Shamelessly, he planted a kiss on my lips before returning to whatever the hell these three were scheming. Each had a cocktail shaker in front of them, and one by one, began to mix a drink:mydrink. Ice fell into the stainless-steel shakers with a simultaneous clatter and the bottle of Absolut fell down the line: First Kian, then James, then Hannah. Raspberry liqueur followed, and with a flourish, three caps snapped into place.
A crowd began to form around me, but my eyes were trained on the man in the middle. Everything about James oozed sex, and this was no different. Only now, he wore a ring on his left hand—myring. Mixing the cocktail with one hand, he reached under the bar with the other. The music transformed from the classic rock we normally played to something slower, with a bit of twang.
Luke Combs.
It was our song. The one I’d played the first time we danced together in the kitchen.
Like a choreographed routine, the three of them flipped sugar-rimmed frosted martini glasses onto the counter and poured in the cocktail through a strainer. When James lifted a bottle of champagne, everyone’s attention in the room zeroed in on him. He agitated the Asti, popping the cork and getting cheers from the people around me.
As he poured, my eyes caught the simple black band on his finger. It had only been a few days since I’d impulsively proposed to him on Christmas morning. The very next day, I took him to buy a ring. I said he could have whatever he wanted, but he picked an unadorned tungsten band, saying that it meant so much more to him thatI’dbeen the one to askhim.
I still wondered where I got the nerve to do such a thing.
His “yes” played on a loop in my mind. If I really thought about it, I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been all-in from day one. I’d always been the one who hesitated. Sitting there,watching him look back at me as he mixed the very drink I’d made for him the first time we met, I couldn’t imagine a time when I didn’t love him.
Rimming his cocktail with syrupy fake blood, James tossed me a wink before topping it with a pair of plastic fangs he produced from seemingly nowhere.
Three drinks slid across the rail, but there was something different about his.
Set into the groove in the fake plastic teeth was a ring. Thin bands of silver encompassed a deep sapphire, a color I almost recognized but couldn’t quite place.
My heart seemed to pick up on it before my brain did. Heavy thumps against my ribcage, and I looked up at the man in front of me. Red flashed across his eyes before he remembered himself. “What’s this about?” I croaked.
“I have something to ask you.” He took in a visible breath—something he only did when he was nervous.
“The Kind of Love We Make” faded out, giving way to “Better Together.” Hannah and Kian took a step back to allow James through the partition, and the crowd parted just for him. He plucked the ring out of the plastic…
Then dropped to one knee.
Hewasproposing. I’d given him the quiet one he always wanted, and now he was returning the favor. He was giving me a splashy proposal worthy of Ryder Clark.
“You bastard,” I muttered, throat tight. I crossed my arms over my chest to hide how violently my hands trembled.
“A little over a year ago, we met in this bar, over this very drink. I’d never seen anything like it before—anything likeyou.Ryder Clark, you blew me away the first time I ever laid eyes on you. Every day since, my love for you has only grown. You’re reckless and impulsive, but you’re also one of the most passionate and selfless people I’ve ever met. You’re an amazingman and an incredible father. I couldn’t imagine living another day of my life without you by my side. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” My voice was hardly a whisper, but James heard it, and that was all that mattered. He slipped the ring onto my finger, and my lips were on his before he could completely stand. Pops sounded through the room, and paper confetti tickled my bare arms. I broke off the kiss, letting James brush a piece of tissue paper from my nose. I leaned in close, making sure my next words reached no one’s ears but his. “You’re good, vampire.”
James’s arms closed around my waist, and he leaned in for another kiss. “I know.”
The music returned to normal, and the people in the crowd dispersed back to their tables and booths.
“Here, lovebirds.” Hannah slid her drink across the bar to James, and I took the one he’d mixed. “You have to do the arm thing!”
Smiling, we indulged her, twisting our arms together and taking a sip from our cocktails. While James could chug all three and not feel a thing, I left mine alone—I still had a shift to work.
Hannah moved for the partition, but I intercepted her. “How’d you get James to agree to let you mix?”
She didn’t even hesitate. She flashed what I presumed to be a fake ID before slipping it into her pocket. “It was his idea. This was just a precaution.”
Wow. Color me impressed. I was still her father, so I masked my pride and ushered her from behind the bar. I pulled her into a hug—and snatched the ID from her pocket.
“Hey!” she protested. She attempted to snatch the card, but I held it out of reach.
“There’s no way I’m letting you keep this. Your mom would kill me.”
Ignoring the scathing look she gave me, I snapped the card in half and threw it away.
James laughed. “Laws in this century are so strict,” he said. “I was serving beer well before I could—don’t give me that look, love. It’s not like I let her drink it.”
