Ryan grabbed his mug and took a few gulps of hot coffee to calm himself down. "I'm the 'celebrity guest.' I'm on the posters and invites and everything."
"You?"
"Yeah. So I skate around the rink with all the kids and sign autographs and give the winning team a trophy and they raise money for the rink."
A small teasing smile started to spread over Lucy's face. "I see," she said. "I have questions."
Ryan ducked his head, trying to hide the smile on his own face. He thought he would sound like a braggart, but leave it to Lucy to keep his ego in check. He looked back up at her, smile still on his face. Then he cleared his throat, trying to steel his features to match her toe-to-toe with her mocking seriousness.
"Sure. How would you like to start this cross-examination, Ms. Evans?"
She scowled at him. "I'm not that kind of lawyer."
"Disappointing," he replied. "I was really hoping this would play out like an episode of 'Law and Order.'"
"You watch 'Law and Order?'"
"I have a lot of downtime during the day. It's either reruns of 'Law and Order' or those 'Housewives' shows that Orlov makes all of us watch."
Her eyes narrowed as she tried to take all of this new information in. Then she slowly lifted the coffee mug to her lips, her eyes still staring over the mug at him, and took several sips. It was making Ryan think dirty thoughts about her again. If he remembered that this was Lucy simply asking him questions about a charity appearance, he could get out of this whole situation without revealing too much about himself to her. But he knew from the way Sydney talked about her that Lucy was a great attorney. He may be in trouble.
"This charity event, do you do it every year?"
"Yep."
"Why this rink?"
He smiled, then quickly tried to make a serious face again to play along with this little act. "I played there when I was growing up."
"And now you go back every year because you're the local boy who did good?"
"Yes, and because they have free hot dogs."
Now it was Lucy's turn to laugh at him. "You do it for the free food?"
"And for the kids!" he said. "But yes, there's free food. Oh, and they give me a pitcher of beer to share with my friends."
Lucy crossed her arms and leaned on the table with her elbows. "So you're telling me that you're skipping out on Gendry's and another night with me in a secluded cabin in the woods where I will likely be naked so you can get free beer and hot dogs?"
"Huh."
Ryan looked down and started fidgeting with the handle on his mug. He was going to go home, it wasn't like he was reconsidering his trip back. But she said there was barbecued ribs if he stayed. Also, she would be naked. His mind started to wander and lose focus. Meat, barbecue sauce, and Lucy could be a lethal combination.
"Ryan, sorry. Did I go too far?" He felt Lucy's hand on his, and he looked up to see her staring sincerely at him. "I didn't mean to tease you that much. I'm sure everyone there will be happy to have their local hero back."
He gave her a warm smile back. "Thanks."
Her hand slid off of his and he immediately felt cold without her touch again. She leaned back in her chair, her long black hair falling over her shoulders.
"You got quiet for a bit there. I thought I said something wrong."
"Oh, I was just thinking of something else."
"Something else?"
Oh no. He now realized that replying to that question would be even worse than bragging about a charity event. But then, he also had his way with her on the kitchen counter last night. She should know by now how he felt about her — at least how he felt about her body.
"I uh …" He cleared his throat and looked up at the top of the trees nearby so he wouldn't see her face. "You were talking about barbecued ribs and being naked and I got distracted thinking about licking barbecue sauce off your breasts."
