“It’s emotionless. Like it’s trying to hide what’s beneath.” She quirked a brow. “Kind of like the guy who owns it.”
“You’ve known me less than twenty-four hours and you have me figured out?”
“Yup.” She took a few steps through the wide circular foyer, looking up and down and all around. It was beautiful, but dead to her. “A few living things, like a plant, and a little color to jazz the place up would be nice,” she said, walking down the wide entryway to the back of the house, which boasted a long wall of French doors leading to a verdant backyard.
“Let me guess, some pink flowers or pots?”
“Maybe a few.”
“I’ve never been much of a fan of pink until last night.”
He walked with her to the windows and to the right was a huge black-and-white marble five-star kitchen.
“Wow.”
“I don’t use it often.”
She turned around and looked up at him to find him staring quietly at her. “What?”
His brows furrowed for a quick second before they smoothed out. “I’m having a hard time with the Surf’s Up part of you.”
Not good enough for a Ryker? Would she be good enough if she told him she had graduated summa cum laude from Cal last year and had been accepted to Stanford Law School? Why couldn’t he accept her for who she was, not what she’d done? “Get over it. It’s not like you have to take me home to meet the fam.” She moved into his space. Without touching him, she leaned into him and said softly. “I give us two weeks tops. You’re a big boy; you can hang with my job that long, can’t you?”
His eyes narrowed as his hands slid down her arms. “Yeah, I suppose I can.”
“Good, now pack your big boy bag and let’s get this show on the road.”
“C’mon upstairs while I put a bag together.”
“I’ll stay down here.” She didn’t want to familiarize herself with anything as personal as his bedroom. It was going to be hard enough, when the time came, not to remember every second of every minute they spent together; she didn’t want to see his bed and think of him in it with another woman when she was long gone.
“I won’t bite.”
Melancholy for what would come to be the best few weeks of her life began to set in before it had barely begun. “I kind of hoped you did.”
He laughed and moved past her. “I said I won’t, not that I don’t.”
Ten minutes later he was back down and she bit her bottom lip and shook her head. He’d changed into a pair of worn, blue jeans, shocking blue polo shirt that matched his eyes perfectly, and casual leather and canvas shoes. He had a distressed brown leather duffle bag slung over his shoulder and Maui Jims riding the top of his forehead.
“Let’s go.” He led her through the house to the garage door. When he turned the light on, she whistled. Not one but three cars and two motorcycles shone brightly beneath the fluorescent lights. They were immaculate. A black Denali SUV, a white Lexus sedan, and a really sexy vintage Corvette. “What year is that?” she asked, pointing to the cherry bomb red convertible.
“Sixty-four Stingray.” He opened the passenger door. “We can take it if you want.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“Where’s your surfboard going to go?”
He grinned as he took her bag and tossed it into the small backseat along with his, and then helped her in. “That was just a ploy to get you to spend the day with me.”
“So you don’t surf?”
“I do, just not today.”
He closed the door, then walked over to an immaculate workbench and withdrew a set of keys from a hidden drawer. He slid in the driver’s seat, put the key in the ignition, and turned it. The car rumbled to life beneath her.
She started and he grinned a bright Hollywood smile. Magically, the garage door opened, he expertly shifted and maneuvered the powerful car out of the tight confines, and before she knew it, they were roaring across the San Mateo Bridge. For once Izzy put her worries and woes of finding Alex aside. She was doing all she could and now she had help.
Today Izzy would focus on herself. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and she was sitting next to the sexiest man on the planet, who thought she was pretty hot herself. Today, life was good. She raised her hands like she would on a roller coaster and laughed out loud shouting her happiness at the top of her lungs. Flynn smiled and laughed at her antics. When she was done acting crazy, he grasped her left hand and placed it on the gearshift, where he rested his hand on top of hers.
Warmth infused her skin where he touched. Swallowing hard, she was glad she was wearing sunglasses. He might see the schoolgirl crush look in her eyes and dump her over the bridge into the bay. Geez, she was such a sucker for a hot guy. Like mother, like daughter.
But what a guy.
They were riding fast and topless. It was the most exhilarating ride of her life. Flynn handled the high-performance vehicle beautifully and even at the high speeds they drove, she had complete confidence in his driving skills. It was a beautiful March afternoon. Clear skies and sunny. It would be cooler once they came down through the foothills to the ocean. Hopefully there would be no lingering fog. She wasn’t sure what he had in mind and she decided she didn’t want to know. It didn’t matter. Being with him was electrifying. This was a rare “do nothing” day for her. Between school, her research assistant job, and working at Surf’s Up, she barely had time to sleep, much less take a sorely-needed day off. Professor Gamble was gone on his annual lecture circuit until the end of June. That ate at her income, and despite the club taking the majority of her tip money, she made a decent wage there. She’d work more than the three nights she was regularly scheduled, but the club was only open four nights a week and she had to fight for each shift.
As they slowed at the end of Rte. 92 coming into the small ocean town of Half Moon Bay, named for its half-moon-shaped bay, Izzy smoothed her bangs from her face and smiled at Flynn. “That was amazing.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed the ride.”
“I really did. You drive like a pro.”
“I am. Lots of pursuit training and hands-on experience over the years.”
“I keep forgetting you’re a cop.” She leaned over and patted his chest down. “Are you packing heat?”
He smiled and pulled her hand over into his lap. His erection was on the rise. “Yeah, I’m packing some heat.”
When Flynn pulled over into a small shopping center parking lot and put the car in Park, laughing Izzy unhooked her seatbelt, leaned over and looped her arms around his neck, feeling as carefree as a little girl. “I love how you’re always ready for some game.” She kissed him. A big, fat, juicy kiss. When she pulled away, he pulled her back to him.
“I like kissing you.”
She swallowed and nodded, suddenly feeling very hot and nervous. “I like kissing you, too.”
“How many men have you kissed?”
“A few.”
“How many?”
“Including you, three.”
“Liar.”
“It’s true! The other two didn’t get any further than first base, either.”
He laughed. “First base?”
“Yeah, making out. How many women have you kissed?”
“Too many to count.”
“Figures.”
“But none the way I kiss you.”
“How do you kiss me?”
“Like I mean it.” He gave her a quick kiss and said, “Put your seatbelt back on. I know the perfect make-out place.”
She scowled doing as he said. “I don’t want to go there if you’ve made out with someone else there.”
Grabbing her hand, he put his over hers on the gearshift again and put the car into gear. “You’ll be the first.”