“Why not?”
She shook her head.“I can’t talk to you like this.”Her hands went to my shoulders so she could get up, but I tightened my grip on her body.
“You can totally talk to me like this.”
Her eyes flared.“Ryan, this is serious.”
I widened my eyes at her.“I know it is.Most men don’t want to be surprised by anything, but they damn sure don’t want a surprise kid to show up.The fact he donated sperm surprises me, and yet, given his road name, it makes sense.I don’t have the full story on why they named him Lark.It’s either that he’s so damned methodical and a type-A planner that he’dneverdo shit on a lark, or it’s the fact he doeseverythingon a whim.”
She shrugged.“My gut says he’s a total planner because I am, but that’s the thing.What difference does it make?What am I going to get out of telling him that mom chose him to make a baby and here I am?I’ll probably fuck up his life… Hell, Chad was right.The universe was giving me a sign when you kept me from seeing him the first time.”
I hated hearing the defeated tone in her voice.
Tightening my arms, I pushed up and gently laid her down on the couch and settled my weight on her.“It wasn’t a sign.I made assumptions and it got us both in a fucking mess.Lark’s cool.”
“So you think I should tell him tomorrow night?”
I glanced away for a beat.“What I think doesn’t matter.Going to the bar tomorrow night isn’t happening though.”
She dragged her fingers down my spine.“Why not?”
I pulled a hand out from behind her and cupped her cheek.“Tonight, there’s going to be brothers patrolling the outside lot.Those bastards behind our abduction are going to come back.I don’t want you around the bar until they’ve been dealt with, so you going to the bar isn’t happening.”
“Are you patrolling the lot tonight?”
Instantly her facial expression shifted to shock, like she hadn’t wanted to ask me that.
“Are you concerned about my safety, Ives?”
She shook her head.“It’s official.Please don’t call me that.”
I nodded.“Are you worried about me?”
Her expression became abashed.“Maybe.I hadn’t meant to ask that out loud.I usually have more self-control around people.”
My lips tipped up.“Tonight, I have the night off, and I’m spending it with you.”
“Why?”
I swallowed back a chuckle.“Are you shitting me right now?We got interrupted back at the clubhouse, but our chemistry is off the fuckin’ charts.I’m gonna taste more of you, you’re gonna taste me, and we’re gonna do that in a number of ways.”
“Ryan,” she whispered.
“What?”
“This isn’t a good idea,” she whispered.
I dragged my nose alongside hers.“I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Casual isn’t an option for me.”
I felt one of my eyebrows lift.“You’re after a commitment.”
She frowned slightly.“I didn’t say that, but you…” She sighed.“You’re different.”
That was vague, and yet, I understood where she was coming from because deep down, I felt the same way about her.Something about her was different from other women I’d seen in the past.
I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.“I’m not after anything, seriousorcasual.I’m practically married to the bar these days.Most women expect so much attention—”
