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He met my gaze, and the sunlight lit up his eyes, which were fantastically bright green.
“It’s typical Texas weather, though Houston seems to have a thing for constant heat.”
“Isn’t that typical Texas weather?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Desert heat isn’t typical.”
“No, but Dallas gets snow. Sometimes.”
I smirked. “It doesn’t count if it doesn’t stick.”
“It sticks! Just... doesn’t stay.”
I giggled. “That’s okay. It might be nice to introduce myself to snow. Maybe the best way to do it is by just having a day or two of it.”
“So youaremoving here?”
I shrugged. “Not sure yet. I thought maybe I’d had some interest and received some calls while you had my phone …” I pulled the screen up as if I’d get a call just for hoping. “I met someone that night whohadcalled, but that’s about it.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You did receive a call from a random number, but I assumed it was spam. I didn’t think about telling you.”
I waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I got lucky and treated myself that day. Never would have met him otherwise.”
“So you got the job?”
“Not yet. Still have to interview.”
He nodded slowly. “Ah.”
When we reached the café, I was pleasantly surprised to find he had good taste in restaurants. The wood-panel walls helped warm the room, which wasn’t bright, but it wasn’t as dim as a bar or steakhouse. The windows brought in the best natural light, which colored the room’s soft neutral colors in a cozy way, like sitting on a back porch in a rocking chair. Ryan’s bar idea had thrown me off, but maybe he was just trying to blow off some steam. Not that alcohol was that great for drowning your sorrows.
He’d started to loosen up, but until we were seated, I wasn’t sure whether he’d open up more than that. I thought I caught a glint of something in Ryan’s eye. It helped me ease into the seat and feel optimistic about lunch. Maybe it wouldn’t be so awkward. Maybe we could start over.
Chapter 14
Ryan
I couldn’t figure out what I wanted. I needed to fight for my son, but I needed to fix my shit, too, starting with Christie. In the short term, I had used her, and in the long term, I realized I had abused her time.
After we entered the restaurant, there was an awkward silence. I felt like I was on a horrible first date, so I did what I did best and launched into small talk.
“How was the conference?”
“The conference? The one you asked me about at the bar just before inviting me back to your place for sex?”
“No, I mean... damn it.”
She just giggled, sipping the iced tea she’d ordered. “The conference was good, thank you for asking. But you were trying to get me in bed, right?”
I opened my mouth to answer, and then she raised an eyebrow. I couldn’t figure out what she wanted me to say. What would insult her? I didn’t have the energy to do anything else but tell the truth. “I was making a joke.”
Her head rose in understanding, and I swore I heard her scoff.
“Not that I wouldn’t want to.”
“There it is.”
“You’re backing me into a corner.”
