He glared. “At no point did I say I loved her.”
Aggie’s knowing smile cut through to the heart of him. “You didn’t have to. Now go give her a chance to tell you how she feels. Worst case, you march your behind right back over here and go back to staring at the sea, but at least then you’ll know.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. Again. He took in the calm, turquoise water and the clear blue sky and the white expanses of sand and architecture and wondered if there was another spot in the world like it. Or if there was any greater risk, or one more worth taking. “Outside of the kid who, as you said, is about to piss himself, is everything under control in there?”
“The resort is fine. Don’t you worry a minute about it.”
He nodded. “Call me if anything changes. I need to go.”
“Good. Find her and get this cleared up.”
He shook his head. “Not her.”
“Then who?”
“I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m taking your advice. I’m going straight to the—” He paused. Almost laughed. But it fit. “I’m going straight to the horse’s ass.”
And for once it wasn’t him.
Chapter Sixteen
Zoe didn’t see Ryder the rest of the day. She didn’t think much of it, considering he had only a couple of days before the resort opened, but when he didn’t come home that night, unease set in. Something had to be wrong…unless he was giving her more space. But why would he do that?
She thought of the agreement he had with her father, and fear jolted through her. Had her father gone after him? He said he wouldn’t if she came home and she clearly wasn’t there yet, but he had to give her time to catch a flight. She needed to find out when she’d touch down on the mainland and at what airport so she could arrange a flight home. Maybe having a boarding pass would buy time. She truly hoped he’d be a man of his word, but if he found out what Ryder was worth, he might decide the money was worth more than his daughter.
Her father might have friends in high places, but whether that reach extended to Ryder’s home state was another issue. With a start, she realized she didn’t even know which state that was. She’d be surprised if he hadn’t ditched Virginia altogether, but stranger things had happened.
Like showing up on his private island and falling in love with him.
She didn’t sleep that night. The next morning, she didn’t waste any time tracking down Aggie.
“He didn’t tell you?” the older woman asked.
Zoe stared, a sickness crawling through her gut. “Tell me what?”
“He’s gone. Thought the whole island could hear that tin can launch.”
“He’s gone?” Her jaw dropped. “But what about the resort? The grand opening?”
“Calm down, honey.” Aggie placed a reassuring hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “I didn’t say he was never coming back. He said he’d return tomorrow night. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you, but then again you never know what that man has up his sleeve.” Aggie punctuated the sentiment with a knowing wink, but it did nothing to settle Zoe’s churning stomach.
Had she given up everything for a man who was already gone?
“I need to talk to him. It’s important.”
Aggie shook her head with a quiet laugh. “I don’t doubt that.”
Zoe touched her arm. “What do you mean?”
Expression solemn, Aggie frowned. “You know it’s not my place. All I can tell you is he’ll be back tomorrow night.”
Frustration boiled dangerously close to Zoe’s limit, but she tamped it down. None of this was Aggie’s fault. “Can you at least tell me where he went?”
Aggie shrugged. “Something to do with a horse’s ass. Now get in here and help me get ready for this fancy gala of his. If I have to sample all this food by myself, I won’t fit through the door by the time the party starts.”
Zoe followed, numb. If Ryder’s definition of a horse’s ass was what she suspected, he was going to confront her father without a clue about how furious he was.
There was no way this could end well.
For any of them.
Despite Aggie’s assurances, second thoughts assuaged Ryder at the speed of light. He’d thought Zoe too good to be true, his fortune too great, but he believed in what they had.
She was worth fighting for. Ryder had every intention of storming Edgar Davenport’s office and declaring his love for the man’s daughter, but that particular form of chivalry posed a problem: if Edgar refused to grant his approval, then what? Ryder wasn’t going to give up on Zoe no matter what the man said, which made the whole permissive gesture an empty one. Zoe was worth more than that.
He needed a Plan B, and it wasn’t until the plane touched down in DC that it came to him.
