Ashley caught his eye. “Tequila shots to start.” She handed him her credit card. “Keep the tab open.”
He gave her a salute with the card. “Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s too much,” Taylor protested.
Ashley wrapped an arm around her sister and hugged her close. “Not for my twin. You only get to do this once. Don’t worry about the expense. Tonight is on me and the girls.” The other ladies nodded.
Taylor bit her lip uncertainly, so Ashley leaned closer. “Don’t worry. My new job pays well.”
Plus, it turned out when you had no life, you spent no money. Go figure.
Taylor loosened up, finally, giving her a squeeze back. “Thank you.”
In short order they downed their shots, and men appeared and took each away for a dance. After pretending to enjoy a turn around the floor with one of them, Ashley checked their booth, which stood empty, their shot glasses littering the tabletop. Rather than sit there by herself as cowboy bait, she headed to the bar. “Hey, Bud. Can I have a beer?”
“Which one?”
“I like a good IPA. You pick.”
“You got it.”
“Ashley Hughes?” a female voice squealed from her right.
Let the bullshit begin. “Mandy Walker!” Ashley could do the bubbly girl thing when required. “It’s been ages. How are you?”
The blonde valedictorian of their senior class held up her left hand sporting an obnoxiously large diamond. “Married.”
“Let me guess? Jason Hubbard?” The two had been high school sweethearts, so figuring that one out didn’t exactly require a PhD.
Mandy laughed. “Who else?”
“You look fantastic. Marriage must agree with you.”
“You look great too.” Mandy sobered and Ashley braced herself for what she suspected was coming. “Although I expected this to be your bachelorette party.” A concerned light dulled Mandy’s green eyes and her pouty pink lips turned down. “How are you handling Taylor marrying Eric?”
Ashley pretended not to notice the downshift in mood. “I’m thrilled for them. They make each other happy.” Both true statements. Problem was no one seemed inclined to believe her about the first bit.
Mandy, sweet but not the brightest bulb in the box with social cues, didn’t take the hint. “But you must be disappointed. Everyone expected you and Eric to marry. When they announced their engagement last summer, it was such a shock.”
To everyone except Ashley. Granted, the engagement happened faster than she anticipated, but she’d known. “Oh, things were over between me and Eric before then.”
Mandy patted her arm. “Of course, honey. Way to stay strong.”
Ashley idly wondered if a bullhorn might get the message through. But, while the mental image of blowing back Mandy’s over-teased hairdo with the sound filled her with wicked humor, Ashley decided against it. Where would she find a bullhorn in a bar anyway? Besides, a long time ago, she’d come to the conclusion that the louder you defended yourself against small-town gossip, the more people talked.
Luckily, Bud chose that moment to hand her an ice-cold glass of beer. She tipped it toward the other woman. “See you around, Mandy.”
She spun around and smacked into a wall of muscle, her beer sloshing all over her hand.
“Sorry.” Ashley stumbled back, shook off her hand, and checked her outfit hadn’t suffered any damage. Satisfied she’d survived, she directed her gaze up, way up, into amused brown eyes bracketed by laugh lines.
“Oh, no. Not you,” she groaned. Apparently, Lady Luck, that fickle bitch, had completely abandoned her tonight.
She could deal with the stares and pretend sympathy from nearly everyone else, but not from Ryan McAdams.
If anything, his grin grew. “Nice to see you too, Hughes.”
“It’s Ashley.” Not that he ever listened before. He’d called her by her last name for ten years. Ever since they were fifteen. She waved her free hand as if shooing away an annoying fly. “Why don’t you go away.”
“How about a dance?”
“Did someone drop you as a baby?”
Okay. Low blow. She knew his dad had done that and still felt awful about it.
To her consternation he ignored her and plucked the beer out of her hand to set it on the bar. “Watch this for her, Bud?”
“Hey!” Ashley protested.
The bartender gave him that head nod guys used. “You got it, Ryan.”
Traitor.
