Celestial Nights [The Protectors 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Read online

  The Protectors 4

  Celestial Nights

  Celeste is fighting to keep her bar out of the hands of a rival, but she is growing tired of the battle.

  Tyler’s been riding the roads for months to escape his guilt over falling in love with his best friend’s wife. When he strolls into Celestial Nights, he isn’t expecting to find someone to rival that love, but Celeste might change his mind.

  Together, they run the bar despite the rival’s attempts at shutting Celeste down. When all is said and done, they change each other’s mind about what they want. Settling down and building a relationship sounds better and better to both of them.

  Tyler calls in a favor and manages to find someone to buy the bar for a fair price out from under Celeste’s enemy, and he settles an old hurt in the process.

  Now, Tyler and Celeste are ready to move on and discover what they can build together.

  Genre: Contemporary

  Length: 53,853 words

  CELESTIAL NIGHTS

  The Protectors 4

  Marla Monroe

  EVERLASTING CLASSIC

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic

  CELESTIAL NIGHTS

  Copyright © 2016 by Marla Monroe

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-641-0

  First E-book Publication: December 2016

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Celestial Nights by Marla Monroe from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Marla Monroe’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Marla Monroe’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Thank you everyone who asked for these books again. I loved writing them and hope you will enjoy this latest addition. If I give you nothing else, I hope it is hope and happiness with reading this book.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  About the Author

  Landmarks

  Cover

  CELESTIAL NIGHTS

  The Protectors 4

  MARLA MONROE

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  Tyler pulled his bike into the parking lot of the bar at a quarter to eleven on a Saturday night. He was tired of riding and just about everything else as far as that went. It only took one jerk of the chin strap to free up the helmet. He hadn’t bothered to wear it on the backroads but after he’d turned onto the interstate several miles back, he was sure to wear it.

  The bar didn’t look in too bad of shape from the outside. He didn’t much care what it looked like on the inside as long as the beer was ice cold. He needed a shower and some shut eye, but the possibility of a cold brew and maybe a burger went a long way to helping him forget about the dust build up on his body.

  It didn’t stop him from admitting how much he missed Morgan and Amanda. Tyler was pretty sure he’d fallen in love with the amazing Amanda, but she belonged to Morgan. Even though Tyler knew that, it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. Those two belonged together. Any fool could see that.

  I’ve got to pull it together and figure things out before I end up dead in some hole-in-the-wall motel with booze in one hand and nothing else worth mentioning in my other.

  Disgusted with where his thoughts were taking him, Tyler got off the bike and kicked the dust off his boots before striding across the parking lot toward the door to the bar. The parking lot hadn’t hinted at just how many people were crowded into the place. For being off the beaten path, the joint was jumping. He’d never been to this particular one before and wouldn’t have known about it if he hadn’t overheard a couple of other bikers at the last truck stop talking about it. The name, Celestial Nights, piqued his interest, so he decided to check it out for himself.

  The mixture of trucks, cars, and bikes in the parking lot made him think that there would be enough locals to keep the trouble down. Maybe. Inside, the place was packed from the bar that wrapped around the right side of the room to the dance floor where a mini-stage took up the back one-third of the place. He’d been right, there were some good old boys, a few bikers, and a few college kids from somewhere.

  Tyler maneuvered his way through the crowd to the bar and leaned over to look down the length of it to where the bartender was—and stared at the hottest looking ass this side of the Rio Grande. It was encased in a pair of tight black leather pants that made it obvious she was either wearing a thong or nothing at all underneath it. His eyes roved upward to find an equally curvy body with breasts that would ease a man’s needs. The short blous
e she almost didn’t have on revealed a glint at her belly button. She was pierced. He drank her in and when his eyes finally met hers, he knew he’d been caught, in more ways than one.

  She wandered down the bar to where he was leaning and lifted her eyebrows.

  “What can I get you?” she asked planting both hands on the bar and looking straight into his eyes without blinking.

