Piece by Piece

by Kaylee Ryan

  “So, Layla, did Owen talk to you about our offer?” Royce asks.

  I watch as her head slowly turns toward the screen of my phone. “We need the help. This one won’t stop taking on projects from my idiot brothers.” Royce grins, pulling Sawyer into his lap.

  “He just told me.”

  “Good. Are you joining the Riggins family?” Royce asks.

  I don’t miss the way his eyes flash to mine. His words have a double meaning, and we all know it. Well, maybe not Layla. She’s still uncertain. I know this is all fast, but I know what I want. I want Layla.

  “It would be nice to keep my future husband off my back in regard to working too much.”

  “He used to be the same way before he met you,” I tell Sawyer. It’s not news to her, but I like seeing the way her eyes soften when she hears the way my big brother has changed his life for her. He’s a better man with Sawyer in his world, he knows it too.

  “I’ve never done that kind of work,” Layla tells them. Her eyes are still glued to the screen of my phone. “I’ve only ever been a waitress.”

  “Pfft.” Sawyer waves her hand in the air. “If you can keep up with a bunch of whiny customers, the Riggins brothers will be a breeze.” She laughs when Royce tickles her side. “No, really, you can do it. It’s nothing crazy, and Royce and I have talked a lot about this. You could take over the reception desk while I continue on with my support projects for each of them. It would be answering phones and taking care of their schedules and other minor tasks. We will eventually train you so that you are more support for me as well.”

  “You don’t know me. How can you just offer me this job so easily?”

  Royce and Sawyer give Layla their full attention. Sawyer opens her mouth to speak, but Royce beats her to it. “I know my brother. I know that if you weren’t important to him in some way, that he wouldn’t be bringing you into our family. We’re more than just a corporation. Riggins Enterprises is our family. The five of us have devoted our lives to this company just as our father did before us. If Owen wants you there, if he believes in you, then we believe in you too.”

  I see the tears as they begin to well in her eyes. “I have a lot to think about. Thank you for your generosity.”

  “Call me if you want to talk about the job,” Sawyer tells her as her eyes flash to me. “Or Owen. I know a little bit about handling the Riggins brothers. Owen, give her my number, will you?” she asks sweetly.

  “Yeah.” I chuckle. “I’ll give her your number.”

  “You coming home soon?” Royce asks.

  “Yeah, day after tomorrow.” He nods.

  “It was so nice to meet you, Layla. I hope you’ll be working with us,” Sawyer says, waving at the camera.

  “You as well. Thank you again,” Layla replies.

  “I’ll see you two soon,” I say with a wave, ending the call, and tossing my phone on the bed.

  “They seem really nice,” Layla comments.

  “They are. So, what do you say, Lay? You coming home with me?”

  “Can I think about it?”

  “You can. I leave the day after tomorrow. I hope that you’re on the plane with me. Hell, we can rent a car and drive back so that we can bring your stuff with us, or we can ship it, whatever you feel like you want to do. I don’t care as long as I know you’re coming home with me.”

  “What about Ronnie and Linda? They gave me a job and their time and friendship when I had no one.”

  “We can come back and visit them as often as you want. They can even come and stay with us in Tennessee. I have five bedrooms in my house. There’s plenty of room.”

  “Five?” She gasps. “Why do you have five bedrooms when you live alone?”

  I brush her hair back out of her eyes. “Because I want a family one day. I had almost given up hope that I would find someone I’d want to spend all of my days with, then I found you.”

  “Those are strong words, Owen Riggins.”

  I place her hand over my heart. “I know they are. I’m not a man who says things he doesn’t mean.” Leaning in, I kiss the corner of her mouth and her breath hitches. No matter how badly I want to devour her and have her taste on my tongue, I need to remember to take things slowly. Without a doubt, Layla is worth it.

  “I just need to think.”

  “Can you think while we lounge around in bed all day?”

