Page 259 of The Spider Queen
“How are you doing, Stella? Holding up okay?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He stared like he hoped he could see into the heart of me. “Never mind then.” He waved me toward the door. “Good crowd tonight.”
I moved past him, and his hand reached out to gently graze my arm. “You know you can talk to me, doll. If you ever need to.”
My smile was flirty and full of deflection. “Thanks. I’m good.”
He sighed and then turned his back on me, facing the street.
The room was warm with bodies. Pockets of people occupied the tables; some were friends, while others were clearly on dates. I took my favorite seat at the bar where I had the perfect vantage point to survey the room. My back pressed against the exposed brick while I waited for Ryan to stop talking with the woman at the end of the bar.
“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted as he sauntered over to me. He was a total Southern gentleman; a born flirt, Nashville born and raised. I wondered how this city hadn’t chewed him up and spit him out. Must’ve had something to do with the devilish smirk on his lips and the mop of dark hair just waiting for a woman’s fingers.
“You just gonna sit there, or are you gonna give me some sugar?” he teased.
I leaned over the bar and brushed my lips across his clean-shaven cheek.
“Not even a peck on the lips.” His sigh was melodramatic. “And to think I thought I was finally wearing you down.”
“Not in this lifetime, Ryan,” I said with a rueful smile, taking the sting out of my rejection.
“Why not?” He rested his forearms on the bar and leaned forward. “What’s wrong with me?”
I laughed. “You know there’s nothing wrong with you. Not even a little bit.”
“Then why won’t you date me?”
“I don’t think you’re interested indatinganyone.”
“Hmm. You may be right. Too many gorgeous women in the city to tie myself to just one.” He slid a coaster in front of me. “What are you drinking?”
“Are you working on a new cocktail?”
“I might be.”
“Need another opinion on it?”
He grinned and tapped two knuckles on the polished wooden bar. “One Dark Prince coming up.”
“Dark Prince?” I smiled. “Really? What’s in it? Blueberry moonshine?”
“Is that a dig at my roots?”
“Maybe.”
Ryan reached for some fresh mint and threw it into a glass. “See, this is why you need to date me. You keep me in line.”
“That’s not my job. That’s yourmother’sjob.”
“Ouch. You’re brutal. I like that in a woman.”
“What’s in this Dark Prince cocktail of yours?”
“Mint, honey, whiskey, and iced tea.”
I laughed. “Southern boy.”
