“I wanna come back and do this face-to-face. Can I?”
Splice held his breath, waiting for Lisa to deny him. He wasn’t above bribing, so he added, “I’ll stop to get you a milk boba tea.”
“Oh, you know those are my one weakness!” she groaned. “Okay, come back. I’m awake, anyway.”
Leaping off the chair, he took the stairs three at a time to grab a pair of jeans. Minutes later, he was out the door. A spring in his gait to see Lisa so soon.
SIXTEEN
Lisa
“So, what you’re saying is, you’ve been a big slut-puppy?”
Honestly, Ryan’s bed partner number didn’t surprise her. She would have been more shocked had it been single digits. With that body, that face, and the charm he carried like a favorite spring coat, there was no way women wouldn’t have flocked to his bed.
She’d be lying if she didn’t feel the tiniest pinch of envy, but that was to be expected. Lisa had always been possessive of her things.
And she supposed that included Ryan, since he’d been hers long ago.
“There weren’t any long-term relationships among them?”
“There was one.” He answered, and another pinch twisted low in her abdomen, so she moved the wide straw into her mouth and sucked the semi-sweet boba tea. Then he smirked and added, “Or it could have been long-term, but you kicked my ass to the curb.”
The choke nearly became fatal, and a dramatic Lisa coughed and blinked across the sofa at him.
“That wasn’t funny,” she said, scowling at his laughing face.
“It was a little funny. Do you feel guilty that you’ve been my only prospect for a relationship?”
Yes. No.
“You just told me you’ve had an army’s worth of women; if you can’t find a girlfriend in there, that’s on you. You’re too fussy.”
He rumbled a noise, rubbing a hand over his face scruff, so short-clipped around his mouth, it really made him look ruggedly sexy.
“What can I say? I had the best. A guy’s gonna be fussy with choosing after that, yeah?”
Oh, wow. The charisma on him. Lisa busied her mouth with the straw. “Mmm. I love this. Boba tea is my one weakness.”
Ryan snorted as she reached for the TV remote and switched it on. She gave him a speculative glance over her shoulder before settling back onto the couch.
“You’ve said that about ten different things this week alone.”
“Psh,” she answered with a dismissive smile.
“So. What’s your body count, sweetheart?”
Lisa chewed on the sweet tapioca pearl in her mouth before answering. “I can’t tell you how many people I’ve killed because that will make you an accessory. Your face is far too pretty for prison; they’d pass you around like English toffees.”
“You think I’m pretty, huh? That’s a start.” Before she could question what he meant, Ryan went on, “What are we watching?”
It was late, but she hadn’t considered telling him to go home. The truth was, she really enjoyed Ryan’s company. He was easy-going and fun to talk to.
“I don’t think you’d like my shows.”
“Why not? I don’t care what we watch. You’re letting me hang out. Put it on.”
“It doesn’t have action; nothing gets blown up. Unless it’s a Chinese fantasy show. There isn’t any sex. Oh, and it’s subtitles.”
