I put a hand on Ryan’s chest, and felt his heartbeat hammering against my finger tips.“Ryan, please.”
He tipped his head down and stared at me.“Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
I gave him a small smile.“I’m sure.Let’s go.”
He slung his arm around my shoulders, turning me toward the exit, but also bringing Lark into view.
Lark cocked a brow at me.“Looks like searching for me wasn’t such a waste after all.”
Oh boy.
We went out to my car and Ryan stood at the driver’s side door.“I’m driving us back.”
“I don’t—”
He stepped closer to me.“Nope.You’re covering, but I know that did a number on you.Give me the keys.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Which also says it’s not that good.Let me drive, you don’t know where we’re going.”
“We’re going to my place.”
He shook his head.“I’m taking you out.Let me drive.”
I handed him my keys.“Fine.But this seems early for dinner.”
He pressed the button to unlock the car.“It’s four-thirty, and with traffic, it’ll be five-fifteen by the time we get to where I wanna take you.”
I wandered around to the passenger side and got in the car.I buckled up as he started the engine and adjusted the mirrors.
“Did he argue with you?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you to jump in a lake?”
I chuckled.“No, but he made it clear he wasn’t sure what he could do for me at this point.”
Ryan sighed.“Was he a dick about it?”
“No, and that’s why I didn’t want to follow through.Something told me it would be anticlimactic.”
He reached out and squeezed my thigh, then left his hand there.“It is a lot for a man to wrap his head around.
I shook my head.“I’m not so sure about that.If it’d been a one-night stand, sure.But he signed a form that allowed for contactandthey gave him a brochure on what to expect when an adult child makes contact.”
Ryan looked at me and back to the road as he guided the car onto the Interstate.“That shit doesn’t make sense.”
“What do you mean?”
His hand rubbed up and down on my thigh.“Why allow a kid to contact you if you don’t want a relationship?”
I shrugged a shoulder.“I don’t know, but it was roughly twenty-seven years ago that he…donated.”
“You’re twenty-seven?”
I glanced at his profile.He hadn’t shaved today, and I loved how his sandy-blond stubble made his jawline more pronounced.“Twenty-five.You sound surprised.”
