by Francis Ray
She took a seat beside him and placed the burger on his plate. He was on his second hot dog. He probably hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Thanks.”
She picked up her cookie, glad to see that Rio was eating. “How did you, Blade, and Shane meet?”
He was silent so long she didn’t think he’d answer. “Army.”
“And?”
“We became friends.” He popped the top of a Pepsi for both of them.
“I’m sure there’s more to it than that.”
“Not really.” Rio polished off his hamburger. “Sometimes you meet a person and just know they’re going to be an important part of your life.”
“That we agree on.” She stood. “The last of the meat should be ready. You can call your men. Do you mind taking food to the quarters for the ones on duty?”
“Why are you doing this?” he asked, coming to stand by her.
“Because they’re your men. I see the respect you have for each other. Sierra said they helped move the things out of the room we’re using for the auction. All of this activity must make your and their job more difficult but, unlike the rude delivery driver the first day, they’ve never shown it.” She lifted the last burger from the grill. “My situation isn’t helping. I just want to thank them.”
He turned her to him and palmed her face. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Her hands tried to circle his strong wrists. “I know. Now, call your men so they can rave about my cooking.”
* * *
Rio thought his men were like a polite pack of hungry wolves. The food disappeared with alarming speed. They raved about the meal and thanked Skylar profusely. Conner offered to take food to the command center and to their quarters for the men on duty. By the time he left thirty minutes later, all the food was gone, the area clean, and two kitchen bags held refuse and recyclables.
“I’d say that went very well.” Skylar turned to Rio with a smile.
“You didn’t finish your hot dog.” Although he told her it wasn’t necessary, she’d played the perfect hostess, getting the men seconds or condiments.
With a gleam in her eyes, she opened the warming drawer of the grill and pulled out a foiled-wrapped plate. “Guess what I have?”
Rio stepped beside her and opened the drawer beneath, lifting out a plate with an assortment of cookies and brownies. “Since I saw you stash the hot dogs and hamburger, I thought I should get the dessert.”
“Like minds.” She placed the plate on the table. “I’ll get the drinks.”
“Sit.” He pointed to the cushioned love seat. “You’ve run around enough.” He grabbed two soft drinks and sat down beside her.
She leaned her shoulder against his and looked up at the clear sky. “The night is so quiet here and so peaceful. The moon looks close enough to touch.”
“You need to eat.”
She straightened. “Some romantic you are. What if I said I was too tired to even lift my hands?”
He stared at her, picked up the hot dog. She’d worked hard; it wouldn’t hurt this one time to humor her.
Her white teeth bit into the hot dog, her eyes on his, her tongue flicking out for the errant dot of mustard at the curve of her sensual mouth.
Rio shifted. His blood headed south. She grabbed his wrist, leaning forward for another bite, her full breast brushing against his arm. He almost shot out of his seat. He put the hot dog on the plate. “I think you’d better feed yourself.”
“I like it better when you do it.”
Skylar was sexy, sophisticated, and stubborn. An intriguing combination if he hadn’t been trying to keep things more or less on a professional level. He’d crossed the line a time or two, but he was trying not to make that mistake again. Skylar was trying just as hard to get him to forget the line entirely. “The problem is, we both like it.”
She put her arms around his neck, her lips inches from his. “Wanna see what else we both like?”
He already knew the answer to that. He picked up a sugar cookie. “You didn’t get to finish yours.”
“If I was sure one of your men wouldn’t pop back around that corner, you’d have your hands full and it wouldn’t be with food.” She took the cookie and munched.
Rio was thinking another strategic retreat might be in order. He was fighting his body and Skylar.
“Why don’t we go watch a movie?” Skylar was already standing with both plates. “It’s an action movie so it won’t make your teeth ache. Grab the soft drinks. I can leave this in the kitchen.”
