She was going to a bar in Montana. “I’m going to get dressed.”
Bonnie clapped her hands, then looked slightly pale and steadied herself. Harmony whooped.
Ruby grabbed an outfit out of her suitcase, changed in the bathroom, and then presented herself to her friends, twirling.
She wore a peach silk blouse with light-colored skinny jeans that hugged her curves. The color of the silk set off her pale, creamy complexion. She swiped on coral gloss and shrugged into a black motorcycle jacket that added just a bit of edge to the look. Her light-blond hair was fluffed and perfect. When she completed her twirl for her friends, they clapped in approval.
“Bill is so stupid,” Harmony said.
“Agreed,” Bonnie said, rubbing a hand over her waist. “Man, I’m nervous. I wish we could be there with you.”
“I’ll call you as soon as we’re done. I’ll tell him I can’t stay long, but if there’s another woman there, I’m going to have to figure out how to outlast her.”
“Good girl,” Harmony said. “Though, I think you might be the only woman crazy enough to come all the way out here just to meet some mountain man.”
“My mountain man,” Ruby joked, tossing her hair. “I’m taking the rental car. That okay?”
“Of course,” Harmony said. “And make sure you drive yourself at the end of the night. Don’t get into cars with strange men, no matter how hot they are.”
Ruby saluted. “Got it, Mom.”
Harmony scowled at her and then laughed. “Get out of here. You’re gonna be late.”
“Okay,” Ruby said, feeling nerves hit her as she grabbed her purse and slid the Taser inside. She wasn’t so much nervous about something happening as she was about the fact that she was about to meet a stranger who her crazy fantasies said might just be the one for her.
She waved to her friends, shut the door behind her, and then walked out to her car.
Time to woman up and go on an adventure by herself.
When Ruby pulled up to the restaurant, she felt her courage attempt to abandon her.
There were motorcycles parked all around the place, and the loud sound of country rock blared from inside. There were people, sure. But it didn’t sound like there were many women, if any.
There were large trucks parked all around, surrounding her small rental car, which she parked close to the entrance in case she needed to make a quick getaway.
She put her hand on the door handle, and trepidation filled her. What if these men were rough, difficult, and nothing like the smooth city men she’d experienced? Then again, smooth city men could be pretty uncouth when they thought they could get away with it, putting their hands in all manner of places they weren’t invited to.
Perhaps the men out here would have some outdated code of chivalry?
She heard a raucous shout and the sound of a stool being turned over and paled slightly. No, it didn’t seem so.
But she could see Shane’s reassuring green eyes in her mind, and for some reason, she felt if she could just find him, she’d be fine.
She took a deep breath and walked out of the car. Her boots sank in the soft soil beneath her, and she stumbled as she walked up to the front entrance. Rough wooden steps met her, and she took deep breaths, determined to fake the courage she certainly didn’t feel.
When she opened the door to the bar, she felt the full stupidity of the moment wash over her.
What had she been thinking?
A dozen or so men looked over at her. They were varying degrees of rugged, and she could see in their hungry eyes that it wasn’t often they saw a woman like her. The bar went silent, and she could sense a heavy tension in the air that made her skin crawl and urged her to run.
A man at the bar, seated at the counter, looked up at her with golden eyes. Golden eyes. He had dark-blond hair and a face shaded by stubble. He had several lackeys with him, and as he stood, they walked forward. But before they could reach her, a man pushed out of a booth to the side and walked directly in front of her.
She looked up into striking dark-brown eyes and a face she almost mistook for Shane's before realizing it was all wrong.
This man was the epitome of a mountain man, covered in a shaggy, thick beard with dark, unruly hair, intense eyes, and wearing thick flannel. She almost expected him to pull a log out of his pocket and split it right in front of her.
His dark eyes stared at her as he took her by the arm and led her to his booth, sending a dark glare at the men around them, who grumbled but slowly went back to her seats.
The bartender visibly relaxed, as if he were aware some sort of altercation had been avoided. She could still feel the cold, appraising gaze of the blond man at the bar, but she tried to ignore it as the large man helped her into the booth and sat across from her.
“Shane McAllister,” he said gruffly, sticking out a hand for her to shake. It was covered in callouses, and when he shook her hand, it shook her whole body, making her squeak in surprise.
“You can’t be Shane,” she said, looking him over. The face was somewhat familiar, but the eyes, they were different. And the overall feel.
The man in front of her had an earthy masculinity that most women would probably find attractive. And she was sure he was probably handsome under all that fur. But she didn’t feel the draw to him she’d felt when she saw Shane’s profile.
She sighed. She should have known it was too good to be true. Clearly, this mountain man had stolen a picture of some male model who looked something like him in order to get a woman to come out to a town like this where she wouldn’t usually go.
She started to stand. “I think there’s been a mistake,” she said, hoping to get out without too much awkwardness.
She found her hand caught by the man across from her as she was unceremoniously tugged back into the booth.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said, eyeing her up and down as he flagged down a waiter. He ordered two draft beers without asking what she wanted, and she bit her lip, wondering how to deal with this difficult person who wasn’t anything like she’d expected.
