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She slowly shook her head. “No, the screen didn’t freeze, I was just taking in what you said. It’s funny, Ryker, I’ve been thinking the same thing,” she whispered.

He laughed. “Haven’t you been listening to a thing I’ve been saying? You’re the whole package.”

“You’re confusing me with Lark.”

“Like hell I am,” Ryker disagreed vehemently. “Let’s get this straight. I see the two of you very clearly. Yeah, Lark has some awesome accomplishments under her belt. But I also know the mother she had and some of the advantages she had growing up, and something tells me you didn’t have that springboard.”

“Has Lark told you something?” she asked suspiciously.

“Absolutely not, and before you get your panties in a twist, neither has Kostya. I’m going off what I’ve observed. You put on a pretty good show, Sweetheart. Actually, it’s not pretty good, it’s a fucking amazing show. But I watched you when you thought no one was looking. I saw the vulnerability in your eyes, the way you bit your bottom lip and looked around, lost. It was like you were looking in those Christmas display windows at Macy’s, like you wanted in, but you didn’t know how to get in there.”

“You did not see that,” she protested weakly.

“Yeah, Sweetheart, I did. Are you going to say I read it wrong?”

She bit her lip as she contemplated his words.

“Amy?” he coaxed.

“No, you didn’t read it wrong. There are very few people—actually, maybe only two or three that I really feel comfortable with—who know and like the real me.”

“I want to be in that circle.”

Amy’s laugh was raw. “No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, Sweetheart, I do.”

“No—”

“Don’t you want to get to know me?” He kept his voice soft and gentle.

“Sure, I do, but if this goes any further, then you’ll start asking really personal questions. Questions about my past.” She whispered quietly.

“You don’t have to answer any question I ask. You don’t have to do a damn thing that makes you uncomfortable,” he promised her.

“But then we’re not in a real relationship, are we?” She sounded so forlorn.

“We’re friends, of course we’re in a real relationship.”

She didn’t respond.

“Or did you mean something more? Because if you did, you know that’s where I want to go.”

“Yeah, I know that. I want that too, but…” she bit her lip.

“But what, Honey?”

“I’m scared.”

Ryker gave a mental fist pump. At last, they were getting down to brass tacks. “So either it works or it doesn’t work,” he smiled. “But I have a question for you. A year from now, are you going to be more upset if you tried and we crashed and burned, or more upset that you didn’t try at all?”

Again, she didn’t respond.

“I’ll let you think about that.” He smiled. “In the meantime, tell me how you’re going to spend all of Beatrice’s and the bank’s money.”

“I am not going to do that,” Amy shouted.

Ryker chuckled. “Yes, you are. And do you know why? Because you’re a smart businesswoman, that’s why.”