Page 2 of Crazy for You

“We’re fine,” Obnoxious Dude answered. “Who are you?”

“Ryan Blake. And you are?”

“Tristan Farrell.”

“Tristan and I are…old friends,” Emma said.

By old friends, Ryan assumed she meant former flames. And since she clearly wasn’t enjoying his company, it was time for Tristan to leave. Ryan crossed his arms over his chest and stared him down, waiting for the loser to get the message. It didn’t take long.

Tristan backed up, his eyes darting toward the front door. “Well, it was great seeing you, Emma. Take care.”

“You, too.” She watched as Tristan left the bar then turned to Ryan. “Forgot how much I dislike that guy.”

“He hassling you?”

Her eyes rounded. “No! Just talking my ear off, really. Sorry to distract you from your duties at the bar.”

“No problem.” Keeping an eye on his patrons was part of the job, although he was probably feeling more protective of Emma right now than the situation called for.

“Right, well…looks like my table is ready.” She waved over her shoulder as she walked away.

Ryan headed back behind the bar, turning his attention to the trio of tourists and their mostly empty cocktails. “Any of you ladies ready for a fresh drink?”

As it turned out, they all were. While he mixed their cocktails, he allowed his gaze to roam over to Emma’s table. She was deep in conversation with her friends Gabby, Carly, and Mandy, all of whom he knew, none of whom made his gut tighten the way it did every time he looked at Emma tonight.

He had no idea where this had come from, but he had to get over it, pronto. Emma wasn’t interested in a player like him, and even if she were, she was off limits. He’d made a promise to her brother when Derek enlisted, and Ryan had no intention of breaking it.

Emma polished off her beer and set it on the table with a thunk. Was that her third, or her fourth? Didn’t matter. She was on the fun side of tipsy and loving it. They didn’t usually come to The Drunken Bear for girls’ night, but with plenty of local beer on tap, rock music playing, and one of her favorite people tending bar, she was totally in favor of coming here again.

“Hottie at ten o’clock,” Mandy said, tipping her beer in the direction of the bar, where an attractive Black man sat on the first barstool, sipping from a frosty mug of beer. Yeah, he was hot, but Emma’s gaze shifted past him to the bartender. Ryan was by far the sexiest man in the room, as far as she was concerned.

“He’s hot,” Gabby agreed, “but he’s no Ethan.”

“Or Sam,” Carly added with a smile.

“Hush, you two,” Emma said. “You don’t have to rub it in that you both have sexy men warming your beds at night.”

“You should go over and talk to him.” Mandy nudged her shoulder. “He’s delicious, and he looks very clean-cut and polite.”

Emma frowned. “Who says I like my men clean-cut and polite?”

Mandy pressed a finger to her lips then laughed. “I’m thinking back on the last few guys you’ve dated—Daniel the high school teacher, Tristan the accountant…”

Emma scrunched her nose. “Please don’t remind me.”

Gabby’s lips curved in amusement. “There are worse things than dating clean-cut guys, Emma.”

“I bumped into Tristan here earlier,” Emma told them. “I seriously can’t believe I ever dated that guy. He might be clean-cut, but he’s definitely not polite.” He’d done nothing but brag about a promotion he’d gotten at work, hadn’t even asked how she was doing.

Carly leaned forward. “Why? What did he do?”

“Nothing really. He’s just so self-absorbed and ridiculous.” She took a fortifying gulp of her beer. “But here’s the thing that really bugs me. I had kind of forgotten about it until I saw him again tonight. Remember back when I was dating him, I told you guys that I had decided to break up with him because he was so boring?”

They all nodded.

Emma felt a flush creep into her cheeks. “Well, the truth is, he dumped me before I had the chance to dump him. And he basically told me I was boring. He said I was too predictable and never wanted to do anything fun.”

“Well, obviously he doesn’t know you very well,” Gabby said with scorn in her voice, “because you’re lots of fun. I mean, you got me to sign up for an obstacle course race when I was deathly afraid of heights. That was pretty much the opposite of boring.”

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