Текст книги "Chasing Mr. Wrong"

Автор книги: Joya Ryan

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 10 страниц)

“My boundaries are growing difficult to keep,” he rasped.

“I can see that,” she breathed. And boy could she. He was big and built in every sense of the word. And those boundaries were getting really annoying, because they were keeping her from seeing all of him. “So tell me then,” she said, holding her dress up with a single arm over her breasts. “What is it you want to do?”

She was tempting him. Trying so hard to get the Ryder that she’d caught a glimpse of to come out and take her up on every naughty thing going through his mind. He just had to give in—something he’d made clear he was fighting.

“What do I want to do?” he said, repeating her question with a venomous smile. “I want to rip that dress off of you and burn it for daring to cover your perfect curves.” He reached into his pocket and took out a condom, then pushed his pants down and off, and stepped from them to stand gloriously naked with the moon shining off his skin. His gray eyes beamed with light, like they were made of liquid silver.

“I want to take you into that water, feel your hot skin chill, then heat up again when I pull you close.” He ripped the condom wrapper open with his teeth. “I want to wrap your legs around me and bury my cock as far inside your tight pussy as I can.” He rolled the condom on and took a step toward her. “I want to feel you slick and hot. Feel you surround me. Claw at me. Go wild for me as I fuck you hard and deep. Just the way you like it.”

Another step.

“I want to feel you come on me, gasp for breath, then come again.”

She swallowed but stopped short, because air refused to leave her throat. She was entranced by the hulking, sexy man closing in on her.

“I want to hear you beg,” he said. “And I can assure you that all this will happen, sweetness. But if I reach you before you get to the water, I’ll fuck you right here on the ground, and we’ll have to try this skinny-dipping idea from the beginning again.”

Her muscles swelled with adrenaline. She was prepared to flee, because this kind of chase was another new experience she was dying to try.

“Deal.” She kept a tight hold of her dress as she sprinted toward the water. Heavy footfalls came after her. Just as she got into the water and it hit her waist, Ryder was right there, scooping her up and falling with her into the lake.

They both submerged down. She held her breath as the water fully covered her, and then she shot up, blowing out a hard exhale. Her dress had gathered around her waist. She reached for Ryder, but he was already on her, hoisting her up and locking her legs around his waist like he’d said he would.

“You drive me to the brink, sweetness,” he rasped against her mouth. She tried to kiss him, but he snagged her tongue between his teeth and sucked on it. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she gasped at the wicked feel of his slick, hard body around hers.

He reached between them and slid a finger inside her. Thank God she’d forgone panties—something he noticed quickly. He removed his hand and she cried out at the loss.

“You’re a temptress, aren’t you? You like watching me lose control?” With an arm tight around her back, he yanked off her wet dress, and the sound of it ripping to shreds buzzed against her eardrums. She didn’t know where it went, nor did she care. Naughty Ryder had come out to play, and she was ready to take him on.

“I like watching you chase me,” she said, nibbling on his ear, his neck, and licking a line to his jaw.

“Do you like being caught?” He reached between them and positioned his cock at her entrance.

“Right now I do.” She sucked on his collarbone and ran her fingers through his wet hair. “I never liked being caught until I met you.”

He surged inside of her, and she gasped against his wet skin. She licked drops of water off his shoulder, and she bit down on the meaty muscle as he drove in and out of her. He held her up, took all her weight, and sent surge after surge of pleasure through her body.

He tried to move her, lean her back so maybe he could get to her breasts, but she didn’t let him. She was enjoying his skin at the moment and refused to take her mouth from it.

“I love your taste,” she said.

“I want to taste yours. Let me.”

He sucked her neck, tried to go lower, but that meant she’d have to lean away from him. Not going to happen. She pulled him tighter and continued her little bites and licks along his chest.

“Stubborn,” he said and thrust deep while clamping a hand tight around her lower back, causing her to arch. It was enough to make her head come back on a heavy inhale, and he took the opportunity to snag her nipple between his lips and suck.

“Ah! God yes!” She threaded her fingers in his hair and arched even further. The wicked man was playing dirty, fucking her to the point of abandon. And she gave in to him, let him move her however he wanted.

She leaned back so far that the surface of the water felt like liquid sheets against her shoulders, and Ryder just kept his suction on the tip of her breast while pumping hard inside her.

