The Bartender's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

for now.
    He walked back to the rear deck, that kiss still surrounding him with an uncomfortable warmth. Joanna was spread out on the chaise Sam had just left. Two coffee mugs sat on the table beside her.
    “I guess I just interrupted something.”
    ****
    Husbands and wives shouldn’t kiss like that. Not when there’s no future in it for them. An hour later, after a very awkward car ride with Dylan, Sam still felt Lee’s lips on hers. His fingers still caressed the nape of her neck while she walked into Ray’s and looked around. He wasn’t there and she shrugged off the feel of him. She needed to concentrate on the business in front of her. Her body and all of its inconvenient needs would have to be ignored for now.
    She let out the breath she hadn ’t even realized she had been holding when a look around the place did not turn up Michelle. She wasn’t ready to confront her sister or make a stand about the bar. She’d been ready to hand Sam’s share over the night before. Whatever her thinking, Sam wasn’t about to fold that easily. She pushed her shoulders back and went in search of Alan, her father’s manager, just the person to tell her exactly how the place was actually doing in her father’s absence.
    One long conversation later and she was sure her head was going to explode. The bar seemed to be in crisis. One beer distributor had failed to deliver the local favorite, a few of the taps needed repair, and she ’d learned Lee had been fielding these little emergencies since her father went into the hospital. It hadn’t even hit her until then that her sister and Lee had kept the conditions of her father’s will from her at the funeral.
    She took pages of notes and looked over each one, marking them by priority until her eyes felt blurry from staring at the yellow legal pad. She needed a drink and some fresh air. The music blared out from the jukebox , and other than two or three tables, the dining room was empty. She headed behind the bar for a lime and a bottle of water.
    Sunlight filtered in as the door opened and Lee stepped in. She almost didn ’t recognize the woman beside him now that she was fully dressed. If you could call a mini-skirt and tank top fully dressed. She stifled the pettiness. Of course Lee would have a woman. It shouldn’t have torn her up like it did. Two years was a long time and she’d been the one to walk away.
    The two were in deep discussion, giving Sam time to watch them unobserved. The girl was pretty and her light blond hair the perfect contrast to Lee ’s tanned complexion. They looked like they belonged in that house. Lee’s house.
    He leaned down and spoke into the woman ’s ear. Sam watched as she turned around, took a seat at an empty table, and pulled out her phone. She was staring and didn’t notice Lee until he was right behind her.
    His breath moved the hair by her ear. “She’s my sister.”
    “ Your sister?” She held her breath until he stepped back. She felt her cheeks heat. Not only had she been wrong but he knew it. He knew she had mistaken the woman for his. Worse, he knew she was jealous.
    “ That’s nice.” She didn’t know what else to say. His smile was all knowing and sexy as hell.
    “ It is nice, except when she’s being a pain in my… Actually, that’s something I need to talk to you about.” When he didn’t continue, she gestured toward the office door.
    “ Do you have time now? We have a lot of things to discuss and I’d like to start as soon as possible.”
    “ I do and I’m all yours, I just need to get Joanna a soda. I’ll meet you in back.”
    The words ‘all yours’ echoed in her head. She was halfway to the office when the door to the bar opened again. There was no mistaking that coif or the anger in the gait of the woman headed her way.
    “ Samantha, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    Sam froze while her sister headed straight for her.
    “What?”
    “ You think you can