Quinn’s POV

Collecting all the money from the bar that the customers left behind, I began to pray that it was enough to cover all the outstanding tabs that were left for the night. I didn’t know how I was going to explain a short register to Charlie on my first night here. As I began to count the money the door to the bar opened and the two men that had followed my assailant outside returned and locked the door behind them. They then moved towards their seats that they were in before Bishop had closed the place down.

Tonya moved herself behind the bar and began to help me to try and figure out the mess that I had going on with the register. I was thankful she was here with me on my first night. in case the register didn’t add up so that she was my witness of what happened. In all my bartending career days I had never seen something like this happen.

“Jaxson would like to have a word with you.” I heard someone say from behind me and turned to see the big guy named Bishop standing at the bar looking straight at me.

“Well, can’t you see you guys have made a bit of a mess for me on my first night. If I don’t figure this all out, Charlie is going to fire me on my first night here. So, you just tell Jaxson it’s not going to happen tonight.” I told him as I turned back around and went back to trying to make sense of the mess in front of me.

Tonya gave me a look when I turned back around and whispered to me, “You really have no interest in him.” Like she was shocked that someone would not want to speak to the hottest bachelor in this town.

Looking over my shoulder I took a glance back to the back table where he still sat and his eyes were on me. Was the man hot, yes, he sure was. Did he send heat to my lady bits, he sure did, but I knew my rules, and they were to stay low and not to let myself get attached to anyone. Just like all the towns before this I wasn’t sure when my ex was going to find me and I would have to make a quick getaway. Getting involved with someone was just going to cause me more heart ache or the death of whomever I am seen with.

“Like I said earlier, I have a crazy ex and I’m messed up from it.” I tell her as I finish adding up all the tabs. “What total did you get?” I then asked her as she finished counting the cash.

“Four hundred and twenty-two dollars, and you?” She asked me as my face fell, knowing that the register was short and I was going to have to take my tips to make it right.

“Five hundred and ten dollars.” I told her as I moved to my tip jar praying that there was enough to make the difference.

“What are you doing?” Tonya asked me as I stood there counting my tips.

“Making up the difference so that I don’t get fired on my first night here.” I tell her and I thankfully have enough to cover the difference plus an extra twenty which will at least get me some food for tomorrow.

“Quinn, it’s not your fault, let Jaxson deal with it.” Tonya tells me and I look back at his table before I hand her the money and say, “I don’t want to owe him anything.”

Moving around the bar I began to pick up glasses to clean them so that I could just get this night over with. Charlie had finally come out from his office and saw that the bar had been shut down by the group of men in the back of the room. “Quinn, when you get that all cleaned up, you can go home for the night and I will see you tomorrow night.” He then moved to the back of the bar and took a seat at the table next to Jaxson and the two men began to talk like old friends.

Once everything was cleaned up I told Tonya that I would see her tomorrow and grabbed my belongings. I headed towards the door to leave but was stopped by Bishop when he says, “Let me walk you to your car, to ensure your safety.”

My eyes instantly moved to the back table to see Jaxson staring at me with an intense look on his face. “Did he put you up to this?” I asked as I nodded towards Jaxson.

“I’m not going to lie and say he didn’t.” Bishop says to me and I had to give him credit for not lying to me.

“I think I like you, Bishop.” I tell him as I unlock the door to step outside allowing him to walk me to my van.

When I stop at my van and began to unlock the door Bishop says, “Wait, this is yours?”

I knew that the van wasn’t much but over the last year of me being on the run, it had been home. I had been able to convert the inside into a makeshift living area so that I didn’t have to worry about having a roof over my head. Most of the small towns had a campground and I was able to stay on the properties for cheap and use their amenities for showering and other purposes.

“Yep, this is mine. So, now that you saw me not just only to my vehicle but to my home you can tell Jaxson you saw me home too.” I told him as I gave out a slight chuckle.

“This is really cool. So, you just travel around wherever you feel like going with this?” Bishop asks as he looks inside of my van. I am shocked that he isn’t judging me for what little I have but interested in old Betty, knowing what Tonya had told me about them coming from money.

“Yeah, that’s been my lifestyle for the last year or so.” I tell him as I can’t believe it has been that long since I have been on the run.

“So, are you parking her here for the night?” Bishop now asks me and I shake my head and say, “No, I got a spot over at L & M for the time being.”

“That is awesome. My family owns that campground. It’s a quiet little campground and I am sure they will take good care of you there.” Bishop tells me and all I could think about was what Tonya had said about them owning half of the town.

“Well, its late and I need to get going.” I told him as I moved to get into old Betty.

“Hey, we are having a little get together this Sunday at my place, and since you are new here and don’t really know anyone, I was wondering if you would like to join us.” Bishop said to me before I closed my door.

The thought of actually getting to let my guard down and hang out with people my own age was enticing but I knew I couldn’t allow myself to have that luxury. One wrong move is all it took for him to find me. Whether it be a picture someone innocently put of me on their social media, or a report with my name on it at the police station because of a bar fight, he always found me.

