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You don’t know the half of it.
“You don’t have to explain.”
“Fuck yes, I owe you an explanation.” His tone was insistent. “She showed up at my house out of the blue this afternoon before the wake. She was close to my dad. I hadn’t even told her about his death. I figured she’d find out because it was all over the media. She said she wanted to support me tonight. Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to question anything.” He paused. “She also told me she broke off her engagement, but we didn’t have any time to talk about it. To be honest, having her here was really stressing me out. Then you showed up, and I stopped thinking about it.”
I was happy he was being honest. And I was tempted to confess what she’d told me in the bathroom, but opted not to. I’d be damned if I spent the short time I had with him talking about his ex-girlfriend, who apparently wanted him back. If he knew she still loved him, would he feel differently about her? That question would silently haunt me. My stomach was in knots pondering that, but I’d come all this way to be with him. I wasn’t going to let anyone take this time away from us.
The driver interrupted my thoughts. “Here we are.”
We exited the car, and I looked up at the massive structure that was apparently Ryder’s house.
All I could think was: holy shit.CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE* * *EDENIt was a place like I’d only seen in the movies.
Surrounded by lush, landscaped grounds and a large, wrought-iron gate, Ryder’s house was breathtaking.
After we entered the tall, dramatic front doors, my shoes echoed as I walked along the marble floors in the entryway.
I’m not in Utah anymore.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” he said sarcastically.
“Ryder, I never imagined…”
“I know you didn’t, because you’re not materialistic. How I live is not something you think about. I know that.” He grabbed a remote control and flicked on the fireplace in the living room. “You know what, though?”
“What?”
“I’d take your cozy little house in St. George any day over this cold, empty place. I sit here at night and think about how much more comfortable I am there.”
“That’s a little crazy.”
“Alright.” He cracked a slight smile. “We can agree to disagree.”
Ryder showed me around a bit. Just outside of a set of French doors was a gorgeous in-ground pool and patio area, illuminated in blue lights. There was a state-of-the-art theater with plush, velvet seats, a wine cellar, and a home gym.
In the grand kitchen, huge bouquets of flowers covered the granite island. Ryder stared as if the sight of them had once again slapped him back to reality.
He turned to me and whispered, “I just want to forget.”
I reached out my hand. “Let’s go forget then.”
Ryder took it and led me down a hallway, then up a spiral staircase.
The smell of his cologne saturated the air in his bedroom. With dark wood and lots of black accents, Ryder’s room was sexy and masculine. A padded, slate gray headboard I knew I’d seen before took up most of the wall behind his bed. He pressed a button, and his shades began to close.
“So this is where you’d watch me from, huh? I recognize the headboard.”
“This is it. Scene of the crime.”
He undid his belt before turning me around and unzipping my dress. It fell to the floor, and I stepped out of it. Ryder continued to undress me until I was stark naked. He stood behind me as he showered my back with slow but firm kisses, sending chills through my core. I loved how eager and desperate he seemed for me. His erection pressed against my ass, so hot and hard through the fabric of his suit pants.
He kissed the back of my neck. “My beautiful Eden. I’ll never forget that you came to be with me.” He turned me around and took me in for several seconds.
So many emotions ran through me as I unbuttoned his shirt. The most striking was fear. I didn’t want to lose him. I knew that more clearly than ever tonight, and yet I’d never been more scared of it.
He stepped out of his pants. Wearing only his boxer briefs, he pulled me into his rock-hard chest and wrapped me in his arms as he rested his mouth in my hair.
He rocked me gently back and forth. Closing my eyes, I relished the feeling. He’d never told me he loved me, but if this wasn’t what love felt like, I would never know. It hit me that no one had ever held me like this in my entire life—certainly no man. I liked to consider myself a pretty tough person, someone who didn’t need to be cradled or coddled. But damn, it felt good to be held like this. He’d been through so much today, yet here he was rocking me.
