Sweet Dreams Kristen Ashley Epub Bud Fifty
I suspected this was why she was in a bad mood because she muttered irately, “Fuckin’ Tonia and Jonelle. How many times do I gotta tell them?
Wipe the tables, clear the floor of empties. Shit,” she looked at me, “you got evening shift, you clear the empties off the floor and wipe down the tables real good. It ain’t hard to do and Anita comes in in the mornin’ to sweep and mop so it ain’t like you’re part cleanin’ lady.”I nodded, making a mental note to clear the empties and wipe down the tables “real good” because I figured that Krystal was the sort of person who didn’t need a lot to tick her off and I didn’t want to do anything to add to her seemingly perpetual bad mood.She showed me around the bar but there wasn’t much to it. The front which had the bar, a mess of tables out front and the pool tables to the sides. She explained that day shift there was only one waitress and bartender unless it was a weekend. If it was a weekend, the floor was split into two sections for two waitresses. Weeknights there were always two waitresses and one or two bartenders.
Weekend nights there were three waitresses and at least two bartenders.“We don’t have no busser,” she informed me, leading me out of the bar and down one of the two doorways that led off the back of the bar. It had a sign over it that said “Private Do Not Enter”. “Don’t need another person on payroll when you waitresses can nab your own empties.”I nodded even though she wasn’t looking at me.She took me to an office and let us in. “You stow your purse in here and you take your breaks in here. We don’t give keys out to everyone so you need to come back here, you find Tate, Bubba, Dalton or me to let you in.”“Tate, Bubba and Dalton?” I asked.“Bubba’s my old man,” she answered. “Tate owns the bar with us. He ain’t around a lot.
Then again, Bubba ain’t around a lot either. He’s fishin’,” she said the word “fishin’” like it tasted bad and she had to get it out of her mouth fast or she’d have that taste forever. “Dalton’s the other bartender,” she finished.“Oh. Okay,” I said and she eyed me.“Gonna say this now gonna say it once, Bubba, Tate and me own this place and Bubba’s been in my bed goin’ on a decade. That’s about as much fraternization as we need.
Half the time I don’t want that jackass in my bed, half the time he ain’t in my bed because he’s fishin’. You get an eye for Tate or Dalton, and they all get an eye for Tate or Dalton, rethink it. You’re here to work not get laid.”“Oh,” I repeated, more than a little surprised at this subject matter and the way she presented it. “Okay.”She didn’t move but she spoke.
“Not jokin’, girl.”“Um” I decided to give as good as I got in an effort to make her think I wasn’t the fancy pants she clearly thought I was from her comments the day before though, in all honesty, I kind of was or at least I wasn’t a biker babe like her. “I’m not exactly in the market to get laid, Krystal.”She kept staring at me. Then she moved out of the office muttering, “Yeah, you haven’t seen Tate or Dalton yet.”I had to admit this worried me a little bit. I didn’t need to be working alongside good-looking men, especially starting out. It’d make me anxious. Once I got used to things, got my bearings, I’d be fine mainly because I wasn’t lying. I wasn’t in the market to get laid.
That market had closed and I was okay with that. But I didn’t want to be fumbling around learning how to be a waitress in a biker bar with handsome biker men as my audience.As if she read my mind, Krystal talked as she led me down the hall. “I’m keepin’ you on day shifts for a week, maybe two, see how you do. Cut your teeth.
Get the lay of the land before you go nights.”“Thanks,” I said when she stopped outside a closed door.She turned to me. “Don’t thank me. Tips are shit on the day shift.”She unlocked and pushed open the door and showed me the storeroom. Then she told me that waitresses might be called on to help stock or run back and get something if the bartenders were busy. Then she showed me the clipboard where they kept track of stock in a complicated way that would be far easier if put on a computer spreadsheet. Even though I probably could set that up for her in about an hour, I didn’t inform her of this.“We open at noon close at three,” she went on, walking back down the hall.
