“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.”