Hearts Aflame Collection: 4-Book Bundle by Melissa F. Hart Page A

down, it was nothing like that. I
stopped by his apartment on my way here and saw him and Shawn
together.”
    Diane’s confusion was obvious, “They are best
buddies yeah, so…?”
    Lisa ran her hands through her wavy brown
hair and stared into eyes so like hers, yet so different, “Di,
together as in together!” She muttered through clenched teeth.
    It took a few moments for it to register but
when it did, Diane opened her eyes wide in shock. “Oh my god! They
were having sex together? Harry is gay?” she asked then seeing the
pain in her sister’s eyes winced, “I’m sorry Liz.” She said in a
quieter voice before gently enfolding her in a warm hug. “I’m so
sorry. This is gonna be okay, you know that right?”
    Lisa nodded, clinging onto her sister for
strength. She was no longer crying though instead she began to feel
anger simmering just below the surface. She stepped out of Diane’s
embrace and tried to smile, failing miserably. “Well, it looks like
we’re two men short. Brad will have to man the bar this night I
don’t see any help for it.” She sighed.
    “He will live.” Diane said with unusual
grimness about the man who owned the Clover Leaf Café and who was
also her lover.
    Liz smiled her first genuine smile that
night. Di had changed so much from the quiet country girl who had
come to live with her less than a year ago. She had been weary and
beaten down then, but she’d always had a core of steel and it was
gradually reappearing. Liz knew Brad has a lot to do with the
changes in Di and though she loved him like a brother, if he hurt
her sister she would have to hurt him. Chasing away the grim
thoughts, she chatted with Diane as they left the back offices of
the café and went into waitressing mode. Diane was the accounts
person but she always pitched in to help whenever they were short
staffed.
    The Clover Leaf Café was busy and Liz had
been on her feet for several hours. It was a Friday night
understandably and even with Diane’s help, coping with the demand
was tough. She took orders and served customers, remembering to
smile through her pain and the lingering sense of shame. She
fielded flirtatious comments from raunchy customers and did her
best to make sure things ran smoothly. She couldn’t wait for this
shift to be over though; she needed to be alone with her thoughts
and try to figure out why she always ended up with losers.
    Glancing at the functional watch strapped on
her wrist, she saw it was almost one a.m. which was when her shift
ended. They had stopped serving food by nine p.m. but there were
still plenty others who needed to drink. She had just deposited a
cold beer in front of a customer and had neatly evaded his groping
hands when the door to the café opened. Looking up, she saw him and
froze, their eyes met for a split second before she turned away and
went to take fresh orders. Let someone else deal with him, she
thought, and deliberately turned her back on him.
     
    ***
     
    Jeff clenched his jaw as he watched her move
away to serve another customer. He had no idea why he’d come here,
there were so many other bars in Downtown Denver that he could have
gone several months without coming here. Come to think of it, he
had gone several months and he was damned if he was going to avoid
a favorite haunt of his because of one headstrong woman. With
determined strides, he headed for the bar.
    “A beer please, whatever is on tap.” He
called out to the bartender without looking up. The music playing
was a loud rock number but instead of grating on his nerves as it
would have done on any other day, he felt it numb his mind as he
tried to forget about the stress of the entire week.
    “Bad day?” A deep baritone voice asked with
sympathy as the mug of beer appeared.
    Jeff took a deep drink from the beer, eyeing
the bartender over the rim. He was not surprised to see Brad
manning the bar; even though he owned the Clover Leaf Café he was
very hands-on with every aspect of