“Shifts run eleven to seven with two fifteen minute breaks and half hour dinner break. Night shift is seven to three. Last call is 2:30 so you get those drinks in and you get your clean up done best you can while we got folks in the bar. You don’t wanna be hangin’ around ‘til four clearin’ and cleanin’ and I don’t wanna be payin’ you to do it. Yeah?”“Yes,” I nodded but she wasn’t looking at me, she was leading me through the bar and taking me toward the other hall, the opening had a sign over it that said “Restrooms”.“Anita cleans these in the mornin’ and loads ‘em up with toilet paper. We got a customer reports a bathroom problem with the toilets, you tell one of the boys.
Toilet paper is in the storeroom. You might need to restock and, I’m warnin’ you, you might need to do clean up. Shit happens you would not believe in the bathroom of a bar.” She stopped in the hall between the two bathroom doors, ladies up front, gents to the rear and she turned to me. “You got a problem with that?”“Are we talking vomit?” I asked because I had to admit, I was not a vomit person.“Vomit, piss, shit anything a body can produce, I’ve had to clean it up.”I felt my eyes get big and I asked, “Anything?”“Girl, this is a biker bar.
Those boys get randy, they need to get off and they don’t care much where they get them some. And girls who hang with bikers care even less.”“Wow,” I whispered.“So, you got a problem with that?” she repeated.I looked at her and straightened my spine. “You can get used to anything, right?”She stared at me a second then mumbled, “Right,” and she took me back front and showed me how to use the cash register. She finished with, “You’ll have a float in your apron and you’ll figure your own way to keep tabs on what you’re sellin’ and what’s in your apron. Me, Bubba, Dalton or Tate will cash you out, take your float and our take and do the reconcile, leavin’ you with your tips.” She gave me a hard look.
“It’d be in your best interest to keep on top a’ that. It gets busy, you’ll be bustin’ your hump to earn those tips. I ain’t sayin’ any of us’ll fuck you over. I’m just sayin’ you need to look out for yourself. And you fuck up on a transaction, that’s your gig.
You sell what you sell, you track it, we track it, it all don’t jive, it comes outta your tips. You won’t use the register much but you should know your way around.”I nodded, she studied me as if thinking it wasn’t sinking in due to the fact that middle-class women were incapable of selling a beer, making change and keeping track due to their middle-class nature then she shrugged as if it was all the same to her.She showed me the complicated, three sink procedure of how to wash glasses, where empty bottles went and told me that bartenders did most of the washing but if things were busy, the waitresses were expected to pitch in where they could. She gave me a paper with a list of drinks and snacks (they sold bags of potato chips, pork rinds and peanuts) and their prices.“Memorize that, soon’s you can,” she ordered then crossed her arms under her tank top covered bosoms (another Harley tank, this one white with very cool silver, red and black lettering) and looked me in the eye. “We get trouble, Lauren and it isn’t infrequent like. Boys come in here, get blitzed, act stupid.
Some of ‘em got knives, all of ‘em got fists. You sense trouble, you tell me, Bubba, Tate or Dalton and you stay clear.”I wasn’t happy with the cleaning up of vomit and anything else a body can produce part of the job description but men with knives was taking it to a new level.Though I also had to admit to some concern that she’d want me to tell her. She was four inches shorter than me and at least fifty pounds lighter.
She had no business wading into a knife fight, or any fight.I decided to focus on the latter.“Tell you?” I asked.“Me,” she answered.“But, shouldn’t I get a man –?”“I been around the block, girl, and this is my fuckin’ bar. It’s been my fuckin’ bar for five years. You think I can’t sort out trouble?”“Um you’re five foot five and weigh about a hundred pounds,” I informed her of a fact she likely knew (though I was being nice about the weight consider her behind and cleavage).“I’m smart, fast but that don’t matter since I know where we keep our shotgun,” she replied.
“Even wasted, men stop fightin’ quick when they got a loaded shotgun aimed at ‘em.” She pointed across the room to the wall where there were a bunch of visible pockmarks in the wood. Round these parts it’s not only known that I know where the shotgun is but that I know how to use it and someone messes around in my bar, I will.”I nodded again wondering why I was undeterred by the variety of craziness she was telling me and standing there listening to her rather than saying, “Thanks but, um, I think I’ll just be leaving.Instead, I said, “Okay.”“All right,” she replied and the door opened.We both turned to look and when I saw who came in I stopped breathing.It was the Harley Guy from last night at the hotel. Even though I hadn’t seen his face straight on, I knew it was him. And I was right.