Ignoring her grumble of protest, Ryan grabbed her hand and led her to the dance floor. A slow two-step started, and he pulled her into his arms.
Nope. Nope. Nope. I am not slow dancing with Ryan McAdams. She pulled back. “Let’s wait for the next song.”
He tugged Ashley closer, wrapping one arm around her waist and taking her hand. The beer soaked one, so, great, now he’d think she had sweaty-palm-syndrome. He showed no sign of noticing as he started them moving. “This song is fine.”
Wrestling away from him now would cause a scene. She didn’t need yet another fun reason to be talked about and stared at tonight, so she went with it. “Why don’t you ask one of the other girls to dance?” She gestured toward the booth where several of the bachelorette party sat. “The blonde is easy. She should be just your type.”
He perked up and glanced over. “Really?”
She snorted. “Nope.”
He grinned as his gaze returned to her. “Damn. And I was about to leave you all alone in the middle of the dance floor and go get her number.”
I wouldn’t put it past him.
“You still mad at me, Hughes? I thought we made up at New Year’s last year.”
Would she get arrested for starting a bar fight?
“You were nice to me for about a second, McAdams. That doesn’t make up for years of being a jerk.”
He grimaced. “Jerk is a bit strong—”
“Oh?” she interrupted. “You were my best friend, Ryan. But the second I got a boyfriend, you wanted nothing to do with me. When you did bother to talk to me—”
She paused and shook her head. No way would she admit how hurt she’d been at his behavior.
“Do you remember our junior year in high school when you called me Eric’s groupie?”
“I’d forgotten—”
“Then later that year I believe you told me my rose colored glasses were causing permanent blindness. Then, at the start of senior year when I quit Math Club, you asked if I’d lost all my brain cells. That a smart woman wouldn’t make every decision based on what her boyfriend did. Implying, of course, I was a stupid lemming.”
Ryan’s wince didn’t stop her, as the memories of every insult, every criticism through the years, came spilling out. A surprisingly cathartic experience.
“I think my favorite was at the end of senior year when you asked what school I was attending.”
“You don’t have to—”
“When I told you I wasn’t going to A&M, I believe you said I was a hopeless case, hell bent on ruining my life for a guy.”
Under her hand, his shoulders rose and fell in a silent sigh. He placed his lips close to her ear. “When you put it like that, all together, I sound like a total dick. I’m sorry, Hughes.”
Ashley shivered as his warm breath caressed her ear and tried not to soften under what had been a contrite apology. Ryan must’ve had too much to drink or something. He’d never once apologized.
Too f’ing little, and ten years too late.
When she didn’t reply, his chuckle rumbled against her chest. “Bah humbug. Is that it?”
When she didn’t respond, his jaw hardened. “If I knew why the person had said all those things, I might forgive him.”
She barked a hard laugh. “What reasons could you possibly have had?”
Sadness she didn’t trust shadowed his eyes. “That’s a discussion for another time and not in a loud bar.”
Ryan adjusted his grip, and Ashley found herself held even closer aga
inst his body. Why’d he have to smell so damn good anyway? Nothing special, soap and aftershave, but delicious on him. Despite herself, Ashley’s heartbeat picked up speed.
She never denied Ryan easily qualified as one of the best- looking men in Lee county. How could he not, with his perpetually disheveled dark hair, teasing brown eyes, and cowboy strong body? Up until last Christmas, though, she never had eyes for anyone but Eric.
Ryan looked particularly hot tonight in tight jeans, a black button down rolled up at the sleeves—so maybe she had had a tiny bit of a thing for his forearms in school. Why? No clue. Something about his lean strength, which had only matured with age, like a fine wine. The man defined the word capable, with his picture in the dictionary next to the term and everything. Awareness fizzed through her as those strong arms gathered her even closer now.
Quit!
Her body ignored her command.
“So Taylor and Eric, huh?”
Rather than anger, defeat dragged at her shoulders. “Don’t you start with me, too. I don’t need any more of your opinions.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What did I say?”
