Bluestone Song Read Online Free PDF

glistening
at the opening of his western-cut shirt. Her tongue curled against
the desire to lick his skin. He stopped mid-strum to take the drink
from her. She watched like an idiot as he tilted his head back and
drank, watched the muscles of his throat work. He set the bottle
down and picked up the song exactly where he’d left off, to the
delight of the crowd. He grinned at Beth, which jolted her back to
awareness, and she spun away to fill her other drink orders.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to tip your
waitresses,” he worked into the song.
    She managed to avoid taking him drinks the
rest of the night.
    Leo Erickson and Trinity Madison walked in
and settled at an empty table in the far corner of the room. Beth
hesitated before walking over to them. They’d recently gotten
engaged and only had eyes for each other. Even taking their order
seemed intrusive.
    And she was big enough to admit to a little
jealousy here. A big time news reporter who comes back to town to
fall in love with the elementary school counselor—the story had a
definite Cinderella vibe. Not that Beth wanted a fairy tale ending
herself, but she was happy for Trinity, who had been alone way too
long.
    She pulled out her pad and approached. Leo
looked up from where he was rubbing his thumb back and forth over
Trinity’s knuckles, beneath a gorgeous, round diamond ring.
    “Seems to be working so far,” Leo said,
nodding to the bar where Quinn and Jess were hopping to keep up
with orders.
    “Let’s hope it has the effect of bringing
more people here to spend money all over town.” Leo, Trinity and
Lily Prater, the owner of the landing across the street, had
devised the idea of a concert series in Bluestone, to draw tourists
back to the dying town. Maddox was meant to be the highlight of the
series, but had backed out at the last minute. Hopefully his
appearance would bring people from the cities. “What can I get
you?”
    Leo ordered a beer and Trinity a glass of
tea. Beth couldn’t help herself. She lifted an eyebrow at the
younger blonde woman, who blushed. All the answer Beth needed.
    “We’re not telling anyone just yet,” Trinity
said, tightening her hands on Leo’s. “My parents haven’t quite come
to grips with us doing things backwards.”
    Trinity’s father was the retired preacher,
her brother the current preacher. Beth made a zipper motion with
her fingers across her mouth. “Got it. I’ll get your order out as
soon as possible.”
    But the two had already turned their
attention back to each other.
    Beth almost bumped into Dale as she pivoted
toward the bar. He was heading for the door. She placed her hand
against his chest for a moment, then let it drop almost instantly,
too aware of the intimacy of the contact.
    “Where you going?”
    He inclined his head toward Maddox. “Too loud
in here. I don’t come in here to listen to music.”
    The warmth in his eyes let her know exactly
why he came in here, and she blushed. “Tomorrow should be
better.”
    “You work the lunch shift?”
    She shook her head. “Quinn has a couple of
new girls at lunch so his more experienced waitresses can cover the
craziness.” She inclined her head toward the stage.
    “How long do you think he’ll be here?”
    Her blush deepened. Did he suspect about her
past with Maddox? “I have no idea. Not long, I’m sure. Things will
be back to normal before you know it.”
    He kept his gaze steady on hers, those brown
eyes seeing too much. “I hope so.” With a nod, he edged past
her.
    She followed his progress, then turned back
to see Maddox watching her through the crowd.
    The bar cleared out pretty quickly once
Maddox stopped playing, but the place was a mess. Beth gathered up
beer bottles and other detritus from a table, and felt the tray
wobble. She spun to steady it, only to see Maddox standing on the
other side, his hands on the tray.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Helping.”
    She didn’t let go of the tray and the bottles
rattled.