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The bouncer shook his head. “Sorry. The whole floor’s empty.”
Kyle appeared at Ryla
“Okay, now I’m worried,” she said, more to herself than to him.
“Does she have a cell phone?” Kyle asked.
Ryla
He pulled a black cell phone out of his jeans pocket. “It’s called ‘free evening minutes.’ Welcome to 2003.”
“Ha, ha.” Ryla
She took the phone from Kyle, realizing that this was the second time she’d accepted help from him in the last five minutes. Common courtesy meant this obligated her to be at least somewhat pleasant to him.
Crap.
She dialed Rae’s number and waited as the phone rang.
“Hello?” her friend answered in a perplexed tone.
Ryla
“Carpe diem.”
Ryla
“It’s Latin for ‘Don’t kill me.’ “
Oh boy.
“What did you do, Rae?”
“Okay, here’s what happened: when I came out of the bathroom, I saw Kyle Rhodes at the bar, checking you out,” Rae said. “I decided that if you aren’t going to treat yourself to a little fun after the long year we’ve had, then I’m going to make the fun come to you. So I grabbed the guys, and we all sneaked out the back door.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did. He’s the son of a billionaire, Ryla
Ryla
“Not if everything goes as pla
No way was Ryla
She walked over to Kyle and handed the phone back to him.
“So?” he asked.
Ryla
“Or maybe she left you here so that you’d be stuck with me.”
Ryla
Kyle shrugged. “I heard the ‘carpe diem’ part and guessed. I have a twin sister. I’ve seen how her and her friends’ scary matchmaking minds work.”
Ryla
Kyle seemed more amused than bothered by Rae’s schemes. “Don’t worry, counselor, I won’t have you charged as a co-conspirator.” He nodded toward the door. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
Ryla
Kyle scoffed as he followed her to the door. “Like I’m going to let a woman walk home by herself at one thirty in the morning. My mother raised me better than that.”
“I won’t tell her if you don’t.” Not that it was Ryla
Kyle stopped her just as she reached the front door. “It’s not only what my mother would say; it’s what I think. My sister is a grad student at Northwestern. If I found out that some jerk let her walk home alone this late, I’d kick his ass. So it looks like you’re stuck with me. Like it or not.”
Ryla
“See? Was it that hard to be nice to me?”
Ryla
Kyle followed her. “Who’s making assumptions now?”
“You hang out at a bar preying on random women buying multiple drinks. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this isn’t the first time you’ve ‘escorted’ a girl home.”
“First of—” Kyle was cut off as he became momentarily separated from Ryla
“Why?”
He shrugged matter-of-factly. “I thought you were hot.”
“Thanks,” Ryla
An inebriated undergrad stumbled obliviously as he walked past them. Kyle took Ryla
They stopped at the street corner, keeping a safe distance from the drunk guy, and waited for the light to change. Kyle looked her over. “I didn’t know then that you’d also be this…spicy.”
“You’re free to rescind your initial offer of interest.”
Kyle laughed. “Christ, you are a law geek. I’m not rescinding anything. I don’t mind hot and spicy. Actually find that appealing in a girl.” He cocked his head, thinking this over. “And chicken wings.”
Ryla
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Chicken wings are the bomb.”
Ryla
Kyle gestured with his arm to the surrounding crowd milling on the sidewalk and spilling into the street. The feeling in the air was tangibly ebullient. “Who wants to be serious tonight? Law school’s over for the year, counselor. Live a little.”
Frankly, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of Kyle Rhodes. The logical part of her knew that with the whole hot-billionaire-heir-wearing-work-boots thing he had going for him, she was likely one in a parade of women he’d hit on. Still, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she found the attention at least somewhat flattering. This was a guy many women would chase after, and he was chasing after her.
At least for five minutes.
“Look,” she said to Kyle. “I appreciate you walking me home. Really. But just so we’re on the same page, that’s all this is. A walk.”
The light turned green, and they crossed the street in tandem.
“No offense, but you seem a bit uptight about the rules here,” Kyle said. “Don’t you ever just go with the flow?”
“I’d say I’m more of a pla
He groaned. “I bet you’re one of those people with a five-year plan.”
“Mine’s six.” Ryla