  “Beer, whatever you’ve got on tap.”

  She had the prettiest light blue eyes he’d ever seen that seemed to see all the way inside of him where his deepest, darkest secrets were buried. Before he could linger on that thought, her long, strawberry blond hair pulled back in a ponytail swung over her shoulder as she reached for a mug out of the cooler. It frosted up as soon as it hit the sultry air promising to put ice in his cold one.

  All that pretty hair shouldn’t be tied back. It would probably just about reach her waist if she left loose. Tyler groaned when she reached across the bar to hand over a bottle of Bud to one of the waitresses. It sent that red tail swishing across her back. What he wouldn’t give to run his hands through it while she rode him. He’d wrap his hands around her hips and squeeze while she slicked up his dick with her hot pussy juices. Tyler’s cock throbbed against the zipper of his jeans.

  The bartender returned and set a glass on the bar in front of him.

  “Two bucks, cowboy.”

  He paid for it with a smile just for her. “Surely you don’t work by yourself in a place this size.” Tyler took a sip of the beer. Just like he’d thought, nice and cold.

  “No, I have help. Why? You looking for a job?” she asked.

  “Maybe. Depends on the job.”

  “Guess it depends on how good you are in a fight.” She looked over toward the door and frowned.

  “Guess you’ll have to trust me when I say that I am.”

  “Nope. You’re going to get a chance to prove yourself right about now.”

  The sound of cursing followed by the scrape of chairs being pushed back across the floor was all the warning he got before all hell broke loose. Tyler turned around in time to see a big son of a bitch pick up one of the chairs and crack it over an equally large man’s head. That was all it took. The rest of the room erupted into chaos.

  “Well, hell.” He took a long draw of his beer then waded off into the mess.

  He managed to grab the instigator by the back of the neck and knock him out before hoisting him over his shoulder and tossing him out the door. He dove back in and found another one and dragged his sorry drunk ass out the door, as well.

  When he turned back around, he saw the pretty little bartender shoving a baseball bat into some asshole’s stomach before popping another one on the ass with it.

  Damn, that had to hurt.

  She couldn’t be more than five-foot-four at the most with the boots she wore. It meant that the floor behind the bar had to be built up to give her the height she’d shown when he’d first laid eyes on her.

  The fight began to break up when she took the wooden bat to someone’s head, sending him reeling to the floor. The little woman climbed up on the bar, reared back with the bat over her shoulder, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “Shut the fuck up! Cut that damn music off, Ivy.” The room went silent.

  “Why do you have to do this every freaking Saturday night? Now ante up your money to pay for this mess.” She held out a hand and men walked by placing ten and twenty dollar bills in her hand before walking out the door.

  She turned to Tyler. “Did you get the two guys part before you threw them out the door?”

  “Sorry, didn’t know I was supposed to, and where the hell did your help run off to?”

  “This is it.” She indicated the bat by slapping the middle of the wood in her hand. “My last bouncer moved to Dallas after he finished school. I’ve got two barmaids that I can count on, and a part-time bartender. You want the job, it’s yours.”

  She kicked the guy she’d hit over the head with the bat and told him to get his sorry ass up and pay on his way out of the door. He moaned but rolled to his knees.

  “Come on, Milton. I didn’t hit you that hard.” She reached down and pulled him to his feet.

  The poor man dug around in his jeans pocket and pulled out a twenty that he handed to her before falling back into a chair holding his head in both hands. Tyler almost felt sorry for him.

  He chuckled and after turning up the rest of his lukewarm brew started picking up chairs and righting overturned tables. They inventoried the furniture to find out that there were four chairs broken beyond repair and one table that needed some shoring up before it would stand up straight on its own.

  One of the barmaids, who’d been conspicuously absent during the fight, swept up the broken glass. The other one went back to taking orders as the bartender took her place back behind the bar again.

