Apparently, Lucy felt the same way he did. Neither of them had any idea why he had opened his mouth just now to invite her over for a drink. But the way she had cursed and then that little laugh of hers? He couldn't be blamed if something short-circuited in his head. Unfortunately, he was the dumbass who put that offer out there. He couldn't take it back now.
"I asked if you wanted a beer," he told her. "I only have a few left, but your laptop is dead so you have no excuse to at least come over for one."
Lucy smiled and pushed the lid of the dead laptop down. "Let me just clean this mess up and I'll be over."
"OK."
OK?Seriously, what was going on? With any other woman, he would've had a witty comeback or would've gone over to help Lucy, especially if he thought it would lead to something more. But instead, he found himself walking back into his cottage, digging around in the drawer for the bottle opener and wondering why exactly he thought this was a good idea.
Because this was not a good idea. He needed a break and needed quiet. There was a reason he decided to come out to nature where he could be by himself. Inviting Lucy over would not help with that whole "being by himself" thing.
He finally found the bottle opener in the drawer. That thing was a mess with useless kitchen utensils but apparently the one he needed always found a way to drop to the bottom, requiring him to fish it out every time. He slipped it into the pocket of his athletic shorts and walked over to the fridge, grabbing two bottles with one hand, and heading out to the patio.
Ryan slid his sunglasses on from the top of his head with his free hand and put the beers down next to the book he had left on the table. He thought he took that in with him and started to over analyze that too. Did he leave it so Lucy would see that he was actually reading the book she lent him? Trying to show off his intelligence was never really his strong suit — ever. He was a hockey player, not some Canadian scholar. And to be fair, the book wasn't that challenging. He had to give Lucy credit for finding something that would be easy to read and not make him think too hard.
He cracked open his beer bottle and took a breath as he stared out over the lake. He wanted to look cool when Lucy got here and not like his head was buried in the book. It was just so strange the way he was trying to make sure Lucy saw him as a cool guy, a man's man, and not her friend's wild neighbor.
"What you got, McCloud?"
Ryan jumped a bit as he quickly turned to the voice at the edge of the patio. Lucy was still wearing the sundress she had on when she was working, but he was able to see more details on it now. Short with those thin straps that tie on her shoulders. A black fabric that seemed light and airy, down to her knees, with black lace trim covering her breasts.
Dammit, don't look there, he thought as his eyes darted to the table in front of him.
"Some local brewery stuff if you're up for something a little different."
He grabbed the bottle and opened it in front of her with a flourish before handing it to her. Her fingers gently brushed against his for just a minute before he quickly pulled his hand away. This was all so stupid and there was no reason for him to be acting like some puppy in love around Lucy Evans. Ryan watched as Lucy lifted the bottle to her lips and quickly turned back to the water to distract himself. He didn't need to obsess any more about Lucy's lips or what she would do with them if she was closer to him.
"How was the book?"
"Huh?"
He turned to see her staring intently at him. "The book. I was sitting over there for two hours doing work and never once saw you look up from it."
He didn't let her know that there were plenty of times when he glanced at her from behind the pages.
"It's actually good," he said. "Pretty mindless."
Lucy pulled her beer close to her lips. "Which you needed," she said as she took a drink.
"I did," he admitted. "It was a good recommendation."
"Good." She gave him a warm smile. "My dad likes reading those on family vacations up here. He says it always gives him an escape from work so he doesn't have to think about numbers."
"What does your dad do?"
Wait, how had Ryan known her this long without knowing what her dad did for a living? Something like that would come up in conversation at some point, right? Or were those not the kind of personal conversations he had with Lucy?
"My dad's an accountant," she explained. "Boring and lots of numbers and math and stuff. So he likes to read something that doesn't take too much thought process when he's here."
Ryan simply nodded, not really sure what to say next. He wasn't really sure if this conversation was getting too personal, but he also didn't want to over think it. So instead, he just let the silence roll over them as he took a drink and looked at a boat racing past them on the lake. Lucy let out a little laugh.
"That guy is such an ass."
"You know that guy?"
"Not personally." She took another drink and looked out at the choppy water left behind by the boat's wake. "That's Mike Monroe's boat. The guy that owns all those dealerships in the city."
Ryan had heard of him. Hell, everyone had heard of him in Detroit. He had these awful local commercials that Ryan thankfully didn't have to see anymore now that he switched to Netflix.
