So she’d trusted her sister and shown up here to meet a complete stranger.
When Shawna entered the restaurant, smiling staff welcomed her with a “Bienvenue!” She told the hostess she had a reservation and gave her the name of the person with whom she had the meeting. “Roger James.”
“Your party’s already here.” The brunette smiled, and her gaze drifted to the interior wall, outside Shawna’s line of vision.
Shawna pasted a smile on her face and stepped forward to get a good look. That’s when her date stepped from the dim interior into the better-lit entryway.
Her smile froze in place and her body became as stiff as a corpse.
It wasn’t that her date was unattractive. Oh no, he didn’t suffer from a deficiency in looks at all. In fact, he was sexy. Hella sexy. Even more sexy than the last time she’d seen him, though a bit underdressed in a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal rugged arms dusted with fine hair. Wisps of dark hair, which she knew from firsthand experience were soft, brushed the collar of his striped shirt.
She pressed her palm to her chest in a futile attempt to control the erratic beat of her heart. Unfortunately, her brain had gone into overdrive, reminding her of unbridled passion in Chicago six years ago when she’d fallen into bed with this man.
She’d never forgotten the two torrid nights they’d spent together where the intimacies they shared had left her breathless and exhausted in his arms. Every caress of his lips and touch of his rough, work-worn hands was seared into her brain. And she could never, ever forget what it felt like to have the dark stubble shadowing his jaw graze the sensitive spot on her neck—or the skin of her inner thigh.
Her knees weakened at the thought.
A corner of his lips did a slow slant upward, and Shawna tore her eyes away from the invitation in them to stare into a pair of amazing blue eyes that rooted her in place.
“Hello, Shawna.” The mellow sound of his voice greeted her as he approached. He exuded a confidence and casual virility not present during their first introduction. Back then, he’d been a little less sure of himself, though very charming.
The sound of her name on his tongue sent a tremor through every cell of her body. “Ryan.” She whispered his name in disbelief because his name wasn’t Roger James, and he wasn’t a stranger. She’d hoped never to set eyes on this man again.
“It’s good to see you, love.”
Shocked out of her reverie by the affectionate word, rage erupted inside of Shawna. She hadn’t seen him since that day in Chicago when her heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. She did what she hadn’t been able to do back then.
She hauled back and slapped him.
Chapter Two
Ryan touched his throbbing cheek. “I deserved that.”
“Damn right you did,” Shawna said. She swung away from him and the open-mouthed hostess and stormed out of the restaurant.
“Shawna, wait!”
A few steps outside the door, he caught up with her and grasped her arm.
“Let go of me.” She pulled away. “Is this your idea of a joke? How did you get my sister to agree to this?”
“She didn’t know. I told her and William we had a few dates in Chicago, and I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, I’m surprised.”
“I thought it was the only way I could get you to see me. I figured if you knew you were meeting me, you’d never agree to it.”
“So you stooped to your old tricks of telling lies, Ryan? Old habits die hard, don’t they?”
He winced.
A barrage of emotions raced through her. She wished she could slap him again, but she’d had the element of surprise on her side the first time. She didn’t think it would work a second time.
“Come back inside. Let’s talk.”