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Oh... I hadn’t told Ryker about Avery until now. I hadn’t meant to keep it a secret... I’d just got so caught up in our flirting that I didn’t get a chance to mention her.
“You have a kid?” Ryker asked.
I nodded, my stomach tightening in a knot. “A seven-year-old girl. Avery.”
“And that asshole is her dad?”
“No. Her dad was an even bigger asshole. But Gerald was supposed to move in with us, and the lease was in both our names. Anyway... I asked him to hold off telling the new landlord he’d changed his mind, so I could have time to get my ducks in a row. Instead, he informed him right away.”
“He had to know you’d have a huge problem on your hands. This is New York. It’s hard finding apartments even in normal circumstances.”
Ryker’s eyes were feral.
“I know.”
“Why don’t we grab some burgers and you tell me more?” He flashed a smile that revealed sexy as hell dimples. Wow. I’d noticed them on Thursday too, but in the dim lighting of the bar they didn’t make an impact. Now, under the neon flash, things were different.
“I only have forty minutes.”
“I know a small bistro a few blocks away. They serve excellent burgers, and they’re quick.”
I was sold. What harm could forty minutes in a bistro do?
“Okay.”
Arlo returned with the guitar, and after Ryker strapped it to his shoulder, we left the store.
“It’s a ten-minute walk. We can grab a cab if you like,” Ryker offered.
“No, it’s fine. I want to stretch my legs a little.”
We walked side by side, with him occasionally placing a hand on my lower back to steer me into a side street. Every time he touched me, my body temperature seemed to rise.
The bistro wasn’t what I expected. I felt as i
f I’d walked into a tiny vacation cabin. Everything was wood paneled, and the seating area consisted of long tables with padded benches. They were so crowded that I couldn’t find a single spot to sit.
The woman manning the counter seemed to be in her late seventies. She lit up when she saw us.
“Ryker, finally decided to share your secret eatery with others?”
He’d brought me to his secret place?
“No, Mary. Promised I won’t bring Wall Street in here, and I’m sticking to it. Heather is... special. We need to take good care of her, or I risk her not wanting to see my face again.”
“Pretty face like yours? Tut-tut. I don’t think so. Besides, those dimples are to die for, aren’t they?” She directed the last question to me.
Ah, his dimples were a national treasure, clearly. Ryker looked at me as if expecting me to actually answer. Instead, I proceeded to order the house specialty: garden burger and chili fries. He ordered the same... and watched me even after Mary started preparing our food. I became hyperaware of every breath I took. When I couldn’t stand the tension anymore, I glanced at him. He wasn’t just watching me. He was studying me.
“What?” I whispered.
“You didn’t contradict her.”
“About what?”
“The dimples.”
“It’s rude to contradict someone older than you.”
