1. Madison

one

Madison

" C ome on, Mads, one more round." Katie, one of our regulars at Sweet Cocktails, slurs her words as she stands on the bottom rung of the barstool, leaning over the bar with her empty martini glass in her hand, waving it at me.

"I think you've had enough, Katie." I nod at the bouncer by the front door, signaling him to call a Taxi to take Katie home.

I didn't know what to expect when I arrived in New Orleans a year ago. I'd never been out of Iowa before—I had no reason to. My life was planned out for me, from who I would marry to where we would live and even what college I would attend.

At the time, I didn't mind. Like any lovestruck young woman, I thought John was my soulmate. Looking back, I'm glad he cheated on me and left me at the altar on our wedding day. I was having my own doubts. Given enough time, I'm pretty sure I would have made my escape out the bathroom window.

"You're no fun." Katie sticks her tongue out at me, making her wobble on her perch. Luckily, she regains her balance before she crashes to the floor. Instead, she plops down on the barstool in a huff.

Not that it would be the first time I've had to pick up one of our customers from the floor; I just prefer not to. We've had an issue with some male bartenders over-serving our female customers. The bar owner, Mae, won't stand for that and has been known to fire the bartender on the spot for endangering our customers. Based on how Katie is acting, I think my co-worker Jared might be the next bartender on the chopping block.

For the most part, Jared has kept to himself in the three months he's been working here, but something about him doesn't feel right. He's always trying to send me home early and close the bar by himself.

"I know, but you'll thank me in the morning when you can actually function at work."

"He's the reason why I'm here, you know."

I don't have to ask her who she's talking about. Katie and I have bonded over our nonexistent sex lives over the last year. Hers is due to her grumpy boss, who, as she puts it, is the devil himself. Our sad love lives inspired me to create my signature drink, the cucumber martini.

It's become a running joke: if you can't have a "real cucumber" in your mouth, you might as well have a liquid version. My cucumber martini has become so popular with single female customers that Mae made it the official drink of our bar for Mardi Gras last February.

"What's the grump done now?"

Katie always has entertaining stories about her boss, but this is the first night she seems truly upset about him—almost like she's on a mission to drown all memories of him.

"He's on a date."

Well, that's a new one. Katie said he's a workaholic, but she's never mentioned that he has a girlfriend. Poor Katie—this must be breaking her heart. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I texted him earlier telling him exactly what he could do with his date and that I'm going to find someone at the bar and do it with them, too." Katie holds up her phone, and not only do I see her text message to her boss, but I also see a few responses from him demanding to know where she's at.

"Um, do you think that was a good idea?" I've never met her boss before, so I have no idea how he'll react, but if the quick glimpse of his text messages Katie might be in a whole lot of trouble.

"It's fine. I told him I quit. Now, where's Jared? I'm ready to take him up on his offer." Her eyes scan the bar, looking for Jared, making me realize I haven't seen him in a while. I wonder what he's up to.

I don't have time to think about Jared as two very tall, extremely sexy men walk into the bar and sit at the bar two spots down from where I'm talking to Katie. It's been a slow Monday night, which is fine because the weekend was crazy busy.

"Katie, stay here. I'll be right back."

She dismisses me with a wave of her hand as she continues to scan the bar. "Sure."

Keeping one eye on her, I move down the bar to the two sexy newcomers. "What can I get you?"

"Why don't you surprise us?" the dark-haired man says, his smokey voice drawing my full attention.

"What are you in the mood for?" I pause at the husky sound of my voice. Am I really flirting with these two?

In the whole time I've worked at Sweet Cocktails, I've never once flirted with a customer or taken them up on the offer to go home with them for the night, but I'm pretty sure if one or both of them asked me to go home with them tonight I would jump at the chance.

"It depends. What are you offering?" the blonde-haired guy responds—his voice is just as lethal as his friend's.

"Anything you want, everything I have to offer tastes good." I hope they can't hear how fast my heart is racing. I've never flirted with anyone, so I hope I don't sound too ridiculous.

The look they give each other should make me run in the other direction, but a part of me wants to see where this goes. When I left home, I said I was going to take a walk on the Wildside and live life to its fullest—except the most exciting thing I've done is get a tattoo.

Their gazes land on me, and the hunger I see looking back at me causes my panties to dampen. Who am I kidding? My panties are absolutely ruined from the look they're giving me.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Katie's voice breaks the sensual bubble I was in. I turn my head to look at her to see who she's talking to—if it's the cab driver, I'll make sure she gets home myself.

"Is your friend going to be okay with that guy?" One of the guys says.

There's no way the man in a tuxedo is the cab driver here to take Katie home. If I'm not mistaken, it's her grumpy boss. One night, when she drowned her sorrows in ice water on a slow night, she googled him and showed me his picture.

"Oh, you're coming home with me brat." Katie's boss picks her up like she weighs nothing and throws her over his shoulder.

"Put me down." Her fists pummel his back as her feet kick dangerously close to the significant package he's packing in his pants.

"Do you want us to step in and help your friend?"

I glance over to my two hot strangers, who are now standing and am touched by their concern for Katie. Before I can answer, Katie's boss slaps her ass and whispers something in her ear, making her still in his arms before he strides to the door.

"Katie, are you okay?" I slide out from behind the bar and run after Katie and her kidnapper.

Her boss stops and turns to look at me, "You must be her bartender friend, Mads." I nod, and he continues. "She's fine. It's about time I teach this little brat a lesson." He turns and continues his way out of the bar.

Shocked by his admission, I take a step back and crash into two very firm chests. I don't have to turn around to know it's my two sexy strangers from the bar acting as my backup.

Well, that was interesting.

"Are you sure your friend is going to be okay, or do you want us to go after her?" One of the guys asks with genuine concern in his tone.

I turn around to look at my two self-appointed bodyguards with a smile. I really need to ask them their names. I can't keep referring to them as the blond-haired guy and the dark-haired guy. I mean, I can't exactly scream out dark hair or blond hair when we're having sex, now, can I?

The thought makes me giggle because this is the wild thing I want to do in my life. Something the good girl Madison would never do, but wild and carefree Mads would definitely take two strangers back to her apartment and have sex with both of them at the same time all night long.

Jared yells for last call, and I know I can't let the opportunity slip through my fingers. "I think Katie will be okay now that he's finally claimed her." I look between each one of them, "But what I want to know is, do you want to come home with me?"

"Which one of us do you want to take home, Mads?" The blond asks.

Their stiff posture and heated stare tell me they both want me. Who am I to tell them no? "I want both of you to come home with me."