Chapter Two
By eleven, only a handful of people remained at the bar. Ryan poured a scotch on the rocks for a man sitting alone near the door. Based on the way he fiddled with his bare ring finger, Ryan pegged him as either going through a divorce or a man looking to mess around on his wife. Neither option sat well when he caught the dude staring in Emma’s direction.
He walked over to her. “Why are you sitting here alone at the bar on a Monday night, Em?”
She looked up at him, her blue eyes bright and twinkling with mischief despite—or maybe because of—the drunken giggle that revealed how much beer she’d consumed tonight. “Because I’m having fun.”
He smiled in spite of himself. “Wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”
She gave him a funny look. “Well, I’m trying to broaden my horizons.”
“Hang tight,” he told her, then went down the bar to settle up with the trio of tourists. They left him a sweet tip before heading out into the night. He wiped down the bar as he made his way back to Emma. “You ready for me to call you that cab?”
“What time are you off?” she asked.
“We close at midnight.”
She leaned closer, and her floral scent teased his nostrils. “Any chance you could give me a ride?”
“It’s pretty cold out there, and I only have my bike. You’d be more comfortable in a cab.” And so would he, because the sight of her here at the bar, all that silky hair loose around her shoulders and the sexiest hint of cleavage showing at the neckline of her shirt…it was doing all kinds of weird things to his mind. Like making him fantasize about her on the back of his bike, her arms around his waist. Her lips on his. Emma in his bed, screaming his name.
“I’ve always wanted to ride on a motorcycle,” she said softly.
“You’ve never…”
She shook her head, a wicked smile curving her lips. “So what do you say, will you be my first?”
Ah, hell.Derek’s little sister.He repeated the words in his head until he’d dragged his mind out of the gutter. “You’re not dressed to ride.”
“I only live a few miles down the road. I’ll survive.”
This was a terrible idea. He should insist she take a cab, for his own sake if not for hers, but…“All right then, if you don’t mind waiting around while I close up.”
“Not at all. It’s kind of fun hanging out at the bar by myself. A couple of guys have even flirted with me. Maybe I should let my hair down more often. What do you think?”
He thought those guys were too smooth for a woman like Emma, and if the cheater by the door tried to put a move on her, he might “accidentally” spill a drink in the douche’s lap. “I think you’re beautiful however you wear your hair, but it does look really nice tonight.”
She sat up straighter. Yeah, he hadn’t expected to hear himself say that either.
“Thanks.”
He grabbed a cloth and rubbed at a water ring on the bar top, more as a distraction than out of necessity.
She leaned closer, those blue eyes hitting him like a punch to the gut. “I’m trying to shake things up this year, not be so much of a goody-two-shoes.”
He blinked. “Say what?”
“I want to have some fun.” She smiled, not the practiced take-me-home-tonight smile he received from so many women every time he tended bar, but a warm, honest smile that seemed somehow much sexier. “I’m thinking about getting a tattoo. And I want to sign up for rock climbing lessons when you start up for the season.”
His brain got fuzzy somewhere around the mention of a tattoo. “Oh, yeah?”
She nodded, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “It looks exciting.”
“Almost as good as a ride on my bike.” And dammit, he was flirting.
“You could bring all kinds of excitement into my life,” she said with a giggle, reminding him that she was borderline drunk.
“Water for you until we close,” he said, plunking an empty glass on the bar in front of her, which he filled from the tap.
