Chapter 4 #2
“Mm-hmm.” My eyes skirted over his broad, muscular chest. “And to see if I could buy you a drink or something. You know, as a way of thanking you for going to all the trouble, but I didn’t realize you had all this construction going on here.”
“Yeah, things are a bit of a wreck, but we can figure something out.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“We could always go over to DJ’s and grab a beer if you’re up for it.” He motioned his head towards the front door. “It’s just across the street.”
“Yeah, I’d be up for that.”
“Good.” He smiled, then turned towards his friend. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Take your time, brother.”
Without saying anything more, I followed Lynch outside. As we crossed the street, I glanced over to him and asked, “So, what’s going on with your, uh, club? Did something happen, or are you guys just renovating?”
“I guess you could say it’s a combination of the two.” His tone sounded mildly agitated. “We had an issue with a gas leak, and it took out a couple of our bathrooms. We’re working to get them rebuilt, so we can open the place back up.”
“Oh, wow. Was anyone hurt?”
“No, we got really lucky with that.”
“Good.” I smiled. “Hopefully, you’ll be back up and running soon.”
“Shouldn’t be much longer.”
Once we reached the bar’s entrance, I followed Lynch inside and over to one of the booths in the back.
We both sat down, and moments later, a waitress came over and took our order.
It wasn’t long before we both had a cold beer in our hands.
Lynch gave me a sexy smirk and snickered.
“I gotta say, I’m surprised that you showed up here tonight. ”
“Well, I hope it’s a good surprise.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely good.” His eyes skirted over me in a way that made my pulse race. “Have you managed to stay out of trouble since the last time I saw you?”
“So far so good. It’s been nice not being locked up. I guess I have you to thank for that.” I raked my teeth over my bottom lip as I gathered the courage to say, “I still don’t understand why you did what you did.”
“I already told ya. I was just doing a good deed.”
“Oh, come on. It had to be something more than that.”
“How about I saw a beautiful woman who needed help, and I gave it to her? Simple as that.” He took a pull from his beer, then asked, “So, how is all that going anyway?”
“With my arrest?”
He nodded.
“Oh, I’m not sure yet.” I took a sip of my beer. “We have our hearing next week, but I’m hoping my lawyer is able to work out a deal, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to help us.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t have a good feeling about it.
” I peered up at him, and butterflies fluttered around my stomach when I saw how this big, sexy biker was genuinely listening to me—as if he cared about what I had to say.
“I don’t know why, but I think the judge is going to come down on us really hard to prove a point or something. But maybe I’m just overthinking it.”
“And what if you are just overthinkin’ it?”
“Then, I guess there’s always a chance he’ll just let us off with some community service or a hefty fine, and honestly, I’d be okay with that.
” The way Lynch stared at me sent a warm chill down my spine.
He was so different from the guys I typically talked to, and it gave me a boost of confidence when he hung on to my every word.
I held his gaze and continued, “I can handle some community service without any problem, but jail time is a whole different ballgame.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with you there.”
“Well, let’s just hope the lawyer can convince the judge to take it easy on us. I mean, it’s not like we actually hurt anyone, and we didn’t resist arrest or try to run away or anything.”
“I’m sure the judge will take that into account.”
“I certainly hope so.” I toyed with the label on my beer and said, “This whole thing is such a nightmare, and it’s all my fault. I should’ve never pushed Haleigh to go parachuting with me. It was a stupid idea.”
“Haleigh’s a big girl. She could’ve told you no.”
“I know, but I didn’t make it easy for her. I was pretty insistent.” I shook my head as I admitted, “I kept at it until she finally agreed to go with me.”
“Hmm.” A soft chuckle vibrated through his lips as he smiled and said, “Yeah, I imagine you can be pretty persuasive when you wanna be.”
“You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do.” Our eyes met, and for a moment, it felt like we were the only two people in that bar. A mischievous smile slipped across his face as he leaned over and said, “I can be pretty persuasive myself.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can be very persuasive when you wanna be.
” He smiled, and it nearly knocked me out of my seat.
The man was positively divine, and it was making me a nervous wreck.
I knew I was talking too much, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“I think it’s time for me to start taking care of my bucket list on my own. ”
“Bucket list?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” I gave him a light-hearted shrug. “Just some things I want to do before life gets in the way.”
It was clear I’d piqued his interest when he asked, “What kind of things?”
“I don’t know—just your basic stuff. I want to travel, maybe go camping in Montana, or visit Yellowstone. Go sky diving, skiing in the Alps, sailing in the Keys, maybe swimming with sharks. You know, things like that”
“So, you’re a thrill-seeker, huh?”
“You could say that.”
“There a reason why?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a beautiful girl. Seems like you got a good head on your shoulders.”
His brows furrowed. “Just wondering if there’s a reason you feel the need to take such risks. You got some skeletons in your closet I should know about?”
“No more than anyone else.” My eyes drifted to the ground. “I just don’t want to look back one day and wish I’d done something when I had the chance.”
A sexy smirk crossed his handsome face. “I like your way of thinking.”
I knew the guy was trouble. It was written all over his handsome face, but I didn’t care. I enjoyed being with him. I enjoyed it a lot. I took another sip of my beer, then gave him a playful smile. “So, what about you? Are you a risk-taker?”
“I’m sitting here with you, aren’t I?”
“I’m not sure I’d count that as taking a risk.”
“Oh, I’d say it definitely does.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
He glanced up at the clock, then muttered, “Damn, I gotta be getting back.”
“Oh, I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean to keep you.”
“It’s not you, babe. If I could, I’d stay till they booted us both outta here, but we’ve got that work going on over at the club, and I need to help them finish up.” He tossed a twenty on the table to cover our drinks, then said, “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
I nodded, then followed him out of DJ’s and back across the street to Stilettos’ parking lot.
As soon as we reached my car, Lynch had a strange look on his face, and I suddenly started to feel nervous.
Really nervous. I couldn’t help it due to the way he was looking at me, like he wanted to kiss me.
After several moments, he finally said, “I want to see you again.”
“Oh, really?” I batted my eyelashes and smiled, teasing him. “So, you’re a risk-taker after all?”
“Only when it counts.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he reached for me.
I took a step back but was too late. Lynch had already wrapped me in his arms, his lips pressed against mine. Every single nerve in my body came alive as rough, calloused hands held me against his broad, muscular chest.
I’d never felt anything so intense.
My insides felt like they were on fire.
In a matter of seconds, the man literally had my head spinning.
I wound my arms around his neck and held on tight, pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss.
When his hands started leisurely roaming over my body, I knew I was about to get carried away.
As fun as it might’ve been, that couldn’t happen.
We were in the middle of a parking lot with God knows who lurking about.
I quickly placed my hands on his shoulders, and with great, great reluctance, stepped back and broke our connection.
Licking his lips, he flashed a devious smile and asked, “So, how about tomorrow night?”