Being alone in the house wasn’t wise, but there didn’t seem much choice. They couldn’t stay out here all night. Rio picked up the drinks to follow, well aware that Skylar wasn’t through tempting him.
Chapter 8
In the seating area of the great room, Skylar picked up the controls and activated the fifty-seven-inch TV lift in the cabinet. She put the movie in the Blu-ray DVD player and took a seat on the leather sofa. Rio sat as far away from her as possible.
Skylar didn’t watch the opening of Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol; she watched Rio. His feet flat on the floor, his posture erect, he watched the screen.
“You have a choice.” Skylar stopped the movie. “I can sit in your lap and we watch the movie, or you can slide over here next to me.”
His head slowly turned to her. His eyes were devoid of emotion.
“I know I wouldn’t get within a foot of you if you didn’t want me to, but we both know you won’t hurt me and I won’t make it easy for you,” she told him.
He didn’t move. She wrinkled her nose. “Good thing I have patience and I sort of like you.” Getting up, she sat as close to him as possible. She felt the heat of his muscular thighs seep through his jeans. “We’ll call this a draw since you let me get the food and helped, but I wouldn’t mind an arm around my shoulder.” Their shoulders touching, she punched the control to dim the lights and started the movie.
“You know this isn’t wise,” his deep voice rumbled.
She looked up at him. “This is the wisest, bravest thing I’ve ever done. Two years is a long time to look at a man who’s just out of reach, a man who looks through you instead of at you.” She ran her fingertips across his lower lip. “For the time being, you’re looking back. At least sometimes. I’d begun to think it wouldn’t happen. I told you, regardless of what happens afterward, I would have the remembered pleasure of your smile, your lips on mine, your hands—”
“Skylar.” His voice was rough, thick. “Watch the movie.”
“I’d enjoy it better if your arm was around me,” she said, her breath fanning his lips.
His black eyes narrowed. He put his arm around her shoulders. “You like having your way.”
She snuggled closer. “But we both know, you never do anything you don’t want to. I’m just offering suggestions.”
Rio grunted.
Skylar lifted to kiss his chin and settled back against him. Instead of watching Ethan Hunt save the world again, she was trying to decide how Rio would react if she straddled his lap for a long, hot kiss. All she had to do was throw … Her phone rang. Perhaps it was a sign that what she’d been thinking wasn’t a good idea.
She leaned against Rio and pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans. “Hello, Mrs. Grayson. How are you?
Rio took the control and muted the sound.
“Fine,” Mrs. Grayson answered. “I wanted to invite you to church with me in the morning, if you have no other plans.”
“One moment.” Skylar looked at Rio. “Mrs. Grayson has invited me to church with her. I’d like to go. You can send one of your men with me.”
“What time does she want you to meet her?”
She’d hoped he’d go with her, but she hid her disappointment and spoke into the phone. “Thank you, Mrs. Grayson. I’d very much like to go. What time shall I meet you?”
“Eleven o’clock, and afterward you can come home with me for dinner,” she said.
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven. Rio knows the address. Good night, Skylar.”
“Good night.” Skylar disconnected the phone. “She said you’d know the address of the church. What time should I meet the man you’re going to assign to me so we won’t be late?”
“Ten twenty if you want to find a parking space where you don’t have to walk a mile.” He started the movie.
“Told you, I can take or leave exercise.” Skylar settled back against him.
Rio sat up and stopped the movie. “Mrs. Grayson doesn’t do anything last-minute.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rio hit the PLAY button. Skylar promptly hit PAUSE. “If we mess up Blade and Sierra’s control, they won’t be happy.”
“I can fix anything electronic,” was his answer. He hit PLAY.
She reached for the control.
He held it out of reach. “I thought you wanted to see this.”
“I’m more interested in hearing why you made that comment about Mrs. Grayson. It almost sounded as if you thought she had an ulterior motive.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Skylar rolled her eyes. “Rio, I’m not an idiot. So talk.”
