Emily smiled and stood from the couch. She padded from the room and returned a few moments later with a heavy box, which she set on the coffee table. “I don’t know what on earth is in here. V and I stuffed every paper we found in the box and carted it away.”
The calendar Emily had mentioned was on top of the pile. “Let me rummage through this for a while. You never know.”
“Okay. I’ll make breakfast.”
“Perfect.” He drew her closer for a kiss first and then pulled out a pile of papers.
The calendar looked ordinary. Claire had indeed spent several days a month at Extreme. Most often she came on Saturday nights which explained why Rider hadn’t met her. He worked most Saturday nights.
He scanned through the rest of the calendar until his eye caught on a name that made him stop breathing. Darnel.
Bingo.
Rider glanced at Emily who was busy with the toaster at the counter and didn’t notice his reaction. Good.
He set the calendar aside and rummaged through the rest of the papers in the box, looking for anything else that might help. “Hey, is this the autopsy report?” he asked as he grabbed the next item to catch his attention.
“Yeah. I tossed it in there with everything else. According to the doctor, it’s not very interesting. I spoke to him. He said all signs indicated an overdose. We had hoped for more information.”
Rider opened the envelope and pulled out the folded pages. He scanned down the document. As he was about to toss it aside with everything else, he noticed the coroner noted that the cocaine found in Claire’s system had contained traces of benzocaine.
Rider sat up straighter. “Did you know the coke in your sister’s system had been tainted?”
“Yeah.” She twisted around to look at him. “They told us it wasn’t uncommon. Many victims of drug overdose are found to have doctored cocaine in them. And the cops said half the cocaine they pick up on the street is contaminated with some sort of filler.” She stepped closer. “Do you think it means something?”
Rider shook his head. “Probably not. Everything you heard was correct.”
Except he was lying to her through his teeth now. Sure, what she’d heard was true. But in this case, he knew the narcs at his precinct were in the process of trying to nail down a dealer who was repeatedly selling bad coke laced with benzocaine.
Looks like Darnel is our guy.
Rider didn’t want to get Claire’s hopes up, so he kept his suspicion to himself and sent a quick text to Dave. No wonder Dave approached Emily. The guy was probably super familiar with the case.
Dave. I know who your bad coke dealer is.
What? How?
Emily confided about her sister. I went through her belongings. It’s Darnel. His name is all over her calendar. And she did bad coke that night. Laced with benzocaine. It’s in the toxicology report from the autopsy.
Shit. That’s huge. Thanks. We never saw any calendar.
Yeah, I guess Emily found it later buried in her sister’s desk when she went through her things.
Great. Can you bring anything you found to the station?
Of course. And sorry for climbing all over your ass last week.
No problem. If Emily was my woman I would do the same thing. You want in when we arrange a sting?
Hell yes.
K. I’ll let you know. We were so close with this guy already. You don’t know how much that helped.
With perfect timing, Emily returned to the living room with two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast as Rider finished texting.
“What do you think?” She nodded toward the box where he’d piled everything back up except a few pages of evidence and the calendar.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll look into everything a bit more next time I’m on duty.” He lifted a stack of papers. “May I take these?”
“Sure. Whatever will help.”
He set a hand on her head and stroked it down her hair. “Promise me you won’t pursue anything related to this case any longer. It’s too dangerous, baby. Let the cops handle it.”
“Promise.” She handed him a plate and curled up in the corner of the couch with her own. “Let me know if you find out anything, okay?”
“Of course.”
Rider polished off his breakfast before Emily ate half of hers. He sat back and watched her, toying with one of her curls while she finished. He couldn’t shake Dave’s words from his head. My woman. She was. God, Emily was his woman. He needed her as badly as he needed his next breath.
“You’re staring at me.”
“I like to look at you.” He set a hand on her thigh and leaned closer. “You’re gorgeous. Especially when you aren’t trying to be. Like now. No makeup. Hair down. Wearing my T-shirt…”
Emily set her plate on the coffee table and pulled him closer. “Keep going.”
He chuckled and stroked his hand up her leg. “Your skin is so soft.” He kissed her lips gently. “Your lips are so full and pink.” He nuzzled her neck with his nose, inhaling deeply. “You always smell of that fruity shampoo I used in your shower.”
“So you should smell all girly now too.”
“Hmmm.” He nibbled her shoulder where his T-shirt met her neck.
A phone rang, startling him. It wasn’t her cell, but a landline.
Emily set her head back on the couch as though she hadn’t heard it. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open.
“You need to get that, Em?”
“Nope. I need to concentrate on your lips right now.”
He buried his face against her again as the machine picked up.
Emily stiffened when she heard the voice, so Rider lifted off her to see her face.
“Emily, it’s Mom. Just making sure you’re coming to Mike’s birthday dinner Wednesday night. We’re meeting at the Italian restaurant over by the superstore. It’s what your brother picked. Oh, and I ran into your friend Virginia earlier. She told me you were dating someone. Why haven’t I heard about this? Anyway, bring him with you. We’d love to meet him. See you Wednesday at six.” She hung up.
