A Flawed Heart Read Online Free Page A

dancer, what with your legs and everything.”
    Just then I trip over my own feet. Jason grabs my elbow
before I eat the pavement.
    “Shit. Yeah, I’m definitely  not  a dancer.
Beauty and grace are not my thing.”
    His gaze locks with mine, and I’m once again caught in that
crazy current. He lets go of my elbow and slides his hand onto the small of my
back. I startle at the intimacy of his touch and the closeness of his body. He
brings his mouth to my ear, and I feel his hot breath on me as he whispers, “Hmm.
I don’t know about that.”

 
 
 
    Chapter Two

 
 
    He r emoves
his hand from my back, and slows his pace to match Ben and Skye’s. Lydia skips
over and links her arm through mine again.
    “You okay? You’re falling over, and you didn’t even drink
anything yet,” she says.
    “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little clumsy.”
    We arrive at the
bar. The wooden sign that reads Alexa’s is faded. There are Christmas lights in the window, which were probably put
up a hundred years ago at holiday time and never taken down again. The bouncer
checks our IDs, and we squeeze inside the packed bar. Lydia is greeted by a
huge group of her friends. Everyone loves her. She introduces me to a mass of
people. I catch some of their names, smile, and wave hello. Then, I excuse
myself to walk over to the bar. I’m nervous and I need a drink.
    The bartender’s hair is blonde with some gray mixed in, and
it’s pulled back in a low bun. She wears a fitted, flannel shirt, old jeans,
and work boots. She has a bottle opener in her back pocket, and she looks
tough. She sees me waiting and starts to come over, but stops when she sees
Jason. He’s standing several feet from me. She leans over the bar to give him a
tender hug. Jason says something to her and nods in my direction. She looks at
me and nods at him, then turns and pours two shots of Jagermeister and places one in front of Jason. He lays some money in front of her, and she walks
over to me with a smile.
    “Hello, Claire. I’m Alexa. Welcome to my place. This is a
little gift from Jason. He calls it his liquid
courage .”
    “Thank you, ma’am. It’s nice to
meet you.”
    Jason is leaning against the bar, facing me. He raises his
glass over the heads in the crowd, wordlessly toasting me and inviting me to
drink. I raise my glass in return, and my eyes lock with his. In this moment, I
feel like we’re the only two people here. I put my glass to my lips and knock
the drink back. He does the same and gives me a sly wink, then turns and walks
toward the back of the bar.
    Lydia comes over, and orders a bucket of Rolling Rock after
chatting with Alexa.
    “Come on, let’s move up front.” She takes my hand in her
free one, and we make our way through the crowd.
    There are cocktail tables at the front, and one has a
reserved card on it. This strikes me as funny—a VIP table in such a shitty
place. I’m wondering who it’s for when Lydia pulls out a chair. She smiles at
me.
    “Being related to Jason has some benefits, best seats in the
house.”
    Ben sits with us, though he barely fits at the table. The
fourth seat is empty, and I wonder who it’s for. I turn and see Skye in the
back with a group of girls, standing on the bottom rung of a bar stool and
yelling to Alexa for more shots. She and her friends must intend to get alcohol
poisoning. I look up at the stage, which is more of a raised floor with a
covered pool table on it. A spotlight shines on a single bar stool and
microphone. I grab a beer from the bucket and pound half of it.
    “Jeez. You thirsty Claire?” Ben
asks.
    “Yeah. A little, I guess.”
    Ben grabs a bottle, elbows me and gives me a smile. “Me too.”
    A beautiful girl with pin-straight, jet black hair
approaches our table.
    “Alana, finally!” Ben gets up and
bear hugs her.
    She sits down, and Lydia introduces us. Then the lights dim,
and the bar is cast into darkness except for the light on the stage. The
background music