She cleared her throat and stared at her feet, which were clad in Vans painted in an impressionistic style. “Um, he didn’t know I was still here.”
“Elissa, did you hide from your date?”
“Oh, so you remember my name this time?”
He let the fact she didn’t answer his question slide. “You’re hard to forget. And there was no way I could forget your name when I didn’t even know it in the first place.”
“Okay, fair.” Her lips twitched as she almost smiled.
“Let’s go inside.”
Ryan walked toward the back door, staying in front of Elissa so she wouldn’t get freaked out by having an unknown man walk behind her. But close enough in case anyone was lurking. Anyone besides him, that is.
He held the door open and Elissa slipped inside.
“Second door on the right,” he said.
He followed her down the hall, and she waited on the far side of the office door. He ducked inside, found the jump starter, and was out in under thirty seconds.
“Is this your office?” she asked, all traces of, admittedly deserved, bitchiness gone, replaced by simple curiosity. He could work with curiosity.
“Oh no, I’m just a bartender.”
“No such thing.” She smiled for real.
“Thank you for your vote of confidence.” God, what he wouldn’t do to earn more of her smiles. “My best friend’s parents own this place, and everyone knows where the jump starter is. Food service workers rarely have super-reliable, late-model vehicles. And some of our customers occasionally need a jump. It’s handy to have. Surprised you don’t have one with an older car.”
She bit her lip. As cute as she looked with an eyebrow raised, she looked drop-dead gorgeous biting her lip. All he wished to do was kiss her until she forgot why she was biting it.
He turned and walked down the hall and out the door instead. No kissing the damsel in distress. Especially after suggesting she’d make satisfactory arm candy. Not until he properly apologized.
“I did.” She chuckled wryly. “My sister borrowed it.”
“I need to have a talk with your sister.”
“Everyone needs to have a talk with my sister. Ami is the wild child in the family.”
The exact type of woman he usually pursued. But he had no interest in her sister. Elissa had captured his attention, his fantasies, and he desperately wanted her to be safe.
“Get on in and turn the key when I tell you.”
He attached the jump starter and gave the word. The Beemer’s engine turned over like a dream. He unhooked the cables and closed the hood with a solid thunk.
Elissa rolled down the window. “Thank you.”
“Like I said, it’s the least I could do. I owe you an apology, Elissa. I’m sorry for suggesting you’d only be good for impressing my parents. You deserve a whole hell of a lot better from any man. There’s no excuse, but I’m used to people wanting to be around me so they can meet my family. I didn’t want you to leave, so I offered the thing most people wouldn’t turn down. I misjudged you and insulted you, and for that I am truly, deeply sorry.”
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “One question.”
“Anything.”
“Is your name actually Ryan?”
“Yeah, it is. Strange world, isn’t it?”
The genuine, delight-filled smile only reinforced his opinion. He’d do anything to see it again.
“Well, Ryan, it was nice meeting you. The real you, this time.”
