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"It's fine. Did you have fun?"
"We had a great time." Megan's smile went from ear to ear. "But I need a long nap."
"I'll text you later," Eric said.
"Okay," Megan replied.
There was an awkward kiss between them, and then Eric left the apartment. Megan closed the door behind him and said, "The most amazing night of my life."
Megan's words filled Ria with happiness. "It was that good?"
"The best. Eric wants me to be his girlfriend." She paused, looking over at Drew. "Sorry, I didn't even say hi to you."
"No problem," Drew said. "I'm glad you had fun."
"What did you tell Eric?" Ria asked.
"I said yes, of course," Megan said. "He's such a cool guy. I have to tell Lindsay I have a boyfriend now."
"Didn't you just see her?" Ria asked.
"An hour ago. Eric asked me to be his girlfriend when we were in the car," Megan said, as she texted Lindsay with rapid-fire fingers. When she was done, she added. "I'm going to take a nap."
"I figured," Ria said. "I have some lessons this afternoon. So you'll be in the apartment the rest of the day?"
Megan rolled her eyes. "Yes, I won't leave the apartment." She grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl and paused, a light of curiosity in her eyes. "So what did you two do last night?"
"We went for a helicopter ride," Ria said, feeling as if last night was now already a distant dream."
"Don't forget the sail that followed," Drew added.
"Wow. You got to go up in his helicopter? No fair. I thought you said you couldn't take us up," Megan complained.
"It was my friend's helo," Drew said. "And I'd be happy to get you a ride some time."
"You better. It sounds like you had the perfect night," she added, giving Ria a smile.
"It was good. I'll tell you more about it later." After Megan left, she turned back to Drew. "It's your turn to answer my question."
"What's that?"
"What are you going to do now?"
"Who said I was going to do anything?"
"You're a man of action. And you like to solve problems. I'm fairly certain you're going to do something, and I don't want you to. This is my problem, not yours."
"We'll talk later, Ria."
"That's not an answer."
"It's all I have right now." He walked over to her. "I need to think. What you told me is a lot to take in."
"I know."
"But I'm not going to hurt you, Ria. And I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you or Megan." He kissed her hard on the lips, then left.
As she closed the door behind him, she couldn't help thinking that she should have run when she had the chance. While having Drew on her side was wonderful and somewhat reassuring, she now had to worry about him, too, and there was no way she was going to let anyone hurt him, either.
Chapter Seventeen
After leaving Ria's apartment, Drew drove home. He took a shower, changed his clothes and debated his next move. The night had certainly been incredible. Being with Ria again had been even better than the first time. But with the morning had come reality and revelations. His mind was still spinning from Ria's story. One thing was clear; he needed more information on Enrique Valdez. And he needed to get that information from someone who wasn't involved or biased. While Ria might trust her sister implicitly, he needed to be sure that Kate hadn't spun Ria a tale just to get Megan away from the Valdez family. Although, Kate's death certainly lent credence to her earlier assumption that her life was in danger.
Drew ran his fingers through his damp hair as he considered his options. He had friends in the Coast Guard's drug enforcement unit that he could call on. If Enrique Valdez was an international drug smuggler, he would no doubt be on their radar. He could also talk to Max and Emma, see if they could tap into Valdez's criminal activities. But he had to be careful. If he asked the wrong person, he could put Ria in danger, which was exactly what she was afraid of. He didn't want to blow her trust in him, but he also couldn't stand by and do nothing.
Which left him with the two people he knew he could trust—Emma, and her homicide detective fiancé, Max Harrison.
