Lisa turned her gaze to the table in question and saw three men rubbernecking their way unashamedly. The man with the youngest-looking face waved and flashed her a white-toothed grin.
She looked back at Ryan, and his gray eyes were so intense she nearly forgot to breathe.
“Thanks, but I won’t be here that long. I’m just refueling. So, uh, see you around?” She offered him a smile and turned to slip into her seat. Forcing herself not to look around, she heard the rubber of his soles squeak on the tiled floor as he ambled over to his table.
Lisa exhaled. What were the chances of bumping into an ex this many times?
It wasn’t altogether awkward, but each time she saw Ryan, she felt several things all at once, guilt being the dominant emotion, and she wasn’t ready to face that just yet.Or at all.
And it wasn’t hard to look at his pretty face.
That bothered her, too.
He’d always been a beautiful man, but the years had perfectly aged him because every woman in the diner was gawking at their table.
Once over, she would have felt a pinch of jealousy because his beautifully masculine face gained a lot of attention. Whatever the swishing feeling in her stomach was, it couldn’t be jealousy.
Taking a sip of the hot coffee, she flipped open her iPad and, using the electronic pencil, scrolled through emails, checking which needed her immediate attention.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bikers rise to their feet, and she forced her gaze to remain on the screen, relieved Ryan was leaving so she could work with her brain fully focused on her to-do list.
But then a shadow fell over her shoulder, and she raised her eyes to see all four men surrounding her. Then they pulled out chairs, plonking down into them. The one who’d waved at her started eating from his half-empty plate of food.
Ryan chose the seat closest to her, and her pulse flipped out, rat-a-tatting under her skin.
“Thought we’d join you instead.” He smiled as if he thought she wouldn’t kick his ass for the intrusion. “These are my buddies. Denver. You might know his old lady if you are friends with Nina. Casey?”
“Oh, yeah.” She answered automatically, giving Denver a small smile. He nodded back with a chin lift.
“This pig is Mouse.” He pointed to the man eating. With his cheeks bulging and his lips closed around the food, the friendly guy winked. “And that’s Primo. Guys, this is Lisa. She’s friends with Nina.”
“Nice to meet you, darling,” Primo said, cradling a coffee cup he’d carried across the diner.
Overwhelmed by testosterone, Lisa took a sweeping inhale slowly and turned to stare at Ryan. He was still smiling.
“You don’t mind us joining you, right?”
“Do I get a choice, Ryan?” she replied coolly, but her tone didn’t seem to affect him because he picked up his cup, sipping slowly, while looking at her over the rim with the intensity she reckoned God looked at a sinner.
“We’re already here now. It’s a long way to walk to the other table.”
Smart ass. Lisa’s lips curled with amusement. Right then, a new email pinged, and she scrolled back to see who it was from. Ah, a repeat client wanted to book her to translate a book series. She quickly typed out a reply.
“So, you know each other through Nina?” the one called Mouse asked, his plate now empty, and he was eyeing her cookies. Without thinking, Lisa offered him the plate, and he took it from her fast as a gorilla would. “Fuck yeah, thanks, they look good.”
But Ryan whipped the plate from Mouse and put it back in front of her.
“Don’t take her fucking food, go buy your own.” He all but growled in warning, and Lisa’s heart shot into her throat.
Mouse scowled and brushed his floppy hair from his eyes with tattooed fingers. “Man, you suck! She gave them to me!”
“Because you were all but salivating at the table, she’s bound to feel sorry for a pitiful dog.”
Denver knocked Mouse’s shoulder. “Go get some. Order me two of the lemon bars for Casey.” Without a word, Mouse scraped back his chair, rising to his feet.
“I didn’t get to hear the answer, though. You know her through Nina? But she called you Ryan.”
“No,” Ryan answered.
