“Don’t you think you’re being a tad dramatic Mimi?”
“Not even a little bit. If anyone knows what she’s in store for Ryder, it’s me.” And I’m still not over him. That part went unsaid because they both knew.
“Well they are both adults and I’ve warned Hunter to tread carefully. If they let their personal lives interfere with work then it’s their business. There’s nothing I can do about that. If she quits, we’ll have to find another marketing firm.”
She poked his arm. “Don’t play nonchalant with me, buster. It’s killing you but you just can’t admit it, damn you!” She stopped the car. “We’re here. Get out.”
He looked up and around at his surroundings. “What? What about my bags?”
“Put those big strong muscles you try to hide to use.” She winked and shoved him out of the car. “Call me when you arrive and I’ll tell you what you’ve missed. Later.”
Ryder stepped into the early morning sunlight and grabbed his luggage. He hated airports.
He hated California more.
Chapter 4
“What are you doing here?” Skylar’s heart hammered out of her chest and she could barely take in any air. Ryder stood a few feet from her, on her aunt’s doorstep, looking so good she wanted to take a big bite out of him.
“I could ask you the same thing.” What the hell kind of sick joke was the universe playing on him?
“So?”
He turned to her, their faces mere inches apart. They were so close he could smell the cinnamon and vanilla wafting from her hair or her breath, he didn’t know but damn it was intoxicating. “Yes?”
“Dammit Ryder, tell me what you’re doing at this house!”
He sighed heavily and raked his fingers through his dark hair, in need of a trim. “I am here for a business meeting Skylar.”
“With who?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s it to you?”
She poked him in the chest with a finger. “Why are you being so difficult? Just tell me who you’re meeting with in this house!”
“Ouch! Stop poking me.” He poked her back in the bicep. “Stop asking me so many questions and go somewhere.”
“Oh good, you’ve already met.” The woman pulled them both in for a hug and kiss and waved them in. “Come inside.”
“Aunt Marie what is Ryder doing here?”
“Aunt Marie?” He looked from Lyla to Skylar. “Lyla Peterson is your aunt?” Could this day get any worse?
“So you know each other prior to meeting on my doorstep?” She looped her arm through Skylar’s. “Is this the gentleman from the bad date who is not your lover?”
“No, it’s not. Ryder’s company is my new client.” Her gaze darted to his, but she couldn’t read any emotion on his face.
Lyla looked over her shoulder. “He’s very handsome and young. Maybe he should be your next lover.”
“Aunt Marie! Stop that, Ryder is a professional contact and you’re making him uncomfortable.”
He suspected it was Skylar who was uncomfortable so he stood in the foyer and kept his mouth shut. “Ms. Peterson, maybe I should come back later. I’ll just find a hotel and you can call me when you’re ready.” He picked up his bags and turned to the door.
“You’re not going anywhere, young man. I told your assistant there was more than enough room in this big old house for you. Now get over here and I’ll show you to your room.” She turned to Skylar. “You can have your old room sweetie.”
“That’s not necessary Ms. Peterson. I’m more than happy to get a hotel so you can spend time with your niece.”
“Nonsense. You’re both here for the same reason. If I’d known you were friends, I would’ve planned this a bit better.”
He cleared his throat. “We’re not. We’re business associates.”
Lyla raised her brows. “Oh. Duly noted, then.”
He didn’t dare look at Skylar because he didn’t want to know if her feelings had been hurt. He didn’t want to care. “Okay, where is the room?” They followed Lyla up two flights of stairs, with Ryder in the back trying hard to keep his gaze from roaming Skylar’s round ass that swayed with every step. He didn’t notice her shapely legs and slender ankles, either. He was so focused on not noticing that he failed to notice that she’d stopped and he slammed into her back. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“No problem,” she mumbled in return, avoiding looking at him.
“It’s okay to look sweetheart. God wouldn’t have made asses so delicious if he didn’t want us to stare at them!” She winked at Ryder knowingly and laughed when he flushed all the way to the tips of his ears.
What felt like an eternity later, Ryder was safely in his room for the duration of the trip. Lyla was insane, and she was Skylar’s aunt. That would have been a helpful piece of information to have earlier. Much earlier. The last the he wanted was to spend time in such close proximity to her, but he couldn’t be rude or do anything that might risk offending Lyla. So he’d act like the adult he was and tolerate her. He could do that.
Easy.
***
“What’s going on with you and that handsome CEO?” Lyla poured iced tea into two glasses and took a seat with a plate of peanut butter cookies between them.
“Nothing other than business.” That’s what he’d said so she would stick with that. We’re not friends, he said with cold finality.
“Apparently you think I’m old as well as blind.” She sipped her tea and scowled. “This needs some bourbon.” She stood and went to a cupboard full of cans and pulled out a small bottle. “If you think I can’t see there’s something between you, then you don’t know me at all.”
Aunt Marie was right. Through their ridiculous argument on the doorstep, his harshly spoken words and his accidental bump into her, electricity crackled between them. “I know you really well, I think. But no matter what you think you see, there’s nothing between us.” Mostly because she’d made the wrong choice and there was no going back.
