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I’m looking at jail time if our arrangement is found out so opening up to a stranger in my fake husband’s childhood home isn’t something I’m prepared to do. Whether it’s his sister or not.
I have no idea if she can be trusted with this information, or how much Ryker wants her to know about it.
“I know you’re probably not going to tell me because, from the looks of things, my brother has decided to lie to all of us, which is fine. If this is a need-to-know basis, I get it. Except the moment he gets his green card and you two get divorced, my mother will be devastated.” She shifts her weight and leans toward the glass doors to make sure no one is coming to interrupt us.
Where the hell are you Ryker?
“Though I’m not in favor of what you guys are doing, I think that my brother deserves to get to play out his contract, and he already told me that his other visa was about to expire.”
“Harper, I don’t know what your brother told you but—”
“He didn’t tell me anything. It’s just that the timeline of Amelia, the visa expiring, and your shotgun courthouse wedding, I put two and two together.”
“I care about him,” I say quickly.
“I can see that, too. But if you care about him and are not committed to “until death do us part," you need to stop doing what you two are doing in public bars and stop letting him think there’s a chance you won’t leave at the end of all this. He’s only going to fall harder from here.”
The door opens from outside and she and I both whip our heads to look at who it is.
“I’m back,” Ryker says, walking around the kitchen and heading for me. “A hot shower will warm you up. What do you think?”
“A shower sounds good.”
…and a minute to myself after what Harper just said.
I already know how I feel about him, it’s just that the thought of forever is scary. Not the act of being with Ryker forever—I already know I want that. It’s the fear of setting my hopes on forever and having them yanked from me like they were from my mom.
But I have to trust at some point and see where the chips fall. I can’t be guarded forever, or I’ll find myself alone one day. And if there’s anyone who’s worth trying for, it’s Ryker.
If we stay together long-term, we would need to discuss Ryker’s desire to live in Canada after he retires. I can’t, in good conscience, leave the country until my brother feels settled and feels secure. I also need to see him making progress with the Occupational Therapist.
“I have a pair of sweats and a hoody in my old bedroom that I left here in case. I’ll put them in the hall bathroom for you,” Harper tells me.
“Thanks, sis,” he says, his eyes still on mine.
Harper turns and heads down the hall, and Ryker takes his jacket off my legs, lays it down next to me, and grips around my waist, pulling me off the kitchen counter and putting me back on my feet.
I follow him as he leads me out of the kitchen and down the hall.
Harper walks out of one room and then Ryker turns into it.
“Have a good shower,” she tells me as she passes by.
I know she’s protective of her brother, I get it. I would feel the same way if this was happening to Jerrin, and he was falling in love with a woman that I knew may or may not love him back.
I watch as Ryker turns on the shower for me and I start to peel off my jacket and my sopping wet pants.
Standing in only my underwear and my thin camisole shirt, my legs feel like icicles, and my panties are still wet with lawn water.
Soon enough I’ll be under the warm spray of the shower.
Ryker pulls back his long-sleeved shirt and reaches in past the curtain, standing there for a moment waiting for the water to turn from cold to hot.
“It’s warm,” he says.
Relief hits me and I can already feel the warmth of the steam from the hot water filling the small guest bathroom.
He pulls his hand back and walks to the cupboard, giving my body a once over before walking around me to pull out a towel.