He stared at her and she stared right back. He leaned back on the sofa to watch the movie. “Mrs. Grayson has a habit of trying to marry off people she likes,” he said tightly.
Skylar’s heart lurched. “You?”
“It will be a cold day—” He stopped abruptly. “You’re missing the movie.”
The movie was the farthest thing from Skylar’s mind as she leaned back against Rio. She recalled Mrs. Grayson’s comment, No man should walk alone, and all her help, but that didn’t mean she was trying to help Skylar with Rio. She could be trying to find another woman for Rio. Abruptly, Skylar sat up. “How successful has she been?”
“Very.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. Mrs. Grayson had specifically mentioned that Rio knew the address, indicating she expected him to bring her. Rio was hers! “Maybe you’re wrong. She probably intended to invite me and just forgot.”
“She’s as sharp as they come,” Rio told her.
Skylar’s brow furrowed, and not because a building had just blown up in the movie. Suddenly she was glad Rio wasn’t going with her. She liked Mrs. Grayson, but no woman was taking Rio from Skylar.
* * *
Rio walked Skylar to her room once the movie was over, but she didn’t get the good-night kiss she’d expected. She was preoccupied with thoughts of some woman trying to get her hooks into Rio. That was not happening. “I’ll be ready to go at ten twenty.”
“’Night.”
“’Night.”
She went into her room and activated the lock. It might do Rio some good to have to work to get her, she thought, then quickly discarded the idea. The man was gorgeous, with a dangerous charisma that drew women like bees to honey. All he had to do was show up, and that was before he said anything. When he was aroused, his voice was a sexy growl that made her shiver and hunger for his mouth and his hands on her.
Which wasn’t going to happen tonight, but there was always tomorrow.
Skylar went to her closet to look for a dress designed to keep a man’s eyes on her. She didn’t think Rio was going to church with her, but no doubt she’d see him before she left. She was going to make sure he remembered.
* * *
Seventeen minutes after ten Sunday morning, Skylar went downstairs to wait for her driver/bodyguard. Her long black hair was in a sleek bun. Pearls graced her ears and throat. A scoop-neck black jersey dress sculpted her body. On her feet were black five-inch heels with the toes in and one thin strap high above the ankle. Her black python-leather clutch purse was the perfect choice.
At the bottom of the steps, she wasn’t sure if she should wait inside or out. She headed for the door on the chance that Rio would be around and they could talk for a bit. As usual, he hadn’t eaten breakfast with her. If she hadn’t been a strong woman, she might have been discouraged.
Outside, she saw a titanium Maserati coupe and wondered who it belonged to. The door opened and Rio stepped out, staring at her on the top step. He had on a black expertly tailored suit and looked dangerously handsome. Any woman breathing would want him. That wasn’t happening if she could help it.
She continued down the steps. He rounded the car and opened the passenger door. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Her hands clamped on her purse. “You don’t have to take me. I know how busy mornings are for you.”
He didn’t move a muscle. “Nice of you to be concerned.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“Since when?”
Her eyes glinted. True, but he didn’t have to remind her. She opened her mouth, but he cut her off.
“You’re going to be late and, since Mrs. Grayson knows the parking situation, more than likely she’ll arrive early and be waiting for you,” he told her.
Telling Rio he’d better not be eyeballing another woman didn’t seem the thing to do. She got into the car and fastened her seat belt.
He got inside, the car accommodating his long legs. The car rumbled to life. He shifted it into gear and pulled off.
She tossed him a glance. The nine garages all had individual doors, and they were always down. “Is this your car?”
“Blade’s, but Sierra mostly drives it when they go out together.” He passed the entry gate and hit the highway with a burst of speed.
She frowned. Rio wasn’t the type of man to try to impress a woman. “Then why are you driving it?”
He glanced at the slim-fitting skirt of her dress, then back at the road as he passed a truck. “I didn’t want you struggling in and out of the Jeep.”