  “We can’t stay in bed all day,” she scoffs.

  “Why the hell not? You’re off, and I’m here for you. My job at the hotel is complete until I get the final numbers. I say we order room service all day, and just spend the day together.”

  “I— Can we really do that?” There’s a hint of hope in her voice.

  “We can do whatever we want.” I kiss her cheek, move her off my lap, and set her on the bed before going to the windows and pulling the curtains.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Movies are better in the dark.”

  “We’re watching movies?”

  “Unless you had something else in mind?” I ask her, raising my eyebrows.

  “No. Movies are good. It’s been ages since I’ve watched one.”

  “How long is ages?”

  I can tell she’s thinking from the look on her face. “Two years ago. Ronnie and Linda had me over for dinner and invited me to stay for a movie.”

  “What do you watch when you’re at home?”

  “Nothing. I have a few books I’ve read more times than I can count. I don’t pay for TV or the internet for streaming. Besides, I work a lot.”

  “That—” I point at her. “—that is why you should accept my offer. I want you to be able to enjoy life, not working yourself to the point of exhaustion for a small wage and nothing to show for it.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  I nod, accepting that answer for now.

  Grabbing the remote, I climb into bed next to her and scroll through the movies. I choose a chick flick. It’s not one I’ve seen before, and I’m positive she’s not seen it either. Putting my arm around her shoulders, I pull her into my side as we settle in to watch the movie. I’ve never done this before either, and I’m looking forward to it. Anytime I can spend with her is a win in my book.

  Chapter 10

  Layla

  I’ve been here for three hours of my twelve-hour shift, and I couldn’t tell you the first thing that’s happened. I’m going through the motions as I think about Owen, and our day together yesterday. We watched movies, ate way too much over-priced room service, talked for hours, and stole a lot of kisses. Technically, they’re not stolen when given freely. I could spend days doing nothing but kissing him. The scratchiness of his beard, the way his hands cradle my face, I feel protected. And the need he claims to have for me, I feel that too. From my head to my toes, I feel his need, his desire, and I want more.

  “Layla, are you even listening to me?” Linda chuckles.

  “Sorry, Linda,” I say sheepishly.

  “What on earth has gotten into you?” she asks.

  I bite down on my bottom lip, debating on how much I should tell her. “I met someone,” I blurt out.

  “Oh, I heard. Rumor has it Mr. Tall, Bearded, and Handsome has been in here a lot on the nights you work.” She winks.

  My face is hot from embarrassment. “He has. He always asks for me, and well, we’ve been spending some time together.”

  “Why the long face?”

  “He offered me a job,” I confess.

  “Order up!” Johnny, one of the cooks, yells.

  “That’s mine,” I tell Linda.

  “Tonight, you and I are going to chat, sooner if we can both get a break later. I want all the details.” She offers me a warm smile, something I’ve come to accept with her.

  “Okay.” I easily agree to her terms, because I need someone to talk to about this. Owen gave me Sawyer’s number, but she’s too close to him, to the situation. I guess Linda is too, but I trust her to give me her honest feedback to
help me make my decision.

  He goes home tomorrow. I feel a knot twist in my belly when I think about never seeing him again. Then, there is the home and the life I’ve made for myself here in Florida. It might not be a sprawling five-bedroom, but I have a place to lay my head at night. Sure, times are tight, but I’m making it on my own.

  By the time the lunch rush is over, my feet are begging me for a break. I’m just about to clock out when I hear a familiar sexy voice from behind me at the bar.

  “You taking a break?” he asks.

  Turning, I see Owen standing at the bar, looking as handsome as ever. “Yes. We just finished the lunch rush. I was going to grab something to eat.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “You hungry?” I ask him.

  His eyes rake over my body. “Sure. Whatever you’re having is fine. Oh, and it’s on me.”

  “I get a discount because I work here. It’s my treat this time,” I tell him.

  “Layla,” he warns.

