Dirty Ride (Wind Dragons MC #3.5)(6)

“You have a twin?” I ask with wide eyes. That’s a f*ck of a lot of hotness. I pick up the bottle and take a sip. Okay, more like a giant mouthful.

“What’s going on?” Reid asks his brother, barely sparing me a glance.

Ryan nods his head to me. “She wants to speak to the manager.” He pauses, then laughs. “To complain about me.”

Reid smirks, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “What did you do now?”

“Nothing,” Ryan says good-naturedly, sending a wink in my direction. “I was told to keep her here. So I’m doing just that, trying to buy time until Irish arrives.”

Reid now looks me directly in the eye. “This is Irish’s woman?”

I raise my hand. “I don’t know what the two of you are even talking about.”

But in the back of my mind, I kind of do. I spoke to Ardan in this very bar, and the dude has an Irish accent.

Coincidence? I really hope so.

Because why would he go to such measures to see me again? We didn’t even talk for that long. The thought both excites me and scares me. Did I make such an impression on him, like he did on me? Does it matter, considering my plan is to stay away from him?

I hold out my hand and try to use my puppy-dog eyes on Reid, since Ryan clearly isn’t budging. “I have things to do. Can you please just give me my goddamn license?”

When they both look over my shoulder, the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stands on end.

I turn around, and there he is.

Grinning.

His gaze roams over me, slowly, and when he comes back to my eyes, he holds my license up in the air. “I think I’ve got something that’s yours, darlin’.”

I look behind me and scowl at the twins. Reid just shrugs, but Ryan smiles widely, then wiggles his eyebrows.

“I’m never coming into this bar again,” I vow. “Like, ever.”

Ardan stalks toward me and hands me my license at last. “I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“The hell you are.” I glower at him. “I’m getting in my car and going home.”

“You have to eat,” he says, shrugging and looking down at me. “What do you want? Your choice, babe.”

I don’t want to go with him, but at the same time I do. How could I not? He’s confident, attractive, and has something about him that I want to absorb. Just being in his presence makes me feel . . . I don’t know what. Like a different person. A better person than I was. I think it’s all in the way he looks at me, like I’m someone special. It’s almost like he doesn’t like to take his eyes off me. Every time I look at him, he’s already watching me.

He says good-bye to the twins, then takes me by my wrist. His touch instantly makes me flinch, and I pull my arm away from him. He stops and studies me, looking down at my wrist. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, scowling before his expression softens, his eyes gentling and his lips settling into position. “I’m just going to take you outside. You’re safe, I promise.”

I rub my wrist, reminding myself that not all men are like Darren. However, some are, and I seem to be a magnet for those types. I need to be careful not to get tangled up in a bad situation again. I nod my head and take a step forward, silently permitting him to continue leading the way. He offers me his hand, this time waiting for me to choose to hold it or not. I slide mine into his, and he squeezes it gently, reassuringly, before leading me outside to his big matte black Harley. I like the way my hand feels enveloped in his. I feel safe and strong at the same time. I don’t know how he makes me feel this way, so comfortable, but he does. Before I even know what’s going on, he puts a helmet on my head, gently tucking my hair inside so it’s not all over my face.

“I’ll bring you back here after and then you can drive your car home,” he says with one hand on my lower back, his other waving to the bike. “Let’s get you on there.”

I feel the warmth of his hand through my clothes and wonder how it would feel on my bare skin. Fuck. It would feel good. So good. It has been too long, and I really shouldn’t be around this man. Where I need to be is at home, probably with a vibrator. I don’t have one, but I think I need to buy one. Maybe I’ll stop at an adult shop on my way home.

“Well?” he asks, eyes still on me, waiting patiently while I think about sex toys.

I purse my lips and consider my options. A free meal sounds good. I don’t like that I like being in Ardan’s presence. He has heartbreaker written all over him, with big red warning signs everywhere.

“One meal,” I find myself saying. “And then you need to leave me alone.”

“We’ll see,” he mutters, not giving in to any of my demands. “What do you want to eat, Tina?”

“Lobster,” I decide on the spot, as it’s the most expensive thing I can think of. Maybe I’ll even order an appetizer, two sides, and dessert too.

He laughs, his dark eyes crinkling in the corners. “Lobster it is. Now get your sexy ass on the back of my bike.”

I hesitate, glancing toward my little red car. Do I want to go to dinner with him? What could come of this?

Ardan sighs and steps to me, picking me up and lifting me onto the bike. “Spread those thighs.”

I roll my eyes but straddle the bike, then hold on to him as he gets on with me. He takes my hands and pulls them around his stomach.