Chapter Forty-Four
Bree
I knew the name of the bar only because it was painted in faded red letters: La Puerta Roja. From the outside, the bar wasn’t more than a shack. The cedar siding had faded to gray and peeled away from the building under the hot sun. Inside, the narrow windows were blocked by old, broken neon beer signs. It was dark and dank, and it took a long time for my eyes to adjust enough to see the bar name.
The letters looked like blood stains.
I shuddered and pulled my eyes back down to the long row of tequila bottles stacked behind the bar. Next to me, Nathan surveyed the bar with a grim look. He wasn’t disgusted; it seemed like this was exactly the place he’d been looking for. We’d taken a few detours and then stumbled on the unmarked roadside bar.
“There was a bar and grill about a mile back,” I whispered to Nathan.
He shook his head. “I thought you were sick of chain restaurants. This place looks authentic, don’t you think?”
Authentic? It looked like the scene from the movie where the sleepy little bar turned into an all-out brawl.
Good thing there were only two men at the bar and the bartender. He nodded us toward the high-backed wooden booths.
Nathan steered me toward the booth in the corner, but my feet dragged. “I thought you were hungry. I’m not sure they have a kitchen here,” I told him.
He shook his head with another grim smile. “We’re here now. We might as well have a drink. Then you can pick the next place we eat.”
The men at the bar were watching us, and I could feel their eyes raking over me. My skin crawled. No one moved but the atmosphere was spiked. We were strangers and I, especially, did not fit in. The stares would not stop until we left.
I slipped into the booth, thinking the high back would block out the feeling of being watched. Instead, it made me feel like I was stuck in a trap. I could see the door and even a glimmer of blistering sunlight through the front windows, but I was far in the back and caught in the corner of the dark booth.
I perched on the edge of the bench and forced my hands to stay flat on the sticky table top. All I had to do was survive one drink, and we could go.
What on earth was Nathan thinking bringing me to a place like this?
Another small party burst in the front door, full of raunchy greetings for the bartender. The women with them noticed me right away. I got two sharp glares before they turned their backs and sat at a square table right in front of the bar. Their chatter was a welcome sound but they made me feel even more out of place. The men with them looked over and when one’s gaze lingered a little too long, he got kicked under the table.
He narrowed his eyes at me as if it was my fault.
“So, what are you going to have?” Nathan asked. “Beer or something stronger?”
I looked over the selection of bottles behind the bar again. Even from the corner booth, I could see the rattlesnake floating in a bottle of tequila.
My stomach flopped over. “I’m not sure yet.”
Nathan reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. Just one drink and we’ll go somewhere else to eat. Want a beer?”
I took a deep breath. “I think I’m going to need something stronger than beer.”
The group at the table had finally settled in with a big round of drinks. A lull came over the bar as everyone drank. Everyone except us.
I could feel eyes on me again and when I looked up from Nathan’s hand, the bartender was staring directly at me.
“Why is he staring at me?” I whispered to Nathan.
“Probably because we haven’t ordered yet,” Nathan said.
“Can’t we just go?” I asked.
Nathan looked pained. “We will, but why walk out now? Try a little tequila and I bet you’ll feel better.”
“Not if it has a rattlesnake in it,” I said.
“How about a scorpion instead?” Nathan smiled at me.
His expression was meant to comfort me but it gave me the feeling he was hiding something. The bar wasn’t Nathan’s style at all, and I wondered again what exactly had brought us here.
What wasn’t Nathan telling me?
Nathan chuckled at my dismayed look and moved to join me on my side of the booth. His presence was comforting but I had the feeling he had moved only to observe the bar.
“At least the drink list isn’t the same old boring stuff,” Nathan said. His hand slipped under the booth and squeezed my thigh.
I felt a thrill race up my leg. As much as my mind shouted warnings, my body focused on Nathan’s touch. The booth afforded us enough privacy for his hand to trace lazy circles around my inner thigh. My blood warmed and the feeling of panic started to fade.
I was being ridiculous. It was just a shoddy roadside bar and nothing more. We’d been in a dozen just like it over the last few weeks. I directed my mind to think of it as an adventure. A couple of shots of tequila, a little making out and heavy petting in a dark booth, and I really had nothing to complain about.
My body warmed to the idea and I relaxed.
The nagging thought that Nathan had ulterior motives was still in the back of my mind, but his roaming hand distracted me. Nathan infuriated me. How could I accept that he kept secrets from me at the same time I willingly opened myself to our intimacy?
The answer was that I was in love with Nathan.
“You’re right,” I told him. “I need a drink.”
Nathan nodded and stood up. “Be right back. I gotta hit the head first.”
I reached for his hand, but Nathan strode away across the bar. The relaxed feeling fled without him next to me and I suppressed a shiver. Without him, I felt exposed and out of place.
There was nowhere for me to look that didn’t make me uncomfortable. The women at the table were gossiping in low whispers, and I felt their eyes dart to me now and again. I tried to look around, casual, but the decor set me on edge. Neglected taxidermy animals were hung with thick spiderwebs and in between were violent stills from old western movies. All stand-offs, guns, and dead animals.
Why would Nathan want to come here?
I glanced through the narrow doorway to the back hall where he had disappeared to the bathroom. Then I caught the bartender’s gaze again. He stared at me without blinking, his eyes dark and serious.
I shifted in the booth and then stood up. Panic made it impossible to sit still. I headed toward the narrow doorway after Nathan, but, in my haste, I bumped into a table and knocked a used glass to the floor.
It smashed and the entire bar turned to glare at me. “Sorry,” I said. Then I darted through the doorway and down the back hall.
“Whoa, where are you going?” Nathan caught my arms before we crashed into each other. He’d just come from the bathroom and was shocked to see me.
“I want to leave. Now,” I said.
Nathan gave me a pained smile. “I thought we agreed to get one drink? I promise I won’t get you a tequila shot that has anything floating in it.”
“You can buy a whole bottle of rattlesnake tequila for all I care. As long as you do it somewhere else,” I said.
Nathan hugged me but I could feel him shaking his head in the negative. “This place isn’t so bad. We can survive one drink before we go. Besides, now that I’ve used the bathroom, I feel like I have to buy something.”
I shoved him back but gripped his shirt front. “Why? Why can’t we just go? What aren’t you telling me?”
Nathan rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “Relax, Bree. I just thought we could have a little fun.”
“Fun? Have you seen the looks I’ve been getting?” I asked.
Nathan backed me up against the wall and nodded. His eyes raked down over my body. “And I can see why people are looking.”
I couldn’t catch my breath before he crushed his mouth to mine. Nathan hitched me higher up the wall, his body pressed to me hard. The kiss was insistent, heated, and it sparked both anger and attraction in me. I burned.
Nathan felt me warm and his hands swept up my hips to cup my breasts between us. His breath turned ragged as he rubbed my nipples taut and excited us both. My body betrayed me, melting into his hot kisses, one leg coiling around the back of his thigh to hold him closer to me.
He broke the kiss with a mischievous smile. “Ready for that drink?”
I forced both my feet back to the floor and shoved Nathan hard enough to send him back a few steps. “Fine. You want a drink? I’ll order.”
I flipped my hair and marched out of the back hallway and straight up to the scary bartender. I surprised him with my most flirtatious smile and asked about all the tequilas. When the bartender turned to grab a bottle for me, I looked back at Nathan.
Instead of the jealous frown I was hoping to see, Nathan scrubbed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.
My stomach burned again. This was all a game, and I was just a pawn for Nathan to use. It made me angry but at least the anger made me fearless.
“Better make that a double,” I told the bartender.