  Tyler shook his head, feeling the first honest smile turn up the corners of his mouth that he’d had in weeks. This might turn out to be a pretty good gig. He needed something to keep him busy and this would certainly do that. He’d been a bouncer a time or two in his life, though it had been awhile. Somehow he figured it would all come back to him. Keep the underage kids out, make sure everyone treated the waitresses with respect, and when a little tough talk wouldn’t calm things down, take out the trash. Yep, he could handle that.

  There were considerably fewer patrons in the bar now. It would be easy to keep an eye on them. He took a seat at the bar and waited for little miss tight leathers to take a break to talk to him. She nodded toward the end of the bar, indicating for him to come around.

  “You ever bartended before?” she asked.

  “Some. Can’t do those fancy drinks, but I can pull beer, pop tops, and pour whiskey.”

  “Tap is three, bottles are four, and liquor is five-fifty. Take over for me for a few minutes. I need to pee.” She walked off and left him behind the bar just like that.

  He was right, the bar was built up in back. He easily towered over everything in the room. From that position, Tyler could see every inch of the room.

  Talk about a vantage point.

  He looked at the bar, then behind him at the shelves of whiskey and tequila. Nothing he wasn’t familiar with. He was a little surprised at the volume of top-shelf stuff offered. He’d have thought that anyone living out in the sticks where the bar was located wouldn’t have the finances for such. However, only five minutes later he had to get some black label tequila down.

  Tyler shrugged and decided it was like falling off a bike, you never forget the motions. He was pulling beer, setting up drinks, and filling the till with money over the next twenty minutes before the feisty bartender returned looking refreshed with a small bandage on her hand near the wrist. She took back over, without a word, so he leaned back against the back of the bar and watched her.

  “So, what’s your name?” she asked.

  “Tyler Robertson. What’s yours?”

  “Celeste McDonald.”

  “Ah, an Irish lassie. Somehow fits that you would bartend.” Tyler took a swig of beer and watched her over the top of the mug.

  “So, are you interested in doing a little head-bustin’ and bartending?” she asked.

  “How about I work on keeping the fighting down and help with the bartending.” Tyler grinned.

  “Works for me. Hang around till close and we’ll talk money. I’ll get your paperwork filled out.”

  “I can do that.”

  He set himself up at a table in the corner where he had a clear view of the entire bar, the door, and he could watch her work. She was smooth, keeping up a steady conversation with those around the bar as she lined up the drinks for the barmaids. He tried to keep an eye on the crowd, but watching her was so much more interesting.

  “You need another beer, honey?” A buxom brunette leaned over the table, displaying her womanly attributes.

  He wasn’t interested.

  “No thanks, I’m fine.”


  “You sure are fine. You need anything, anything at all, you just ask for Wanda. I’ll take real good care of you.” She winked at him and sashayed off to fill more drink orders.

  Tyler noticed she’d crossed over to the other waitress’s side to extend her invitation. Maybe. Naw, he was much more interested in the lovely Celeste. Something about her brought out the protective streak in him, even though she seemed more than able to take care of herself. Still, she was a tiny thing, and he was more than happy to help her. Maybe he could even give her a little more personal care, as well.

  At least she hadn’t growled at him for sizing her up. In fact, she’d done the same to him. Of course, she was thinking about hiring him so it might not have been sexual. His sure had been. The woman was hot and he didn’t mind getting a little singed.

  * * * *

  Celeste kept an eye on Tyler over in the corner. He didn’t seem to take up Wanda on her offer by the look on her face. Maybe he wouldn’t be a playboy and go through her clientele like a lot of bouncers did. She didn’t need the drama, especially with the married ones. She’d have to warn him about that.

  His shaggy, light brown hair brushed his shoulders with a little curl at the ends. Hazel eyes lit up when he talked and there were laugh lines around his eyes. She could appreciate a man who knew how to laugh. He seemed to be honest since neither of the girls had indicated he’d pocketed any money. Then, there was the fact that he was built like a Greek god.

  I don’t need to be thinking about his looks since he’s off limits for me. No fraternizing with the help. What a lame rule.