He was sensational straight on.He was tall, maybe taller than he seemed in the parking lot or maybe he just seemed bigger in the bar since his shoulders were so broad. But his hips were lean and his legs were long, his thighs obviously powerfully muscled and I could tell that even through his jeans. His dark brown hair gleamed even in the dull light of the bar. It was thick and it was clear he washed it and let it fall where it lay for the part was natural and not straight, it was swept back but some of it fell around his temples and curled a bit around his ears and at the back of his neck. His eyes looked dark, I couldn’t tell the color but there were sun lines emanating from the sides that were attractive. His brow was heavy; his nose wasn’t perfect but it was straight with a slight bump at the top of the bridge that made it interesting; his cheekbones were cut and his jaw was strong.
His skin was tanned in a way where I knew he didn’t get that color lounging by a pool and he was wearing faded jeans, black motorcycle boots and a heathered-gray-blue, long-sleeved, skintight, thermal Henley.He was beautiful.“Hey Tate,” Krystal called and I turned woodenly to her.Okay, maybe Krystal was right earlier, I hadn’t seen “Tate” yet (though I had, I just didn’t know it and thought his name was Jackson) and if this was Tate then I definitely wanted to get laid by him. Definitely.Though a man like that who could get a girl like Neeta wouldn’t even look at me and he could, he already had Neeta but hell, he could get anyone.I turned back to Tate to find I was wrong. He was close, stopped at the side of the bar where there was an opening. I saw his eyes were dark brown and they were on me.“Who’s this?” he asked, his voice deep and a bit rough.
He didn’t take his eyes off me and, like Krystal, he looked like he was in a bad mood.“This is Lauren, our new girl,” Krystal answered.I opened my mouth to say hello when he spoke.“Lauren?” he asked and his tone was scathing. Downright scathing. And his face had gone from making him look like he was in a bad mood to sheer and utter contempt.I felt my body automatically get tight.“Yeah, Lauren, she’s –” Krystal started but he interrupted her.“Talk,” he growled and then turned down the hall.Krystal looked at me. “Check the fridges.” She pointed to a bunch of glass-fronted, half fridges at the back of the bar. “See what we need to stock up and go to the storeroom. Put the new ones in the back, the old ones in the front.” She handed me her set of keys and followed Tate down the hall.I waited a second because I was recovering from that strange scene and wondering why all these people took an instant dislike to me. Krystal hired me which was good but she wasn’t exactly welcoming even through training.
And Tate, wellI shook this feeling off as just my inexperience of biker folk. Maybe they were a close knit group and you had to prove yourself. I could do that.
I hadn’t waitressed since I was a cocktail waitress at a dinner theater during my summers in college but it couldn’t be difficult to pick it up again. I was a hard worker. As far as I could remember, my entire work life I’d called in sick once when I got the ‘flu. I hated being late and never was. In fact, usually I was early. Once they got to know me, I told myself, they’d like me.I walked down the hall and the door was closed to the office.
Oh woooooowww!! Another awesome find, and this one, I found pretty much by accident (well sorta). “Morgan” suggested the “Rock Chick” series from this author (“not rock stars but they are DEFINITELY badasses!!”), and when I looked it up, THIS one caught my eye (from another series altogether), and I downloaded it immediately! The most.shocking. moment of the Rodeo night It was like what you see on TV. But I was right there!!I had a busy (and awesomely fun) weekend and I completely shirked my responsibilities. There was reading, shopping, restaurant eating, friends, a movie (Breaking Dawn, but of course!!) and even a rodeo!
I never thought I’d attend one of those before, but when my friend called with some VIP tickets, I thought it might be a fun new experience. Boy was I right!!So even with all that, the highlight of my weekend was this lengthy and completely absorbing book. Even though I witnessed some mighty fine daring cowboys riding bucking broncos and bulls (you should see some of the “flying through the air shots” we captured – my husband is working on getting those to me).