Ryan did the wounded bit, using those puppy-dog eyes so well she almost believed him. Ashley sighed. Might as well get this over with. “Yes, I’m happy for them. No, I don’t miss Eric. Yes, they’re a great couple. Yes, I’m thrilled to be the maid of honor at their wedding. No, he and I never discussed marriage. Yes, I moved on. No, it wasn’t a surprise to me. Any other questions?”
He studied her quietly until she wanted to glance away or shift uncomfortably. Not that she’d give him the satisfaction.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he finally murmured, as his gaze slipped from her eyes to her lips.
She blinked at the unexpected heat that lit inside her. So she and Ryan had shared a kiss. Once. She’d been distraught and not in her right mind at the time. At least, that was the excuse she gave herself. Which begged the question, what was wrong with her tonight, lusting after Ryan?
“Where is Eric tonight, anyway?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“His bachelor party went to Austin. His favorite band is playing downtown.”
“Nice. I hear you’re a high powered accountant in Dallas now.”
Ashley took a second to catch up with the change in topic. While she’d been struggling with that odd wave of lust, apparently he’d been thinking of something polite to say. “Yes.”
“You always were good at math.”
He used to tease her about it when they were kids. She wasn’t in the mood for teasing tonight. “Numbers make sense to me.” More than people did most of the time.
He nodded, as if he got it. “How long are you in town?”
“Three weeks. I go home after the New Year.” And too bad life didn’t come with a fast-forward button, because she’d totally be using it.
“Do you think you might be able to squeeze in time to take a look at my finances?”
Again, she needed to catch up. Was that why he wanted to dance with her? Did he think one slow dance was all it took to get professional help? “Don’t you have an accountant?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged broad shoulders and her hand by his neck brushed against his hair, soft and silky against her fingertips.
A sudden urge to run her fingers through it seized her, making her scowl at her own wayward body. Her question came out a tad harsher than intended. “Then what do you need me for?”
He glanced around, as if checking for eavesdroppers, then leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m afraid I’ve stumbled on a case of fraud with my current bookkeeper. I’d like a second opinion.”
His warm breath tickled her neck now, and a quiver of reaction shimmied down her spine as he drew back.
This is Ryan McAdams. Reminding her body of that fact had zero effect though.
“I’ll pay you for your time, of course,” Ryan interrupted her mental battle.
Ashley bit the inside of her lip. Fraud could be tricky to prove. In these parts, where everyone knew everyone else, getting an outside opinion would mean going to a costly accountant far away. Besides, she didn’t like the thought of anyone being taken advantage of. Especially Ryan’s family. The McAdams had been like a second family to her once upon a time. Even if their son was an ass, she still loved his parents and brothers.
However, helping Ryan also meant spending time more time with him. Dang.
“You’re lucky I have a good heart, Ryan McAdams.”
He chuckled, and the warm sound tripped her heart into overdrive again. Maybe she needed to get laid. She and Eric ended their relationship around this time last year, and she hadn’t dated anyone seriously since. Casual hookups weren’t her thing. That had to be it. Because her reactions couldn’t have anything to do with Ryan himself. He didn’t even like her as a person. An opinion he had made abundantly clear when he so easily walked away from their friendship in high school.
At the same time, dealing with Ryan was better than dealing with wedding stuff, and Sunday loomed unscheduled for her.
“Does Sunday work for you?”
“I can make it work. Noon?”
The song ended, changing to a faster two-step, and she extricated herself from his arms. He let go but escorted her back to the booth.
“Who’s your friend?” Lacy, one of Taylor’s college roommates, eyed Ryan like a piece of chocolate in a candy story.
Teeth gritted, Ashley introduced him to Lacy and Molly, Taylor’s other roommate. All the other bridesmaids were from around here, so they already knew him. And wouldn’t mind some alone time with him either if the drooling and attention- seeking comments were anything to go by.
Not surprisingly, he asked Lacy—coincidentally the blonde Ashley told him was easy—to dance. Although the grin he shot Ashley as they left said he followed her train of thought all the way to the station.
