THREE
Lisa
The tough part about digging up old memories is that they can get messy when you let them resurface.
Lisa realized too late that night.
But she didn’t try very hard to run from those memories.
It was nearing midnight, and she’d spent four hours at her computer translating a script from Japanese to English. Once the file had been checked and double-checked, she sent it to her client and closed her home office.
But still too wired and not ready to sleep, she went to her cleaning supplies closet and pulled out the things she needed to give the upstairs bathroom a deep clean. When Lisa was on her knees, soaping up the shower screen, she thought about seeing Ryan again.
Or Splice, as he was known today. The name didn’t feel right to her.
After all, he hadn’t been a fully-fledged biker with shoulders as broad as a doorframe when she met him.
Soap suds coated Lisa’s rubber-gloved hands as she thought about the day she’d met Ryan Gold.
To anyone else, he might have looked like an ordinary, jean-wearing guy with a cocky swagger to back up his confidence.
But one glance at his size and incredible face, and the breath had whooshed out of Lisa.
She’d been stunned stupid, ridiculously affected by a man’s proximity.
She hadn’t known at the time that he was thirteen years younger than she was, then thirty-two. No one who is overconfident should still be in their late teens. His staggering six-foot-three height and dazzling smile blinded her at first sight and kept Lisa dizzy for the three months after that.
Oh, what a face, she remembered.
A face that must have been formed in clay, perfecting the firm lines of his jaw and royal nose, giving him extra puffy, full lips, should have been a sin, but after tasting those lips, she wanted to thank his creator with a crate of rich wine and a cheese board.
Meeting someone the day she’d encountered Ryan hadn’t even been on her radar.
She’d been off dating altogether, trying to build her linguistic career.
He’d been at the supermarket picking up a bunch of steaks she later found out were to take to a barbecue at the local MC.
She’d been buying cottage cheese. They couldn’t have been more different, but as she’d turned around, she’d bumped into him, and it was the first time Lisa had experienced literal electric tingles for a man.
She later realized that from that point on, Ryan had been the one in control.
He later told her he’d seen her first and followed her around the supermarket; he’d instigated them bumping into each other.
She’d lost all sense, obviously, because when he’d flashed her a charming smile while talking to her, he’d asked her out only minutes later; she’d crazily said yes.
That night, they met for a drink in a nearby bar, and not even an hour later, he’d plastered her up against her hallway, kissing Lisa until her knees quaked.
Normally, Lisa wouldn’t go to bed with someone so early, but Ryan was just so dazzling she couldn’t think straight.
Their attraction had been indescribably intoxicating to the point where they’d become inseparable, dating day and night for three months solid.
It had been the most hedonistic and carefree time of her life.
Sitting back on her heels, Lisa used her forearm to brush the bangs out of her eyes, one memory after another of that time with Ryan stacking up behind her eyelids.
It hadn’t been only the intense chemistry or how handsome he was that had held her attention. She required more than a temporary attraction to maintain her interest in men.
He’d been funny and engaging in every conversation. For a younger guy, she’d expected him to be, rightly so, self-involved, so to witness how selfless he was had taken her breath away. He was always curious about her life, including her career and her family.
Not even finding out his much younger age had dissuaded Lisa for long. Ryan hadn’t let her; he’d pursued with a single-minded determination to have his own way.
And he got it easily. Their fling continued. Night after long night. Days passed, and they were together every moment they could, burning through passion like it was a new source of energy.
To this day, their passion remains the most unforgettable and unparalleled period of her life.
They’d discovered so much about themselves in that blip of time.
Nobody else had the experiences with Lisa that Ryan did.
He’d taught her it was okay to desire certain things.
That younger man had educated her to embrace every sensual moment—that it was normal to want something that was deemed unconventional.
She’d had no idea until him that dominating a person in bed was her kink.
Luckily for Lisa, Ryan had been into it, too.
They’d learned together and became a fire in the bedroom and out of bed. Though it was obvious Ryan had been the one steering their relationship, and she’d loved that, too.
And as short-lived as their affair had been, it had still been the most wholesome and non-toxic relationship.
Sometimes it was the right person, but at the wrong time.
But she didn’t hold any terrible memories of him.
If anything, the one thing that lingered sourly in her memory was how she’d broken up with him and left town. Yeah, and the reason still bothered her.
Seeing him today really rattled her.
Honestly, she'd wondered if he was still in Utah and if she'd see him again when she moved back. But after two years, she figured he'd moved on.
Weirdly, though, he was best friends with her closest friend, crazier that it had never come up.
Once the bathroom was sparkling and nothing else needed cleaning, she put away the products, washed up, and padded to her bedroom, where she applied lotion to her arms and legs as she always did before bed.
The following morning, after a deep, dreamless sleep, Lisa’s day began as it always did—busily. She scrolled through work emails, checking which was the highest priority to answer today while she sipped her first coffee. Next, she reviewed the day’s schedule on her iPad.
Seeing the list of jobs, she knew she’d be tired by the end of the day.
But that’s how she preferred it. She wasn’t a woman to sit around doing nothing; her nervous system wouldn’t allow it.
Luckily, work had been abundant for several years, ensuring Lisa was consistently busy.
She was so busy that she hadn’t gone on vacation for three years, and yesterday was the first day she took off, for Nina’s recommittal ceremony.
After ensuring her gray slacks and simple white-collared shirt appeared tidy in the hallway mirror, she made sure that her long ponytail was still as well-arranged as it had been an hour earlier.
She then hooked the red purse over her forearm.
Looking less troll-like, with minimal makeup but feeling sassy wearing her favorite perfume, she stepped outside the house and nearly choked on her own spit.
Sitting by the sidewalk on a beast of a motorcycle was a man who her hormones knew intimately.
Ryan Gold had his head turned her way, wearing a black bandana over the bottom half of his face so she couldn’t gauge his mood. From the way she’d stared at him yesterday, she knew he’d aged so well, filling out every muscle in his body to perfection.
But Lisa couldn’t understand why he’d be at her house.
So early. Or at all.