Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (18 page)

Danny’s On Main

Charistown,
Pennsylvania

Three
years later…

“EXCUSE ME, MISS? How long does a
guy have to wait to get a beer around here?”

It didn’t matter that her back was to the bar. It didn’t
matter that it’d been almost three years since she’d heard that smooth, cocky
tone. It didn’t even matter that the voice belonged to the guy who shattered her
heart. From his very first word, her entire body responded. Her breathing
quickened, her heart raced, and the soft center between her thighs pulsed.

Pulling in a deep breath, she slowly turned around and set
eyes on the one person who had owned her heart since she was old enough to
realize that she no longer possessed it.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. If it isn’t Ryan
Baker, songwriter extraordinaire.” His smirk hadn’t changed a bit nor had the
way it affected her, making her insides tingly and warm. She watched as he
fought for a response and laughed to herself when he came up with nothing. “So,
all this time and you got nothing to say?”

Ryan could feel his pulse quicken as he looked into the
greenish-brown eyes of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. For almost
three years he had been planning this moment, and now, with her standing just a
bar’s width apart, he was rendered utterly speechless. For a man that makes his
living by stringing together words, lack of verbiage was not something he dealt
with on a frequent basis. Her smile was as sexy as ever, but her familiar sass
held something new, something less warm, less Ashley. He couldn’t quite put his
finger on it but there was definitely something different about her, other than
the fact that her long, golden hair, and her unadorned sun kissed skin were
both things of the past. This Ashley kept her hair shoulder length and streaked
with multiple colors, red, purple, blue and black. This Ashley had tattoos
weaving along her biceps and her wrists, and a tiny piercing through her nose
and a hoop through her lip. Gone was the sweet, pure, innocent girl he
remembered. The woman that stood before him now was sexy, sultry, and stunning.

This was not
his
Ashley.

“Umm, no, I’ve got a lot to say. It’s just that you look
so…so…
different.
” Handing Ryan a draft beer, Ashley tried to decipher
what that comment meant, but his emotions seemed as guarded as his facial
expressions. Sure, she could definitely read lust—she’d learned how to pick up
that
signal like a champ over the past couple of years—but she couldn’t tell if it
was happiness or disappointment in his golden brown eyes.
Oh, who cares,
she chastised herself.
You are who you are. If he doesn’t like it, fuck him.

“So, Ryan, what brings you to Charistown, Pennsylvania? It’s
a fuckava long trip from Miami.” His beer must have gone down wrong because his
face went red and he started choking. Quickly composing himself, he lifted his
glass to his lips for another sip.
Was he smiling?

“Christ, Ash, throwing around swear words like a champ now,
aren’t ya?” His comment rippled through her mind as she thought back to the
naive girl she once was. The girl who’d thought that the world was kind, who’d
thought that those who loved her would always be around and would always
protect her. The girl who’d hid behind her intellect instead of experiencing
what life had to offer.

Well, she was no longer that girl. Now, she lived her own
life and if someone didn’t like what she had to offer, she didn’t care. She
took care of herself now. Life was great. Yep, great.

“Yeah, a lot has changed over the past couple of years. You
look a bit different yourself.” She ran her gaze from his head to his boots,
using her eyes as if they were fingers stroking his skin. “I like your hair
short like that,” she murmured almost as if she were talking to herself.
“Clearly I’m not the only one with an affection towards facial jewelry.” He
absently touched the silver hoop that adorned his left eyebrow, while he licked
his full lower lip before pulling it between his teeth. She couldn’t pull her
eyes away from his lips.
God, I miss those lips
, she thought.

“What was that?” Ryan’s smirk confirmed her thoughts had not
been silent.

“Nothing.”

She couldn’t just stand there looking at all of the
perfection that was Ryan Baker, so instead she started wiping down the already
spotless mahogany bar.

Ryan watched with amusement as Ashley mindlessly cleaned the
bar top. With yet another swipe of her towel, she casually asked, “So, you
didn’t answer my first question. What brings you this far from home?”

“Let’s just say I’m between homes right now,” he answered
cryptically as he watched her long sculpted arms cross the bar with smooth
graceful motions. Her body had been developed into a beautiful work of art that
called to him on a visceral level.

Even though it was early November in Pennsylvania, there she
stood in a black ribbed tank top with the words,
Danny’s on Main
scrolled across her ample breasts. Her long legs were incased in tight ripped
jeans that showed off the firm ass he noticed when he first entered the bar.
Even the ink she had chosen to adorn her skin was beautiful and feminine; she
just didn’t stand still long enough for him to read what it said. “Ashley,” his
voice husky in a way he hadn’t heard in years. She stopped moving for a moment
as her eyes met his. He fell into her stare, lost for a moment, free falling
through time.

The golden flecks in Ryan’s irises stirred long suppressed
emotions as Ashley felt her breath quicken once again. How could he still
affect her like this after so long apart? “You need another beer?” She asked
the question but didn’t wait for his answer before pouring the draft and
sliding it over to him.

“No, you know damn well that’s not what I need. You think I
came all this way for a beer?” His pierced brow lifted, adding emphasis to his
question.

“How the hell do I know why you came here, Ryan.” He stared
at her silently, his mouth agape and his eyes filled with emotion.

To make it right
,
Leo’s words echoed in his head.

“Hello? You still in there? I asked, why the hell are you in
my bar?”

“Oh really, so it’s
your
bar now is it, little girl?”
The gravelly voice that boomed from behind Ryan visibly shook him. Just before
he turned around to meet the man that came with the voice, he caught the huge
grin that spread across Ashley’s painted lips.

Standing up to his full height of six-one, he turned around
to meet the man who’d made Ashley’s eyes sparkle.

“Danny Marcus,” the tall man said with an outstretched arm.
Accepting the gesture and returning it with a firm shake, Ryan gave the man a
quick scan.
Hmm, late forties, not bad looking, owns the bar, he makes her
happy
. “And you are…”

“Oh, sorry, man. I’m Ryan Baker. Nice to meet you.” Ashley’s
giggle behind him had his shoulders bunching with tension.

“Danny, this is…umm…an old friend of mine from Miami. We
knew each other a long time ago.” Her bland explanation of their relationship
cut deep, but the way her voice trailed off towards the end, made pain shoot
through his heart. He absently reached back to the bar for support hoping the
agony her words caused didn’t show on his face.

“Sweetheart,” Danny rumbled, “You either know someone or you
don’t. There’s no past tense with that. Ryan, any friend of Ashley’s is welcome
here. Have a seat, I’ll get you a burger—they’re the best in Charistown. Ashley
here will get you another drink. I’ll go get my wife, Julie. I’m sure she’d
love to meet you.” He winked as if he knew the information about his wife would
bring some sort of peace to Ryan’s fractured ego, and it did. Ryan then watched
as Danny disappeared through the double doors.

“I like him, Ash, he seems really...wise.” The cool look
emanating from Ashley’s eyes told him she wasn’t necessarily in agreement at
that moment.