“Ryan, I –“
“Come on, Ella. One drink, just to give you a little taste of the products our company supplies,” he urged softly. “No obligation for more. Just one drink, and we’ll get to know each other a little outside of the office.”
Remembering Kim’s suggestion to move on, I figured I needed to start somewhere, and Ryan was certainly an attractive man. I’d actually been disappointed that I’d had to turn him down after our first meeting six weeks ago. I knew my hesitation now stemmed from my interlude with King, which just made me angry at myself. He surely wasn’t the only man in town with a dick worth playing with.
“Sure, I’d love to,” I heard myself agreeing, even as I wondered in the back of my mind if it was what I really wanted to do. “I won’t be able to stay long though. I’ll need to get home for my kids.” That wasn’t true, since they were certainly old enoughto fend for themselves for the evening, but I wanted to give myself an out if necessary.
“Fantastic, no problem.” Ryan declared. “Let’s go to The Inferno. It’s not anything upscale, but the organization that owns it is one of our biggest clients. You can sample some of the liquor that your new logo will help me sell.” That was fine with me. I actually preferred the corner bars where everyone knew the regulars over the fancy places anyway.
He gave me the address to plug into my GPS, and I agreed to meet him there. The fifteen-minute drive didn’t do much to settle the uneasiness churning deep in my gut, but it did give me the opportunity to call Hunter to let him know that he and Mia should start eating without me if I wasn’t home later. There were plenty of leftovers in the refrigerator for them, so I knew they wouldn’t starve.
The parking lot was only half full, not surprising since it wasn’t even quite five o’clock yet. I parked next to Ryan’s truck, and he was there to open my door like a true gentleman. I smiled my thanks, then forced myself to relax as he placed his hand on the small of my back to guide me toward the bar’s entrance.
My eyes widened as I noticed the logo on the sign next to the door. I was trying to convince myself that it was purely coincidence that the flaming skull on the sign looked awfully similar to the design on the back of the MC’s leather cuts, but I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t. The sight of Jagger working behind the bar put a swift end to that hope. He looked surprised to see me there but gave me a head nod and a smile before he turned to talk to a man who walked up to take a seat at the bar. Ryan led me to a booth in the far corner before I could turn tail and run. Of all the damned bars in this city, I ended up at the one owned by the MC, and the man I was trying to forget.