“Maybe not now, but I think there will be. And soon.”
Skylar couldn’t even bring herself to wish that would happen because it was a longer than long shot. “I doubt it Aunt Marie and please, don’t say anything to Ryder. We have to work together and I don’t want it to be tense between us.”
“Oh honey, things are already tense. I could slice that tension with a spoon!” She shivered with a smile. “The sex between you will be explosive!”
“Auntie, stop it!” She couldn’t help but laugh. Her aunt was eccentric, highly sexual and she always said what was on her mind. It made life entertaining, if sometimes embarrassing. “Promise me you’ll muzzle yourself about this. Please.”
Lyla motioned a lock to her mouth. “I’ll do my best.”
Skylar heard the, but I make no promises. She knew her aunt well.
“Lunch is just about ready, go bring Ryder downstairs.”
“I can just text him to come down.” She reached for her phone.
“You’ll do no such thing in my house. We have manners here so take your cute little bottom up those stairs and go get my guest.” She shooed her up and turned to attend to their meal.
Skylar slowly climbed the stairs like a prisoner walking to the executioner’s chamber. Except those minutes on the doorstep she hadn’t been alone with Ryder since she stumbled over her words like guppy fish and hurt his feelings. She hoped he wouldn’t hold it against her because she felt bad enough about it. She stood outside his door for too many minutes and tried to get her breathing under control. Finally, she knocked.
No answer.
She knocked again and heard a muffled voice. Twisting the knob she stuck her head in, “Ryder?”
“Yes?”
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Ryder without his shirt on, a dark smattering of hair tapering down to a thick trail that lead to…paradise, she imagined. His shoulders were wide and strong, his chest muscles firm and prominent. “Damn,” she whispered and c
ontinued to stare.
Ryder hid a smile at her obvious appreciation of his body. He prided himself on keeping in shape because it kept the mind sharp. But it was also a great way to relieve stress when he was between bed mates. “Did you need something Skylar?”
She nodded, mouth still wide open while her eyes raked over his body. “Yeah,” she said on an exhale.
Hands on his hips, Ryder smiled and flexed his muscles. He put on a little show since Skylar couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from his body. The flare of desire in her eyes was enough to make him forget her rejection, almost. After several long minutes she still stared so he had to take matters into hand. He stalked to her, pushing her back until she was between his hard body and a wall. “Skylar?” He pushed a little more.
One hand went to his chest with the goal of pushing him back, instead it ended up caressing that hard muscle that flexed under her hand. “Y-Y-Yes?”
“Is there something I can help you with?” He pressed his body into hers, making her gasp and bite her lip.
“Lunch.” Her voice was husky even to her own ears. Her other hand went to his abs and skipped down every bump and back up again until it rested on her chest. “It’s time for lunch.”
“Are we having lunch in here?”
She heard amusement in his voice and looked up. Damn he was gorgeous with those smiling blue eyes. She had never seen him look so fun or happy. The dark stubble on his jaw was the perfect length to scrape against her, “Oh!” She shouldn’t have thoughts like that. They didn’t like each other. But he looked so good right now, her lady parts responded like they never had before.
Ryder stood still while her soft hands caressed his body. Her hands combined with her sweet scent, was having a big effect on him. A very big effect. “Skylar,” he groaned. Her hands continued to roam over his shoulders, down his pecs and abs, before brushing his waistband. She did it over and over again, snapping his control in half. “Skylar,” he said and then swooped down and took her mouth. The kiss was combustible from the start. Her mouth was lush and sweet and so damn responsive, he couldn’t get enough and tunneled his fingers through her hair to get a better taste, a deeper taste of her mouth. He shouldn’t be kissing her but he couldn’t stop, not even if his life depended on it.
Skylar heard a groan and realized it came from her. She pulled back, eyes slightly dazed when she looked up at Ryder. He looked…devastatingly handsome. “Wow.”
Ryder took a step back. “Yeah. Wow.” He ran one hand through his hair, then the other. “Do I, uh, need to apologize for this?” He waved a hand between them.
She shook her head. “I’d be insulted if you did.” She gave him a nervous smile which he—surprisingly—returned. “That was a great kiss. A really. Really great kiss.”
His smile slow and lazy and sexy as hell. “It was.”
That kiss is why I said no to this man, or why I meant to. Her head dropped to his chest. “Shit.”
“Regrets?”
“Yes. No. Who knows?”
He chuckled low and deep, vibrating in her ear. “I think you do.”
She lifted her head and looked in those blue eyes. “Do you feel this or am I nuts?”
“I feel it.” His voice was wary, cautious.
“This, Ryder,” she motioned between them. “This is why I made that face when you asked me out.”
“I don’t follow.”
“This thing between us. The spark, chemistry or passion. Whatever you want to call it. It’s too strong, too powerful. It’ll consume us and everything around us.”
She sounded devastated by the prospect but it didn’t sound too bad to him. “And that’s a bad thing, I take it?”