“Listen Bishop, you seem like a really nice guy and I would love to come to your party but I can’t.” I told him thinking that I let him down easily and he would except it but he didn’t.

“Is this about your ex that Tonya told us about? You know we can keep you safe from him.” Bishop says to me and I have to laugh when I say, “No one can keep me safe from him. I have to go.” I said to him and Bishop steps back from my van as I shut the door and started old Betty.

Quinn’s POV

As I pulled out of the bar’s parking lot I looked in my rear-view mirror at Bishop standing there watching me. A part of me wished that he and his group of muscular men could protect me from my ex, but that was a lesson I had already learned months ago. It didn’t matter how much bigger the guy was than Tristan, he was always stronger than them and faster. I knew the night I had run from him when he showed me his true side that he wasn’t human and it scared the crap out of me.

What I couldn’t understand was why he just wouldn’t let me go. I was a nobody with no family to run to. I was raised in the foster system since I was a baby and I had been shuffled around so much that I didn’t even know where I truly came from. Getting into college was my biggest accomplishment but that was short lived when I met Tristan and my whole world got turned upside down once again.

The only person in this world that I could truly count on was myself and I had to listen to what my instincts were telling me and that was to stay low and stay alive. That meant not letting myself have friends that might want to help me, like Bishop. I didn’t want any more blood on my hands from what Tristan might do to them if he found me.

It was a lonely life that I was living but at least I was alive and surviving. Something I had promised to Asher before Tristan killed him trying to get to me. It was a promise that I had vowed to keep in memory of him and I planned on doing what it took to keep it so that he hadn’t died in vain.

I found myself having a heck of a time trying to fall asleep once I got situated in my van at the campground. When I tried to close my eyes, Tristan’s face plagued my dreams. I knew it had to of been the incident at the bar that caused it. Finally, around three in the morning I took my mind in a different direction as I thought about Jaxson and the way he gazed at me all night. There was something about him that called to me. I knew it just had to be my lady bits that so desperately needed attention from a man but something inside of me told me there was more to it than that.

The intensity of his stare was a bit overwhelming. It was as if he was calling me to him. I did all I could to resist knowing what the outcome would be. Asher’s bloody face was all I had to think about to resist the urge to go to him or to the party that Bishop had invited me to. And I so desperately wanted to go the more I thought about it.

It had been almost a year since I have let myself kick back and enjoy a night out. This lifestyle I was living wasn’t doing anything for my social life. I had been alone on the road for so long that I had forgotten how to relax and enjoy a few hours of not living in fear. It was a privilege that I no longer had thanks to Tristan. I regretted my decision that one night that I had given into him.

I had been working at a local bar off campus for over two years and I was making good money there to help support myself through school. Not too many of the college students went there and the normal crowd was the locals who tipped very well due to it being a higher-class side of town. Most of the clientele there was the more elite and I didn’t have to deal with the nonsense that a normal bar would cause.

The night Tristan had walked in, I could remember like it was yesterday. Something about him drew me to him and his charm was all it took before I was agreeing to go out with him. I knew right away after the first date that I was below him in status, but it didn’t stop me from continuing to see him. He made me for once in my life feel like I belonged somewhere and I fell for it all. I fell for all the promises he made me and all the dreams that he placed in my head about the future of the two of us together.

A month later was when I figured out that Tristan wasn’t who he said he was when I walked in on him with another woman at his house. The sounds of a woman moaning drew me to his bedroom and when I opened the door to see them both naked in bed together. My heart began to break into a million pieces but my attention quickly moved to what he was doing to her at that very moment. His mouth was on her neck as she moaned and I could clearly see he was feeding from her like a vampire would in the movies.

Fear consumed me and my heart began to race at the sight in front of me. That’s when his attention turned to me, he pulled his teeth from her flesh, and looked at me as blood dripped from his lips in shock that I was standing there watching him. At the speed of light he was out of the bed and to me as the woman’s body slumped to the bed.

I remember him looking into my eyes and saying, “Quinn, you saw nothing tonight. You were never here and you need to go straight home and wait for me to call you.”

Watching enough vampire movies in my time, I knew what he was doing. He was trying to compel me into thinking I saw nothing but for some reason his compulsion wasn’t working on me. I used that to my advantage as I turned around and walked out of his door and ran as fast as I could to my apartment where I packed up everything that I owned and headed for the hills.

That’s when I met Asher and I was hesitant to get into another relationship. We kept it on a more friendly base which was easier for me to accept after what had just happened with Tristan. Asher was the bouncer at the new bar that I had gotten a job at and we made friends right off the bat. He was easy-going and was full of life and he pulled me from the dark place that I had been after seeing Tristan’s true self.

