I crossed my arms over my chest. “Bossy.”
“Damn right.” His eyes dropped to my mouth. “Say yes, Clara.”
I pretended to consider it, tapping my chin. “I don’t know…you didn’t really ask. So is there even anything to say yes to?”
He closed the distance in one step, cupped my face with a calloused palm, and kissed me. When he pulled back, I was breathing hard, and my sass had evaporated.
“Fine,” I whispered. “Dinner.”
“Good girl.” He kissed me again and stepped back. “Hope you’re hungry ’cause we’re going now. Not giving you time to change your mind.”
“Now?” I yelped. “I’m covered in hay and sweat.”
“You look perfect.” He jerked his chin toward the store. “But I’ll wait for you to clean up. Just don’t take too long, or I’ll be tempted to come looking for you. Not sure we’ll get any food tonight if I have you alone.”
Holy heck. The sensual promise in his deep voice sent a shiver down my spine that made me want to do anything but rush.
I hesitated, then mumbled, “I’ll try to be fast.”
Maybe.
Heading to the back stairs that led directly to my apartment over the store, I bolted up and inside my home. Then I stripped out of my dirty clothes, quickly rinsed off in the shower, and yanked on a new outfit. I only swiped on mascara and lip gloss. Leaving my hair down, I ran my brush through it a few times.
Barely seven minutes later, I went down to the store, where I found Harper leaning against the counter, grilling Ronan like it was her job.
“…and if you hurt her, I’ve got three siblings who’ll help me hide the body,” she was muttering. “Four if you piss Clara off enough to grab a shovel, too. We have a lot of acreage. Or we’ll feed you to the pigs. Either way, nobody’ll ever find you.”
Ronan looked amused. “Noted.”
I cleared my throat. “Harper. Behave.”
She grinned. “Just doing my sisterly duty.”
Heat flared in Ronan’s gaze as it swept over me. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
We walked out to his bike, and he handed me his helmet after pulling it off the handlebars. “Wear this.”
I was stunned that he wanted me to ride on his motorcycle with him. Hounds didn’t put a woman on the back of their bike unless they were serious about them, and we hadn’t even known each other for a week yet. But Ace moved quickly to make Poppy his, so I couldn’t help but wonder—and hope—that was happening with Ronan and me.
“What about you?” I finally asked. “It’s not safe to ride without one.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I appreciated that he wanted to protect me, even at his own expense. But I wasn’t going to allow it when there was an easy solution. “Give me two minutes.”
Shoving the helmet back into his hands, I raced over to the barn and snagged my dad’s. When I came back out, Ronan nodded. “That’ll work.”
After putting on our helmets, he climbed onto his motorcycle, and I got on behind him. My arms went around his waist automatically, and I flattened my palms against the hard ridges of his abs through his shirt, the inside of his leather vest brushing against my knuckles.
He started the engine, and the vibration rolled through me. Looking over his shoulder, he asked, “In the mood for steaks or burgers? We could hit up The Fuel & Flame Diner or Brimstone.”
“Burgers sound great.” There was no way in heck I was going to pick the steakhouse while dressed in jeans. Even though we would get a table no matter what we wore since the Hounds owned it, I preferred not to feel out of place on my first date with Ronan.
Riding on the back of his bike was incredible, and the ten-minute trip to downtown Riverstone went by way too quickly.
The diner was also owned by the club, so we were able to snag a corner booth. I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Ronan got his burger as a double, with fries and black coffee.
