“Amery? It’s Will Aberle. Do you remember me? I’m friends with Chaz.”
“Will! Of course I remember you. Chaz dragged us to that laser tag place last fall. We froze our butts off.”
“I haven’t seen Chaz for a while. How is he?”
“Good. He’s in a relationship now. Well, as much as Chaz can be in a relationship, which means—”
“He’s still on the prowl,” Will finished.
“God, don’t we sound like bitchy queens dissing on our friend?”
“That’s the problem with always being the straight man.”
She laughed. Will was funny and had the blond-haired, blue-eyed look Amery found so appealing. So why hadn’t she ever let him know she was available?
Because no matter how nice he seems, he reminds you of your ex.
“How’ve you been?” Will asked.
“I can’t complain. I’ve kept up with new business and haven’t lost much of my old business. What about you? You’re in insurance, right?”
“Yes, I’m in the actuary department, which sounds incredibly stuffy every time I say it.”
“So, is this your usual hangout?”
“I’m usually in one night a week. I never see you here.”
“My first time.”
“I ought to buy you a drink to celebrate.”
A hand landed on her shoulder and Ronin’s smooth cheek brushed hers as he inserted himself between them. “Sorry I’m late. I know how much you hate waiting.” Then he offered his hand to Will. “Ronin. And you are?”
“Will.”
“Thanks, Will, for keeping my girl company.”
What was up with Ronin acting as if they were a couple?
“My pleasure.” Will smiled at Amery. “Good seeing you again.” Then he moved to the other side of the bar.
“You ready?” Ronin asked.
“For you to explain to me exactly what the hell that was? Yes. Start talking.”
Ronin squeezed her shoulder. “A friendly reminder that you’re off the market.”
“Like I’m a slab of meat?” she asked sharply.
“You are Grade-A prime cut all the way, baby.”
“Ronin. That’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not.”
His eyes were so . . . penetrating that her heart sped up. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re a beautiful woman, who just rejected eight offers from strangers who wanted to buy you drinks.” He traced the edge of her cheek and tipped her chin up. “Watching you was a special kind of torture for me because I willingly devised it.”
“Why?”
“I wanted you to see the truth about yourself. Then I realized you would’ve let some of those guys buy you a drink or maybe even left with them had the situation been different.”
“Do you want me to admit you were right?”
“About letting any one of them buy you a drink? No.” Ronin’s thumb slowly followed the curve of her lower lip. When she trembled, he seemed to take great pleasure in treating her to another leisurely pass, ensuring that she trembled from his touch again. “Was I right about you being the sexiest woman in this bar? Yes. So say I’m unaware of my own beauty and you were irrevocably right, Ronin.”
Somehow Amery eased back from his enthralling touch. “Fat chance. So, where were you sitting while I was proving your point?”
“In the corner.”
“Watching my back?”
He gestured to the front of the bar. “I didn’t want to watch your back; I wanted to watch your face.” He plucked up her restless hand. “Since I won, I get to pick what we do tonight. Have any idea what that might be?”
Please say hours of hot, raunchy sex.
Ronin’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say something?”
“Uh. No.” Thank god she hadn’t said that out loud, but she half suspected he’d read her mind. “What are we doing?” she asked quickly. “I hope it involves food.”
“Isn’t it fortunate I planned to cook for you at my place?”
So maybe hot sex was on the menu for tonight. She smiled. “Sounds delicious.”
“Let’s go.”
Amery upended her drink and took his hand as he led her outside. No worries about driving since she’d walked to the bar. She’d even worn jeans in case Ronin had driven his motorcycle.
But out on the street he stopped beside a black Lexus SUV. He opened the passenger door. “You look disappointed.”
“I kind of like the bike.”
“Next time.”
Once they were tooling down the road, she said, “I don’t know where you live.”
“Same as you: where I work.”
She frowned. “You live in the dojo?”
“On the top floor. And also like you, I own the building.”
“What else is in the building?”
“Dojo offices and additional training areas take up the second and part of the third floor. I rent out the fourth floor to businesses that don’t have much walk-in traffic but needed office space.”
“How long have you owned the building?”
“Bought it ten years ago. Needed a ton of work. My priority was the dojo. Then my living space. It’s just in the last six years the middle floors were updated and ready to rent out.”
“So, do you have instructors and students just pop into your place to say howdy?”