Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“Is he the bouncer?” Shay asked no one in particular when she finally found her words again.
“Somethin’ like that, darlin’,” Dodge answered her, took his time checking her out, then jerked his chin up at Ozzy like he approved and headed back down the bar to return to his job.
Once Ozzy’s sharp gray gaze swung from Dodge back to her, he asked, “You good?”
“I’m… fine. You didn’t have to do that. He was probably just drunk.”
“Don’t matter.”
Shay should remind him that he had touched her earlier in the day without asking when he unpinned her hair and also unbuttoned her blouse.
But she doubted he’d consider that the same.
How ironic that at that very moment, the band began playing No More Mr. Nice Guy by Alice Cooper. It couldn’t be more fitting for the man standing by her side. Or the scarred man who escorted the drunk out the front entrance.
She bit back her snort. “Well, thank you for saving me from having to make small-talk. I did enough of that earlier. I decided earlier tonight that if the conversation isn’t going to be genuine, I’m going to pass on it.”
He turned his gray eyes from the front door, where the two men disappeared, to stare at her. For a second, she thought he could see right through her, right into her very center.
“Never gotta make small-talk with me. You got nothin’ to say, then say nothin’.”
Well, then… She kind of liked that policy of his.
“You shoot pool?”
“No.”
“Wanna learn?”
She shrugged. “Sure. Are you good enough to teach me?”
His lips twitched. “Sweetheart, I can teach you a lotta things.” He tipped his head to the two drinks sitting on the bar. “Grab your drink and stick close.”
He opened the hinged section of the bar and she ducked under his arm but waited for him to secure it back in place. Once he did, he grabbed his glass in one hand, planted his other hand on the small of her back and steered her through the thick crowd, using his body to clear a path.
The crowd got thinner the further they got from the stage and he directed her into a better lit area behind a half-wall. In that semi-enclosed area were two occupied pool tables. Also, the music wasn’t so deafening.
As soon as one of the players spotted his vest, the man straightened and said, “Hey, brother, you want this table?” He held out his hand like he was waiting for Ozzy to clasp it and do the shoulder bump like he’d done with Dodge behind the bar.
“Yeah, but ain’t your brother. Finish your game, then I want the table.”
The guy didn’t seem to take offense at Ozzy ignoring his outstretched hand. “Do you want to play doubles?”
“Nope. Finish your game,” he repeated, “then I’m takin’ the table.”
The other man nodded and didn’t argue. Him and his friends went back to playing as Ozzy moved them over to one of the high-topped round tables that the current occupants quickly emptied as they approached and he set down his drink.
She glanced at her own, then lifted it to her nose and sniffed. A Jack and Coke? She tentatively took a sip and was glad when she didn’t just swallow a mouthful because it was strong. As light as the color was and with what it tasted like, it was probably fifty-fifty.
Wine was her drink of preference. If she drank anything harder, she usually liked it to be a ratio of more soda to alcohol.
It finally hit her that she did something really damn stupid. She accepted a drink from a man and she hadn’t watched it being made.
Damn it.
Why did she trust Ozzy? She only met him this morning. And, worse, he clearly was a biker and bikers were known not to be so trustworthy, right? She remembered seeing them a lot around town while growing up. They all seemed rough and obnoxious, even bordering on violent.
On the other hand, why would he bring her all the way here to a public bar only to spike her drink? If he had nefarious intentions it would’ve been easier to do something to her back at the motel. Where there were a lot less witnesses.
His whispered, “It’s safe,” near her ear had her start. She looked up and his gray eyes held something in them that she hadn’t seen yet. A little disappointment possibly.
For her not trusting him?
Maybe.
She lifted the glass to her lips and took another tiny sip. “It’s just really strong.”
“Want me to get you another one?”
She shook her head. “I’ll just drink it slowly.” She glanced at his. “If yours is just as strong, I’m worried about you driving later.” And also me falling off the back of your bike if I get loopy.
“That’s later. This is now.”
Well, that was true. The man certainly didn’t mince words. But she’d still keep an eye on how much he drank. If he tossed them down like water, she’d call an Uber to be safe.