Elise sat, frozen, until he reached backward and patted her thigh as an indication that she should move. She did, swinging a leg over the bike and nearly stumbling, thanks to her ridiculous shoes. Rome caught her arm, grinning, and then he got off the bike, too. He reached for the helmet and unbuckled it under her chin, then pulled it off and set it on the seat. When she didn’t speak, he glanced over at her.
“You okay?”
She leaned in, sidling as close to him as she dared, her gaze darting around. “Is this a biker bar?”
“It might be. That a problem?”
She bit her lip. “I’ve never been.” Heck, she hadn’t been to a real bar, much less a biker one. She’d always avoided that sort of thing before.
“You said you wanted to live a little, right?” He grinned at her, all piercings and boyish smile. “Besides, I know the owner. He’s a good guy.” He tugged an arm around her waist and looped his thumb into one of the belt loops of her jeans and nudged her forward.
She moved with him, her own fingers sliding to his belt loops. For balance, she told herself. That was all.
The inside of the place looked just like she’d imagined it would from the outside. More neon signs lit the place up, the only decor other than the mirrors behind the counter and a dart board on the wall. There was a jukebox in the corner, and the music coming out of it was classic rock. Such a cliché. The bar was long and the seats nearly full—and almost all men. There were a few tables in the back, and Rome dragged her toward one, for which she was eternally grateful.
He let go of her and pulled her chair out, grinning as she sat down. As soon as she thumped into the seat, he leaned in, resting his hands against the back of her chair, his mouth moving so close to her ear that her ni**les got hard. “What do you normally drink?”
She swallowed hard. “Light beer?”
“I think you need something stronger. Okay if I get you something different?” At her nod, he chuckled, and his breath tickled her ear. “One shot of Jäger, coming up.”
A shot? Oh jeez. Elise wanted something that would go down easy, that she could ease into getting a little tipsy with. Not much, just enough to loosen up. When she had mixed drinks, she normally went for something with an umbrella. Most of the time, there wasn’t much of a point of drinking other than the occasional beer; she usually only drank around family, and getting plastered in front of your parents wasn’t exactly something she planned on doing.
When Rome left her side to go to the bar and get drinks, she gave his back a panicked look and surveyed her surroundings. The interior was slightly smoky, thanks to the cigarettes that everyone at the bar seemed to be having. Weren’t there no-smoking laws? Everyone she could see was male, wearing leather, and drinking beer. Was she the only girl in here? That made her terribly uncomfortable. She shrank lower in her seat, avoiding eye contact and wishing Rome would return in a hurry.
He returned a few minutes later with a couple of dark-looking shots. To her dismay, he put both of them in front of her. “Bottoms up.”
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Told you. Jäger.”
She stared at it. “You not going to drink one?”
“I’ll get new drinks in a minute. Wanted to make sure you were okay over here. You looked a little scared.” He nudged a shot glass toward her. “That’ll help.”
Elise nodded and picked it up, slowly raising it to her pursed lips.
“Don’t sip it,” he advised. “Trust me. Just chug it.”
All right, then. She sucked in a breath, then tipped her head back and downed the shot. The peculiar taste of the shot touched her tongue—something between cough syrup and licorice—and then it burned its way down her throat. She coughed, putting down the shot glass and raising a hand to her mouth.
Rome laughed and slapped her on the back. “You okay?”
She nodded, her eyes threatening to stream tears. “Strong,” she wheezed, waving a hand in front of her mouth as if that would take away some of the burn.
“The next one will go down easier. Trust me.”
Elise swallowed hard. She had to drink another? She shook her head even as he nudged the shot toward her.
“Come on,” he coaxed. “After that, we’ll go to the easy stuff.”
“What about you?” she coughed.
“I don’t need loosening up,” he told her with a grin. “I’m not the one who looks like she’s about to be attacked at any moment.”
He had a point. She braced herself, grimaced, and chugged the second shot. Nope, he was wrong—it burned just as bad as the first one. Coughing, she covered her mouth and grimaced. This time, tears did stream down her face.
Rome chuckled. “I’ll get you something to sip, how’s that?” He took the shot glasses away and stood, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading back to the bar.
She wanted to tell him to stop with the drinks, that she didn’t want to drink any more, that she wasn’t having fun . . . but that kiss on top of her head had silenced her. It had been so easy and affectionate and utterly spontaneous, and it made her wish she hadn’t been such a chicken about the whole thing. So what if he thought her body was ugly? She would get to have great sex with him, right?
She was so stupid for pushing him away, really.
Her belly burned with the shots of alcohol, and she felt warm all over. A little more relaxed, too, if she was going to be honest with herself. Just a little looser. She glanced over at the bar, looking for Rome, and noticed he was leaning over it, his butt sticking out as he chatted with the bartender. Man, he sure did have a nice butt. She sighed, thinking of it. Was it bad that she wondered what it’d look like, naked? Would it be small and tight, or would he have nice big muscular bu**ocks? She tried to picture it in her mind. How pinchable would it be? Elise raised her fingers and squinted, pretending to pinch it from afar.
Which meant, of course, that Rome chose that moment to turn around with two new drinks.
She dropped her hand, feeling guilty and obvious as he returned to their table.
“You okay?”
She nodded, face hot, and looked for a change of subject. When he set a glass in front of her, that seemed like the perfect opportunity. “So what’s this drink?”
“I got you a Crown and Coke. It’s a little easier than a shot and it’ll keep your nice buzz going.”
“How do you know I have a buzz?” She picked up the glass and sniffed it.