Rider smiled down at the woman he suddenly realized was his girlfriend. “Guess we’re going to dinner Wednesday. Perfect I’m off that day. What ever will I wear?” he teased.
But Emily didn’t laugh. In fact, she grew very quiet and stiff.
“What?” He sat up straighter, putting a few inches between them.
Emily wiggled free of him and stood, tugging the hem of his T-shirt down. She paced the room, running a hand through her hair.
“Emily?”
Finally, she stopped and turned toward him. “I’m not ready for that.”
“Ready for what?” Now he stood. It dawned on him. “You still don’t want me to meet your parents.”
She stopped pacing and stared at him.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His neck burned as a flush crept up toward his ears.
“Rider… I… I can’t. They wouldn’t understand this…thing we have.” She motioned back and forth between them.
“This thing?” he nearly shouted. He watched her flinch, but he didn’t give two fucks.
Was she honestly embarrassed to introduce him to her family? He stomped around the coffee table to stand farther away from her. He was so pissed, he couldn’t see straight. He fisted his hands at his sides, a total loss for words.
If Emily wanted to believe he couldn’t act like a gentleman in public and avoid doing anything that would make her uncomfortable, then so be it. That was on her.
She didn’t trust him. She goddamn didn’t trust him to act appropriate in front of her family and friends.
“Rider…”
He turned and glanced around the room, looking for his shoes. When he spotted them beside the couch, he snatched them up and hopped on one leg at a time to put them on. “No. No. I get it. It’s fine and dandy for you that I decided to take a leap of faith and let you into my heart and be a real girlfriend to me, but you still can’t share me with y
our family. It’s perfectly clear. No need to explain. I see how this works.”
“Rider please. Listen to me.”
Fuck the shoe strings. He stomped to the kitchen table and picked up his keys. She must have found them somewhere and set them there while he’d slept this morning.
He turned toward her where she stood rooted to the same spot. “I think I’ve heard enough. I understand. And don’t worry. I won’t bother you anymore. I wouldn’t want to accidently be seen with you, just in case we run into one of your coworkers or your brother. I mean how horrific would that be?” He snatched up the pages of evidence he needed for Dave. No matter what happened with Emily, Dave still needed those documents in order to nail that bastard drug dealer to the wall.
Rider took long strides toward the front door where he turned to face her one last time as he opened it. He looked her up and down. “Keep the T-shirt. It fits you better anyway.”
And then he stepped outside, slammed the front door, and jogged to his Corvette.
He took deep breaths as he slid inside his baby and cranked the engine. It’s better this way. You know it is. No harm, no foul.
Inside he was fuming though, no matter what he told himself.
The woman he’d spent the last twelve hours loving in every way possible had totally dissed him. And on top of that, she’d barely moved a muscle or attempted to stop him.
Rider was done. Pull yourself together. This is why you don’t date. Women are a pain in the ass.
Chapter Fifteen
Emily paced her condo on Thursday afternoon as she waited for Katy to answer her phone.
Please pick up. Please pick up.
She was desperate. Rider wasn’t answering her calls or texts. And she deserved that after giving him the same treatment last week.
Her heart sank as she listened to the ringing.
Finally, Katy picked up. “Emily.” She sounded winded. “Sorry. My phone was on my desk. I had to run to get it.”
“Hey. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. What’s up? I heard Rider’s been a brooding mess this week.”
“He has?” Was that good?
“Yeah. Rafe said he clocked him hard the other day. Knocked him on his ass in the ring.”
“He won’t answer my calls or texts.”
“He’s stubborn.”
“He’s met his match. I’m pretty sure I deserve whatever he dishes out. But I’m a blubbering idiot now. I was hoping you could tell me if he fights this Friday.”
“He does, actually. Not an official fight, but there’s an exhibition at the gym. Joe hosts them every once in a while when they’re off for a few weeks.”
“Oh, good. Thanks, Katy. I believe I’ll show up at the gym.”
“Perfect. Want me to pick you up? That way you won’t have to worry about your car when he caves in and lands at your feet.” She giggled.
God, I hope that’s how it goes. “That would be wonderful. Thank you so much.”
“See you Friday then. Seven.”
“Awesome.”
She set the phone down and flopped onto the couch. The roller coaster her heart had been on for the last month was making her dizzy. Most of the blame was her own.
Why had she been so rash about her parents and her brother? She’d gone over the scenario in her mind dozens of times, visualizing introducing Rider to her mom and dad.
He wasn’t an ass. Surely he wouldn’t say something like, “Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. So nice to meet you. I’m too young for your daughter and when she acts up I spank her.”
She groaned and put a pillow over her face to block out the world.
Dinner with her family last night had been boring without Rider. Every time she was with him, her life was shinier. He did things to her body no man had ever managed. And she doubted there was another man out there who could accomplish anything close to similar. He made her tingle with need. Even when she wasn’t with him.
She set the pillow aside and stared at the ceiling. Even now with no chance of seeing him or talking to him, she wore a sundress with no panties. She squirmed against the couch cushion and closed her eyes to picture Rider over her, his huge confident hands gripping her hips and pushing the material of her dress up until her pussy was exposed to his view.
