Dixie held her hands up. “Okay, enough, you guys. You’re going to make our new waitress quit before she starts.”

“Not a chance,” the brunette said. “Y’all are a fun bunch. I think I’m going to like it here.”

“We hope so.” Dixie gave them a serious look. “You guys, this is Dana Everton. She’s starting Monday. Dana, this is Diesel Black, Izzy Ryder, Jed Moon, and Tracey Kline.”

They all greeted her.

“If you have any trouble with customers, just tell Diesel or Jed, and they’ll take care of it,” Dixie said.

“I raised three football-playing, troublemaking boys and tossed out a cheating husband. I think I can handle myself,” Dana reassured her.

As Tracey chatted with Dixie and Dana, Izzy went to clock out, and Diesel went to serve a customer.

Moon came behind the bar to start his shift. “I take it I can nix those drive-bys at Tracey’s?”

Diesel grunted in agreement.

“How’d this happen, man? I thought you were hands-off because you were leaving town. Does this mean you’re staying?”

Diesel didn’t have an answer, and as the Friday-night rush started, he didn’t have time to figure one out, which meant it would continue to eat away at him for who knew how long. He motioned to two guys at the other end of the bar. “You got customers.”

“Right, well, for what it’s worth, I hope you stick around. I’m used to your grumpy ass.”

Diesel looked across the room at Tracey talking with a group of guys, three of whom were openly checking her out. That clench in his gut was still there, jealousy gnawing at him like a rabid animal. But knowing she was his made him feel less like he wanted to kill them and more like he wanted to go over there and stake his claim. He never thought he’d want to claim a woman again after the way he’d been fucked over by the girl he’d dated for two years and had trusted with his deepest feelings, but hell if he didn’t want to shout that Tracey was his from the rooftops.

As the night wore on, Tracey taunted him every chance she got, strutting around in that sexy skirt, flashing him heated glances. It was all he could do to keep from hauling her into the back to have his way with her.

He was fixing a drink for a customer when she headed up to the bar near closing time. He handed the customer a drink and went to the far end of the bar, where Tracey was waiting for him.