  That makes my smile grow. “Go sit.” I point to a small corner booth where the staff eats out of the view of customers. “I’ll be right over.” He shakes his head but does as I ask and heads toward the small corner booth.

  “Linda, how about a couple of burgers and a plate of fries?” I ask sweetly.

  “Was that him?” she asks, nodding toward the bar where I was just talking with Owen.

  “That’s him,” I confirm.

  “He’s a looker.” She wags her eyebrows.

  “Linda!” I pretend to scold her. “What would Ronnie say?”

  “I’m married, not dead. Now, help me get this fixed up so you can have lunch with your man.”

  “He’s not my man.”

  “No? Sure looks that way to me.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “It’s all in the eyes. He didn’t take his off you.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s mine.”

  “Maybe not yet, but you want him to be.” I open my mouth to object, but she stops me. “Don’t try denying it. You and I are still going to have that chat.” She points at me before pulling down three plates.

  “I’m going to grab us some drinks. I’ll be right back.” I rush to the bar area and make us both a glass of sweet tea, and drop it off at the booth. “Our food is almost ready,” I tell him, placing our glasses on the table.

  “Hey.” Reaching out, he grabs my arm. “Come here.” He gives my arm a gentle tug so I’m leaning into him and presses his lips to mine. “I missed you.”

  “You dropped me off this morning, and we spent the day together yesterday.”

  He shrugs. “I want all your time, Lay.” He winks and releases me.

  I stumble back to the kitchen on shaking legs. As soon as Linda sees me, a huge grin lights up her face. “He’s yours all right.” She grabs a serving tray and places two small plates, each holding a juicy burger and another filled with more than one order of fries. “Go on. You only get thirty minutes. You don’t want to keep your man waiting.”

  I roll my eyes at her but don’t bother to object. For one, I know Linda, and I know it wouldn’t do me a bit of good. For two, I like the way it sounds, Owen being my man. I also like the way it makes me feel. Just the thought of all the things he said to me yesterday about us being together coming true, warms me from the inside out. I want him. I’m just afraid to take that leap.

  “Here you go,” I say, placing our plates on the table. I slide into the booth and grab the bottle of ketchup, squirting some onto the side of the plate of fries. “I hope you like ketchup.” I grin at him, sliding a fry through the condiment and popping into my mouth.

  “If I didn’t, I would now,” he says, his eyes heated as he watches me.

  “Eat up, Riggins.”

  He smiles, shaking his head before repeating my process with a fry.

  “Have you thought anymore about my offer?”

  “Owen, it’s been hours, and I’m working.”

  “Don’t try to make me think that that beautiful mind of yours isn’t spinning over our circumstances.”

  “Fine. Yes, I’ve thought about it. That’s all I’ve thought about.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Tell me this isn’t crazy. We barely know each other, Owen. I can’t just move in with you.”

  He nods, wipes his mouth, and takes a drink of his tea before he replies. “It’s crazy,” he agrees. “It’s soon,” he agrees. “However, no one can tell you how you feel, Layla. I know that it’s a very short amount of time, but already you’ve become important to me. I’m a firm believer in when you know, you know. I know that you are the woman for me. Yes, it sounds crazy as fuck, but the feeling here—” He taps his chest, over his heart. “—that feeling is strong, and I know this is the magic.”

  “Magic?”

  He sighs and leans back in the booth. “This is going to sound even crazier. My dad claims that the love of a good woman is magic. He swears that when he first laid eyes on my mom, he felt what he likes to call the ‘magic.’ That having the right partner changes a person.”

  “Do you believe that?” I ask softly.

  “See, that’s the thing. I always used to think it was just something Dad spouted off to my brothers and me. That changed recently. First, when Royce met Sawyer. He was married before, and I could feel it in my gut she wasn’t right for him. Hell, we all tried to tell him, but he married her anyway. It ended in disaster, and with my brother's heart broken. It wasn’t until Sawyer came into his life that the pain and betrayal from his marriage left his eyes, and he started to live again. To really live. He stopped working sixteen hours a day, and he was the fun-loving guy we all remember before he married the she-devil.”

