The Neighborhood Series (The Neighborhoood) Read online

  The Neighborhood Series

  Stories 1-10

  Tarrah Anders

  Contents

  BARTENDER

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  BASTARD

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  VIXEN

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  CONVICT

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  COMING UP NEXT

  CHEF

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  COWGIRL

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  BIKER

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  MANAGER

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Chapter 100

  Chapter 101

  Chapter 102

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  REGULAR

  Chapter 103

  Chapter 104

  Chapter 105

  Chapter 106

  Chapter 107

  Chapter 108

  Chapter 109

  Chapter 110

  Chapter 111

  Chapter 112

  Chapter 113

  Chapter 114

  Chapter 115

  Epilogue

  COMING UP NEXT

  LEGEND

  Chapter 116

  Chapter 117

  Chapter 118

  Chapter 119

  Chapter 120

  Chapter 121

  Chapter 122

  Chapter 123

  Chapter 124

  Chapter 125

  Chapter 126

  Chapter 127

  Chapter 128

  Chapter 129

  Epilogue

  Also by Tarrah Anders

  Chapter 130

  Dear Friends,

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  I dedicate this short story to the women that fall in love with bartenders.

  They aren’t all cocky assholes.

  Only some of them are.

  COPYRIGHT © 2019– TARRAH ANDERS

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.

  Tarrah Anders | Tarrah Anders, LLC [email protected] |www.tarrahanders.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Book Formatting: Tarrah Anders, LLC

  Cover: Jess Bryant Designs

  Ordering Information: The Neighborhood Bartender

  ISBN: 9780463719954 | 9798619646450

  Chapter One

  I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but I am a total catch.

  I’m tall, dark and handsome. I’m brutally honest, sarcastic as fuck and a loyal friend, to those that I actually would label as such.

  I am Noah Baker, a grade-A piece of -I’m ready for you always- kind of man. I’m sexy and I know it, a good lay and a total hot commodity in this small town of Mercy, the town to the east of Hollybrooke.

  It's not because I'm cocky, well okay, maybe it is... To be perfectly honest, it's because no matter what, I have someone interested in me. So of course, I’m going to pat myself on the back and say that I’m a lucky son of a bitch. Both men and women want me. I have my pick of the litter. Granted, I don't go for the dick, but it's nice to know if I did root for the same team and like to play hide the banana that I would have my options open there too. I would have my pick of whatever I want, as if it was handed to me. But I like women, every part of them. From the top of their dyed or over sleeked out hair, to their painted toe-nails – and just about everything in between. The only thing that I don’t do is the clingy shit. So, I hook up and that’s about it. I don’t do relationships and that’s not something that I conceal.

  When I graduated from junior college, I didn’t want to leave the small town that I’ve called home my whole life and instead went to work for my dad, who owned the bar. When he passed, he had left the place to me, and even though I was the owner, I loathed paperwork so I hired someone to run the joint, so I can stay behind the bar – slinging drinks and flirting with the folks who chose to spend their nights in this fine establishment.

  The Neighborhood.

  That’s where I spend my time. I'm a bartender, the bartender and likely what you can call your neighborhood bartender, and women find that sexy. At least that's what I'm told. That's the main reason why I work here at the Neighborhood, the only hot spo
t in town. The bar is rustic and gives the feeling of warmth when you are inside, we have music, food, booze and good people. It also doesn’t hurt that our kitchen makes the best burgers and onion rings that Mercy has ever seen- so we stay busy. And with the amount of usual’s that come into town, along with those from the city or just traveling through – there’s always, always some new people coming through here. That means new women for me to perhaps spend some time with, horizontally.

  The woman sitting at the end of the bar is no exception. I’ve never seen her before, and strangely I want to know all of her. Her wavy chestnut hair, the dusting of freckles across her cheeks and her plump kissable lips tell me screams innocence, but something else tells me that she’s a vixen despite her good girl exterior. Her black tank top clings to her curves and ample breasts hidden underneath in a red laced bra, telling me that she's a wildcat and just wanting someone to tame her. I should tame her.

  Wait, what? I don’t need to tame anyone, lest be tamed myself. I’m a wild wolf, not some good old dog.

  She's currently ignoring me, but I bet that she's interested, who wouldn't be.

  I want to find out what makes her tick, what she looks like underneath me and what she sounds like in bed.

  I make my way down the bar, wipe the counter in front of her, throw down a coaster and lean on the bar top towards her.

  "What can I get you, beautiful?" I give her the smirk that has drenched plenty of panties and wait for her to respond, to meet my eyes and to melt in my hands.

  "Can I get a Moscow mule, please?" She asks feigning disinterest.

  "Coming your way." Our eyes meet and I sense her apprehension as she gives me a weak smile and a look over She doesn’t seem like she cares and that unnerves me.

  I mix her drink, pour it into a mason jar and place it in front of her as she digs out her card and hands it to me.

  "Keep it open," she instructs as she stands with her drink and without a fleeting glance, turns and heads to the booth in the corner with a table of her friends.

  What. The. Fuck?

  I look down at her credit card and read her name - I've never had a woman ignore me the way that Valerie Dubois just did.

