“Well…I’ll be.” Ethan stopped buttering a bagel and grinned. “He’s going to take you to his house.”
“His house?” Her heart tripped. She thought maybe there were going to spend the day on the lake, then perhaps camp in the woods or something.
Ethan nodded, continuing to butter his bagel while she continued to eat. “To my knowledge, he’s never taken a woman there before. This is a good thing.”
A strange fluttering filled her chest.
“Good?” Phoebe’s brows rose and face lit up. “It’s a great thing. You’re really loosening him up, Sophia. I haven’t known Ryder as long as the Wynes, but it doesn’t take a genius to recognize he’s a closed-up workaholic.”
That broke her heart. Mostly because she’d noticed the same thing her first day here.
“You brought fun back into his life,” Ethan said. “Ben and I were talking about it last week.” He lifted his glass of orange juice in a toasting manner. “Great job, Sophia. Keep doing whatever you’re doing.”
Other than working together, laughing a lot, and sleeping together, she wasn’t doing anything special. Just having thefunhe’d mentioned.
“I think it’s safe to say it goes both ways.” Phoebe glanced from her husband to her. “Seems to me Ryder’s brought some fun into your life, too.”
She smiled. “Yes, it’s safe to say that.”
And a lot of heat, too.
“Well, since we have today off for the holiday, I think it would be great if you took tomorrow night off too,” Phoebe said. “Your assistants can take care of any prop mishaps, and you’re already way ahead on the Grease renderings, so enjoy yourself. That’s an order.”
Sophia sat up straight and saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
Laughter echoed around the table, and it wasn’t long before she received another text from Ryder with an ETA of five minutes. She finished the last of her bacon and the rest of her coffee, then stood.
“I’d better get to the dock. Thanks for breakfast,” she said, grabbing her dishes.
“Leave them.” Phoebe waved. “I’ll clean up. Just go have fun.”
She nodded. “Thanks. And as for taking tomorrow night off, I don’t know. It depends on Ryder. I’m not sure what he has planned. Maybe he’s going to bring me back in the afternoon.”
Ethan chuckled. “Trust me, he’ll be happy to have you stay another night.”
“So, there.” Phoebe nodded, smirk twitching her lips. “I’ll see you on the 6th.”
With a smile on her face, she left the Wynes and rushed through their yard, down to the dock. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. Picnic perfect weather. She stood with her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes while she scoured the lake for Ryder.
Several boats were already criss-crossing the water with people eager to get a jump on the holiday. She was kind of eager to jump something else.
Lordy, she was so easy when it came to Ryder. No other man made her want to have sex all the damn time. It was exhausting and amazing, and she was definitely going to miss him when she got back to reality and her life in New York City.
Dropping her hand from her face, she tightened her grip on her bag and smiled as a boat neared the dock. Right now, reality could go jump in the lake. An amazing, mysterious day lay ahead of her, and dammit, she wasn’t going to let anything ruin it.
“Morning,” she said, as he slowed to a crawl and maneuvered his sleek boat close to the dock.
He was sheer perfection in jeans, a navy T-shirt that hugged his perfectly toned muscles, and a pair of aviator sunglasses that were sexy-as-sin and gave him a hint of danger.
Damn, he was hot.
Tough, powerful, he appeared almost unapproachable, but she still harbored that rebellious streak, and it gave her the courage to be brave, bold, to tread where others backed off.
“Good morning.” He smiled, and damn, it outshined the sun. “Toss me your bag.” He kept one hand on the wheel, and held out the other.
She did as she was told, her heart starting to hammer in her chest. “You’re not going to tie it down?”
“Nope.” He grinned. “You’re going to hop in.”
