Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,100

he meant it. “We all have our moments.”

Landon moved over, putting his arm loosely around my back. “We’re going to head out for drinks. Know any good places?”

“There’s a whiskey bar on 8th. If you’re into that kind of thing. Kinda tucked behind a shoe store.”

“Yeah? You wanna lead the way?”

Ben hesitated, glancing over at me as if to ask permission. I shrugged.

He turned back to Landon and grinned. “Just so we’re clear, though… I don’t put out on the first date.”

Landon laughed, and just like that, any lingering tension between them broke.

Ben twisted his keys in his hands. “But yeah, I’m down for a drink. You guys want to jump in or follow me?”

“We’ll follow, our hotel is on tenth, so I assume it’s in the same direction.”

If he had a reaction to our hotel, Ben didn’t show it. He just walked to his car and jumped in. Moments later, we were following his Chevy down the side streets, pulling into a small, tucked-away parking lot behind an ancient store with an old neon sign proclaiming Morton’s Shoes.

“He wasn’t kidding about it being tucked away,” I said, climbing out of the car. A small black door was hidden to the side, a simple brass sign hanging over it that simply said WALTON. It certainly didn’t look like a bar.

It was more like a speakeasy, something hidden from anyone who doesn’t know better. I narrowed my eyes, but didn’t question Ben as he led us toward the door.

Inside, it was a whole different story. A long, varnished bar top spanned the entire room, topped with stained-glassed pendant lights that left the whole room bathed in a warm yellow glow. It really was like a speakeasy, like we’d stepped back in time to the world’s best kept secret.

“Wow,” I said, “this looks awesome. How did you find it?”

“One of those local secrets,” he said, grinning.

I raised a brow. “Since when are you a local?”

“Hey, I went out a few times while you were out of town,” he said. “I’m a friendly guy.”

Landon snorted, no doubt thinking of just how friendly Ben had looked on my front porch the night before, where Landon had watched Ben try and kiss me. But I knew that wasn’t how Ben had meant it.

It was easy to be charmed by Ben’s simple smiles and easy-going personality. He’d make someone pretty happy someday, it just would never be me.

We found a low table in the corner, with a leather wraparound booth. When I sat down next to Landon, he pulled me up against him, wrapping his arm loosely around my shoulder. I loved how comfortable we’d gotten, how everywhere we went I could lean into him, find comfort in his touch.

Eventually, a waiter came over and placed a few napkins in front of us. “House special is a whiskey sour,” he said, “and our full whiskey list is in that menu there,” he said, motioning to a red leather menu. Landon picked it up, but I didn’t bother looking.

“Whiskey sour is fine,” I said.

“Make it two,” Ben added.

“I’ll take the Harksbury black,” Landon said, sliding the menu shut.

The water raised a brow, nodding his head. “Good choice, sir. That’ll be right up.”

The water left us, and Ben rested his elbows on the table, looking at Landon. “So how long are you in town?”

“As long as she is,” Landon replied, leaning back in the booth. “I recently sold my company, so I’m just… reorganizing.”

I searched for any hint in regret in his words, but if there were any, he hid it.

“Company?” Ben said.

Landon nodded. “Prestige Sports Medicine.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Hold up… you’re Landon Hill?”

“You’ve heard of him?” I asked.

“He has a center in Arizona. My cousin plays nose tackle for ASU, dragged me along once. We both came from a small town, and he was so impressed with the facility he wanted to show it off. Wanted me to see the kind of state of the art equipment at Prestige.”

It was... surreal to be sitting here having this conversation. To have Landon’s arm wrapped around me as Ben talked about how impressed he was with Prestige, as his mood shifted from one of friendliness to quiet awe.

“Why’d you sell?” Ben asked.

“I didn’t sell, exactly. There were… complications with the ownership. It became necessary to walk away.”

Ben nodded, as if he understood, but he couldn’t possibly. “So what are you going to do next?”

Landon was silent. He hadn’t yet figured that out, I knew, but somehow I was desperately