Read Sweet Little Lies: Heartbreaker Bay Book 1 for Free Online

would be a great rule if you ever left the building.”
    “I leave the building.” To get to and from work, butstill. He resented the implication that his life wasn’t enough as is.
    Elle shoved her glass under Sean’s nose. She didn’t like beer on tap. “Earn your keep, bar wench.”
    Sean rolled his eyes but took the glass. “What do you want, your highness? Something pink with an umbrella in it, I suppose?”
    “Do I look like a college coed to you?” she asked. “I’ll take a martini.”
    He grinned and shifted away to make it for her. Willa came around to Finn’s side of the bar. She was tiny, barely came up to his shoulder, but she was like a mother cat when riled. He knew better than to go toe to toe with her, especially when she was giving him The Look. But he wasn’t in the mood. “No,” he said.
    “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
    “You’re going to say I’m being a stupid guy,” Finn said. “But newsflash, I am a guy and sometimes we’re stupid. Deal with it.”
    “I wasn’t going to say that.” She paused when he slid her a look and she sighed. “Okay, fine, I was. But you
are
being stupid.”
    “Shock,” he said.
    She put her hand on his arm until he blew out a breath and looked at her again.
    “I’m worried about you,” she said softly. “You’ve got yourself on lockdown. I know this place has taken off and you’re so busy, but it’s like Sean is the one having all the fun with it and you’re just . . . letting him. What about you, Finn? When is it going to be about you?”
    He turned and watched Sean work his magic charisma on a gaggle of young twenties at the other end ofthe bar. He’d never gotten to be just a kid. The least Finn could do was let him be twenty-two. “He deserves it.”
    “And you don’t? You’re working like crazy and just going through the motions.”
    True or not, he didn’t want to hear it. “You want anything to eat?”
    She sighed, getting the message, which was part of why he loved her so much. “No, thanks, I’ve gotta go. Gotta get up early tomorrow for a wedding. I’ve got a cake to make and flowers to arrange.”
    He found a smile. “Another dog wedding?”
    In on the joke that she made more money off dog tiaras and elaborate animal weddings than grooming and pet supplies, she laughed. “Parrots.”
    Finn laughed too and gave her a hug goodnight. As she walked away, his gaze automatically searched for Pru. The gang was all moving to the back room and she was with them, heading for either the pool table or the dartboards. It was tourney night.
    He took some orders and flagged down Sean to pass them off. “Fill these for Workaholic, Playboy, and Desperado at your four, five, and six o’clock.” He turned and caught Pru staring at him. She’d come back for the bag of leftover chicken wings she’d forgotten.
    “Workaholic, Playboy, and Desperado?” she asked.
    “Customers,” Sean explained.
    “We all have nicknames?” she asked.
    “No,” Finn said.
    “Yes,” Sean said. And then the helpful bastard pointed out some more in the place. “Klutz, Pee-Dub, and Woodie.”
    “Pee-Dub?”
    Seangrinned. “He’s an old friend with a very new wife. He’s Pussy-Whipped. PW, which cuts down to Pee-Dub. Get it?”
    “I’m sorry to say I do,” she said, laughing. “And Woodie?”
    Sean smiled. “Would you like me to explain that one to you?”
    Finn reached out, put his hand over Sean’s face and shoved.
    “Hey, she asked,” he said, voice muffled.
    “What’s my nickname?” Pru asked.
    Shit. This wasn’t going to end well. “Not everyone has a nickname,” he said.
    She narrowed her eyes. “Spill it, Grandpa.”
    Sean snorted.
    Even Finn had to laugh. “Well it
should
be Pushy.”
    “Uh huh,” she said. “Tell me something I don’t know. Come on, what do you two call me?”
    “Your first day in the building, it was Daisy,” Sean told her. “Because you were holding flowers.”
    “From my boss