He spent the night watching the clock in a ritzy hotel. The next morning, after confirming with Edgar’s PA that he was in the office, Ryder rented a car and headed for the Davenport residence, more than a little relieved to find they had moved from the property located next to his former home. He wasn’t ready to go back there, but for Zoe, he would have.
He was beginning to realize he’d do damn near anything for her.
Even fly to DC.
After a quick stop at the florist, he found the Loudoun County estate with little trouble. Ol’ Edgar had clearly upgraded, with his new place at least twice the size of the old one. No beer cans laying in the dirt next door, that was for sure.
Ryder steered the car along a winding, stamped concrete drive and parked in front of a columned porch with enough steps to rival the façade of the Supreme Court building. Edgar probably already saw himself there, a fact that might work in Ryder’s favor. If that contract saw the light of day, Davenport could kiss his chances of wearing that particular judicial robe good-bye. The assurance didn’t do as much for Ryder as he would have hoped. It didn’t stop his stomach from churning as he gathered a dozen champagne roses in his arms and left the car. The distance to the house grew with every step. He’d had precisely one run-in with Zoe’s mother. He was sixteen and had just gotten the car that had become the bane of Zoe’s existence. His father, predictably, had lost his shit. It had been Ryder’s own money, but apparently nothing was his—not when there were cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets to be purchased. Ryder spent that cold night in a car that wouldn’t yet start, watching snowflakes blow by. He had only his jacket for warmth and too much pride to go in the house for anything more. Thirty minutes after the initial blowup faded, Zoe’s mother had showed up at the car window with a thermos of hot soup and a blanket. Stunned, he’d barely managed a thank you before she walked away. He hadn’t spoken to her since, but he never forgot her kindness.
Now, he hoped she hadn’t either.
He pressed the chime. Before the melody ended, Charlene Davenport opened the door and seemed to take him in all at once—the custom Italian suit, the two-hundred-dollar bouquet of roses, the hair he really needed to cut—and much to his relief, her expression didn’t morph into disgust but rather growing curiosity. Then she glanced past him to the Mustang he hadn’t been able to resist renting—not a classic like his old car had been, but close enough—and her eyes widened. “Ryder Nash, is that you?”
“Yes ma’am.” He held out the roses, which she accepted with some hesitance.
Her gaze still darting over his shoulder, she asked, “Are you here for Zoe?”
He nodded. “In a manner of speaking.”
“She doesn’t live here. She has an apartment inside the beltway.”
“She’s not there, either,” he said with a smile. “May I come in?”
“Oh, uh, yes of course.” She stepped back, allowing him to pass, then shut the door. He followed her at a distance to a gourmet kitchen gleaming with polished granite and steel. She studied him openly as she found a vase for the flowers and proceeded to arrange them and add water. Though the growing silence unnerved him, he didn’t say a word.
Finally, she spoke. “You look well.”
“As do you. I won’t waste your time, Mrs. Davenport. I need your help.”
She led him to the living room and sat on the edge of a sofa, her back ramrod straight. “I’m not sure what I could do for you. Edgar controls the finances—”
“With all due respect, Mrs. Davenport, it’s not money I need.”
“Oh?”
Ryder reached into his jacket pocket and extracted a brochure for his resort. He handed it over and waited as Zoe’s mother examined it.
After a couple of moments she looked up. “I’m afraid I’m not following you.”
“I understand your husband has a great deal of influence,” he said, leaving her to draw her own conclusion over the object of that influence. “There is an event tomorrow night at Latitude 13, and it’s an influential guest list. You and your husband have an all-expenses-paid invitation to attend. That includes first-class airfare to Florida, then a private flight to the island. Your all-inclusive stay has already been arranged. All I need you to do is get him on the plane.”
Her polite attention shifted to bewilderment as she glanced between him and the brochure.
He cleared his throat. “With your permission, I’ll finalize the arrangements.”
