Page 19 of Finding Love

“You know, the basics. Who are your people? What do you do for a living? What blood type do you have? How many grandkids can you give them? Same old questions every meddling aunt and mother want answers to.” She sighed and took a sip of her water.

“Right.” He shifted after taking a bite of the brownie. “Damn good,” he said, leaning back in the chair. “I have no people. I’m an investor of sorts. A positive blood type, and I’m not sure just yet how many children I want. I suppose it depends on who I’m lucky enough to talk into settling down with me,” he answered smoothly.

Her eyebrows shot up and she had to admit, he was smooth. Very smooth.

“Good to know,” she said, taking another sip of the water.

“We were going to head over to that bookstore, the one Eva’s husband owns,” he said, glancing down the street at the building.

“The Brew Ha Ha,” she supplied.

“Right.” He chuckled. “What a name.”

“Rafe and his sister Cindy co-own the place. His other sister Cora used to own a floral shop in town, before she and her husband moved to Colorado. Now the only flower shop is All in Bloom.”

“Right, I met the owner and her husband—Suzie and Aiden—yesterday.” He nodded.

“Right.” She smiled. Okay, so Ryder was extremely charming and had a really great memory. “What exactly does an investor of sorts do?”

“This and that.” He shrugged. “Mainly, I took the job after my father died.” He avoided her eyes, and she could tell he wanted to change the subject.

“Well, whatever it is, it must be nice to be able to travel so much.” She sighed as she looked out over the town. “I love Pride. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but it’s always nice to go and see new places.”

“Oh. What sort of places do you want to go see?” he asked, his eyes running over her.

“I’ve actually been to a lot of places. Paris, Italy, Alaska.” She chuckled. “I’d still love to go to Brazil during Carnival. My friend Rose’s uncle and aunt have this whole crazy backstory of how they met and fell in love in Brazil when they had to escape some crazy drug lords.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You mean Senator Kenneth Rhodes’s daughter?”

Brook leaned forward. “You know about Ann and Ethan?”

“I don’t know them personally, but yes, I’ve heard the story. I had to do a paper on it in school once. Plus, there was a movie about it…” His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to remember the name.

“Secret Guardian,” she supplied with a laugh.

“Right, it sounds like it was a pretty crazy situation. You know them?” he asked.

“I do. They come to Pride every so often. Ethan’s sister Rob is my friend Rose’s mother. Rob is married to Ric Derby…”

Ryder tensed. “Seriously? I know Ric.”

She laughed. “It’s a small world.”

“Yeah,” Ryder said.

Instantly, this news had her wondering why he was frowning and looking around the town as if he expected the man to turn the corner and beat him.

“Hey.” She touched his hand. “Ric and Rob aren’t in town. Actually, I think they’re in Paris for an art show right now. Ric owns several galleries overseas.”

“Right. I like the guy. Seriously,” he said quickly. “It’s just—”

“I get it,” she interrupted, feeling her heart sink. “You want to keep your secrets for at least another week.” She sighed and before he could respond, she stood up. “Well, I’d better get back to work.” She turned and disappeared inside before he had a chance to say anything else.