“Come inside,” she told him. “I have leftover pasta.”
It wasn’t quite flirting, she realized, but the dazzling smile he flashed her might as well have been.
NINETEEN
Splice
“Is this what you do when you chase a woman?” Lisa uttered, pulling away from Ryan’s seeking mouth.
Her pulse was beating like crazy as he cradled her fingers in his strong palm.
Last weekend, he’d picked her up almost at the crack of dawn, driving a tired Lisa to a farmer’s market three towns over.
Today, he’d surprised her by taking her to a local Food of the World market in a nearby town. She’d eaten her weight in almost every country and was now comfortably stuffed, sitting on a wall, Ryan at her side.
He’d tried to steal a kiss while she was unaware; now the biker had her heart going through rigorous thumps at his nearness.
“I’m only chasingyou. Gonna let me catch you?” he smirked, giving a handsomeness to his boyish face.
She hadn’t seen Ryan one night this week because of club business. She didn't pry and was fine as long as Ryan was safe. Nina and the girls advised her about dating Ryan, considering the MC’s dynamic.
“You’re pretty fast for a biker. And I haven’t even started running yet.” She answered, licking strawberry sauce off the pad of her thumb. Her ice cream cone was quickly melting, and as greedy as Lisa was for anything sweet, she was full to the brim and couldn’t do the cone justice. “Here,” she offered, “lick this before it drips everywhere.”
“Sweetheart,” Ryan grunted, his eyes darkening before her. He slipped the cone out of her hand and rimmed the ice cream with his tongue, tidying it up. “I could have given you the filthiest reply; see how well I’m behaved?”
She pinched his beard between finger and thumb, tugging lightly. “Just eat the ice cream, slut-puppy.”
He did it in three big bites. Lisa stifled a moan as she watched his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“Sweet,” he remarked, licking the last remnant of ice cream from the corner of his lip while eyeing her, “not as sweet as you, though.”
Ryan wasn’t always flirting with her. Sometimes he was asleep.
Gah, he was such a natural flirt, and she could admit it was going right to her head. A day didn’t go by that he didn’t compliment how pretty she was or how much he enjoyed smelling the perfumes she rotated wearing. He came to the house the other night after work, and the way his eyes ate her up at the front door, you’d think Lisa was draped in silk and lace and not her oatmeal-colored loungewear.
His free hand was still latched to hers, and Lisa unconsciously stroked his skin with her thumb, enjoying the atmosphere of the market, but mostly the man at her side.
Just then, his phone rang, and he answered it with his other hand. Lisa could only hear Ryan’s side of the conversation, but he sounded terse as he told whoever he’d be there shortly.
It was time to go anyway; she needed to do some admin work at home.
“Duty calls?” she enquired.
“Sorry, yeah.”
“No need for that; we’ve had a good time, and we’re going home with full tummies. It’s my treat next time.” He hadn’t let her pay for a thing, even when she tried to.
“It’s cute you think that will happen.” He said lightly. “All you have to do is point to what you want, and I’ll do the rest.”
“Careful,” Lisa warned as they got to their feet and headed toward the parking lot across the street. Ryan put her on the inside of the sidewalk, walking close enough that she felt the brush of his hand on her arm, and she had the overwhelming urge to hold his hand, just to slide her fingers into his bigger palm. “I might get spoiled.” She finished.
“That’s the point.” He said it simply, once more, making Lisa’s heart flutter in her chest.
She couldn’t believe Ryan was by her side and serious about pursuing a relationship with her; after all this time, he hadn’t moved on.
Neither had Lisa, and she was so freaking serious about him, too.
She boldly initiated physical contact, feeling a jolt of excitement as she grasped two of his middle fingers. Ryan’s grunt made her pussy clench, yet she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze, fearing public combustion; she simply held on until he’d completely grasped her hand, their palms pressed together.
