counter down at the other end.”

If possible, his smiled widened. “I know.” Then he leaned down, his breath brushing against her neck. “But you were over here.”

Her abdomen heated at his words. So did her cheeks.

She watched him stroll back to where he’d been preparing drinks. Every other thought in her mind ceased. She’d been right about one thing. Bodie was one big, fat distraction. From work. And from everything else.