His name was on her lips when her bones began splintering with so much heated pleasure that she felt the sharp shards prick her skin like glass. So intense, so acute, it hurt. But it was a good pain, and she couldn’t get close enough. Couldn’t pull him deep enough. It was a battle between such raw bliss and burning lust that she was drowning even though her head was above water.

So she gave in

Let the current take her down while she clung to Ryder.

Release rushed over her, crackling and snapping so hard it rocked her body into second after second of violent shudders. The water flashed cold—ice cold—or her body flashed red hot. The pleasure made her shake and spasm in a way that only Ryder’s arms could contain.

When she finally came down, Ryder kissed her breasts, her neck, her forehead.

“Best skinny-dipping experience ever,” he growled. Then with her wrapped around him and still buried deep, he walked them out of the lake and set her down on the grass.

He hadn’t come. And that was something she wanted to change. She was crazed for him. Wanted her mouth and her hands on him until she drew from him the same pleasure he’d gotten out of her.

When her butt hit the grass, he spread her legs wide, and right before he could settle between them, she pressed the heel of her foot against his hip and pushed him onto his ass.

“What the hell?” he said.

But before he could move, she sprang up and dove between his legs, yanking the condom off and taking him deep into her mouth in one long pull. “Jesus fucking Christ!” he moaned, and his rough hands threaded into her wet hair. He sat, his legs bent and spread, and she was on all fours between them, sucking greedily at his hard shaft.

When she bent further to take him deep, the tips of her breasts drug along his inner thighs and tickled her nipples. Taking all his length deep into her throat over and over was the only time she felt remotely sated. She wanted him more, always more, and now she could be in control and get just that.

With one hand on the ground by his hip, holding her weight, she splayed the other on those cut abs and gently massaged as she took him deep over and over. Feeling his muscles jump beneath her touch gave her a feeling of power and pride. He liked it. Liked her. Was giving into the pleasure she gave him.

She hummed, and his body tensed another degree.

“You’re going to make me come, sweetness.”

She liked the sound of that. She took him deeper, stretching her throat and working past her reflex. He hardened even further and proved once more he was, in fact, a man of his word. He came violently. His big body flexed and retracted. Those chiseled flanks tightening made her wet just from the sight. She drank him down, loving the manly, salty taste that was all Ryder.

She licked and laved at him until she slowly brought him back to earth, and his heavy chest rose on big breaths.

He sat up and cupped her face in his palms. “You always do what I never expect.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Can’t let me win, can you?”

She smiled. “Nope.”

A scheming expression skated over his face. “Well, this game isn’t over yet.”

He rose and took her with him, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She laughed and smacked his ass as he walked them back into the lake.

“Careful there, sweetness. I give back what I get in kind.” He swatted her bare bottom with his hot palm, and she couldn’t help but moan. But the heat lasted only a moment, because as soon as the water was up to his chest, he tossed her into the lake.

She laughed when she came to the surface, and Ryder was right there, pulling her against him with one hand, wiping away the wet hair from her face with the other.

“I recall telling you I wanted to feel you come multiple times.” Keeping his eyes on hers, he locked legs her around him once more, her heels fastening together at the small of his back. Water pooled around his chest as she hugged him tight. Instead of sheathing her on his cock, he reached between them and sank her down onto two of his fingers.

“Is there any part of you that doesn’t feel good?” she moaned.

He kissed her bottom lip gently. “I was just going to ask you the same thing.”

With his fingers deep, he pressed his thumb against her clit and rubbed. He tongued between her lips, kissing her intently, but also slowly and softly while she rode his hand and the water gently rippled around them.

The feel of his wet face against hers made her lips tremble and beg for more. She loved his taste, and the feel of his firm mouth working hers. The sound of the lake dancing around them. The moon shining down. It was a moment she was certain she’d never repeat in her life, and she just wanted to linger in the details.

Part of her wanted to stay. To just…stay. Right there. In his arms. But staying wasn’t what she did. Yet for the briefest a moments, it didn’t sound so bad.

As she came apart in his arms, he caught the sounds of her gasp in his mouth, and she knew one thing:

I’ve never felt like this before…

Chapter Nine

She was only halfway through her first margarita, but Whitney had to admit, girls’ night at Lily’s was everything she’d hoped it would be.

“I’m going to need a refill,” Penny said, holding up her empty margarita glass. She sank deeper into Lily’s cozy blue couch. She was wearing sweatpants and an oversize T-shirt with a law school moniker. Must belong to her fiancée attorney, Bass.

