Whether he was trying to rile Ryan or actually set Primo up on an impromptu date, Lisa got the lay of the land with Mouse and realized he must be the MC’s instigator.
“I’m too busy to think about dating, but thanks for the offer. If I ever change my mind, I’ll contact your matchmaking company.” She replied to Mouse, and he guffawed with a full laugh.
“I like this chick. I see why you’re besties with Nina. You’ve gotta come to one of our parties.”
She peeked at Ryan, and he was totally unreadable. She replied with a noncommittal “Mm.”
With her coffee finished and only one cookie eaten, she passed the other three to Mouse, who accepted them with a grin.
“I don’t want them.” She explained to Ryan before he snatched them back. It was then that she slid her tablet and phone into her purse. “I need to get going, but it was nice to talk to you guys.”
She was met with a round of the same words and a friendly nod from Denver.
“Bye, Ryan,” she said, almost breathless as her waist brushed against his shoulder, but then he rose, too, and stole the rest of her air when he told her. “I’ll walk out with you.”
Oh. Okay then.
“Where are you parked?” he asked after opening the diner door and ushering her out first.
“Down on the right. You don’t need to walk with me; they’re going to think that’s weird, Ryan.”
“Do you care if they do?” He arched a brow down at her, and Lisa rolled a shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter to me; they aren’t my buddies. I was considering you, what they might say when you go back.”
“I can handle it.”
Okay then. Lisa let him escort her to her Toyota Corolla. She depressed the fob to unlock it and turned to face him, finding Ryan towering too close with both hands shoved into the front pockets of his denim jeans.
The biker clothes were such a good look on him; it was almost painful to look at the man without her organs waking up.Down, girls. He’s not ours anymore.
And the last thing Lisa needed right now was to awaken her hormones when they’d been nicely dormant for a good while now.
“Drive safely.” He said gruffly. His stare was really something.
Without a word, she slid into the driver’s seat and placed her purse on the opposite seat. It was only then that she looked up at the biker. Almost distracted when she noted his freckles. He had one right under his left eye, another on the side of his nose, and the third on the lobe of his ear. Lisa swallowed, bombarded with memories of the times she’d seductively kissed those freckles to turn Ryan on.
Not now, girls, retreat!Her nosy hormones wanted to take a peek at their ex-boyfriend.
“Oh, hey? Was Primo really in prison?”
“Yeah, he got out a few days ago.” Then she saw his gray eyes darken and squint a little. “Are you interested in him?”
There went the whooshing in her belly again, and she put her hand over her shirt to stop the sensation.
“God, no.”
“I wouldn’t let him around you if he were dangerous, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart.
That was the second time he’d called her that. Lisa didn’t know how to process it. But some men were overly affectionate with endearments. That’s all it was.
“I’m not interested in him,” she reiterated, focusing only on his hand, which was resting on the open car door, unable to meet Ryan’s intensity.
“I’d put a stop to it if you were,” he admitted, and Lisa’s neck nearly snapped in shock as she looked up at him. “Don’t drive fast, sweetheart.” Then he closed her door and stepped back onto the sidewalk, waiting for her to drive off.
Under his watchful eye, she felt like a total beginner driver, even though she’d been driving for years. Luckily, she didn’t mess up, and she could finally relax after getting away from the diner and the biker.