It had been a little over a month since I had moved and Asher and I were getting more involved with each other. He had asked me to move in with him. I was hesitant as I was still worried that Tristan might come looking for me since I had seen him for what he truly was. I told myself that it had been over a month and there was no sign of him so he wasn’t looking for me. That was the biggest mistake of my life thinking that I had freed myself of him. That one little mistake cost Asher his life and I will never forgive myself for it.

Quinn’s POV

“You are here early.” I heard Tonya say as she walked into the bar catching me in my thoughts.

Dumping the last bucket of ice in the cooler, I say, “Yeah, I had a rough night trying to sleep, so I thought I get an early start prepping the bar for tonight.”

Tonya walked over and threw her purse under the bar and moved to me and asked, “How is your wrist?”

Holding my arm up in the air the faint marking of a man’s handprint still outlined my wrist. I knew last night that it was going to bruise when he did it. “No wonder you didn’t sleep last night.” Tonya said as she handed me a small container of something.

“What is this?” I ask her as I take the lid off and smell it. It smelt like fresh flowers mixed with eucalyptus.

“I dabble in herbal medicine. Trust me in a day or two that bruise will be gone if you use that.” Tonya told me and I thought why not give it a try. There was no harm in putting a little homemade lotion on it.

Instantly as I applied it to the bruise, it began to feel better and I looked at Tonya and said, “You need to patent this and sell this stuff over the market. I can already feel relief from it.”

Tonya gave out a giggle and said, “You have to have money to do something like that first and I don’t think my wage here is going to cover that expense.”

I knew she was right and that the two of us were always going to be stuck in a small town with no future for us other than pouring and serving drinks. I had gotten used to the idea over the last year that this is my life now.

“I’m going to the kitchen to start prepping a few things.” Tonya said over her shoulder as she walked back the hall that led to the small kitchen.

My attention then turned to taking inventory of the liquor on the shelves and I was about halfway through it when I heard the door open to the bar. Not turning around, I yelled, “Bar is closed we open at four.”

The sound of heavy footsteps coming towards the bar made me turn around and I almost jumped when I saw Jaxson standing only a few feet from me. He was dressed just like last night in a black tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans, but what caught my eye was his dreamy blue eyes that I had called the night before. I felt myself getting lost in them but closed my eyes for a second to calm myself and my racing heart.

When I opened my eyes I said, “Jaxson, what are you doing here? The bar doesn’t open till four and I don’t know if Charlie would like you behind the bar.”

Jaxson gave out a chuckle before he says to me, “I don’t think Charlie has a say in what I do.”

“And why is that?” I asked him as I took a step towards him tilting my head to the side and placing my hands on my hips.

Jaxson looked at me for a minute and then said, “Never mind, I just came here to give you this.” His hand reached out to me holding an envelope. I reached for it with the hand that the man had grabbed last night. Jaxson’s eyes immediately spotted the bruise on it as I took the envelope from him. I could see the displeased look on his face. Just like last night, I thought I heard the faint sound of a growl coming from him too.

“What is this?” I asked him holding the envelope in my hand in front of us.

“It’s the money that I owe you from last night. Tonya told me what you did to make the drawer right.” Jaxson says to me and I look at the envelope in disbelief that he was trying to make this right with me. I knew if I took the money, then I was giving in to him and his rich boy ways.

“Here.” I said giving the envelope back to him. “I’m not a charity case.” I said turning around from him and going back to what I was doing.

“I never said you were a charity case. I was just trying to make things right. You earned those tips, and I was the one that took them from you.” he said as he threw the envelope on the bar.

Turning back around I lean against the bar and say, “Listen Jaxson, I am just passing through here and hope to stay as long as I can. I need to keep a low profile and to myself. I just want to do my job and make some money to pay my bills. I would appreciate that you don’t shut the bar down again like you did last night and we can call that even.”

“Is this about your ex, Tonya told me about?” Jaxson now asks and I had to laugh, before I say, “Tonya tells you way too much.”

“Tonya tells me what I want to know unlike you.” Jaxson now says to me and I can feel my blood begin to boil. He was a rich boy who was used to getting what he wanted but this was one girl he wasn’t going to get.

“Well maybe that’s because it is my personal life. I guess I need to watch what I tell Tonya from now on.” I told him and he could clearly see I was getting upset with this conversation but he wasn’t backing down to me.

“She is just looking out for you.” Jaxon tells me and I know he is right. She probably thinks that these big local boys could protect me from my ex but she has no clue what I am dealing with. I am sure if I say my ex is a vampire they will all believe me and want to be my knight in shining armor.

Taking a deep breath, I say to him, “I know, but I can’t get any of you involved with it.”

Jaxson then put his hands up and said, “Okay, I get it. I will stay out of your personal life but behind the bar you are my business.”

“What does that mean?” I asked him confused by his words.

Just then Charlie comes out of his office and says, “Ah, Jaxson you are here. Are you ready to go over the books together?”

I looked at Charlie and then back at Jaxson. Why would Charlie be going over the books with Jaxson? Just when it hit me, Jaxson said, “Because I am your boss.”