Goldie [Pyrate's Treasure 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free Page A

Treasure, keeping an eye out for her big, blond mate who did not seem to want her. As head bartender, she was scheduled to work tonight. She was probably late, but her grandfather would forgive her a few minutes. He always did.
    She also knew that Caleb would no doubt show up at the bar at some point in the evening. All the guests did the first night. She needed to be safely behind her bar and focused on her job before he did. Though it would be nearly impossible, she would try to give him room to settle in before she gave in to her inner wolf who was demanding she go, hunt down her mate, and claim him.
    As she crossed the pub’s back deck overlooking the port, she automatically returned the greetings of Emerald and Cash, two more of her cousins who helped out at the pub during busy evenings.
    “You’re late,” her grandfather grumped from his customary seat at the end of the bar without looking up from the book he was reading.
    “I was on the ferry,” she said before stopping and kissing his cheek. He patted her shoulder in a forgiving motion before she moved behind the bar.
    She stepped into the back room and half closed the door then changed into the Pyrate’s Treasure T-shirt she’d carried in her bag during her ferry trip. After tossing her shirt in the carryall, she combed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail before returning to the main room.
    “You met someone,” her grandfather commented as she quickly checked to make sure everything was prepared for a busy night. “Your mate, possibly?”
    Shocked by his accurate pronouncement, Goldie turned and stared at the man who was not only her oldest living relative, but also her mentor and pack Alpha. “How did you know?”
    “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with him?”
    Goldie did not answer, but focused on working instead.
    “Child? Answer me. Someone could fill in tonight while you claim your mate.”
    Realizing that human ears might overhear something they should not, she walked the length of the bar until she stood right in front of him. “I tried to claim him. He pushed me away and said we had to talk first.”
    “So talk to him and then claim him. He is your mate, after all. I want to see pups running around this island before I die, and I’m not getting any younger.”
    Goldie smiled as her grandfather blustered. As usual, he laid things out simply and directly.
    “Yes, Alpha,” she said softly before turning to answer a waitress’s call.
     
    * * * *
     
    By the time Caleb reached the pub, his cock had softened somewhat, but he wished he could plunge himself in a tub of ice water before meeting with the man who would be his boss for the summer. He paused for just a moment on the wide front porch of the small brightly painted building. Taking several deep breaths, he fought down an unprofessional urge to say to hell with reporting for work and going to track down Goldie.
    But duty came first, as it always did in his life. Which was but one of the reasons at the age of thirty-one, he was still single. He put the job before everything else in his life, including relationships. Would Goldie be able to handle that small detail of his life? That helping others, on duty and off, was what he lived for? Would she want to help him help others? Or would she demand he step back from that part of his life?
    Shaking his head at his sudden wild imaginings that he and the lovely black-haired beauty he had spent only a few, very intense minutes with might have a future together, Caleb shifted the luggage in his hands and stepped across the porch.
    Pushing the door open, he stepped into Pyrate’s Treasure and paused when he felt the air change and become electrically charged. He scanned the room, his eyes taking in the old-world décor combined with brightly colored walls and posters advertising beers and pirate sayings. His eyes passed over the woman standing behind the bar mixing a drink, then came back to her again. His half-hard cock surged back