Lily started up the blender in the kitchen and peeked through the little cutout between the breakfast bar and the living room. After a few pulses of crushing ice, she joined them in the living room with another pitcher of blended margaritas.

She filled Penny’s glass, and when she eyed Whitney’s still half-full, Whitney drank the rest down quickly and then held out her newly emptied glass.

“Thank you,” Whitney said, fighting off a mini brain freeze as Lily topped her off.

“I’m bummed Autumn couldn’t make it,” Penny said.

Lily tossed a long straw into the blender carafe and drank straight from it. “Me, too. Although the phone call will haunt my nightmares.” She took another long swallow and shuddered. “I heard Huck in the background, all growly, saying something about her fine ass and what he was going to do to it.”

“Those two,” Penny said. “I swear, they’re always pawing each other. If they’re not careful, Huck will impregnate her again while she’s still pregnant with this one.”

“Says the woman who can’t go thirty seconds without groping or being groped by the town’s attorney,” Lily said with a smile.

Penny just shrugged. “Have you seen Bass’s ass? Pretty sure it’s against the law to not grope it whenever he’s in arm’s reach.”

Whitney laughed. They all seemed so happy. Except Lily didn’t have a significant other, and Whitney noticed the flash of yearning behind her eyes. Maybe she noticed it because she knew what that felt like. Or maybe Lily really was looking for someone.

“At least Autumn had a good excuse for not coming out tonight,” Penny said. “Huck gets cranky when she doesn’t give him attention. And she’s been kicking him out more often to go be social. He doesn’t let her out of his sight much unless she forces guys’ night on him. I swear that man is obsessed with her.”

“But in the best way,” Lily said with a smile. “I keep thinking the baby is going to come out with tattoos just like his daddy.”

“You think it’s a boy?” Penny said. “My money is on a girl.”

Both of them were clearly happy for their friends. Whitney had figured out that their little circle was more like family, and they all spoke great about each other and seemed to really care.

Whitney was still trying to keep everyone straight, though. “You said that your friend Jenna also couldn’t make it?”

Lily nodded. “Yes. Jenna is married to my brother Colt. They took Alex to go camping for the weekend.”

Whitney nodded. Yep, definitely all family.

“How are you doing with Alex being gone?” Penny asked Lily.

Lily shrugged. Her ponytail bobbed a little, and she adjusted her seat in the oversize chair. Her pajamas were thin purple pants and a matching tank top. She looked angelic with her ivory skin and big blue eyes.

“I know I need to let go and let him grow up. Being with Colt is so great for Alex, because he has a man he can look up to. But they want to take him for two whole weeks next month. Colt is doing some promotional appearances for the circuit and Alex is over the moon excited to go with him and Jenna.”

“Sounds like it’d be a good thing,” Whitney said. Not that it was her business, but the girls were including her, and she couldn’t help but get caught up a little.

“Yeah, it would be. Just… Two weeks without my little kiddo.” She sighed and laughed at herself. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You’re going to get out and have fun,” Penny said. “Maybe meet a man.”

Lily took another long sip of her pitcher. “I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” Penny persisted. “You’re hot! And I don’t even want to know how long it’s been since you’ve gotten any.”

Lily shook her head. “Too long.”

“Yeah, so think of this as a mini vacation coming up for you. It will give you a chance to really relax.”

“Speaking of relaxing,” Lily said, turning her stare on Whitney. “The town’s golden boy has been looking a special kind of relaxed lately.”

Whitney’s cheeks heated just a touch, and both Lily and Penny giggled.

“I…ah…huh?” Whitney took another drink.

“Oh no!” Penny laughed. “Don’t think you can’t dish about what’s been going on with you and Ryder. I’ve never in his life seen him look so pissy while smiling at the same time. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up!”

Pissy and smiling?

“Is that a good thing?” Whitney asked.

“Hell yes, it is,” Penny said. “My brother walks around like he owns the damn place, because he kind of does. But what a lot of people don’t know is that he also carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

Lily nodded and slurped up another hefty straw full of margarita. “Yeah, it’s been hard for him. Trying find someone genuine, that he can actually have fun with, is difficult.”

Fun. Well, Whitney liked to think she was fun. But she was also not permanent. It poked on the knot in her stomach, though, thinking that Ryder really couldn’t find someone that liked him for him. It was his own fault for putting on that damn front all the time.

