Love Unscripted
Page 23

“Who’s your new friend, Taryn?” Marie yelled over to me.
“Oh, this is Mark,” I stated loudly as I pointed at him. “He wants to take me to dinner, but I just really want him to pay for his beer. It’s such a dilemma!”
Ryan chuckled ever so subtly.
My new admirer finally got the hint. He peeled three ones from his folded money, tossed it on the bar, and turned in a huff. He almost bumped into Ryan as he fled his spot at the bar.
Ryan smiled at me before raising his glass to take a sip of his drink. I flashed my eyes between Ryan and the open seat, hoping that he would get the hint. He didn’t disappoint.
“Can I refresh your drink for you, sir?” I said in a proper yet joking tone as I snatched his glass off the bar.
He laughed slightly and nodded his head. I set his glass in the sink and tapped him a fresh beer in a new glass.
“Can I also interest you in doing a shot of one of the smoothest tequilas you’ll ever have?” I set his new beer in front of him.
“Definitely interested,” he stated directly, his piercing eyes locked on mine.
I reached up to the top shelf behind the bar and wrapped my fingers around a clear bottle with a round, silver stopper.
“What is that?” he asked, trying to read the bottle.
“Gran Patrón Platinum tequila.” I poured two shots.
“Here’s to… psychotic fans!” I cheered, raising my shot glass in the air.
He tapped his glass into mine and we both tossed the shots back into our mouths.
Ryan reached in his pocket and pulled a wad of money out, but I shook my head at him.
“No. Put your money away,” I whispered as I collected the empty shot glasses.
He frowned at me. Instinctively I scowled back at him. Then, like a two-year-old, he stuck his tongue out at me! I casually rubbed my middle finger across my eyebrow. We both started laughing.
When I glanced back up at him again, Suzanne Strass, the other actress who followed him into the bar, was hovering around him. She whispered something in his ear; whatever she said made him roll his eyes and purse his lips. He didn’t look happy with whatever she said.
Without saying a word, he got up and moved back to the table with his original group, where he stayed for the rest of the night. They had several additional rounds of drinks and seemed to all have a good time. I noticed Suzanne trying to hide as she swayed back and forth to the music. Ryan sat facing in my direction, and every once and a while he’d stare at me until our eyes met.
Ryan’s blue eyes were hypnotic and I couldn’t help but smile every time one of us was caught staring. He was extremely handsome, but there was something else. He didn’t hold himself in high regard; he just wanted to blend.
Ryan’s eyes held mine for an extra moment. He smiled at me, tilted his head slightly, and then proceeded to unbutton his top shirt. I was curious as to why he was undressing in my pub. I couldn’t look away.
He patted his hand on his chest and stretched back. That’s when I noticed he was wearing my blue T-shirt under everything else.
I chuckled to myself; no longer could I contain my big grin. He raised his eyebrows a couple of times and winked at me.
It was almost one o’clock in the morning when his group got up to leave. Ryan stood there staring at me while he put his jacket on. He left out a sigh then turned and headed for the door. And just like that, with no words, no goodbye, he was gone.
Fortunately when the celebrities left so did most of the crowd. The pub was trashed. We went through most of the bottles of beer I had stocked in the coolers as well as most of my liquor reserves. Bottles, glasses, and empty pitchers covered most of the tables.
“How freaking crazy was that?” Pete shouted as he helped collect the garbage.
Marie had tray after tray of dirty glasses lined up on the bar top, but despite the huge mess that awaited clean-up, she was still smiling from her celebrity encounter.
“I cannot believe that they came here!” she giggled. “I’m still jittery!”
I smiled at her. Ryan and his friends were just people who wanted to have a good time tonight too.
“One thing is for sure - Ryan Christensen couldn’t take his eyes off of you!” she teased me.
I groaned at her for pointing that out.
“And don’t you roll your eyes at me either!” she reprimanded.
I let out a big sigh while visions of Ryan flashed through my mind. We did stare at each other a lot tonight.
Why did he try to protect me? I started washing dirty glasses trying not to think about it, but I was failing miserably.