  “He changed?”

  He nods. “For the better. That was the first time I believed in the magic my dad always talks about.”

  “And the second?”

  “When I met you. I used to be just like Royce, working long hours, throwing all I am at my job. I keep to myself. I’m the quiet Riggins brother.” He smiles. “I’ve never wanted more with a woman, not until you limped into my life.” He winks, and I can’t help but smile. “I think we owe it to ourselves to see where this goes. I know you feel it, Lay. I can see it in your eyes, in the way your breathing changes when I’m close.”

  I nod. “What if it doesn’t work out? What happens when I give up my steady job to take yours and follow you to Nashville, and you decide it’s not the magic, and the feeling is just a bad case of indigestion?”

  He throws his head back in laughter. It’s a deep rich sound that I could listen to all day. His white teeth shine through his thick beard, and I wish I had a camera, or a cell phone I could use to take a picture of him. I want to remember him this way.

  “That’s not going to happen. If it makes you feel better, we can draft a contract that ensures your job security.”

  “I might suck at it.”

  He nods. “You might at first, but you’re a fighter, Lay. I’ve seen you, and from what you’ve told me, you fought to be where you are today. I want to give you a better job, a safe place to live, and share my family with you. I want to give you all that I have to give. I just need you to take a leap of faith and trust the magic.”

  My heart pounds so loud I’m sure he can hear it. My eyes sting with tears from his words. I believe him. He wants to be with me. I don’t know why, but I trust him and his words. I just don’t know if it’s the right choice for me. I knew when I left Indiana that I was going to be on my own. I planned for years. I had a plan. This isn’t a plan. This is me leaving the safe haven I’ve made for myself and running off to a land unknown, for all intents and purposes, chasing the fairy tale. That’s exactly what he’s offering me—a fairy tale. A chance to be a part of a family and have my own in him. Maybe not right away, but he claims that’s his end game.

  He calls it magic.

  “I’ll be here to pick you up after your shift,” he says. He must see the tu
rmoil his words have caused. I don’t know what to do.

  “I’d like that,” I confess.

  He stands and hands me money. “Lunch is on me, and before you say you get a discount, that’s fine. You use this to pay and keep the rest for the incredible company.”

  My legs tremble as I stand and face him. “I’ll see you later.” There is hope in my voice. I know he’ll be here, but I still have that fear of not having a set of strong shoulders to lean on.

  “I’ll be here, baby.” He presses a chaste kiss to my lips. “See you soon.” With that, he’s gone, walking out the door, and taking a piece of me with him. He’s offering me everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I’m just worried it’s too good to be true.

  * * *

  After Owen left, I was just simply going through the motions. I avoided Linda as much as possible, needing time with my thoughts. The trouble with time is that I’m even more confused than when I clocked in this morning. My heart tells me to take the leap that Owen Riggins is my savior, and my head is telling me that I can only trust myself.

  Glancing at the clock, I know he’s going to be here in an hour to pick me up. He’s going to want an answer, he leaves tomorrow, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.

  “You done hiding?” Linda asks from behind me.

  I sigh and continue to wipe the bar. “I’m not hiding.”

  “Avoiding me is hiding, Layla,” she says in what I could imagine would have been her mom voice had she had children. “What’s going on with you?”

  “He offered me a job.”

  “So you’ve mentioned. What are you thinking?”

  “It’s in Nashville. He and his brothers own some kind of logistics company. They need office support.”

  “Have you talked about salary?”

  “It’s four times what I make here.”

  “Wow,” she breathes, leaning against the bar next to me.

  “Yep.”

  “Tell me where you’re at. What are you thinking? Have you made a pros and cons list?” she asks.