Even though I was standing right there in the VIP pit, right up against the protective railings, and got horse breath on me (and dirt from all that bucking). Even though at one point, a bucking bull and his rider were right in our faces before the rider got thrown off at our feet (and knocked out cold).
Sweet Dreams Kristen Ashley Epub Bud Fifty Shades Of Grey
(No worries, EMT was there, he came to, and walked off like a champ! Even with all that, TATE from this book was my favorite part of my weekend.About the book: It sucked me in, right in from the first few pages, and I barely let it go.
It even came with me to the rodeo (yes, I carried my iPad. In case I thought the rodeo was boring or something. 🙄 LOL!!!)I almost stayed up all night. I had to put it down at some point, (when I realized it was 5am) and it just didn’t seem “right” to pull an official all-nighter. Although this was pretty close. I was so enthralled in this book, so into Tate, that I barely slept, even when I did “sleep”.
This one was a dreamer for sure.As I told my Facebook friends:Quick Update. Read “Sweet Dreams” until 4am. Scratch that. I was insistent that I mustn’t hit 5am. Maybe it was 5am. Anyway I read practically non-stop until then, obsessed-like, i’m FINALLY at the halfway point (50% – it’s a long book) so I turned off the iPad. Oh yes I wanna read some more.
That’s what it is. I’m in for a zombie weekend.And from the response I’m getting from so many of you guys and also on Facebook, I got it right again, didn’t I?!!Melissa: Reading it and loving Tate! Thanks for the tip!Jennifer: Ditto for me, Melissa! Thanks, Maryse!
🙂Jenny: 30% in. Serious lack of sleep but it’s worth it. Words fail me. I love the humor in it tooMaryse’s Book Blog (Paranormal & Urban Fantasy) And he just keeps getting better I’ve got 20% left 😉 ”Babe.” that’s all he needs to say.
Works like a charm!Jenny: Oh my god!!! Seriously Maryse he is something special! Oh yeah Babe works for me hahaSandra: Loving it.it the words of Lauren. God.Jenny: Yep, you’ve picked a winner there Maryse. I have so much to do and keep stopping to read “one more chapter” and can’t stop at thatMichele: I am at 26% now & loving it so far!!! I took my daughter to see Breaking Dawn last night.
We were there about an hr before the movie started & ALL I could think about was “Why didn’t I bring my kindle?!?!?! We know what we like! Rose made me chuckle when she said: “Maryse – you certainly have a type!”.blush. I know.
I’m a little transparent.winces.So anyway? What’s the big deal about Tate? He’s all that. But he’s got his human side (aka his “jerk” side).
And he can be a real one, at times. Lotsa times, even. But my goodness, can he make me swoon. This one definitely put me in the slow motion reading, I love so much. He made me catch my breath so many times (sometimes because of his outrageous ‘tude) but mostly because of how just WOW he was. Some of the things he said and did. I can’t describe him properly enough (I just can’t do his character justice) other then he’s everything you’d want in a bad boy character.
Not sappy in the least, and yet everything he said or did was better than “sappy”.You knew where he was coming from. There were no games, and yet, he still kept the reader absolutely mesmerized and titillated. He was strong, hard-headed, demanding, insistent and yet also a true protector. A beautiful heart, hiding behind his no-nonsense gruff ways and demeanor. But his character was so wonderfully convincing, I just believed that no matter his “mood”, he was always trustworthy, and safe. All that and of course, a little icing on the cake.
You know 😉 Being a gorgeous, tattooed, longish haired, powerhouse of a motorcycle ridin’ man. Little warning – this one is extremely Alpha male. Just a little hint on that, ’cause not everyone loves an “alpha” and he is one in spades!!! He may be “beautiful” but he’s not always pretty, if you get where I’m coming from. He’s an ex-cop turned bounty hunter with a crazy past that continues to haunt him (you’ll meet her, plenty).
That’s fun too. Adds to the drama.But this book isn’t only about Tate. It’s about the character that you will become. And you will. A 40-something woman (WAIT!!!
I read a few mention that the age factor almost detracted the reader from reading. Don’t shrug this one off ’cause of her age). She’s wonderful, real, humanly beautiful (exceptionally beautiful to a few particular men, in fact), and just coming out of a disheartening marriage.
