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“Yeah?”
“What about our dates?”
“Oh.” His brow furrowed. “Them. We can deal with them after.”
“But—”
“Sophie, they have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to see there’s something going on between us.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “The whole town knows there’s something going on between us.”
“They do?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, they just do.” He started to tug her back, and as much as she wanted him, she held firm.
“Ryder, it’s not right. We’ve already been total assholes, we can’t make it worse.”
He appeared ready to argue, but then he sighed. “What do you suggest?”
She was so on edge for him, she didn’t want to say it, but she still wanted to do something right tonight. “Let’s go back to the table, be nice for a few more minutes, and then take them aside separately and let them down easy.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
It pained her, but she needed to do this as penance. “Let’s do this one thing right. Then everything after can be wrong.”
“Christ.” He shook his head. “Fine.”
* * *
When they returned to the table Sophie said, “Another round?”
Ryder had had more than enough. His main priority at this point was getting rid of their dates because he really didn’t think he could take one more second of not touching her. Of pretending he had any interest in anyone but her.
Bill stood from his chair. “I’ll go with you to the bar.”
Ryder wanted to refuse him but thought better of it, as this gave him a chance to apologize to Cheryl and be done with this date from hell.
Sophie beamed at Bill and said, “Great.”
Ryder experienced a possessive urge to kiss her before she went but resisted. The sooner they got this over with, the better. He nodded and sat down, turning to Cheryl as they walked off.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she surprised him by holding up her hands and smiling. “It’s okay.”
“Okay?” Ryder couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder to where Sophie and Bill were swallowed up by the crowd.
She laughed and shrugged a shoulder. “You like Sophie.”
“Like” was a mild word for what he felt, but he returned his gaze to the pretty nurse and gave her the attention she deserved. He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I had a feeling the night of the Rileys’ party. But when you didn’t cancel, I thought maybe I was wrong.” She offered him another shy smile. “Tonight confirmed my initial impression.”
Ryder ran his hand through his hair. “Again, I’m really sorry. I should have canceled.”
She waved a hand. “No worries. You didn’t ask me out, Maddie did. And you haven’t led me on. You haven’t taken your eyes off her all night.”
“You’re being far too nice about this.” Because she was.
