Read Faster (Stark Ink, #3) for Free Online Page B

They were in a small hallway, flanked by doors. Men’s room, Ladies’ room, Employees Only. Ava passed up all three.
    She grabbed Sienna’s arm and headed toward the main room. Loud country music was blaring, thumping the walls. “Just act like you’ve been here a million times,” Ava told her friend. If that wasn’t enough, surely the cleavage was.
    When they exited the hallway, Ava realized the place was bigger than it looked on the outside. The dance floor was large and packed with people. It was a veritable sea of boots and Stetsons. The occasional leather jacket broke up the monotony. To the right, the actual bar gleamed, lit from behind. A tall, older blond woman stood behind it, pouring drinks faster than a cowboy could sling a Colt at high noon.
    Ava ducked away from that side of the room and steered Sienna to the left. The farther they were from anyone who worked here, the better.
    They weaved their way through the crowd. Ava scanned it for a familiar, handsome face.
    From behind them, someone practically shouted, “Well, hey there!” The music really was way too loud.
    Sienna turned first, then Ava. Ava sighed. Not who she was looking for, but at least it wasn’t Jonah. The young cowboy in front of them grinned. “Haven’t seen you before,” he commented.
    Sienna shifted nervously. “Yeah, um, we don’t— ”
    “How can you be sure?” Ava yelled back, cutting off Sienna. “The place is crazy.”
    His grin widened. “Oh, I’m sure I’d remember.”
    Ava resisted rolling her eyes but Sienna smiled.
    In a ridiculous parody of an old movie, he offered Sienna his arm. “Wanna dance?” he asked her.
    Sienna snuck a questioning look at Ava. Ava could see that her friend really wanted to say yes. Ava couldn’t exactly blame her for being tired of sitting at home night after night, waiting for a phone call that never came. She nodded. Sienna practically squealed.
    Before she could accept, Ava snagged her elbow and leaned closer. “Don’t leave the building. Don’t drink anything.”
    Sienna nodded. Ava wasn’t all that worried. Sienna was sheltered but mostly by choice.  Her mother required a little too much supervision, proving to Ava that even if you had a bio mom, that was no guarantee she’d be worth a damn. Miriam Stark had been all anyone could ask for, really, and she shared a backyard with Sienna and her mom for most of Sienna’s life, making her Sienna’s surrogate mom most of the time. Both Ava and Sienna had lucked out that way.
    Ava left Sienna to figure out a Texas two-step and went in search of her own dance partner.
    As she made her way through the crowd, a cowboy in a faded chambray shirt and dusty boots appeared by her side. He was grizzled, though, and smelled like cheap beer. He hadn’t shaved in a while. Ava was too afraid to take a deep whiff for fear that it was because he hadn’t showered in a while, either.
    She glared at him, narrowing her eyes and clenching her jaw. The message was clear enough without having to actually say, “Back off.” His alcohol haze must not have been too thick, because he gave up without a word and receded back into the gyrating whirl of bodies.
    Ava made it out the other side relatively unscathed. Only one person had stepped on her boot. Ahead of her was a raised area of the bar, filled with pool tables. Her eyes fell upon a small group of men off to one side. All of them were older but seriously hot. None of them had women with them, though, and she found that odd. When she realized the third man was the one she was searching for, she was glad that was the case.
    Having to fight off a bunny in a biker bar was beneath her.
    One of them noticed her staring and gave her a curious look. After a few seconds, he tapped the younger man on the shoulder. He glanced at his friend questioningly, then turned to follow his gaze. His eyes scanned the dance floor until they settled on Ava. She felt a jolt in her belly.
    Damn .
    She hadn’t remembered