“What makes you think he didn’t?”
They both stared at me, silent in shock as they processed my joke.
“I’m teasing,” I told them as I laughed at their expressions. “You should see your faces.”
“You told a joke,” Ainsley pointed out.
I shrugged. “I do that sometimes.”
“Not often enough,” Harlow replied, then turned to Ainsley. “She has a very dry sense of humor.”
“I’m picking up on that.”
“Anyway. We ate, we talked, he walked me to my door, and that was it,” I told them.
Ainsley narrowed her eyes. “That’s it?”
My mind wandered back to last night. The conversation flowed so naturally. There were no awkward pauses. It’d been mostly small talk. He’d asked deeper questions but I’d steered the conversation to safer topics. I hadn’t broached any of those supposedly taboo subjects that the internet said would chase away men. And of course there’d been that kiss at the end, in front of my door, but I wasn’t ready to share that with my friends yet.
“I still want to know how any of this complicates things,” Harlow reminded me. Ainsley nodded.
“We really clicked,” I explained. They didn’t look any less confused. “There haven’t been very many men I’ve connected with, who’ve taken the chance to get to know the real me.”
“But the real you is awesome,” Ainsley said with a frown.
I smiled at her, grateful because I knew she meant it. I wasn’t sure most of the males of our species agreed with her though. My previous serious relationship had hurt badly enough when it ended that I hadn’t bothered to try again. I’d just lived my life the way that made me happy, hoping—deep down—that a man would show up who liked who I was. When it hadn’t happened after a year or two, I’d stopped thinking it could happen.
I wasn’t opposed to that man showing up now, I just wasn’t sure he was Pyre. I hoped he was, but building a fantasy around a man who may not be interested wasn’t smart. And I was smart. So my plan was to wait to see what his next move was.
We’d agreed on most things we’d talked about last night but again, it hadn’t been anything deep. Just enough small talk to begin to get to know one another.But that smile, the way he kept looking deep into my eyes, the laughs…
“Oh sweetie,” Harlow said, coming over and patting my shoulder. Her eyes strayed over my shoulder and she grimaced. “Why do I always forget there’s dead people in here?”
“He just came in today,” I told her. “Owen needs a cause of death.”
“I don’t need an explanation for him,” Harlow replied. Her face was a little more pale than normal as she focused back on my face. “You can’t run away from love just because it’s scary.”
Was that what I was doing? It just seemed like I was being careful. What was so wrong about that?
“Trust me,” Ainsley added. “It’ll just chase you down and force itself on you anyway. Or hide in your back seat and pop up like a ripped Jack in the Box and scare the shit out of you when you’re driving.”
“What?” I asked, perplexed.
“Nothing.” She waved dismissively.
“Love will chase you down? Or a particular biker will?” Harlow teased, getting us back on topic.
“Is there a difference?” she asked. We laughed at that. “Warrant and Pyre may not be the same, but they’re both stubborn enough to go for what they want. He’s not going to walk away from you without a good reason.”
“What if he has a good reason?” I asked.
“Did you give him one?” she asked.
“I don’t…think…so?”
“These guys are insistent. And possessive. He already considers you his. You’d have to convince him you really don’t want him to get him to go away.”
“Maybe,” I told her, not convinced that he was as invested as they suspected. I liked him enough that I wasn’t really sure I wanted him to go away, though. The thought made my heart thud hard in my chest. I hadn’t been this interested in a man in a long time.
