A Bar Tender Tale Read Online Free

fingers through it.
    So far all the major boxes had been ticked. Tall, yes.
    Dark, yes. And handsome?
    Hell yes.
    He was simply gorgeous. A perfect face, those dark eyes, and a strong jawline dusted with dark stubble. Not enough for a beard, which was fine, as Nathan wasn’t keen on beards anyway… but maybe just enough to tickle. He definitely wouldn’t mind that. Especially that bit of stubble above those full lips….
    Nathan became acutely aware that he was staring. He blinked, turning back to the older couple and tried to form words. “Um, sorry, er… there’s no Tabasco sauce….”
    “Try over there,” another old man who was propping up the bar barked at him, pointing towards the far end of the shelves. Nathan looked and miraculously found the Tabasco sauce.
    “Come here often, do you?” He teased the old man with a smile but received only a mumble in reply. Nathan worked fast mixing the Bloody Marys in case the gorgeous younger man got bored and left.
    When he deposited the drinks on the bar he saw Mr.
    Handsome was still there, waiting patiently for his turn.
    What amazing eyes….

    A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 22

    Nathan held out his hand absently to the older lady who was brandishing her purse, his eyes never leaving the younger man. He was perhaps older than Nathan was, but it couldn’t have been by much. It was hard to tell when someone was dressed in a suit. Maybe mid to late twenties?
    Maybe—
    “But you didn’t say how much the drinks are?” the older lady reminded him, demanding his attention.
    Nathan had to restrain himself from throttling her.
    Instead he smiled politely and turned away to the till. He couldn’t even make a face at her with his back turned since most bars, including this one, had mirrors along the shelves.
    Her beady little eyes were tracking his every move. He rang up the Bloody Marys.
    “Eight pounds sixty, please,” he told her, holding his hand out again.
    “ How much?” the older lady griped. “That’s outrageous!”
    “I know, hun,” Nathan tried to say as nicely as he could.
    “But I can’t do much about that, I’m afraid.”
    “Well, it’s very steep,” she muttered, but still handed over a tenner.
    Nathan snatched the note before she changed her mind, rang it through, and gave the change back to her, ready to turn away and—
    “Oh, have you got any cheese and onion crisps?” asked the older man who was with her.
    ARRGGH!
    Nathan glared but smiled at the same time. “Let me have a look,” he said between gritted teeth and disappeared A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 23
    under the bar. Taking a deep breath, he fished out the crisps and popped up again, placing the packet on the bar.
    “Cheese and onion,” he declared. “Do you want me to check how much they are first?”
    “Oh, yes please.”
    Nathan had been joking, but now he’d offered…. Well, if the old man didn’t buy them, he’d just have to explain to Gary about the error on his till later.
    “Seventy pence,” Nathan said, his eyes skimming over the couple to the gorgeous man next to them, praying he wouldn’t leave. There was a faint smile on the guy’s lips.
    Nathan smiled back, pleased that he didn’t seem to be in a hurry or on the verge of leaving.
    “Oh, seventy pence?” the older man said. “That’s ever such a lot for a packet of crisps….”
    Waiting two beats to remain calm, Nathan said, “Pretty sure I can’t help that either, mate. Sorry.”
    “Oh well… oh all right, then.”
    “Twisted your arm,” Nathan muttered, still smiling tightly.
    When the couple finally had everything they wanted, they shuffled off, leaving Nathan to drink in the visual feast of the man now in front of him. He was very good looking.
    His dark eyes simply danced as he smiled back.
    “You’re a lot more patient than Gaz, you are,” the man said in a voice that was both resonant and soft at the same time. There was the barest hint of a Welsh accent. “Is he