  I look up to the direction of her table. She laughs with her friends and is not even glancing in my direction.

  Strange.

  Must be an off night, or maybe, just possibly she can be into chicks. Yeah, I'll go with that. She’s a muff diver. Man, that’s pretty hot too.

  I notice a short time later that one of her friends has left their booth and is giggling at the side of the bar. When I approach her, she overtly flirts when I take her order. I hand her the drink and she passes me a ten with a torn piece of paper, then winks and walks away, putting an exaggerated sway in her hips as she sashays to the booth. I look down at the piece of paper with her number on it and crumple it up then toss it in the trash.

  She’s cute but I’m not interested tonight, I want her friend. I want that unmentioned challenge.

  The girls all giggle as she sits down. She looks in my direction, flips her hair and starts talking animatedly, casually glancing back at the bar every few minutes. I ignore her and my challenge – to tend to the other patrons of the bar without another thought.

  Three hours later, a packed bar, and one woman who has continued to not show interest in me - my constant inner battle of what the hell is wrong with the universe comes to a halt when I look up from the right side of the bar, I see Valerie waiting where she first sat earlier in the night. I casually walk over to her and cross my arms.

  "Another Moscow?" I ask.

  "I'd like to close my tab." She shakes her head.

  I total her up and place her tab in front of her. "I'm curious." I say.

  She signs the slip and looks up at me with an inquisitive quirk of her eyebrow.

  "Pardon?"

  "I'm curious. Most women go to bars and flirt with the male patrons, especially the bartenders. But I watched you all night and you never strayed your eyes from your friends."

  "I don't see how any of that is your business, but I am enjoying a night out with friends." She looks at me with a scowl with her hands on her hips.

  "Do you like dick?" I ask her.

  Her mouth drops open and I can envision it wrapped around me.

  "Incredibly rude. You don't know me." She stuffs her card into her wallet and turns on her heel.

  "Honey, I'm the bartender, The Neighborhood shrink. I'm just observing. I call it like I see it honey." I yell after her. The crowd swallows her and I'm left wondering. And wanting, who is this amazing woman who is immune to me and poses a challenge?

  Chapter Two

  A week goes by before my next busy shift at The Neighborhood. I'm restocking my garnishments when I look up and see her again.

  She looks carefree and unbothered as she sits in the same booth she sat in last weekend. I note the lack of drinks in front of her and her friends and wait impatiently for her to approach.

  The night wears on and the place gets busy. I'm making my way out of the back office from my break when I see her in the small hallway.

  I look around, thinking she's lost.

  When she notices my presence, I smile and stop in front of her.

  "The ladies room is around the corner." I say stopping in front of her.

  "I was looking for you." She says with a firm tone.

  "Oh, really now." This I've got to hear.

  "I like dick." She says as my own perks up to the news hoping to get pet by her. But she walks away before I can say anything.

  What is this game she's playing?

  I walk out of the hallway speechless and confused. I'm behind the bar and back to work within seconds to unclog the bar. Miles, the newest addition to the bar team at The Neighborhood seems to have a backup and is still learning drinks by the herd of people waiting.

  I start taking orders and when I get to the last row of customers, I see Valerie. She's chewing on her bottom lip and her eyes are roaming her surroundings as if she's never seen the bar before.

  "Nice play back there." I say to her. Her eyes zero in on me and I smirk.

  "It wasn't a play, I was just stating a fact since at our last meeting you had some preconceived notions. I figured that I would clear that up,” she shrugs.

  "And why would you feel the need to clear that up to me?"

  "Because, I wanted to make it known that I like the dick, I just may not like yours."

  "But you haven't even met him yet."

  "Keep the yet out of there buddy. I have no plans to meet him,” she shoots a glance down at my package.

  "You sure about that?" I tease her with a playful tilt of my head.

  "Yup,” she says popping the ‘P’.

  I nod towards her drink. "Moscow mule?"

  "Not tonight. Can I get a blueberry mojito?"

  I mix her drink up and as I'm pouring it into one of the bars fancy glasses, because fancy glasses make everything more expensive and taste delicious. I push it in front of her.

  "You know, I'm a pretty great guy." I say my elbows leaning on the bar and flashing my smile.

  "I'm sure to some you could be, but honestly you're just not my type."

  "Oh, doll. I'm everybody's type."

  "Sorry..." She searches my shirt for a name tag. As if this is a name tag place.

  "Noah, my name is Noah." I give her.

  "Sorry, Noah. You're just not mine today." She says with a smile, gives a small wave and then disappears into the crowd.

  “Tomorrow then.” I shout after her. Why am I constantly doing that?

  "She's hot," Miles comments from my side.

  "You're not her type." I say dryly as I rinse a tumbler.

  "I think I heard her say that you're not her type. She said nothing about me."

  "I think you heard wrong." I turn to him and stare him down.

  Mile’s hands go up in surrender and he turns to help another customer, leaving me to my side of the bar.<
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  I'm hanging out at the Neighborhood before my shift starts eating dinner when a busty blonde comes and takes a seat across from me.