“See? He’s different than you thought he was, isn’t he?” Grant asked with a grin like he’d just won the lottery.

“I think he may be,” I said slowly, turning it all over in my head.

Grant might have been right. Maybe I’d been all wrong about the kind of man Ryan was. Maybe everything I thought about him was completely wrong. Had I judged him unfairly before I had all the information?

“There’s a lot more to the boy than meets the eye, Sofia. I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.”

My entire body warmed with more than just the alcohol swimming in my veins. “How well do you know him? I mean, really?”

He took another gulp of his drink before sloshing the liquid around in the glass. “I’ve spent a fair amount of time here harassing him, the same way his brothers do. We’ve had some deep conversations over breakfast in the past. I’d say I know him pretty damn well.”

Waving my hand toward the bar, which still crawled with females vying for both Ryan and Nick’s attention, I said, “This lifestyle . . . it’s just not really me.”

Grant gave me a serious look. “To be fair, I’m not sure it’s really him either. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan’s good at his job. He’s the most talented craftsman I’ve ever met. He’s truly gifted.” He let out a gruff laugh. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a cocktail craftsman before I met Ryan. Back in my day, the bartender either poured you a beer or threw a few things together for a cocktail. Simple, yet effective. Nowadays, it’s a damn art form, and Ryan’s one hell of an artist. But while making these drinks might be right up his alley, I don’t think this scene is.”

I swallowed hard, sitting silent for more than a few minutes, thinking about how wrong I’d possibly been on every level when it came to Ryan and his character. I couldn’t help but wonder how I hadn’t sensed it before now. Had my intuition become so off-kilter that it couldn’t be trusted? When had my gut instincts about people been so wrong?

No sooner had my self-doubt started than it was abruptly cut short. My jaw dropped as I watched the next few moments play out like a scene from a movie in sickly slow motion.

An eye-catching brunette walked behind the bar like she owned the place, not a care in the world as she wrapped her arms around Ryan’s waist. He turned toward her, and his whole face lit up like she was the greatest thing he’d seen all day. When he placed a kiss on her forehead and she grinned up at him, the bile in my stomach pushed up to a threatening level.

They laughed and teased each other, neither one caring who watched. But I stopped watching.

I had to.

Jumping up from my chair, I stumbled to fin

d my words—and my footing. “I need to get out of here. I’m ready to go.”

“Sofia, why? What happened?” Grant peered up at me, confused, but I couldn’t stay in the same room as Ryan for one second longer.

“You can stay. I’ll call a car.” I tried to wave Grant off, but his words stopped me.

“No, no.” He pushed himself out of his chair slower than I would have liked, his car keys jingling. “I’ll take you home.”

I bolted from the bar, feeling like an absolute idiot. I hadn’t been wrong about Ryan at all.

I’d been exactly right.

Disappearing Angels

Ryan

At some point during the chaos, I’d lost track of Sofia and Grant. I swore it had only been a minute, but the next time I looked up, desperately searching for her, both she and Grant were gone.

Hustling out from behind the bar, I practically jogged toward their table, hoping to find some remnants still there. I convinced myself that they wouldn’t have left without saying good-bye as I weaved through the crowd. But as I reached their table, nothing but empty glasses and two one-dollar bills stuck under Grant’s Guy Hater remained. There were no car keys, no sunglasses, no sign at all of them having only stepped away momentarily.

They had definitely left, and apparently weren’t coming back.

Snatching up the money, I shoved it in my pocket before reaching for the discarded glasses and giving the table a quick wipe.

This wasn’t how I wanted the night to go. Granted, I had no idea that Sofia was even coming to the bar tonight in the first place, but once I saw her here, I didn’t want her to leave. In fact, I had the whole night planned out in my head the moment I spotted her.

I was going to ask her to stay until we closed, to which she would have agreed, of course, after a little hesitation. That would have forced the old man to go home at some point, because there was no way he could have stayed up that late. Not anymore. Plus, I was pretty sure that Grant turned into a pumpkin or a fat mouse once the clock struck midnight.

With cock-blocking Grant out of the picture, I would have given Sofia all my attention, getting to know her better with each hour that passed. Even with all the other females in the bar, I would have been determined to make her feel special, like she was the only girl in the room. And after the bar closed, she would have met my brothers and their girlfriends. The three ladies would have chatted, the conversation easy and natural, while us guys cleaned up and counted out.

I would have made her laugh. She would have seen me in my element, surrounded by my family, and when I asked to drive her home, she would have agreed right away. On the way to her place, I would have taken a slight detour, stopping at my favorite late-night eatery and buying her anything she wanted. Taking my time, because I wouldn’t have wanted the night to end, I would have kept ordering food until she called me out on it, her eyes barely able to stay open.

Tags: J. Sterling Fisher Brothers Romance
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