“It’s a landmark for the town. It’s large and old, but with it restored, and by adding the auditorium, there will be an opportunity for some theater projects, plays, and events to be held there. Which is great for the city.”
“And that woman you talk to owns it?”
He looked at her. “Clara Davenport is the daughter of Milton Davenport, the man who owns a lot of property in Kansas.”
“Ah. So she must love that you’re in her building a lot.”
Ryder smiled. “Why, sweetness, if I didn’t know better, it’d sound like you were fishing.”
“Nope,” she said quickly. But crap, was she? She was out of her element here, thanks to this whole not-a-date-but-sort-of-a-date-thing.
“Clara and I went to school together. That’s it. She’s…”
“Persistent?”
“Something like that,” Ryder said. “Where did you go to school?”
She frowned. “What kind of question is that?”
“One I’m interested in. I didn’t know, with you having to move so much, if you got to stay at the same school.”
“For the most part we stayed in the same district. But our housing situation changed a lot. So it’s all a blur.”
“Making friends must have been hard.”
She looked at the silvery pools of his eyes, eating her up. Ryder and Penny were close. They had the same friends now that they’d had when they were young. And they were all close. That kind of family was something Whitney had always thought to be a myth. But the town of Diamond embodied the word “family.” If they took you in, you belonged for life, no matter who you were or where you came from.
Pain welled up in her chest. This was why she didn’t do the whole “talking and getting to know people” part of dating.
Ryder held out another spoonful of cobbler, and she took it, glad for the distraction. Chewing slightly was calming, and so was the food. So was Ryder’s presence, actually. He looked at her and waited with what seemed like infinite calm and control. And for the first time, she felt the urge to talk about her sister.
“Kacey was all I had,” she said. “She was really sweet, always setting goals and looking on the bright side. She took joy in every damn thing in life.”
Ryder nodded, listening intently.
“She died last year. Car accident. I was with her.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetness.” His low tone made her heart swell. He was there, not pushing, not asking, just letting her talk. Letting her be who she was. He wasn’t reaching out to rub her arm like she was some broken, pitiful thing. He simply held out another spoonful of dessert, and she took the bite.
“I miss her. I try to live the way she did. Moving. Experiencing everything I can.”
“Smart.”
She frowned. “You think so?”
“You do what you want, when you want. Always moving, no one to answer to. You live for yourself and for your sister. I can see the appeal of that. Heck, in some ways, I envy you.”
“But sooner or later, won’t it catch up to me?” she asked, not because she meant it but because she’d heard it so many times she couldn’t stand to hear it again.
“No,” Ryder said with seriousness. “I don’t think anything can catch up to you, sweetness. You’re a special kind of wild.” She smiled, and heat spread from her mouth to her stomach. “But sooner or later, you may want to be caught. For real.”
Was he serious? He couldn’t be talking about himself…could he? He couldn’t honestly be thinking that she’d stay… Or could he? And if he was serious, could she stay? Would she want to?
No, surely not. There was a reason she lived in the moment and never stayed in any place or with any one person for too long. And as far as staying here with Ryder, hadn’t he just said it himself? Their very natures were on opposite ends of the spectrum. As much as she yearned for roots, she was wild at heart. And as much as he yearned to be wild, he was rooted in Diamond with all the self-control he could summon.
“I’ll never want to be caught for real,” she whispered. It was too permanent. There was too much life to live. Too many memories to outrun.
Ryder set the bowl on the bedside table. “Then I pity the person who tries to catch you.”
Her chest stung on his admission, and she didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know how to think, because he was taking up too much room in her mind and her heart. She needed to get back to her plan. This was supposed to be casual, right? No dates. No romance. None of the heavy emotions he was pulling out of her.
Which meant it was time to poke Ryder until that alpha side of his took over.
“You came in tonight and said you thought of tasting me?”
He nodded.
“Want to know what I thought of when I saw you the first time?” she asked.
He raised a brow. Clearly he wasn’t welcoming the subject change, but when she crawled toward him and unbuttoned the top clasp of his shirt, then the next, then the next, the movement of his chest shifted rhythm, from shallow inhales to deep breaths.
“I thought of how you would take me. Would you be hard or soft?” She undid another button. “Fast or slow?” The last button opened, showing his impressive skin and hard torso. “Mostly I wondered what your hands would feel like on my skin.”
His gray eyes looked over her and stopped on his hat atop her head. “I’m starting to see your fondness for a certain look. I think I just developed a crush on a cowgirl.”
She tipped her hat the way she’d seen people do in old west movies, then in her best Ryder Diamond impression, she said, “Not a cowgirl.”
“Maybe not, but I like my hat on you. I’d like it better if that was all you wore, though.”
His hot gaze had turned molten, and finally she was getting back to where she needed to be. There was safety in limiting what was between them to just sex. That was all she could offer, and that was all she could take.
Ryder sat forward and cupped her face. She braced herself for his kiss, was dying for it, but he kept a fraction of distance between them. His scent wrapped her up, almost as much as his heat.
“Whitney…” He whispered her name. “Thank you for the compromise. I’m…glad I know you.”
A fist closed around her heart, and a rush of air stuck somewhere along her windpipe. It was the most genuine thing she’d ever heard. Her skin felt like fabric, and Ryder was tearing at the seams of her entire being.
“I’m glad I know you, too,” she whispered.
He closed the last bit of space and kissed her. He dipped his tongue inside for a quick taste, then sat there—still, interlocked with her—and just…stayed.
Stayed in the kiss. Stayed in the moment. And she stayed right there with him, the feel of his firm lips and his sweet taste slowly seeping into her senses, like she truly recognized him. Knew him.
She wanted to see him—really see him—and have access to the entire strong man that was finally, finally, in her bed.
“Will you stand up?” she asked.
He looked at her for a moment, and then did as she asked. “Not loving the idea of leaving your body, sweetness,” he said, but he rose and stood at the foot of her bed.
She faced him, then got to her knees. The mattress dipped as she ran her hands along his torso and up his arms, making his open shirt fall away like white curtains off all that tan skin.
“I won’t let you go far,” she said and put his hat back on his head. The look of him shirtless, with low slung jeans and hard muscles, made her brain foggy. He was her dream man come to life.
She cupped his neck and trailed little kisses around his jaw to his chin. The clean-shaven planes of his face tickled her lips as she moved down his neck to his chest.
“Jesus, you feel so good,” he murmured. His head lolled back just a bit, and a calm happiness flooded her at Ryder Diamond standing there, letting her taste him.