Tobias was watching her like a hawk, his jaw tightening as she neared the bar, making her entire body vibrate with thoughts of his ruthless kisses. How could she still want him after he’d shut her down? Her nerves caught fire, and she went to the opposite end of the bar, setting her guitar against it. The bartender had her usual glass of ice water ready and waiting. He also set a Beach Lover, a fruity sangria concoction, in front of her, and pointed to a good-looking dark-haired guy sitting at a table by the window. He was clean cut, and when he smiled, it made him a little too pretty for her liking. Why did she have to be attracted to tough, growly guys who would try her patience and offered to buy her a drink only as an apology, instead of nice guys who bought her drinks because they wanted to meet her?

The guy lifted his glass as if he were toasting her.

She lifted hers, mouthing, Thank you, and sipped the refreshingly cool, sweet drink. The guy rose to his feet, heading her way just as every inch of her prickled with awareness and Tobias stepped into her line of sight. His big body blocked her view, alighting flames beneath her skin. Damn him. It pissed her off that her own body betrayed her, and she lifted her chin, meeting his too-easy-to-get-lost-in gaze, seeing as much regret as darkness. “Do you mind?”

His eyes narrowed, facial muscles twitching. “Can we talk?”

“I believe I was just going to have a conversation with the guy who bought me this cocktail.” She leaned to the left, trying to see around him, but the other guy had already returned to his table. “Thanks,” she said sarcastically, and took a hefty drink. “You’re as good of a clamjammer as my brothers are.”

“Clamjammer?” His brows slanted.

She rolled her eyes. “The female version of cockblocking. Jesus. First you know nothing about bikers, and now this? Have you been living under a rock?”

His expression hardened, and for a split second he looked as though he might walk away, and she felt a pang of regret for being bitchy. But damn it, he’d rejected her, and that hurt.

“Come on, Blue Eyes. Give me five minutes of your time.”

Hearing the nickname he’d so quickly coined for her roll gruffly, and strangely familiarly, off his tongue, as if he’d been calling her that for years, had the same effect as it had the other night, softening her resolve. But she wasn’t caving that easily. She downed her drink and flagged down the bartender to bring her another. “And why would I do that when you basically called kissing me a mistake?”

“I never said mistake.”

“Don’t pull semantic bullshit on me. I’m not into games, Tobias.”

His eyes drilled into her. “Neither am I.”