Except he hadn’t with her. At least not when they were alone. That was what Whitney liked the best about him. The real side, not the ultra-polite persona. Sure, manners were fine and good, but the real Ryder had soul and depth, and a raw passion that she’d never met a match to.

“Do you like him?” Penny asked.

Whitney glanced down at her drink. She hadn’t had girl talk like this since her sister passed, and honestly, things with Ryder were getting complicated, because she was feeling more than she should. Here, with Penny and Lily, she wanted to give in and remember what it felt like to have a sister. A friend. Not to mention, she could use some advice.

“He irritates me. Confuses me.” She glanced at Penny, but she didn’t seem to take offense to Whitney openly speaking about her brother that way. In fact, she seemed thrilled by it. So she went on. “But there are other things I like about him.”

“Details!” Lily said.

Penny held up her hand. “But not too many details since he is my brother and…gross.”

Whitney laughed. “Noted.” She took a sip of her drink and settled into her side of the couch. “Well, he does this one thing that’s really annoying,” she admitted.

Both women leaned in, as if hanging on her every word.

“Is he an ass?” Penny asked.

“Does he snore or something?” Lily added.

“No,” Whitney hesitated. “He keeps trying to…date me.”

Penny and Lily exchanged a glance. Finally Penny responded with, “That dick!”

“Yeah, what a douche,” Lily agreed.

Whitney laughed again. “I know it sounds dumb, but he’s all about boundaries and control and manners. He wants to go on a date, but only to keep things under his control.” And if she were being extra honest, those dates were meant to be private. Because that’s how Ryder liked it. Sure, he’d taken her to his place. Wined and dined her… Well, more like Bagel Bites and heavy machinery’ed her. But still! It was his version of dating, and part of her liked it.

Yet it was becoming clearer and clearer that Ryder kept public and private affairs separate. Even if she wanted a real relationship with him, she’d only get a piece of one when they were alone.

“I heard that,” Penny said, and saluted her drink in the air. “Bass has his own ideas of control. And it’s oh so fun to watch him lose it.” The heat behind Penny’s green eyes made Whitney believe her. “But it’s also fun being on the receiving end of all that power.”

It was Whitney’s turn to salute because, yeah, she could testify to that.

“That’s what I mean. It is amazing to be with him when he lets go, and I feel like it’s the real him I’m actually experiencing. I’m not interested in the polite Mr. Diamond. He can either have his distance or…”

“Be all up in your business,” Lily said with a wink.

Whitney smiled, thinking of a few nights ago, when Ryder and she had been in the lake and, yep, he’d been all up in her business all right.

“Exactly. I’m not looking to land the head of the town or whatever he is. I just like being with him when he’s…himself.”

Penny smiled. “You’re perfect!”

Lily nodded in agreement.

“What?”

Penny just shook her head. “Oh, my brother has finally met his match and I love it! You won’t give him an inch. I can tell. Just how you answered that question is sheer brilliance.”

Whitney wasn’t out to ruin anything, or play coy. She just wouldn’t give in to Ryder in every way he wanted. Like being platonic. It was either complete distance or being so close she could taste him. No in-between.

Penny held up her margarita glass. “Here’s to going after what you want,” she said.

“And not being shy about it,” Lily added, holding up her pitcher.

Whitney felt a flash of true sisterhood, and it both hurt and filled that empty space in her chest where Kacey’s memory was tucked away. She looked at the two women who’d made her feel welcome and not so alone, and she clinked her glass with theirs.

“I’ll drink to that.”

Chapter Ten

“Shit!” Ryder growled. “This is wrong. Hell it’s…a half inch too short.” He looked at the perfectly cut piece of granite countertop that was now resting on the long handmade cabinet in the main lobby of the Davenport Hall. A cabinet that had taken him two weeks to make, stain, and install. And of all things to go wrong, the damn countertop was too short.

Huck stood behind him and eyed the fuck all mess he was looking at. In construction, a half inch was a big deal, and even Ryder couldn’t make a chunk of granite grow. Which meant…

“We’re going to have to redo the cabinet,” Huck said.

“Yep.” Ryder blew out a breath. He’d measured and re-measured the damn thing ten times. He never made an error like this. “Who was in charge of the supply shipment and granite dealer?”

Huck glanced over his shoulder, his white spackled hands tucked beneath his arms. “Jerry was.”