“I will need to consult my husband, of course.”
“I hope you’ll do more than consult, Mrs. Davenport. You’ll need to convince him.” He stood and handed her a card that held only his name and phone number. “You have one hour.”
Charlene stood and trailed after him to the door. “I’m afraid I still don’t understand. Why are you here? Do you work for this resort?”
“No ma’am. I own it.”
Chapter Seventeen
An hour before the gala began and Ryder was nowhere in sight. Zoe had wanted to apologize, or at the very least find out if she was due to meet with Chloe, but he remained elusive. What was worse, her father hadn’t responded to her text that she’d provide her flight information as soon as she had a connection to the mainland. She didn’t doubt he would have run a check on Ryder, which meant he might not be so willing to keep his end of the bargain.
All things considered, she was on the verge of ditching her sparkly gown and the painstaking updo she’d endured from a celebrity stylist in favor of some of the Cajun fried chicken in her fridge, but she’d barely managed to untangle her ankles from the strappy heels when a knock sounded at the door.
Aggie stood on the other side, frowning.
“Ryder isn’t here,” Zoe said.
“A’course he isn’t, honey. He’s in the ballroom pretending he’s not fit to be tied.”
At the mention of tied, Zoe’s wrists tingled. So did the rest of her. She’d have been content to stay right there and enjoy all those tingles if she could manage to detach them from Ryder and his Italian silk restraints, but those memories were with her, as hard and fast as the man himself.
“Well?”
Zoe blinked Aggie back into focus. “Well what?”
“Get your shoes on and come on.”
“To the gala?” Zoe whimpered.
Aggie parked her hands on her hips. “Do you have a better idea?”
“I have some fried chicken,” Zoe said mildly.
Aggie glanced toward the refrigerator with a touch of longing, then shook her head. “Nope. Let’s get moving.”
Zoe hesitated. “I’m…I’m not sure I should go.”
“It’s nothing, honey. All you gotta do is stand there and try not to plant your knee in his crotch over whatever’s got you all out of sorts. Don’t leave the man hanging with all those high falutin’ types.”
“Fine.” Zoe sighed and reached for her shoes, then dropped on the sofa to begin the arduous task of reattaching them to her feet. When she looked up a moment later, Aggie was holding a piece of fried chicken.
“What?” The older woman shrugged.
“There’s no food at the gala?”
“Honey, there’s enough food to sink the island, but I didn’t see the first piece of fried chicken.”
Zoe laughed, but the lighthearted moment passed quickly. Stepping outside the cabana filled her with dread that was only surpassed by the moment the ballroom came into view. Light filtered through solid walls of windows, and music spilled through a number of French doors left open to the outside. Though the gala hadn’t officially begun, guests had been checking into the island all day and they were already swarming the ballroom. Seeing the crowds for the first time since she’d fled DC made Zoe’s gut clench.
“Is there media here?” she whispered to Aggie.
“One reporter, but she’s married to some hotshot Senator friend of Mr. Nash. He speaks highly of them both. She won’t put you in the gossip columns, if that’s what you’re worried about, but you have to know you’ll get there anyway. You can’t work the room on the arm of a single, young billionaire and expect anything else. Especially not one as hot as that one.”
Zoe’s eyes widened and Aggie laughed. “I may be old, honey, but I’m not dead. I’d give him a run for his money, but he’s too much like a son to me. Besides, I suspect I’d have to get through you first.”
With that, Aggie walked off, leaving Zoe standing there in bewilderment. What had Ryder said to make Aggie think such a thing?
And then Ryder walked up and stole Zoe’s breath, but not just hers. Every eye in the room seemed to follow him, many of the women with open lust, while the men tended more toward admiration. Either way, he was the center of the room, no matter where he went. Zoe couldn’t blame them for staring, nor could she control the desire that spiked through her core, decimating her ability to think straight. He had an easy way of moving, like he knew he was on display, yet made no pretensions from it. He was comfortable in his own skin, and he owned the room. He also looked unbelievably good in a tux that had to have been custom stitched for him, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. “You cut your hair.”