Nothing he could have said would have put her more at ease. Rio wasn’t easily led—if at all. She knew that. No matter what woman Mrs. Grayson paraded in front of him, it wouldn’t matter. “Thank you, Rio.”
He didn’t say anything, just continued to drive. Skylar crossed her legs and relaxed back into her seat. She could enjoy church services with a clear conscience and without malice toward the woman waiting for Rio.
* * *
Rio spotted Mrs. Grayson before Skylar did. She stood near the bottom step of the church alone. She wore a stylish magenta suit that Sierra referred to as her mother’s “power clothes.” Rio felt an itch in the back of his neck. She was up to something all right. At least they’d found a parking space in the church’s parking lot, but from the long line of cars behind him, it would fill up quickly.
“This way,” Rio said, steering Skylar around a group of men who were staring at her with open admiration. It was worse when all the Graysons and their spouses went to church together. When Brandon Grayson’s wife’s two brothers were in town with their wives, men seem to lose their minds over the beautiful women.
He’d never be that pitiful.
“Good thing you have height and great vision,” Skylar said. “I don’t see her.”
Rio kept walking. Skylar was apparently oblivious to the sudden cessation of conversation when she passed some of the men. He wasn’t.
“I see her.” Skylar waved her arm and hurried to embrace Ruth. “Good morning. Thanks again for inviting me.”
“Good morning, Skylar. Rio,” Mrs. Grayson greeted. “It’s good seeing both of you again.” She glanced beyond them. “We’re waiting for another person.”
Being right was no consolation to Rio. The real questions were: Was it a man or a woman? And was it a ruse to make one or the other jealous, or a real attempt at matchmaking? That’s what made Ruth Grayson so dangerous. She had a tactical mind that saw a person’s weakness, his desire, and then she set it before him and waited for nature to take its course.
“Over here.” Ruth waved her hand.
Rio
saw Skylar tense, then relax as a nice-looking, well-dressed man in his midthirties came into view. Rio recognized him immediately.
“Hello, Jonathan. I’m glad you could make it,” Ruth greeted.
Jonathan dragged his wide-eyed gaze from Skylar and clasped Mrs. Grayson’s hand. “Thank you, Professor Grayson. I’m sorry to be a bit late.”
Mrs. Grayson waved his words aside. “Nonsense. You’re right on time.” She took Skylar’s arm and drew her closer to the new arrival. “Skylar Dupree, I’d like you to meet Jonathan Douglas, a professor in my music department. You already know Rio.”
Jonathan nodded briefly to Rio and extended his hand to Skylar. “Ms. Dupree, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I was unavoidably delayed the day you were on campus.”
Smiling, Skylar shook the man’s hand. “Then I’m glad we’re finally meeting.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” he said, still holding her hand.
“Why don’t we go in?” Mrs. Grayson suggested. “Rio, please walk with me, and Jonathan and Skylar can become better acquainted.”
For a moment, he didn’t move. Mrs. Grayson had that warm, patient look, but Rio knew her brain was busy. He didn’t like to call a woman he respected—and sometimes feared—devious, but she was.
“Rio, are you all right?” Skylar asked, reaching toward him.
“Fine.” He took Mrs. Grayson’s arm and started up the steps. Not by the blink of an eyelash had she reacted to Skylar’s concern. She was too intuitive not to have heard the anxiety in Skylar’s voice. He just had to figure out if she was trying to nudge him in Skylar’s direction or Skylar’s into the professor’s. Rio stopped beside the pew Mrs. Grayson and her children always occupied.
“Please, Rio, go in first. I want to sit beside Skylar, since I invited her.” As if it was settled, she turned and waited for Skylar and Jonathan, who were walking slowly behind an elderly couple.
Jonathan had his hand on the small of her back. She laughed softly, but Rio heard.
He was unaware of his eyes going cold, his facial features deadly until Skylar looked at him. She stopped abruptly.