“It’s awful. But I fear it’s inevitable. Even Aunt Marie thinks so.”
“You talked to your aunt about us?”
Skylar shook her head against his chest. “No she talked to me. Said maybe nothing has happened yet, but that it would.”
“She was right.”
“She was.” Skylar stepped back from him and she instantly missed the heat and hardness of his body. “We should go before she comes up and explains how sex will be better if we experiment with different positions and then break out the Kama Sutra.”
He laughed but she didn’t join in. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. Pace yourself Ryder, this weekend is going to be one wild ride.”
He smiled. “I can’t wait.”
***
Skylar had been right, Ryder was in for a wild ride. After lunch, Aunt Marie as she insisted he call her, had taken them out to explore her property. On horseback. He didn’t even think California had any ranches but Lyla Peterson, no Aunt Marie, lived on an honest to goodness ranch with horses, chickens, a few cows, dogs, barn cats and ranch hands. He’d never been on a horse before, not in his life, and that’s how he found himself sitting behind Skylar with his arms wrapped around her waist.
“Hang on a little tighter than normal and you’ll be fine. In a few minutes you’ll get used to the feel of being on a horse.” Skylar smiled at him over her shoulder and he did as she asked. He held on tight to her tiny waist.
“This okay?” His voice was gruff. The proximity and her sensual scent tortured him in the best way. He felt the telltale tightening in his jeans when she looked over her shoulder again, auburn lashes framing smiling hazel eyes.
“Perfect.” Skylar didn’t know what had happened between her and Ryder since arriving in California, but she felt more relaxed around him. She was at ease and relished the low hum of desire every time she caught sight of Ryder. “Don’t let go.” That husky, sexy voice was hers. Hers!
Ryder and Skylar listened as Aunt Marie outlined her hope for the school she wanted to open right here on the New Day Ranch. “This place will be dedicated to kids with learning disabilities that will make it difficult to learn a trade, but who want to learn a trade.” She pointed to a building set apart from the main house and bunkhouse that would house the school. “Kids can stay here or go home each day. Given the location I imagine most will be living here.”
“This is very impressive, Aunt Marie.” He still had a hard time calling the woman he’d known for just a few days his aunt. “I’m interested in the type of software you’ll need.” In fact his fingers itched to get started.
She nodded. “We’ll get to that. In the meantime I need to go get dinner started. You two enjoy the property and be back in two hours.” She winked, turned her horse around and galloped off with a wink.
“I think Aunt Marie is up to something,” Ryder whispered in her hear, making her shiver. That small move brought a measure of satisfaction. She was as affected by him as he was by her.
“She’s trying to get me laid.”
He leaned in again. “Is that what you want?”
She nodded and leaned back just enough to feel his hard chest against her. “It is, but I’m not looking to just get laid. I don’t do hookups or one night stands. I haven’t waited all this time just to…nevermind.”
He was curious but she was obviously embarrassed. “So you’re looking for something more, then?”
“Yes. I am.” She wanted to find the right guy to give herself to, not just some guy. She thought Ryder might be that guy. “Are you that guy, Ryder?”
“Do you want me to be?” His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke, his hands caressed up and down her sides, grazing against her breasts. His tongue reached out to touch her, to taste her, gliding up and down the muscles in her neck, sucking right where her neck met her shoulders. Damn she tasted good.
“I think you might be.” She hoped she was right about Ryder Tomkins because her body wanted whatever he was offering and she feared she wouldn’t be strong enough to stop whatever was happening between them.
“Skylar,” he whispered against her neck. “I want you and not just for a night.” No, it would take a lot longer than one night with her to satisfy him. The horse had come to a stop, pulling Ryder from the bub
ble of lust he’d been in. “Where are we?”
Skylar looked up and she too realized they’d stopped. “Oh. This is called the Honeymoon Cabin. Ranching is such a full-time around the clock job that when one of the ranch family members or ranch hands got married, they used this little cabin for their honeymoon until there was a better time to get away.”
Interesting. “How many days did they stay out here?” He slid down the horse in a clumsy dismount and waited for Skylar to follow.
“Usually a week. They worked all day on the ranch and spent their evenings here.” She walked to the door and pushed it open. “Alone.”
Ryder smiled and followed her up the stairs and into the house. Something hit him in the face as soon as he passed the threshold. He looked down at it and smiled. Her shirt. He removed his own and left them both on the floor by the door, scanning the room in search of her. “Skylar,” he called out as he scanned one empty hall. He turned to the other hall and found her jeans in the middle of the floor and smiled again. His pants joined hers on the floor and he turned left and saw the bathroom so he turned right and hissed out a breath. Skylar looked gorgeous in deep red lingerie, in nothing but deep red lingerie. “Shit.”
Skylar watched desire darken Ryder’s handsome face. His slack-jawed awe boosted her confidence and she arched her back and pushed her breasts out a little further. Another hiss went straight to her core, making her clench and moisten under his scrutiny. “Ryder,” she moaned. His gaze so heavy and thick it was like a caress.
ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance Page 64
