I stood next to Ryan, slightly dumbfounded. It was hard not to let the sadness of the day creep back in.

Not only was I questioning everything I’d been brought up to believe was true about my life, but now the only place that had marked my identity didn’t need me anymore.

“You okay?” he asked, concerned. He twisted around so I was between his thighs.

I shrugged, trying to spare him the depth of my sadness. I put a smile on my face instead. “I guess they don’t really need me to help.” I watched Marie and Cory taking care of customers, keeping the flow going.

The new waitress, Kara, was mixing drinks and tapping beer as well as hustling around waiting on customers. I truly wasn’t needed behind the bar at Mitchell’s Pub. Is it possible to be kicked out of your own life?

“Taryn, want to sit?” Mike asked, offering up his chair.

“No thanks. You just stay there.” I felt safe with Ryan wrapped around me. Mike was gazing at Marie, completely enraptured. “So I take it you and Marie made up?”

A sly grin appeared on his face and he nodded. “I took Ryan’s advice.”

I raised a brow, glad for the distraction. “And that was?”

Ryan laughed.

“Shut her up quick by kissing her before she has an opportunity to yell at me.”

I laughed. “And did it work?”

Marie glanced over and smiled devilishly.

“I sure as hell hope so,” Mike said with a chuckle.

Of course I had to find an excuse to get behind the bar and drill her for answers.

“So, did you do him?” I asked her privately, wondering if she took advantage of time and space when Ryan took me to the beach. I pretended to be occupied while watching the fangirls go berserk when they realized Ryan Christensen was sitting at the bar.

Marie twisted a cap off a bottle. She looked so damn guilty it was pathetic. “Not quite.” She shouldered past me, only to mutter on her return, “but I know where he’s sleeping tonight.”

The fangirl thing was amusing, watching them practically faint in Ryan’s presence. Ryan signed a few autographs and posed for a few quick cell phone pictures, but once he allowed it, it was like the floodgates opened up. Girls started lining up. Pete had just arrived and was sort of body-blocking Ryan while he sat at the bar, but a few of the brave ones still tried to get to him.

Ryan pushed his chair back enough to slip his arm around me when I came out from behind the bar to run defense. It felt strange hanging out like a patron while we listened to the band jamming on my small stage. Ryan and Pete were talking about ridiculously expensive sports cars when I noticed a familiar dirty-blonde slide his way to the bar a few feet away. Had Pete been at the door, he would not have gotten in.

My shoulders tensed, angry that I had to deal with more crap.

With a swipe of her arm Marie halted Cory from serving him. Mike was already on alert, sitting up, ready to push off the bar in a split second if necessary.

Ryan took notice. “What’s up?”

“Dunno,” Mike murmured, never taking his eyes off the situation.

I moved out from Ryan’s protective grasp when Thomas started to walk over toward us hesitantly, like a little boy about to get scolded.

“Hey,” he said, looking so damn sullen. “Came to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m okay. How are you?”

I didn’t need to hear Thomas’s reply to know exactly how bad he was doing. His lips and eyes scrunched together in tormented pain. It killed me to see him this way. “I can’t get the sounds and images out of my head. I don’t know what to do.” He straightened when Pete sidled up. Thomas held out a hand in warning. “Don’t start with me, Herman. I’m not in the mood.”

Ryan’s chest pressed into my back. His left forearm slid across my chest, his hand reaching the cap of my shoulder. I envisioned being spun and relocated out of his way quickly. Mike was at Ryan’s side in an instant.

Thomas twisted his frown into a look of loathing. Ryan had no idea that his grasp on me was a direct challenge to Thomas.

“Ah, the control freak movie star,” Thomas said with a sinister smile, focusing his eyes on Ryan’s protective hold on me.

“Ah, the cheating ex,” Ryan retorted, grasping me tighter. “Whatcha need?”

Thomas rolled his head on his neck. “Lost my sister, dude. Came to see how her friends were holding up.”

I gave them all a glare of warning. “Okay, enough. Before any of you get any bright ideas, this crap is not going down in my pub. You need to talk? We’ll all talk in the kitchen. You want to have a beer? Find a place to sit down.”

Ryan drew in an audible breath through his nose that meant I don’t fucking think so.

“Sorry for your loss, but I can tell you that I’m taking care of what’s mine, so you don’t need to worry about Taryn. And I know my man Mike here has Marie covered. I can appreciate your concern but it’s not your place anymore. So what else do you need here?”

Thomas grinned, welcoming the challenge like it was his birthday and he was getting just what he’d wished for. “He your spokesman now?” he asked me, pushing the situation. “I recall when you were with me you had your own opinions on everything.”

I stepped into his path, fully aware of his habit of turning his sadness into a fight. Fine. If it was a fight he was looking for to ease his misery, I’d finally deliver. “That’s because you left me to fend for myself all the time, not caring about my welfare.” Something over his shoulder caught my eye. That’s when I saw the first cell phone pointed our way. I turned back to Ryan, privately saying, “People are starting to take pictures of this.”

He ducked down and whispered in my ear. “Get rid of him—now—or I will.” He glared at Thomas. “I think it’s time you leave. There’s nothing here for you, man.”

Thomas’s anger became evident. His hands balling into fists didn’t go unnoticed, either. I knew he had come to talk to me and all he was getting was shit from guys he didn’t know.

Ryan moved me to his side so I was out of the way. Mike instantly took a step forward. Ryan’s eyes never left Thomas. “You feel the need to take a swing at me, do it. We can throw down if it makes you feel like a man.”

“Cocky son of a bitch,” Thomas spat out with disdain, smirking as if what Ryan had just said was funny. I’d seen him act like this before and I knew exactly how it would end.

Ryan stood his ground. “Whatever. I’ve taken and given plenty of punches. But I won’t be the one going to jail for aggravated assault tonight, I can tell you that.”

“Enough. Both of you,” I warned.

Thomas smirked again, ignoring me. “She’ll get tired of you controlling her eventually. And when she does, I’ll be right here to pick it all back up. You see, you may have this now, but I still have a part of her that you’ll never have. Even now, I know I still get to her.” Thomas leaned in closer. “And when you’re fucking her, know she’ll always be comparing you to me.”

Ryan’s body stiffened and I snapped, stepping back in between them before Ryan reacted to his taunt.

“Knock it off. You know, for a second, I pitied you. Now you’re just being an asshole. Get out of my pub.

Now!”

Mike moved in front of Ryan, squaring off to Thomas when it looked like he wasn’t planning to leave.

“Enough, dude.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Thomas sneered.

“Insurance,” Mike answered calmly.

“What are you going to do? Hit me?”

Mike was casual but oh so threatening. “If I have to. It’s my job to shut you down before you do something extremely stupid.”

Thomas looked at me. “Is he kidding?”

I knew Thomas knew how to fight but Mike had hand-to-hand combat training. There was no doubt who’d be the victor. “I’ve had people threaten to hurt me, Thomas. I suggest you don’t irritate my bodyguard.”

He gaped at me. “You have a bodyguard? Wow. You serious? Why?”