“Trust me, I know what I’m talking about,” he said.“By morning, every muscle you have is going to protest.At any rate, you should have been in bed hours ago.”
“I was in bed,” Casey argued.
“I meant, alone.Not with a half-ton of papers and that damned phone.If you’d wanted company, you should have let me know.I would have been glad to oblige.”
When she blushed, Ryder knew he’d gotten his point across.
Refusing to give him the benefit of seeing how much his words had bothered her, she folded her hands in her lap and looked around the room.
“So, where’s my surprise?”
He went to the kitchen, returning moments later with a handful of paper towels and a box he’d taken out of the freezer.
“What’s this?”Casey asked, as he plopped it in her lap.
“Popsicles.Assorted flavors.Pick which one you want and I’ll put the others back for later.”
Her delight was only slightly more than her surprise.“Popsicles?You brought me Popsicles?”
“They won’t hurt your mouth, I swear.In fact, it’s going to feel pretty darn good on that swollen lip.”He took the box out of her lap and tore open the top like an impatient child who couldn’t wait for permission.“Which one do you want first?The red ones are cherry.The green ones are lime.The orange ones speak for themselves.”
“I like grape.Are there any grape ones?”
“Grape it is,” Ryder said, as he peeled the paper from a length of frozen purple ice.
Casey wrapped a paper towel around the wooden stick and took a lick, then another, then carefully eased her mouth around the end of the Popsicle and sucked gently.Cold, grape-flavored juice ran over her lips, into her mouth and onto her tongue.She closed her eyes, savoring the uniqueness of a childhood treat she hadn’t had in years.
“Ummm, you were right.It tastes wonderful and doesn’t hurt a bit.”
Ryder caught himself holding his breath and squeezing the box of Popsicles until one broke inside the box under pressure.If someone had ever tried to tell him that women with black eyes and fat lips were sexy, he would have laughed in their face.
Unaware of the war waging inside her husband’s conscience, Casey looked up.“Aren’t you having any?”
Ryder shuddered then blinked.“I’ve had more than enough already,” he muttered, and when someone knocked on the door, was saved from having to explain.“I’ll get it Sit still and eat your Popsicle before it melts.”
Surprised by the unexpectedness of company, whoever it might be, Casey lifted a hand to her face.“I look so terrible.”
Ryder’s expression went flat.“I think your priorities got a little confused.Be glad you’re alive to tell the tale.”
The chill in his voice was only less intimidating than the look he was wearing.At that moment, Casey realized how little she really knew about the man who’d given her his name.
The knock sounded again and Ryder turned with the Popsicles still in hand and strode to the door, yanking it open with an abrupt, angry motion.
Outside heat swept inside, causing moisture to condense on the outside of the Popsicle box.Ryder was speechless.It was Eudora and she was clutching at the tail of her skirt with one hand and holding down her freshly done hair with the other as a hot, hasty wind blasted against the wall of the building.
“Are you going to ask me in, or am I to blow away?”Eudora asked.
He quickly regained his manners and stepped aside.“Sorry.”
Eudora stepped over the threshold and into the apartment as if it were an everyday occurrence for her to be visiting the servants’ quarters, when in actuality, she was quite curious as to the accommodations in which Casey had chosen to live.
The furnishings inside the garage apartment were simple compared to the elegance of the mansion, but to her surprise, the small rooms seemed comfortable…even homey.In fact it reminded her a bit of the first place she and Henry had shared.
Casey waved from where she was sitting.“Gran!Come in!I’m so glad you…”
Eudora gasped and clutched a hand to her throat as she walked toward Casey in disbelief.
“Oh my!Erica said you’d had an accident, but she led me to believe it wasn’t…”
