Dinner? His place? He’s never taken me to his place. He’s never asked me on a date. My heart swells.

“You want to take me to dinner?”

He nods, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Is that such a shock?”

“I just . . . thought we were casual.”

“Maybe I’m changing my mind,” he murmurs, staring into my eyes. “Maybe I want to see where it can go.”

Oh. My. God. I am silently screaming inside, but I keep it cool and smile. “Well then, it’s a date.”

I grin and he winks at me, before adjusting his clothing and making sure mine is respectable. Then we head back inside. He goes back to the bar, puts on his charming smile, and keeps working. I watch him, my heart swelling with pride as I take him in, loving how he interacts with these people. He’s made for it, even if he doesn’t see it.

“You know him?”

I flinch and turn, seeing a gorgeous man with the most amazing amber eyes I’ve ever seen sitting beside me at the bar.

“Oh, yeah. Do you?”

He grins. Gosh he’s good looking. And huge. So many muscles.

“Yeah, I’ve fought with him once. I’m passing back through town, thought I’d come and say hello.”

“Oh, well, I’m um . . . his . . .” I trail off, because I don’t know how to answer that. The man grins and extends his hand.

“It’s cool, I get it. I’m Raide.”

Raide. Cool name.

“Mali.” I smile, reaching out and taking his hand, shaking it.

“Good to meet you, Mali. Any friend of Rainer’s is a friend of mine.”

“So you fight with Max, then?”

He shrugs. “I have. It’s a lot of fun. I’m passing through town now, so I won’t be staying.”

“Fun?” I giggle. “Fighting is fun?”

His grin gets bigger, and he’s got dimples. Holy shit. Dimples.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You like being beaten up?”

He chuckles. “No, I like the adrenaline. It’s good stress relief.”

“Whatever you say, dude.”

“Raide?”

We both turn to see Rainer approaching, dishtowel thrown over his shoulder, bottle of whiskey in his hands. He looks amazing.

“What’s up, Rainer?” Raide says, standing and extending his hand.

“Haven’t seen you for a bit. Where’d you get to?”

“Had to get out of town, you know? Just passing through. I’ll be gone in a few hours.”

“Sit down. Let me get you a whiskey.”

Raide sits back down and Rainer gets him a whiskey, sliding the crystal glass in front of him.

“How have things been, buddy?” Raide asks, and I smile, listening to them catch up.

It’s nice.

“Mali!”

I turn at the sound of my voice and see Pippa and Belle coming in. Belle is waving, her hands in the air, happy as can be, but Pippa looks sad. She’s not smiling, her eyes are downcast, and something is definitely off. I stand and walk over, hugging Belle and then turning to Pippa. “Hey, Pip, are you okay?”

She looks up and forces a smile. “Sure,” she croaks.

I put an arm around her shoulders. “Are you sure?”

“Her and Tyke had a massive fight. I brought her here to take her mind off it.”

“Well, I’ll be glad to help with that,” I say, smiling at Belle.

“Pip?”

I turn and see Rainer walking over, his expression concerned. I remove my arm from Pippa’s shoulder and she immediately rushes towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and bursting into a fit of tears. My heart aches for her; clearly, the fight was horrible. I meet Rainer’s eyes while rubbing her back gently. He’s so . . . worried about her.

“Come on, let’s find somewhere to talk.”

He leads her away and I watch them go, my heart aching a little. He cares so much about her, so damned much. I understand it now, but it still hurts because I wonder if he’ll ever love anyone else again. Even if he decided to care about me, would it ever be enough?

“Let’s get a drink,” Belle says, pulling me to the bar.

We reach it and she notices Raide, and right away her eyes widen. “Raide, what are you doing here?”

I guess they know each other.

“Just havin’ a drink. How’re you doing, woman?”

She grins and slides in beside him. “I’m awesome. Has the law caught up to you yet?”

He chuckles. “Not yet, sweetheart.”

“I’m telling you, they’re going to send a female bounty hunter after your ass. You never know. It could be Mali here.”

I snort. “I couldn’t tackle a grown man to save my life. Sorry, dude, it isn’t me, and I don’t even want to know why you would have a bounty hunter after you.”

Raide grins. “Long story.”

I chat with Raide and Belle for the next hour, and in that time I keep glancing back to see if Rainer comes back in, but he doesn’t. Needing to pee, I get up and head towards the toilets, pushing through the crowds of people to make it to the back door. I’m using the outdoor ones—no way am I lining up. As I step outside, I catch sight of Pippa and Rainer standing near the brick wall he just fucked me against, his arms around her, both of them unaware that I’m there. I can’t help it; I stop and listen.

“He’ll come around, Pip,” Rainer says to her, stroking her hair.

“Maybe, but what if he doesn’t, Rainer? What am I going to do if he decides this is over between us?” she sobs.

“Then you’ll have me. I’ll always take care of you.”

“I can’t ask that of you. I can’t.”

“You’ll always be the most important thing in my life, Pippa. I’ll have your back if he doesn’t. I’ll always be here.”

My heart aches at his words, and I can’t make my feet move. I need to push away and walk inside, but I just can’t.

“You can’t always keep waiting for me, Rainer,” she says, looking up into his eyes. “You have Mali now. She cares about you.”

“Mali is nothing more than a bit of fun. You’re the only one who means anything to me, sweetheart.”

It feels as if someone has slapped me clean across the face. I don’t understand. He said we were going to look at taking things further, but now he’s saying I’m nothing more than a bit of fun. As always, he’s protecting Pippa. He’s always going to protect Pippa. God, what was I thinking? When did I ever believe he was going to change that?

I turn and rush inside, angry tears flowing down my cheeks. I run into Raide shoving through the crowd, and he curls his fingers around my arms, stopping me. “Whoa there, what’s wrong?”

“Let me go. I need to get out of here,” I cry, horrified.

I mean nothing. Nothing at all. I’m just a sex toy. I’m so stupid. So blind.

“Calm down, you’re not going anywhere like this. Tell me what’s wrong?”

“He doesn’t even care about me,” I sob angrily, pushing at Raide’s chest. “He’s been fucking me for close to a month, and he doesn’t care. When did I think I mattered? I don’t matter.”