Lowlander Silverback (Gorilla Shifter Royalty 1) Read Online Free

whatever awful thing would make a tough woman like her cry in the corner of that ratty office. To talk to her without having to be rude for the sake of Rhett and Kirk. They would hurt her the second they suspected he harbored feelings for the curvy blond human bartender that he’d been watching from a distance for the last three years.
    What could he possibly want?
    Layla, holding a baby he put in her.
    Life didn’t work like that for a marked silverback, though.
    ****
    In a daze, Layla stumbled back out to the bar and relieved Jake from making drinks by himself. People were pouring in, and the Beck Brothers were set to start performing any minute now. Nate, the cook, was running ragged with orders in the kitchen, and the minute Layla stepped behind the bar, she was bombarded with drink orders.
    This was where she thrived. Good under pressure, she began pouring and serving and talking. Collecting money, opening tabs, giving change, next order. This was where she could let her mind go amid the clink of glasses and the tink, tink of ice, the pour of the beer spout and the murmur of the bar. When Denison’s first note rang out loud and clear, Sammy’s erupted in cheering and whistling. The Becks always drew a big crowd.
    Kong and his crew were still at the table in the corner, and every once in a while, the couple at the end of the bar stopped making out long enough for her to see him. And sometimes, he was looking back, always with a troubled look to his dark eyes.
    He’d hugged her. Okay, it had been borderline painful and he’d been too rough with her hair, but he was a big, muscular man who had seemed taken with the moment. Because of his aloofness, she’d thought he hated her all these years, but he’d gone and crushed her to his chest and apologized for what she was going through with Mac. And even if it had been startling and hurt a little, it had made her feel better just to have someone care for that one minute. She went through everything alone so she wouldn’t burden others with the problems she faced, but for that instant, it had been such a relief to share her vulnerability with someone else. And not just with anyone, but with Kong.
    She heaved a breath as she began to pour another beer from the tap. Kong felt even more important now, but he’d told her it was dangerous to approach him. What did that mean? Maybe whatever kind of shifter he was couldn’t be with humans. Or maybe his animal was out of control. Some of the bears were like that, too. The Gray Backs had all been wild before they had settled down with mates. One of them, Easton, still looked feral. Maybe Kong was afraid of his animal hurting her, which made the most sense. That hug he’d given her had jostled her mushy human frame pretty good. It had been comforting, but rough.
    When she looked at him again, he was watching her, eyes slightly lightened from a soft chocolate brown to an eerie green color as he talked to Rhett the Chauvinistic Poop Flake.
    She was surprised when Denison looked at her and announced it would be the second to last song. The night was coming to a close, and it had flown by. Probably because she was lost in Kong-land. She put in Denison and Brighton’s burger basket orders to the kitchen, and when they ended their last song, she began closing out the tabs of customers who’d just come in to watch the live music. There was an hour yet until last call, but half the bar cleared out in a matter of minutes after the Becks thanked the crowd for coming out and turned off the amps.
    After the rush died down, drink orders came in slower, and Jake didn’t have to help behind the bar anymore. She turned up the television again for Barney and cleaned the bar between closing out the rest of the tabs of the concert-goers saying goodnight to friends and trickling out of the bar. Kong and his crew were still here. She knew because she couldn’t keep her attention away from him for long.
    “Last call,” she yelled over the sound