Blue Persuasion Read Online Free PDF

brown countertop. A charged jolt stopped me, and I bucked my head around, trying to locate the cause. Rick still sat at the end of the bar, and the couple at the two-top table ate as if nothing torrid had taken place. I pushed the sensation aside, grabbed the big plastic container, and headed to the back to fill it with ice.
    As I hauled the heavy bin back toward the mixing station, I saw the cause of my excitation: Tate along with Cat. I lowered the ice, glared at Cat, and texted her.
     
    Me: What the fuck!
    Catherine: Be nice!
     
    I wanted to smack her for playing matchmaker when I told her I wasn’t interested. Lifting the plastic bin again, I walked forward and set it on the edge of the sink. Keeping my head down, I dumped the ice into the receptacle near the hard liquor. “Get it over with,” I whispered to myself. I approached and tossed a coaster in front of them both. “What’ll it be?”
    “One of the IPAs on draft,” Tate said, leaning on the bar instead of taking a seat on one of the white, backless stools. Maybe his ass hurt from the tattoo, and I can’t say I was feeling sorry for him.
    “You?” I asked Cat.
    “Just water. I need to get back to the shop.”
    After retrieving a frosted mug from the cooler, I poured the beer into the glass, giving it the perfect foam head. Placing the water and beer down on the coasters, I said, “So was it the boobs or the small waist?”
    His eyes blinked a few times, but otherwise his sour expression didn’t change. “Excuse me?”
    “Sorry, never mind. I’m sure you’re a great guy, but you aren’t even slightly my type.”
    “Blue, cut it out!”
    Repeating Cat’s cadence, I said, “Cat, stop meddling!”
    Tate slowly lowered his beer to the counter. “How can you decide that without talking to a person or getting to know anything about them? Isn’t that like me judging you solely on your...” He waved his hand up and down, his eyes following the movement and finished, “...your assets?”
    “Well I... Yes, I guess it is exactly like that. Men your size ... they intimidate me, and I’ve had a few rather unpleasant—I’ll be right back.” I hurried away to ostensibly help Rick at the other end of the bar.
    Tate’s stare scorched my back and elicited a desire I couldn’t contend with. Not that I thought he was slightly interested in me, if the permanent scowl on his face meant anything. I prided myself on learning from my mistakes. No big, angry men with swagger, and he had both in abundance. Plus, his ability to stir me when not in my immediate proximity set off all my alarms.
    I made Rick another dry martini and swapped out his old drink for the new. Silently, I prayed for the bar to fill up and fast.
    With my eyes downcast, I walked back to Tate, who had finished his beer, Cat nowhere in sight. “Another?”
    “Sure. Cat took off,” he said, his white teeth flashing for a millisecond before his jaw clinched again.
    Do I cause him pain? Maybe his ass is burning.
    “Cat seems to think we could be friends.”
    I tilted my eyes up, trying to make sense of the man in front of me. “Does she often push you on people?”
    “Nah, this is a first.”
    I saw the very first hint of a smile that quickly vanished. “I’m not open for anything more than that,” I said, but immediately wished I had kept my mouth shut.
    “Neither am I.”
    “Oh?” I was completely offended. Now I was the one with the scowl on my face. “You can do just friends?”
    “Yes, Blue, I’m quite capable of that.” His deep brown eyes unnerved me as if they could penetrate my self-protection while he gave nothing of himself away. And yet, his gaze permeated me and filled me in a way no one ever had.
    My pussy sure as hell liked him as it pulsed in response to his stare. “Only my friends call me Blue.” I didn’t like how he said my name at all. It carried way too much familiarity or something I couldn’t quite place.
    With a serious expression he said, “Okay,