Ryder wasn’t into playing the blame game. But he’d built this damn box from scratch and knew—knew—the measurements. Granted, he’d been distracted lately by Whitney. Could he really have made this error himself? Shit, he didn’t know. And he wasn’t about to blame someone else on a hunch. It didn’t matter, because the end result was the same. He’d have to redo the whole damn thing. And fast.

“What if we order a small piece of granite, cut it to size, and cover that small spot?” Huck said.

Ryder shook his head. “Davenport wants all clean lines. He would lose his shit if he saw two pieces of stone instead of a single piece.”

“How about we take apart the cabinet and cut it down to size?”

Ryder nodded. It would work, even if the solution wasn’t as simple as Huck made it out to be. The way Ryder had constructed the cabinet meant a fair amount of trouble to take it apart, sand down the half inch, and put it back together. He could do it, it would just take time—something he was running out of.

“Hello!” a booming voice rang out. If his day couldn’t get any better, Milton Davenport had to show up himself just then. “Hi, boys! Just came to see how things are progressing.” Davenport’s words cut short when he looked at the countertop.

“It’s coming along,” Ryder said.

“Looks like a mistake,” Davenport said, pointing a pudgy finger at the counter.

“Nothing that can’t be fixed,” Ryder assured.

“There’s a lot of money at stake here, and you’re messing up with granite? Do you know how expensive that is?”

“Yes, I do.” Ryder was trying to stay calm. “I’ll take care of it. The cabinet and countertop will be solid and one piece like you wanted.”

Davenport shook his head. “What other mistakes are being made?” he asked with a hiss to his tone.

The crew was dispersing. Huck stood his ground, ready to support his friend, but Ryder gave him a subtle signal to go on with the rest of the crew. As much as he’d like to have his friend there for backup, Davenport would respond better if they were alone.

“I can assure you, everything is going smoothly.”

Davenport eyed the counter, then Ryder. “Let’s hope so. For your sake. You get your business by referral, and I’m not going to sugarcoat what I think of your work. Diamond or not.”

“I stand by my work and my crew. The Hall will be finished the way you wanted, and on time.”

Davenport lifted his chin and eyed Ryder. “All within budget?”

“Of course,” Ryder said with the best smile he could muster. Because if it took him every waking hour he had for the next week, he’d fix the damn cabinet himself. There was no way in hell he’d leave this job without a stellar seal of pride and workmanship.

“Good,” Davenport said and turned to walk away.

Ryder knew right then that he was staring down the barrel of a long few days.

The week passed in a blur. After having girl time with Penny and Lily, Whitney thought more about Kacey and how much she missed her. How things could have been different if she’d survived. Maybe that was a sign she was settling too comfortably in Diamond. Because the point of her moving from place to place was to experience life and live for adventure. Not to get caught up in thoughts of her sister, and all the sadness and guilt that came with them.

Yet the thought of splitting didn’t spark excitement the way it should.

But she would leave. She had to.

She wanted to see Ryder at least once more before she left. From the gossip she’d picked up, not to mention Penny flat out telling her, Ryder was working long hours over at that old building on Main Street. There was some kind of event coming up the next weekend, and between Penny running over bags of food to the crew, and everyone talking about this extravaganza like it was the second coming of Cinderella’s ball, Whitney knew it was a big deal for the town.

The hell of it was, she was missing Ryder. She’d been working a lot as well, to keep herself busy, and it was adding up to a nice chunk of change. So nice that it was looking like she wouldn’t need the whole summer to reach her money goal. And that was shitty since the thought of moving on should invigorate her, but it was making her pause. Mostly to think of a pair of gray eyes that gave her goose bumps.

The truth was, she could have taken lunch or dinner to Ryder on one of the nights Penny offered the job to her, but she hadn’t. Because she didn’t trust herself that she would be able to turn down another invitation from Ryder for a date. Or worse, face the disappointment if he didn’t offer again.

It was stupid and silly, and she shouldn’t even be thinking in these circles. But there was something about him that went deeper than people saw. He wasn’t just thoughtful and determined. There was a heart bursting with affection for the people he loved, but he held that part of himself under such tight control that it almost never came out. But for some reason, he let that part out when he was in private with Whitney.

Every time she was with him he delivered an experience, but he’d iced the cake with the heavy machinery. Not to mention, she’d never gone skinny-dipping like she had with him.

That was so far beyond awesome it should have its own name. Like Ryder-dipping.

