His Valentine Bride. Cindy Kirk
not playing along.”
She turned abruptly and sashayed her way across the bar, her head held high.
“What’s up with her?” Betsy asked.
“Heidi doesn’t—”
“Her name is Heidi?” Betsy bit back a giggle, the name conjuring up an image of a mountain girl frolicking with goats.
Ryan began to nod, then paused. “At least I think that’s her name.”
“She looks more like a Bambi to me.” The second the words left her mouth, Betsy wished she could pull them back. Even though the girl’s attitude rubbed her wrong, there was no need to stoop to her level.
“Maybe that is her name,” Ryan said, her comment appearing to have gone straight over his head. “I don’t remember.”
The fact that he wasn’t really on a first-name basis with the curvaceous blonde buoyed Betsy’s spirits. She couldn’t keep a smile from her lips.
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
“Club soda with a twist of lime, please.”
“Ah, so you’ve decided to be a little wild and crazy tonight,” he said teasingly. “I like it.”
He’d barely left for the bar when Betsy saw her former employer, Chad Dunlop, making his way through the crowd. Dressed in jeans and a navy long-sleeved cotton shirt, he looked different than he did in the office. There he always wore a hand-tailored suit and shiny Italian shoes with names she couldn’t begin to pronounce.
She supposed she could have moved or looked away, but she didn’t. When she’d walked out of his family’s law offices all those weeks ago, Betsy had vowed that she wouldn’t let anyone make her feel like a victim. If anyone should feel awkward about their paths crossing again, it should be him.
He saw her and changed course, making his trajectory one that would intersect with her. It figured that he wasn’t smart enough to leave well enough alone.
Betsy wasn’t sure of his motives, but there was one thing of which she was certain. She wasn’t going to run or back down. If Chad was foolish enough to cause a scene, the only loser tonight was going to be him.
While Ryan waited at the bar for Betsy’s club soda—with a hint of lime—he flirted with a few of the waitstaff. Out of the corner of one eye, he kept watch on Betsy. Although he’d expected her to snag a table, she stood in the same spot he’d left her.
The only difference was her back was now ramrod straight. As he watched, she lifted her chin.
“Hurry up, Wally,” he said to the bartender without moving his gaze from Betsy. “The lady is really thirsty.”
Of course it wasn’t true, but Betsy was Keenan’s little sister and nothing was going to happen to her on Ryan’s watch. For some reason, he had a feeling she needed him.
“Here you go.” The plump, bald-headed owner of the establishment set the drink on the bar. “Can I get you a draw?”
“Not now.” Without shifting his gaze from Betsy, Ryan curved his fingers around her glass of soda.
He started through the crowd, smiling when someone called out a greeting or slapped him on the shoulder but not slowing his steps. Ryan was almost to Betsy when he saw him.
Chad Dunlop had been a senior at Jackson Hole High School when Ryan was a sophomore. They’d been on the football team at the same time. Ryan had no use for the man. As a boy, he’d had a mean streak. As a man, there was something about him Ryan didn’t trust.
From the defiant way she was standing, Betsy didn’t like the guy any more than he did. Even though Chad had given her a glowing letter of recommendation, Ryan wondered if there was more to the story of her departure than a simple downsizing.
No time like the present to find out. He reached his friend’s little sister at the same time as the attorney.
“Chad,” Ryan said in a hearty tone. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
Ryan turned to Betsy and handed her the club soda. “Sorry it took so long.”
Chad’s gaze turned sharp and assessing. “You’re together?”
“Betsy and I are old friends,” Ryan said. “I understand she worked for you for a while.”
For a second, the man’s smooth facade slipped and the bully Ryan remembered from all those years ago stood before him.
“Yeah, what of it? We had to downsize.” Chad’s pale blue eyes settled on Betsy. “Whatever else she told you is a lie.”
Anger rolled off Betsy in waves. If looks could kill, Chad would be six feet under.
“She didn’t tell me anything.” Ryan kept his gaze fixed on the tall blond man. “But sounds as if there’s something to tell.”
Chad shot Betsy a warning glance, then turned to Ryan. “Lynnette is waiting for me at home. We’re taking the kids over to the grandparents’ tonight.”
If Chad was trying to convince Ryan he was a committed family man, he might as well have saved his breath. Ryan had seen the way the guy flirted with the waitstaff.
“Jerk,” Betsy muttered as Chad spun on his heel and walked away.
“You got that right,” Ryan said.
Betsy looked surprised. “You know about him?”
“I know he’s got a wife and kids, but he’s no family man.” Ryan met her gaze. “I don’t know what he did to you.”
Betsy averted her gaze and took a sip of her club soda. Her hand shook slightly. “Who said he did anything?”
“You did.” Ryan put a hand on her arm and steered her to a table that a couple had just vacated. It was away from the karaoke stage and far from the three-piece band playing country classics. A quiet spot. Or at least as quiet as it got in Wally’s Place.
“I did not.”
“You said, and I quote, ‘You know about him?’”
“That didn’t mean anything.”
“It did, but you don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.” Even though Ryan wanted to know what Chad had done to put the anger in her eyes, he was determined not to press. Until he saw tears forming.
She blinked rapidly and immediately lowered her gaze to her drink, as if hoping he hadn’t noticed.
But he’d noticed all right. He placed a hand on her arm. “You can trust me.”
She looked up and met his gaze. Something in the liquid blue depths told Ryan he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.
“This has to stay here,” she said finally. “Just between us.”
Ryan nodded. “Understood.”
“Chad attacked me in the boardroom.”
“He what?” Ryan shouted. He rose from his seat, but Betsy grabbed his hand and pulled him down.
“Keep your voice down,” Betsy ordered. “This is between us, not everyone else in the bar.”
“Tell me,” Ryan demanded. “And don’t leave anything out.”
Although he’d been in his share of fights, Ryan wasn’t a violent man. But this was his friend’s sister and Keenan was, well, he wasn’t here. Betsy had no one to protect her. No one but him.
“We were working late on a case.” Betsy’s voice shook slightly.
Ryan tightened his fingers around the edge of the table. Let her talk, he told himself, don’t interrupt.
Betsy