"Right. Except I had no idea who he was." I paused. "I still don't, actually."
"Yeah? Well, the way I hear it, he's a hit man." Ryder shot me an amused look. "So you'd better be careful."
"Hah! If I were careful, I wouldn't have kissed you."
He smiled. "So you admityoukissed me?"
"What? No. Definitely not. I'm pretty sure you kissedmefirst."
"Are you?"
My shoulders sagged. "No. Not really."
"Tell ya what," he said. "Let's call it mutual. Deal?"
"Iguessso."
He laughed. "Why so glum?"
"Because…well, I'm not sure I actually believe it."
"Believe it," he said. "You want the truth?"
I nodded without meeting his eyes.
Softly, he said, "You're lucky I didn't tackle you in the street."
At the image that flashed in my brain, I didn't know whether to laugh or fan myself, because honestly? The thought of being tackled by Ryder wasn't so bad.
Okay, it was terrific, actually.
I replied, "Andyou'relucky ZZ didn't tackle us both."
Ryder only laughed. "What, you think I couldn't handle him?"
I paused to give it some thought. "Actually, I don't know. I mean…you seem a lot more civilized thanheis."
"Trust me," Ryder said with no trace of humor. "You'd be surprised what I could handle." A hard edge crept into his voice. "And that guy? He'dneverget to you."
My breath caught, not only at his words, but the way he said it, like he'd kill the guy if he tried to hurt me. But the idea was so laughable, I tried to pass it off as a joke. "So you're not as civilized as you look, huh?"
And just like that, his easy demeanor returned. "Forgetme," he said. "You'rethe one who was giving him hell."
I made a sound – half protest, half laugh. "I was not! He totally started it."
"No,youstarted it by standing in the road." He gave me a hip bump as we walked. "Twice, the wayIhear it."
I almost snorted. "This again?"
"Yup. And you realize what you're doing, don't you?"
"What?"
"Stalling."
He was right.Iwasstalling, mostly because this moment felt nearly perfect, and I hated the thought of ruining it when things were complicated enough.
It was weird in a way.My whole life, I'd been a hard-charging, get-things-done kind of gal.But not lately.
