She looked around cautiously as she entered the bar. Would he be here? And how should she play it if he were? They hadn’t exactly parted on good terms. She shouldn’t have had a dig at him like that. She just couldn’t help it.
“Leanne!” She grinned as an arm slid around her waist and a very good-looking guy leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Where’ve you been hiding?”
“Nate!” She kissed him back and looked around. “It’s good to see you. Where’s Lily?”
A petite brunette appeared at his side. “Hey, Lee. We’ve been so excited for you to get here. You are going to stay, aren’t you?”
She leaned down to hug Lily. “Maybe. I don’t know yet. But tell me about you guys? Have you finally set a date?”
“We have.” Nate looked thrilled. When she’d first met him, Leanne didn’t believe he’d ever get married. He was too much of a ladies’ man, but he’d changed completely when he met Lily. A heavy weight of sadness settled in her chest. See, some guys were capable of becoming a one-woman man.
Lily grinned at her. “I didn’t want to ask for your address to send your invitation. I wanted to wait until you have a new address—here.”
“I don’t know about that yet. But you’d better get me an invitation one way or another.”
“We will.”
Laura and Smoke had come to join them. Smoke gave Nate a dark look. “Are you going on about your wedding again?”
Lily laughed at the look on Leanne’s face. “Don’t worry. He’s not being an asshole. I asked Smoke to remind Nate that we are allowed to talk about other things occasionally—and that not everyone wants to hear about our wedding plans all the time.”
Leanne smiled. That was a relief to hear.
Smoke laughed. “Come on, Leanne. Let’s get you a drink. I think we need to sit down and talk until we finally get it through each other’s heads that we’re not as bad as we make out.”
She met his gaze and smiled. “You mean you’re finally ready to accept that I might not be a complete bitch?”
He laughed again. “If you’re ready to accept that I might not be a complete asshole.”
She had to laugh with him. “I am.” She slipped her arm through Laura’s. “It looks like your life might finally get a bit easier, girlfriend.”
PART TWO
Chapter Sixteen
Ryan wiped the sweat off his face and slung his towel around his neck while he wiped down the weights and the bench.
“You’re hitting it hard this morning.”
He looked up to see Russ, who owned the gym, watching him. “Yeah.” He was hardly going to explain that he needed to get all his pent-up energy and frustration out and this was the only way he could think of.
“Everything okay?” Russ asked.
He shrugged. “How about you?”
“Yeah. Business is good. Life is quiet. That’s how I like it.”
Ryan smiled. “Me too.”
“Is it turning out to be a bit too quiet for you here?”
“Nah. It’s not that.” Russ was a former Marine. Ryan had talked with him a few times. He hadn’t exactly shared his history with him, but he’d said enough that Russ understood, and there was a bond between them that Ryan valued. He liked the people here, but there weren’t many who would ever understand him.
They both turned when the door from the locker room opened. Ryan had to smile when Manny came out.
“What time do you call this, old man?” he asked with a laugh.
Manny rolled his eyes. “Would you quit with the old man shit? You’re as retired as I am.”
Ryan grinned at Russ. “He likes to say that. But I retired by choice and I’m twenty years younger. They kicked his ancient ass out.”
Manny gave him a dark look as he came to join them. “Yeah, I stuck it out to the end. Unlike some people.” He slapped the back of Ryan’s head, making him laugh.
Russ laughed with them. “I’d guess that Dan has his hands full with you two—retired or not.”
“Dan’s happy to have me on board,” said Manny. “I’m not so sure he feels the same about this guy.”
“He wanted me as a key player. You were just an afterthought.”
Manny laughed. “Yeah, right. You keep telling yourself that.” His smile faded. “How do you feel about the other key player he wants to bring in?”
“You know?” Ryan’s heart rate had slowed back to normal, but now it was racing again.
“Yeah. But I didn’t know that he was going to pull the stunt he did yesterday. He surprised me with that.”
“How do you think I felt?”
Manny met his gaze, looking serious now. “I don’t know. How do you feel?”
“If you two are going to start talking about feelings, I’m out.” Russ grinned at Manny. “But I’d say the fact that he was waiting at the door when I opened and only came up for air a couple minutes ago might give you a clue.”
Ryan made a face at him. It was true. He’d barely slept for thinking about Leanne. But …
Manny raised an eyebrow at him as Russ walked away. “Want to talk about it?”
He laughed. “What, about my feelings?”
Manny clipped the back of his head again. “About Leanne.”
He shrugged. “There’s nothing to say. Dan wants to work with her. He knew that I wouldn’t be thrilled about it. So, he booked us onto the same plane back here yesterday and then had us share a car.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What happened? Did you two talk? It’s about damned time.”
Ryan blew out a sigh. “We talked a little bit. We ignored each other a lot. We said we should just close the door on the past and be civil to each other, work together as best we can, for Dan’s sake.”
Manny was watching his face.
“What?”
“And how do you feel?”
He laughed. “I’m with Russ. I’m not big on talking about feelings. You never used to be. Being with Nina’s made you soft.” He regretted that last part as soon as he said it. “Not that I blame Nina, by the way. She’s awesome. How is she?”
Manny chuckled. “Don’t worry. You didn’t offend me. You just showed me how rattled you are.”
“I am not …” He blew out a sigh and rubbed his towel over his face. “Okay, so I’m rattled. What difference does it make? I still hate her. She still hates me.”
Manny folded his arms across his chest and smiled. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Stop looking at me like that.” Ryan had to laugh. “Go on. Whatever it is. Say it.”
“I’m saying nothing.”
Ryan rolled his eyes.