“Just a trim.” He offered an easy grin. Her heart wanted to melt, but cynicism reigned. He was probably being polite because this was the worst possible time for confrontation. She’d given him a hard time about his hair, but now that it was cut boardroom short, she could think of nothing but holding those longish strands for dear life while he took her body.
“You look amazing,” she said.
“I’m pretty sure that’s my line.” He took her hand and twirled her, then brought her close. When she failed to smile, he frowned. “Zoe, that’s not the happy face I anticipated.”
“Sorry. I’m just a little nervous.”
He squeezed her hand and smiled, like the whole room didn’t hang on his every move. “You are used to the DC scene. Trust me, this will be nothing.”
Only it’s everything. “It’s important to you,” she said, “and that’s enough.”
His eyes flashed something she couldn’t quite read, after which he tugged on her hand and led her through the nearest doorway. They ended up in one of the resort’s wide halls, lights twinkling from the barrel ceiling to create a breathtaking moonlit effect. She was surprised to find they were alone with the resort being booked to capacity, but then she remembered the number translated to only seventy or so guests. Staff nearly doubled it, but since guests had begun to arrive, they’d become remarkably discreet.
“I owe you an apology,” he said quietly.
“We can talk about it later.” Because right now she was pretty sure somewhere, from some angle, someone watched them. And her most stressful courtroom experience to date had nothing on the stage on which she’d found herself tonight.
He shook his head, pairing the gesture with a gentle smile. “No, we can’t. I know you left DC to get away from everything, and I seem to have brought it all here to you.”
“I’m here on my terms,” she said. “Which is really what I wanted all along, and more than I’d ever get back home.” She hesitated, tempted to continue, to tell him what she’d demanded of her father. But this was Ryder’s night, and she didn’t w
ant to take anything from it. He might be richer than all of his guests put together and more or less untouchable, but he took pride in what he’d accomplished.
Pity there was no one there to be proud of him.
No one but her.
“You’ve given me far more than you’ve taken,” she said softly. “And I want you to know you amaze me. You’ve taken control of your life, and you’ve gone as far as any man could go under the best of circumstances. To fight what you fought and win…you should be really proud, but you’re not that kind of man. So I’ll be proud for you.”
He swallowed. A moment passed before he spoke. “It was all because of you,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t have you, but I always wanted to be good enough to think I had a chance.”
You had a chance. But she didn’t get the chance to say it. They had company.
Ryder turned around at the sound of the approaching couple and smiled broadly as he extended his hand. “Knox Hamilton, how did you end up here? Make a raft out of sticks and rope?”
“That’s Senator Knox Hamilton to you, and if I’m not mistaken, it was via a beat-up old airbus.”
“Not on your life.”
Zoe stood watched the exchange, surprised at how unnerved she was. She knew Knox. His father, who had preceded him in the Senate, had been friends with her father for years—not so much since the elder Hamilton had been forced to give up his seat due to scandal, but enough so that she worried. To her knowledge, Knox hadn’t had anything to do with Edgar Davenport, but it didn’t matter. DC was small when it came to secrets. And he wasn’t looking at her like she was some kind of pathetic jilted woman. At least not yet.
Knox pulled his wife, Chloe, in closer and turned his attention toward Zoe. When his gaze fixed on her, his eyes widened, but his expression quickly melted into a warm smile. Though full of the legendary Hamilton charm, his smile didn’t do for her what Ryder’s did. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the kindness.
“Oh, hell,” Ryder said. “Knox, Chloe, this is—”
“Zoe Davenport.” She didn’t want Ryder to lie. Especially considering Knox and his wife knew all too well who she was. “Knox and my…ex serve in the same Senate.” Zoe said by way of explanation.
One Night With the Billionaire (Men of the Zodiac) Page 13