He clasped his huge hands in front of him and leaned over the table, observing her in a way that made her nervous. “You aren’t big enough. I said I wanted big.”
She flushed, squirming nervously. “I thought this was what you meant.”
He gave her an approving stare and nodded. “Well, it’ll do. It’s attractive; that’s for damn sure. But is it sturdy?”
She smoothed her blouse. “I’m not sure about that.”
He waved a hand like it didn’t matter. “Well, Shane—I mean me… I’m a good protector. It’ll be fine. And you won’t have to do much except be a female, so that’s okay.”
She gulped. The man she was talking to sounded nothing like the man on the phone. He sounded like the more ludicrous parts of the profile, not the parts she’d been attracted to.
When the beers arrived, he finished his in one long go and then looked at hers. Not a big fan of beer, she pushed it over to him, and he finished that too, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
She wondered what Harmony would make of a man like this. But as for her, she knew it wasn’t going to work. Even if he was a mountain man, she needed someone more refined.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” she said, edging her way out of the booth again. But as she was about to exit, she looked up with a chill over her spine to see the large blond man from the bar looking down at her.
A growl came from the man across from her. “Get lost, Wyatt.”
“Shut up, McAllister,” the man retorted smoothly.
She quickly got back in the booth, disliking the predatory look of the blond even more than she disliked the rough look of the man across from her.
But Wyatt, the blond, had called her "date" McAllister. So he really must be Shane after all.
Damn. A part of her had been hoping maybe there were two profiles, and her Shane was still out there. And that was why he
’d answered the phone and known about the profile.
A tanned hand came in front of her and she looked up at the blond leaning down toward her. “Why don’t you come spend some time with a real man?” he asked as the man across from her, Shane, she supposed, stood with a growl and lunged at the other man, yanking him away from the booth and slamming him up against a nearby wall while the men yelled raucously.
“You don’t own any woman in the territory,” Wyatt drawled, looking unconcerned by Shane’s hands on his jacket.
“I own this one,” Shane snarled, letting the other man go with a shove before adjusting his collar. “So back off.”
Ruby had to admit there was something just slightly hot about being fought over. And Shane did have an animalistic strength that seemed attractive in a rough, primal way.
“You want to settle this outside?” Wyatt asked, straightening up and giving Ruby a look that made her shiver with anticipation. Damn, the men around here had a way of making a woman feel really looked at. She didn’t know what to make of it.
Shane shrugged out of his flannel into just a white tee. He handed her his shirt. “You stay here. After I deal with them, we can do the rest of our date.”
She put her forehead on her hands as he and Wyatt and his crew strode out of the restaurant's front door, the bartender shaking his head at them.
She’d been intending to simply leave, but now that seemed impossible.
“Dwayne, you watch her,” the man named Wyatt shouted, pointing in her direction. “Make sure she stays there so whoever wins can come back and claim her.”
Her eyes widened as a scruffy blond man sidled over to her and sat on the other side of the booth, eyeing her with a mean smile. She squirmed uncomfortably.
He was quiet, but she looked over at the exit, wondering if there was still anyway she could make a break for it. As if he sensed her intent, he got out of his side of the booth and came over to hers, sliding in next to her.
The booth was long, so despite his huge size, he didn’t touch her, but she felt intimidated all the same.
“Um, I think there’s been a mistake,” she said, looking into Dwayne’s face and hoping there was a way to convince him to just let her go. “I’m not… I mean… maybe I should go.”
“Naw,” Dwayne said. “Boss is gonna win you and then you’re coming back with us.”
“I beg your pardon,” she said, pushing against his chest. He had a rough face with features that seemed like a blunted version of the more handsome Wyatt, who was presumably out front, engaged in fisticuffs, if the shouts were any indication.
“Nah,” Dwayne drawled, leaning in closer. “You don’t gotta worry about fancy words with me, darling.” His eyes strayed to her blouse. “Damn, you look good enough to eat.”
“I, um… The men outside, I don’t think they’d appreciate you… taking liberties.” She looked over to the bar but saw even the bartender had gone outside.
The man next to her did something very odd next. He sniffed her, taking in a long, slow breath. “Damn, you smell good. What is that?”
“Perfume?” she squeaked, reaching in her purse for her Taser with as much subtlety as she could.
Dwayne didn’t notice, looking over in the direction of the men outside and then back at her with a hungry gaze. “I don’t know if I can resist taking a taste for myself…”
She pulled back in the booth, hand grabbing for the Taser. She hated to hurt anyone, but she’d be damned if she let anyone paw her.
Not after the night she’d just had.
She couldn’t believe she was thinking it, but she almost wished the mountain man would come back. But since he was currently otherwise engaged, she’d have to take care of things herself. She sighed and pulled the weapon out of its pouch, hoping it had enough voltage to take care of enormous, horny rednecks.
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Also by Terry Bolryder
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Alpha Champion
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King of Rock (Lions of Pride Island Book 1) Page 16
