“I could beg,” she teased, biting at her lip and giving Robert big green eyes. He wasn’t going to make her go away. That could change, and she hated that her work precluded more than this afternoon. Relief made her a little giddy.“I’m good at begging. Plee~ease, Robert, may I have a hug?” Summer wheedled, even though his arm was already around her shoulders. She lost the pout in a giggle at the look on his face and grabbed at his hand. “Come on, then. Just riding around.”
“You make it sound like I’m pushing you away entirely, or saying you can’t have a hug at all. What does this look like to you then?” With a free hand, he motioned to his other arm, clearly around her shoulders. “Or would you rather I do it this way?” With a split second decision, Robert put both arms around Summer, lifting her off the sidewalk a few inches before setting her back down and releasing her entirely. “I consider that more of a bear hug, and I don’t do them all that often. That a better hug, or what?”
His own actions caused him to chuckle as he scratched at the back of his head. He never got a chance to speak as Summer grabbed his hand, though he soon shook the shock from his face. “I’m assuming you know where to rent a bike then? I don’t have one in my back pocket unfortunately.”
Summer shrieked a smothered giggle when he picked her up. “Looks to me,” she told him, looking down, “like you just wanted your hands on me.” Utterly impudent now, in spite of the pink tingeing her cheekbones, she pulled him along. “I know exactly where. So come on!”
“I wanted my hands on you?” Robert shook his head, waving his hand absent-minded in the air. “You know, as well as I do, that you were the one who wanted your hands on me. Or, wanted me to put my hands on you. Either way.” It was a joke she made, but Robert couldn’t help himself. He usually tried to be the one with the last laugh as far as he was concerned. “Alright, alright, lead the way, just make sure not to pull my arm out of the socket while doing so. I kind of need it for my career.”
“I’ll put it back!” she protested. “But you aren’t the actor I think you are if you can’t get around the loss of an arm.” They didn’t have far to go, so she left her bike propped up while she led him to where they could see the bike rental place. Going behind him, Summer gave a little push. “Go on, I have to get mine back.”