Page 13 of Link (Dragon Riders MC 1)
I pointed my finger in his face. “Get out of my face, right now.”
He blinked. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“You’ve got no idea why the hell this woman is here. And when someone steps into this bar—”
“She’s our enemy, Link!”
I noticed Joanna flinch out of the corner of my eye and I almost lost it. I fisted Sly’s jacket again and slammed him against the wall. Someone called out my name, but the voice sounded far away. Like they were trying to yell at me from a cliff. I got right into Sly’s face, my nostrils flaring as the man ground his teeth together. Trying to bite back whatever the hell it was he still felt he had a right to say.
“You’re done here tonight. Go home,” I said.
Sly cocked his head. “And if I don’t?”
“Then, I’ll rip that coat off of you myself. Now, as your president? Get the fuck out of my bar.”
I shoved Sly’s chest and he grunted. I took a step back and drew in a deep breath, trying to calm my anger. Sly’s eyes fell to Joanna and I felt her step behind me. So, I made sure to place myself as a barrier between the two of them. I didn’t know what the hell his problem was, but he needed to go sort it out elsewhere.
Because I had been waiting on pins and needles to get back into this woman’s presence.
“Now, Sly,” I commanded.
He snickered. “You really are a piece of work.”
“I’m what?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s exactly what I thought you said. Nothing.”
Sly shot me a look before he moved away from my office. Joanna pressed against me, her small body against my back as her hands danced along my leather jacket. I kept an eye on Sly as he walked down the hallway, turned the corner, and his bootfalls fell out of my ear’s range. He’d always been a fucking hothead. But I’d never seen him go off on someone like that before.
It made me curious.
“Step into my office,” I said.
Joanna drew in a shuddering breath. “I just wanted to come by and—”
I peered over my shoulder. “Office. Now.”
She nodded quickly and scurried inside before I closed the door behind her and locked it for good measure. I didn’t want anyone barging in on us while we talked. Part of me was surprised she had come here tonight. I didn’t expect to see her for a few days. Or ever, to be honest. But the rest of me was excited to be with her again.
Because she’d been on my mind all night.
“Take a seat,” I said.
She nodded before she sat in the chair in front of my desk.
“Link, I didn't mean to cause any sort of—”
I held up my hand. “It’s okay. I promise. You’re not in the wrong here. He is.”
She sighed. “Do you really own this bar? Or is it a front for something else?”
“An odd question to ask someone.”
“Makes sense for my profession.”
I leaned against my desk. “And what is your profession?”
She licked her lips. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable saying at this point.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.”
I pushed myself off the edge of the desk and walked to my filing cabinet. I pulled out the top drawer and reached inside, pulling out two whiskey glasses. I sat down at my desk and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a bottle with amber liquid sloshing around. And after pouring each of us two fingers of the strong whiskey, I handed her a glass.
“Here. It’ll help settle you down,” I said.
She took it quickly. “Thank you.”
I swirled the liquid in my glass. “Are you all right?”
She took a sip. “Yeah. I’m good.”
She held up her glass to inspect the liquid before taking another long pull. I grinned.
“Like it?” I asked.
She growled softly. “It’s strong. But really nice. What is that I taste?”
“Bacon and honey.”
She blinked. “Wow. That’s very specific.”
“It’s also very good. It’s the best batch I’ve made.”
She paused. “Wait, you made this?”
I threw the rest of mine back. “Yep.”
“So, you really do own this bar.”
I set my glass down. “Yep.”
“And you make your own whiskey?”
I grinned. “Yep.”
“Are you going to say anything other than ‘yep?’”
“Depends on what you ask.”
She smiled. “Fair enough. So, tell me. How did you get into whiskey production?”
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s more of a hobby than anything else. When I bought this place, it had an old, broken down distillery in the back. It took some fixing up. But once I got it patched, I just tried out a few things.”
“Don’t tell me you Googled ‘how to make whiskey.’”
I shrugged. “And if I did?”
She took another long sip. “You don’t get good whiskey like this with mere Googling.”
“Well, it also helps that I’ve been making small batches of whiskey for around seven years now.”
“Wow. So, this is like… really what you do.”