A cheating husband, a terrible “best friend”, leaving her materialistically rich and pampered life to find a different kind of “rich”. Driving for weeks (months) aimlessly, living pretty much out of her car simply looking for a new place, far away from her old life to call home.
And she thinks she finds it when she drives into “Carnal” (a small biker town where everyone knows each other, seemingly, all of their pasts intertwined somehow). Lemme tell you.
She is NOT accepted right off the bat. Her designer clothing and hair, scream NOT one of “them”, but a few befriend her, and a few others conditionally give her a chance.“I don’t want special anymore. I waited and I tried to make it happen and it didn’t. Now I want to live someplace that is just a place.
I want a job where I can do a good job while I’m doing it and then I can go home to a place that’s a home and just be a home. I don’t want anything. I’m done wanting. I’ve been wanting and yearning for forty-two years. The only thing I want is peace.”“You think you’ll find peace in a Harley bar?”Some make her feel at home, give her hope.“I’m not looking for a thrill. I’m not looking for adventure. I’m looking for nothing special because I can be content with that.
That’s what I’m looking for. Can you give me that?”Some make her feel an outcast and hurt her feelings. I’m looking at you, you big meanie!!!
Ooooooooh THAT MAN made me so mad at times. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!That beautiful man’s words ricocheted around my head causing damage that was so excruciating I knew the way it was inflicted it would never, never heal.“Whaaaaat?!!!” you ask. What did Tate say that was so bad!??
Here’s a tidbit he didn’t realize she was in “hearing distance” when he said it, but hehe I gasped. My heart broke with her for chapters, over it. And yet, I fell for that very man. As will you.“I know you heard,” he said.I knew he knew I was just surprised he brought it up. I showed no response except to raise my eyebrows again.“I was in a sh.t mood, babe. Shake it off,” he ordered, and I stared.And that’s when you’ll know you’re hooked, dear reader, and in it for the long haul (’cause it is a long book.
Delightfully so!!)The writing is such, and so wonderfully detailed, that you will come to care so deeply for every character in the book. Heartwarming, chuckle inducing, heart-wrenching, steamy as all get-out page turning. Each character stood on it’s own, each one felt real, each one had a story. Even the bad guys.
And there certainly are a few in this one, including a serial killer on the loose (but none of the danger and mystery detracts from the intense romance of this story). I promise.and when fellow reader, Penny said this:“This author is amazing I have read everything she has written and have never, not once closed a book unsatisfied.”I knew I’d be devouring the next ones!Okay, I think I’ve said enough. You won’t know that I’m telling you the truth until you delve in yourself, and then you’ll smile to yourself as you realize “Yep. The highlight of her weekend, despite the real cowboys that were bouncin’ all around her. I get it, now!”Get back to me on it 😉5 stars!!Interested in the series! Of COURSE you are!! One of the best I’ve read in awhile!!
—Filed Under:, Tagged With:,. Ok, heres the gist, if any of the characters in the books we read, truly existed, i would be a tramp.
Many illegally to several men. LOLOL ok maybe not that bad but truly WHO COULD RESIST TATE!!! I am not a speed reader, i actually like to re-read parts that i find very good, so it takes me longer to read. So whenI tell you that I purchased this book on my nook on the 13th and was done on with it on the 16th, that FOR ME, is speed reading.
I couldnt put the thing down.Alpha male indeed. I thought the book was great.
Sometimes down right irritating to the point that I believe the author did a great job make me go through the motions with Laurie and Tate. I had so many laugh out loud moments with this book. Reading it every chance i got between work and home. Doing laundry and waiting for things to simmer on the stove. I was taken hostage by it and I am not sad that it is over because it sure is a book i would pick up and read again. I don’t wanna give anything away about it because i think it is that good.
Lots of crazy love in this story along with a good plot that keeps you wondering who is causing all the crazy havoc in the story. For those of you who know about brawling (chic fights are nasty sometimes) I can’t tell you how many times I felt like i needed to get up to help kick ass. LOLOLOL Maryse that was a great find and i agree, everyone should check this book out.