you can stay with?”
Lia let out a huff. “Right. My parents made it clear I’m not welcome at their house any time in the next millennium. They’re too busy dealing with a bad case of disappointment in their children.”
“Why?”
“Well, my brother started things off a year ago by announcing he was gay and was marrying his interpretive dancer boyfriend.” Lia frowned, remembering the nasty scene. “That didn’t go over well. And when my book, explicit as it is, hit the shelves … well, let’s just say my parents’ country club membership has been revoked. Which is ironic, because I’m sure all their hypocrite friends have copies stashed in their bedside tables. So, no, I can’t really go home again.”
Ryland touched her elbow and a shock of awareness shot up her arm and right into her sex. Lia bit her tongue so she wouldn’t blurt out something stupid, like asking the big bear man to throw her up against the nearest tree so he could search out her pot of honey.
Could a man like him even have his way with someone like her? Was it physically possible? Perhaps it was different with shape-shifters. Would it be different with someone like Ryland Snow? It would be interesting to find out. She wasn’t sure romance novels and late-night cable shows could be relied upon as resources. She’d have to do some research. For a future plotline, of course.
He offered her a sad smile. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know what it’s like to be separated from family.” He squeezed her elbow with a gentleness she wouldn’t have expected from one so large. When he let go of her arm, Lia fought the urge to grab it back.
“What about the rest of your family? Are they still around?”
He rolled his eyes and let out a soft laugh. “Oh, they’re alive and well, just doing their own thing. My folks are ‘discovering themselves’ in a hippie commune in Victoria. They sell homemade jam at organic fairs, but between you and me, I think it’s a cover for their thriving weed business. I expect a call from the police any day now.”
Lia brought a hand to her mouth and stifled a belly laugh.
Ryland smiled. “It’s okay. Let it out. It’s funny as all hell.”
They shared a laugh and she was so happy to see his dark eyes dance for that moment. In fact, it far exceeded the joy she felt upon seeing the fish fry for the first time.
Ryland continued, his eyebrow arched at a naughty angle. “Soren thinks I dress funny. You should see our dad. He doesn’t dress at all. I feel so sorry for his neighbors.”
They laughed so hard people began to look at them, but Lia didn’t mind. Their laughter eventually quelled and they both sighed, looking at each other. And that look swiftly grew more intense, more laced with eroticism as Ryland’s gaze dipped toward her mouth and down to her neck. She saw him swallow, and the soft glow from the fairy lights highlighted his features, casting a glow over his chiseled cheekbones and strong jaw.
In that second, Lia forgot to breathe. She eventually found her voice and knew she needed to say something to ease the obvious sexual tension. “I don’t think you dress funny.” Indeed, she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers over his soft plaid shirt, and get at the hard plane of his chest underneath.
Ryland took a step toward her, his gaze focused. Predatory, but in a very good way.
He took the plate of fried fish out of her hands and set it on a picnic table. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the makeshift dance floor set up by the water’s edge. “Dance with me.”
The hitch in her breathing was obvious to her, and she prayed it wasn’t apparent. “Okay.”
He led her to the dance floor, right in front of where the band was set up. The musicians finished playing a quick country song and launched into a melodic ballad. Ryland gazed at her, his face inscrutable, without a hint of a smile on his face. And as much as she wanted to tickle him, just to see him smile
Lia let out a huff. “Right. My parents made it clear I’m not welcome at their house any time in the next millennium. They’re too busy dealing with a bad case of disappointment in their children.”
“Why?”
“Well, my brother started things off a year ago by announcing he was gay and was marrying his interpretive dancer boyfriend.” Lia frowned, remembering the nasty scene. “That didn’t go over well. And when my book, explicit as it is, hit the shelves … well, let’s just say my parents’ country club membership has been revoked. Which is ironic, because I’m sure all their hypocrite friends have copies stashed in their bedside tables. So, no, I can’t really go home again.”
Ryland touched her elbow and a shock of awareness shot up her arm and right into her sex. Lia bit her tongue so she wouldn’t blurt out something stupid, like asking the big bear man to throw her up against the nearest tree so he could search out her pot of honey.
Could a man like him even have his way with someone like her? Was it physically possible? Perhaps it was different with shape-shifters. Would it be different with someone like Ryland Snow? It would be interesting to find out. She wasn’t sure romance novels and late-night cable shows could be relied upon as resources. She’d have to do some research. For a future plotline, of course.
He offered her a sad smile. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know what it’s like to be separated from family.” He squeezed her elbow with a gentleness she wouldn’t have expected from one so large. When he let go of her arm, Lia fought the urge to grab it back.
“What about the rest of your family? Are they still around?”
He rolled his eyes and let out a soft laugh. “Oh, they’re alive and well, just doing their own thing. My folks are ‘discovering themselves’ in a hippie commune in Victoria. They sell homemade jam at organic fairs, but between you and me, I think it’s a cover for their thriving weed business. I expect a call from the police any day now.”
Lia brought a hand to her mouth and stifled a belly laugh.
Ryland smiled. “It’s okay. Let it out. It’s funny as all hell.”
They shared a laugh and she was so happy to see his dark eyes dance for that moment. In fact, it far exceeded the joy she felt upon seeing the fish fry for the first time.
Ryland continued, his eyebrow arched at a naughty angle. “Soren thinks I dress funny. You should see our dad. He doesn’t dress at all. I feel so sorry for his neighbors.”
They laughed so hard people began to look at them, but Lia didn’t mind. Their laughter eventually quelled and they both sighed, looking at each other. And that look swiftly grew more intense, more laced with eroticism as Ryland’s gaze dipped toward her mouth and down to her neck. She saw him swallow, and the soft glow from the fairy lights highlighted his features, casting a glow over his chiseled cheekbones and strong jaw.
In that second, Lia forgot to breathe. She eventually found her voice and knew she needed to say something to ease the obvious sexual tension. “I don’t think you dress funny.” Indeed, she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers over his soft plaid shirt, and get at the hard plane of his chest underneath.
Ryland took a step toward her, his gaze focused. Predatory, but in a very good way.
He took the plate of fried fish out of her hands and set it on a picnic table. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the makeshift dance floor set up by the water’s edge. “Dance with me.”
The hitch in her breathing was obvious to her, and she prayed it wasn’t apparent. “Okay.”
He led her to the dance floor, right in front of where the band was set up. The musicians finished playing a quick country song and launched into a melodic ballad. Ryland gazed at her, his face inscrutable, without a hint of a smile on his face. And as much as she wanted to tickle him, just to see him smile
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