“Ryder?” Carter bounces the question before kissing Hailey again and rising to his full height.
“I need to gather a few things before we leave,” Ryder tells me. “Noon at the latest. We’re not in a rush, but there are a few things I should set up right away. The sooner we leave the better.”
It’s almost three in the morning already, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be heading to bed anytime soon. Carter’s refilled Hailey’s wine glass, mine still almost full. I’m pacing myself,already a little hazy from all that alcohol after long abstinence. It’ll be at least another forty minutes before I can sleep without the fear of waking up next to Charles Vaughn.
“Noon it is.” I fiddle with the hem of my t-shirt, rolling the fabric between my fingers.
The question about where he and Arthur will be staying is on the tip of my tongue. It stays there because I don’t think I’m ready for the answer.
My small apartment has two bedrooms, the one for the guys only a single. Instead of a spacious couch in the crammed living room, I have a loveseat and thus no idea how we’ll fit.
My bed’s a double, but the thought of sharing it with a man I barely know makes my skin break out in hives...
Maybe I shouldn’t have dismissed staying with Carter and Hailey so quickly.
12
Ryder
The trunk of my Jeep closes with a soft click, stacked to the limit with equipment and luggage. Both mine and Arthur’s.
He’s so excited Carter trusts him enough to appoint him Bianca’s security detail that he’s almost levitating three inches off the pavement as he grabs the passenger-side door handle.
“Would you prefer day shift or night shift?” he asks, jumping in and buckling up, a bright grin adorning his rested face.
“Night shift is yours.” I pull away from the curb, heading across town to pick up Bianca.
I don’t elaborate.
I don’t tell him that I’d let him entertain Bianca during the day if I trusted him enough.
He’s new.
He hasn’t lived through enough high-adrenaline situations so he wouldn’t know what to do if Noretto or his goons arrived at Bianca’s flower shop.
I’m afraid he’d freeze if someone aimed a gun at him.
It’s best he keeps night watch. He can alert me if anything seems off and I’ll be right there to lead the charge. The alarms I plan on activating in Bianca’s apartment will have me up and ready before Arthur can summon me—the blessing and curse of being a light sleeper.
If it was Koby beside me, he could trail after her all day long. Judging by their smiles and the blush-inducing winks he sent her way all evening, they’d get along fine.
I fuckinghateit.
The green monster inside me pawed the dirt, ready to strike Koby’s jugular. At the same time, my rational side thoughtlet him have her, she’s not your type.
My initial fascination with her when she arrived atScarlett, tearful, helpless, and with a sad look marring her face, hit hard. I wasn’t all that surprised considering I’d spent every waking minute for the last three months thinking about Bianca. But as soon as she buried her hurt deep down and put on her armor, that fascination switched off.
It switched back on at the helplessness shining in her honey-colored eyes when she talked about Vaughn, and off again when she schooled her features and argued with Carter about staying in Columbus.
On and off.
On and off.
Onandoff.
It’s making me nauseous.
Whenever she buries her true feelings, putting up a tough-girl act, my interest in her dies.