I’m happy to see the back of him.
Because the pang in her gut definitely was not jealously. Forcing her gaze away, she smiled at the ladies still at the table. “Another round of shots, girls?”
2
“Santa Claus has the right idea - visit people only once a year.” --Victor Borge
After dancing with the blonde, Ryan stayed on the other side of the bar from Ashley and the bachelorette party now in full swing. He needed the distance, or he’d be tempted to do something stupid. Always had been when it came to Ashley Hughes.
Though while she and Eric were together, keeping away had been…not easier exactly. The second she’d started dating Eric, that’s all she was interested in. The easy friendship Ryan and Ashley had shared since pre-school got pushed to the side with an ease that, at fifteen, he’d taken badly. Angry, he’d cut her out of his life.
Then she stayed with Eric. For years. Ryan had watched from the sidelines, frustrated in a futile way, as she’d changed her life, her choices, her dreams. All for a guy.
Even now he wanted to shake his head at her. Eric Landon. Nice enough, but not whom Ashley needed. She needed someone to stand beside her, behind her, and even up to her now and then. Ryan considered Eric a quality guy, but the way Ashley changed when they became an item told him Eric wasn’t the guy she should be with.
He’d tried to point that out to her, granted with a lack of finesse only a teenage boy could show, and only succeeded in pissing her off and pushing her farther away.
Ashley insisted she’d didn’t miss Eric, but a brittleness shadowed her smile tonight in a way Ryan didn’t like. As well as a decent amount of alcohol consumed. Not that she had more than the other ladies, but she’d always been a featherweight.
Irritation prickled under his skin. Why’d he care anyway? Deliberately, Ryan turned his back on her and concentrated on his game of pool with his brother. Ashley Hughes was none of his damn business. Hadn’t been in ten years.
“Ashley Hughes is looking hot tonight.”
Hell. Can’t escape her even when I try.
Ryan gritt
ed his teeth at Mason Bastion’s drunken slur. He’d heard similar remarks all night. The Hughes twins were identically lovely, with their long dark hair, eyes an unusual shade of grey, and the most kissable lips. Not to mention fantastic bodies with curves in all the right places. They’d always been a source of male interest in their small community. But with Ashley permanently spoken for, Taylor ended up as the twin the guys focused on. The tables had turned, though.
“I think I’ll go ask her to dance,” Mason announced before heading that direction.
“Your shot, man.” A frustrated voice interrupted Ryan’s eavesdropping. He glanced at his brother, whose booted toe tapped the weathered wood floor. At a guess, Blake had been calling his name for a while.
“Sorry,” Ryan muttered, and forced himself to focus, yet again, on the game.
After missing his shot, he moved to the tall round table in the corner. A long swig of cold beer settled him while Blake took his turn. However, from this vantage point, watching Blake meant he could see the dance floor where Mason and Ashley were now. Twice Ashley had to reach back and adjust Mason’s hand from her ass to her back.
Ryan missed his next shot, too.
“Your head is not in this game,” Blake complained.
“Sorry.” Ryan ran a hand around the back of his neck. “Rough week, I guess.”
At least his excuse rang true. His suspicions about the accountant keeping the books for their family ranch were a major source of concern he had yet to share with his family. He wanted to be sure before accusing anyone. Hopefully, Ashley would be able to put his fears to rest in that quarter.
Dance over, he tracked Ashley’s progress as she threaded her way back to the table with Mason dogging her steps. She managed to squish herself to the middle of the booth, with girls on either side as buffer, but the man didn’t take the hint. From across the room, it looked as though she pawned him off on one of Taylor’s college friends, and Ryan had to contain a chuckle.
As soon as Mason cleared out, Ashley made a beeline for the exit, lips pressed in a thin line. Did the woman have no sense? She’d freeze out there in her undeniably sexy, but certainly not weather appropriate, outfit.
Home for the Holidays: A Contemporary Romance Anthology Page 52