Page 6 of Clashing
“All right, honey,” he said, brows knit together. “Got all your things?”
She nodded. Then her eyes widened. “Shit. I forgot my suitcase. And my dress.”
Danny chuckled as she raced upstairs. Another bell dinged, and Dan ambled through the double doors to the kitchen. Scarlett returned with her suitcase and a dress thrown over her shoulder. She scanned the bar, and when those beautiful eyes landed on me, I couldn’t help myself.
I met her gaze and sipped my drink. “Thought you didn’t like pet names, Scarlett.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t.”
“Dan called you honey.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Her pink tongue darted out along her lip, and my pants tightened.
“It . . .” The words died when I finished my drink and licked the remains off my lips. She watched the movement. The energy crackling between us practically hummed. “It just is.”
“Hmm,” I grunted.Bullshit.
“How would you like it if I called you—” she gestured in a vague circle before her eyes lit up with a victory that wouldn’t last “Baby?”
Well, now she was baiting me. “I’d like that quite a bit, Scarlett.”
She was at risk of Danny checking her temperature again with how red she turned. The corner of my mouth pulled up in a smirk.
“You’re annoying . . .” Her tone implied she was about to full name me, but she didn’t know my first name yet. “What’s your name?”
Called it.I could be annoying. Especially if it was going to bring out her feisty side. “Ryker, sugar.” I winked. “The name’s Ryker.”
She scowled and crossed her arms. “I told you not to call me that.”
“I thought we agreed you’d call me baby, and I’d call you sugar?” I leaned on my forearms over the bar, so I could see more of her. “Or is it that you’d rather we call each other baby? I can work with that.”
She pressed her lips together. Her eyes narrowed in a challenge I was too willing to jump on.
Danny came through the doors. “Ready, honey?”
I hid my amusement behind my glass. One moment of a glower was all I got from her before she pecked Danny on the cheek. “Ready. I’ll see you in two days. Don’t work too hard.”
“You be safe driving all that way alone,” Danny said. “Call me when you get in.”
Everything about her softened, and I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of the smile she gave him. So warm it would’ve melted me.God fucking dammit, who am I right now?
“I promise.” She hugged Danny, then turned for the exit. “Bye.”
“Bye, honey.” Once she was out of sight, Danny sighed and turned to me. “Isn’t she a sweetheart?”
Sweetheart?Not the word I’d use. Thankfully, Danny moved on to other customers, chatting more animatedly than before his hug from Scarlett.
Dammit. Scarlett was off-limits. Danny would kill me. He liked me well enough, but I could only imagine what he’d think if I made a pass at his little sweetheart, and she took it. And she’d take it. I could see it in her eyes.
She’s forbidden fruit.
That made me want her even more.
Chapter three