She needed that.
It wasn’t just that she craved sex with him. It was more. She needed his strength that filled every room he entered. She needed his smile that warmed every inch of her body when he looked at her. She needed to feel his hands on the small of her back as he guided her to any number of destinations.
And God how she missed the sex. There was no denying that.
Friday. She would boldly enter his world on Friday and demand he listen to her apology.
•●•
It was crowded in the gym when Emily walked in behind Katy and Jenna. Thank God for the support of the two kind women who’d taken her under their wings and helped her ease into this weird new life of MMA fighting and BDSM.
The second she stepped into the room, her heart beat faster. The exhilaration of the fight hung heavy in the air.
She scanned the room for Rider, but didn’t see him.
Katy leaned over and shouted the answer to her unspoken question in her ear over the roar of the crowd. “He’s probably in the locker room. I don’t see any of The Fight Club. They like to get pumped up together behind the scenes.”
Emily nodded. She watched the two men already in the cage as they grappled with each other, seemingly evenly matched.
Katy and Jenna skirted the edge of the crowded room to reach the far side of the cage. They leaned against the wall there, and Emily did the same.
Katy nodded at the ring. “Have you met Joe yet?”
“No. But I’ve heard about him. He’s the owner, right?”
“Yes and my uncle.”
Emily twisted her neck to look at Katy. “Really? How did I miss that?”
“Yeah, that’s how I met Rafe. I came in one morning to talk to Uncle Joe and Mason landed a hard punch to Rafe’s jaw while my man’s gaze landed on me and froze him in place.” Katy stood a little taller and batted her eyes until she broke down laughing. “Romantic, right?” she asked sarcastically.
Jenna leaned around Katy to add to the story. “She’s leaving out the part where Rafe went outside and waited for her to finish with Joe so he could hit on her. Bet he nearly wet his pants when Katy not only came out of the building a few minutes later, but she turned toward him, stepped between his legs, and planted a long wet messy kiss on him.”
Emily’s gaze widened. “You didn’t.” She stared at Katy.
Katy nodded. “There was more to it, but the legend sounds so much better I’ve decided to concede defeat and let it take on its own life.” She giggled.
Emily turned back to the octagon as the noise level in the room increased. One of the men had a chokehold on the other one and they were swaying toward the ground.
Emily gripped her hands into fists. She didn’t know either man, but she found herself rooting for the taller blond for no other reason than the fact she loved the tattoo running across his shoulder blades and down his arms. She didn’t know when she’d become a fan of tattoos, probably the first time Rider took off his shirt and she was struck silent by the expanse of wings across his back, but Lord these men were smokin’ hot.
When the fight ended, Gage came out of a back door next. Must have been the locker room. He bounced on his feet as he took the ring. He was almost the same size as Rider, but more rugged. He always looked like he hadn’t shaved for two days. The man she now knew was the owner, Joe, yelled instructions as Gage and his opponent came together at the sound of the bell.
Emily watched, mesmerized. Each five-minute round seemed to last far longer. She found herself learning the various types of kicks and punches as she watched. Not that she knew the terminology, but she understood better what sort of moves they made to get out of a hold or sweep their opponent to the ground.
>
Gage was a little stronger than the man he fought. In the second round he wrestled his opponent to the ground and the guy finally tapped out in defeat. The two men stood and shook hands before exiting the ring.
This went on for two hours. Each member of The Fight Team took on a contender, as well as several other fighters Emily didn’t know. She never saw Rider during that time. She knew he was in the locker room, but she wished he would come out so she could at least ease her tension over needing to see him.
Suddenly, he was there. Larger than life in front of her, entering the cage. He didn’t look at her or even glance her direction. His body was stiff. Sexy as hell, but tight. His brow was furrowed. He bounced, but not with the loose gait she was used to seeing.
When the bell rang, Emily flinched and stepped closer. No matter what happened, she needed to be near him tonight. She had every intention of getting in his face after the fight and forcing him to listen. But while he was in the ring, she would let herself get swept away by the action.
The man he fought was named Reggie. He was a strong opponent. They were evenly matched. They threw several jabs at each other and some leg kicks, but neither of them managed to get a hold on the other for a takedown. It was hard to tell which one of them had the upper hand, but Joe didn’t look pleased when the first round ended and Rider headed to his corner. The cornerman, Byron, squirted water in Rider’s open mouth and wiped the sweat from his brow. He swatted Rider on the shoulder as the minute ended and told him to get out there and do his thing.
Rider bounced back up, still not meeting Emily’s gaze, though she found herself standing right at the fence, her feet having guided her as close as possible as though she were a magnet.
Rider ducked a left hook by Reggie and swung around in a circle to kick Reggie in the side. Reggie stumbled back a few feet, but then regained his equilibrium and came back strong. He landed a punch to the side of Rider’s head that made Emily shriek. Rider went down on one knee, but quickly recovered, jumping to his feet.
Emily stood on her toes now. “Get him, Rider. You can do it.”
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