He got her hackles up, all while making her wet with a single glare. She didn’t want to ruin the time they had with good manners. She wanted more of his wild, impulsive side. But he’d been clear those encounters were numbered. Hell, if he’d had his way, even the skinny-dipping would never have happened.

She wiped down the bar just as Lily came through the door with Alex and sat down.

“You okay all alone in here?” she asked.

Whitney poured her a Diet Coke and tossed in a cherry—Lily’s favorite, she’d learned over these past weeks.

“I’m good,” Whitney replied, but Lily didn’t seem to be buying it. Before that questioning blond brow was followed by an actual question, Whitney looked at the cute kid climbing up on the stool next to his mom. “You must be Alex,” Whitney said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Whitney’s heart about melted. He was missing his two front teeth, and the little lisp in his yes was most adorable thing she’d ever heard.

“Quite a gentleman,” she said. “Can I get you something to drink? A chocolate milk, maybe?”

When his eyes shot wide and he bounced in his chair, Whitney realized she might have made a mistake. She glanced at Lily.

“If it’s okay with your mom, that is.”

Lily just smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

“Yes!” Alex’s little fist shot in the air like he’d won the gold in the summer Olympics.

Whitney set to making the milk and squeezing the chocolate into the glass, and Alex’s eyes got even wider.

“You enjoying your break?” Whitney asked.

“Yes, I’m going to go with Uncle Colt and Aunt Jenna on the circuit soon!”

“Wow, that sounds fun.”

A small groan left Lily, and she stifled it with a sip of soda. She was obviously trying really hard to let Alex go, but two weeks to herself would be good.

“How are you?” Whitney asked quietly to Lily when Alex’s was distracted by the cartoons playing on the TV hanging in the opposite corner of the bar. “You getting excited for Alex’s trip?”

“Don’t remind me,” Lily said. “I still have time to get used to this idea. Not much. But some.”

Whitney nodded. Lily was an amazing mother. She was raising a young man and doing it while playing both parents. Whitney had never come out and asked about Alex’s dad, but from a few hints dropped here and there she’d learned that he’d been some city guy that left as soon as Lily found out she was pregnant.

“It’s pretty dead in here. You can take off early if you want,” Penny said, coming from the kitchen to stand by Whitney. She gave Lily a half hug across the counter.

“Hey, Aunt Penny!” Alex said, his eyes back on Whitney, now pouring milk and stirring his cup.

“Hey, kiddo. I see Whitney is fixing you up right.”

Alex took the glass of milk. Now that Whitney looked at it, it looked more black than light brown. Maybe she’d used too much chocolate. But Alex sighed, a milk mustache over his top lip, and said, “Best. Milk. Ever.”

She smiled, the compliment making her feel beyond wanted.

“You have to work here forever,” Alex said.

That made her eyebrows rise and her throat close. Between Alex’s toothless smile, and now Penny and Lily beaming at her, she didn’t have the heart to remind all of them that forever wasn’t in the cards for her.

“I’ll come see you every day,” Alex said, and took another drink.

“I’d like that,” Whitney said, leaving out the “for as long as I’m here” part.

“Looks like you have another man crushing on you,” Penny said with a nudge. Alex was just smiling at her and enjoying his drink.

Whitney was about to say that she could stay a little longer when the bell on the front door rang, and in walked Ryder Diamond in all his handsome glory. Only instead of sporting the usual dusty T-shirt and tool belt, he looked freshly showered. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a white button-down, and a Stetson that made him look like the sexiest cowboy she’d ever seen.

Excitement overtook her. She walked around the counter and straight for him, then stopped dead in her tracks. What the hell was she doing? She was acting like he’d come to see her. Like she had a right to just waltz on over and hug him—maybe kiss him—in front everyone, like he was her boyfriend or something.

Except he wasn’t.

And she wasn’t anything to him other than a cordial, platonic date. Right? That’s what he wanted. And she just wanted sex, not romance. So there could be no public displays of affection, because that didn’t fit into either of their end games. Just like working at the BBQ long-term, or making friends with anyone, wasn’t smart.

His eyes remained on her and turned hard when he registered her stiff stature. He took a step toward her, then was cut off by the melon-hating woman Whitney had met her second night on the job. What was her name? Clara. That was it. Clara.

She heard the woman talk about the Davenport Hall, and while Ryder’s mouth moved in response, his eyes stayed on Whitney. But she couldn’t stick around. Not after what she’d almost done. Not with all these weird emotions flying through her.