I could feel all eyes on me as I let out a nervous chuckle. “Well, I mean we’re just acquaintances.”
Ryder raised his eyebrows as the other extremely hot guy standing next to him coughed and looked at Ryder.
“No, I mean we’re more than that.” Shaking my head and then moaning from the sheer pain, I held up my hands and said, “No! I mean, we’re just friends. New friends. Like I ran into him on the street and knocked all his paperwork out of his hands and then ran into him again—”
Oh Jesus, I’m digging myself into a hole.
“We ran into each other again yesterday when I was attending a meeting at a restaurant in Austin.”
The other guy coughed again and glared at Ryder.
My father walked up and kissed me on the cheek as he looked back at Ryder and said, “What a small world.”
It appeared Ryder had to force himself to pull his eyes off of me and as he looked at my father and nodded. “Indeed it is.”
“Yes, it is for sure,” the guy behind Ryder said.
Walker approached and said, “Well, Ryder, since it appears you already know my sister, Nate Montgomery, this is my younger sister, Ava Moore.”
I smiled and extended my hand over to Nate. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Nate smiled back a warm smile and a wink, “The pleasure is all mine. Since you’ve had the pleasure of getting to know my brother, I guess that means I get to monopolize all your time this afternoon then.”
Letting out a nervous and very awkward laugh, I said, “I’m afraid I don’t get too excited about talking about cattle and all of that.”
Nate tossed his head back and laughed. “Fair enough.”
Turning, Nate walked over to Layton as my father continued to stare at me like I had just caused a huge shit storm.
I slowly glanced over and stole a peek at Ryder. He was staring at me too, but he still wore that damn sexy-ass smile. I spun around on my heels and headed over to the safe zone.
The baby. No single hot guy wanted to be anywhere near a baby.
After sitting and chatting with Liza, my mother called out and asked me to help get everything ready to eat. As I stood, I leaned over and glared at Liza. “So when I pop a kid out, does that mean I get to just sit there and hold them while everyone else does all the work?”
Liza grinned and said, “Pretty much.”
I worked quick and fast, helping my mother and Whitley get the table all set. Jase brought in all the steaks and set them in the middle of the table as Layton motioned for everyone to take a seat. I wasn’t surprised to see Ryder make a beeline and sit right next to me. Jase took the seat to my left and bumped my shoulder as he sat down. I rolled my eyes and quickly reached for the glass of wine I had in front of me.
“How are you feeling today?” Ryder asked in a hushed voice.
“Fine,” I mumbled back.
“I heard Bloody Mary’s were the thing to drink for a hangover. Did you take the Advil??
?
My head turned as I looked at Ryder who was taking a sip of water. The room began spinning as thoughts flooded my mind. The fact that I couldn’t remember anything about last night was driving me insane. And the way Ryder’s leg was brushing up next to me was driving me even more insane. No man had ever affected me like that before.
Pushing back my chair, I set my napkin down as everyone turned and looked at me. “Excuse us, but I need to speak with Ryder in private.”
“Oh shit,” Jase and Walker both said at once as I turned and headed out of the dining room.
I could hear Ryder’s chair move against the wood floor as he said, “Um, if you’ll excuse us.”
I pushed the back door open and quickly began walking down the stairs and away from the house. Ryder’s footsteps were gaining on me when I felt a jolt of electricity zip through my body and settle right between my legs.
Ryder took me by the arm and turned me around. Before he even had a chance to talk, I began poking him in the chest with my finger.