“See something you like, Em?”
I ignore his arrogant question as I stop in front of him and try to act indifferent to his sexiness. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just in the neighborhood and figured I’d stop in to tell you I’m taking you out for supper tonight.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “You’re telling me?”
“Yup. Since asking hasn’t been working, you leave me no choice.”
“Well darn,” I reply with fake disappointment. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t. I’m busy again tonight.”
His smirks at the lie. “Really? And what’s the reason this time?”
“I’m washing my hair.”
He chuckles at the poor excuse, and the husky sound washes over me and has my stomach doing a flip. I hate that stupid flip… Kinda.
Ryder steps away from the SUV, standing at his full, intimidating height then crowds me until our positions are suddenly reversed and I’m the one backed up against his vehicle. How the heck did he just do that?
He cages me in, his elbows leaning on either side of my head, bringing his face only inches from mine. His delicious scent penetrates the air around us, and my heart pounds wildly from his close proximity. “Emily, if you say no then you leave me no choice but to come here tonight with dinner. And I’m warning you right now, I will not be responsible for my actions if I’m alone with you in your apartment again.”
Oh lord, what on earth does that mean? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Actually, I do… No, I don’t. Ahh! I hate how conflicted this man makes me feel. I stare up at him and desperately want to say yes. As worried as I am about my fragile heart, I’m starting to worry more about whether I will regret not seeing him before he leaves. I need closure. I need to know why he left without so much as a goodbye. The problem is I’m not sure I can handle the truth of it, especially tonight. Blowing out a heavy breath, I drop my head back against the SUV, suddenly feeling exhausted. I so did not need this today.
Ryder’s expression turns from teasing to serious. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and look at the ground. “Nothing.”
He takes his aviators off then grabs my chin and forces my gaze to his. “Don’t lie to me, Emily. What’s wrong?”
“Did you ever stop to think it’s your pesky persistence?”
“No, it’s something else. I can tell.” His intense, green eyes bore into mine with determination and I realize he’s not going to let it go.
“I just had an appointment with my doctor that has left me feeling a little off-kilter is all,” I mumble.
“Why, what did he say? Is something wrong?” he asks worriedly.
“No, no, it’s nothing like that.” I wave away his concern. “I just…” I trail off and shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
I hold his stare, showing him I mean it, and he finally relents. “All right. I’ll let it go for now, but you have to let me take you out for dinner then.”
I scoff. “I don’t have to do anything, Mr. Bossy.”
Instead of sniping back like I expect him to, he steps in closer and cups the side of my face tenderly. “Come on, Em, it’s only dinner, baby, and it will help take your mind off whatever is bothering you.”
Oh man, it’s the ‘baby’ that does me in. I’m weak! Weak, I tell ya. “Fine. I’ll move my schedule around and wash my hair a little earlier.”
He gives me a sexy, triumphant smirk then backs out of my personal space, and I suddenly feel chilled, even though it’s a blistering hot afternoon. “Good. I’ll be back at six, I already made us reservations.”
My mouth drops in exasperation. “What do you mean, you already made reservations? What if I had said no again?”
He shrugs. “It wouldn’t have mattered because I told you I wasn’t taking no for answer.”
I gape at him, not believing his audacity. He chuckles at my infuriated expression, then leans down to kiss my forehead. I rear back before he can make contact, but he slings an arm around my neck and pulls me back in. I consider ordering Summer to sic him, but I know she wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well, maybe if she thought I was really in danger she would. “I don’t remember you being this obnoxious back in high school, Ryder Jameson,” I retort, trying to act unaffected by the simple kiss, when in reality my body is humming with pleasure.
“And I don’t remember you being this difficult, Emily Michaels,” he returns with a smug grin before leaning down to my ear. “But I’ll admit I like the challenge, baby. It makes my dick harder for you than it already was, and I didn’t think that was possible.” I suck in a sharp breath, his dirty words hitting me right between my legs, making my panties turn damp. He winks, knowing his affect on me. “I’ll see you at six.”
He gets into his vehicle and pulls away, leaving me to gape after him like an idiot. Oh the man is infuriating. Sexy, but infuriating. Maybe I won’t answer the door when he comes tonight… Oh, who am I kidding? I’m going to answer and I hate myself for how excited I am for it.
Chapter 11
Ryder
As soon as I walk into Emily’s building my phone goes off. I pull it out and see it’s Nick. “Jameson.”
“Can you talk?”
I stop in the lobby. “Yeah, but make it quick. I just got to Emily’s.”
He grunts. “I feel like I got the shaft here, Jameson. While you get to take out a beautiful girl, I get to deal with the old hag at the group home.”
“It doesn’t matter because Emily would have been off limits to you anyway.”
There’s a long moment of silence while he lets that statement sink in. “Ah, so she is the reason why you chose to cover Michaels. I see now.”
No, he doesn’t. There are a lot of reasons why I chose Michaels; Emily is only one of them. “What do you need, Stone? I got shit to do.”
“More like a beautiful woman to do,” he grumbles. “Anyway, I wanted to fill you in on my meeting with Janice Pike, the old bitch who runs the group home. I met with her today to see if it’s a good place for my fourteen-year-old sister who is a meth addict.”
I roll my eyes, knowing he has no siblings. “And what did you think of her?”
“She seems like a heartless bitch, which I expected considering she’s handing these girls off for money. The place was more fucked up than I thought though, and anyone who steps foot in there would know it.”
“How do you mean?”
“You drive up to this beautiful plantation that makes you think of sunshine and rainbows, but as soon as you step inside… it’s fucking weird, man. The entire place was silent and let’s face it¸ there are over twenty-four teenage girls living there, there should be nothing fucking quiet about it.” I grunt in agreement. “The entire time I was there I saw only two of them, and their heads were down while they were walking, as if they were scared to look anywhere else other than the floor. When I was leaving I saw a girl at the side of the house, sitting on the grass reading a book. I walked over to ask her what she thought of the place, but as soon as she saw me she jumped up and tried to run off.”