Page 54 of Finding Love

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Ryder’s heart was pounding in his chest while he waited for Brook to respond.

In the weeks that they’d been in Seattle, he’d fallen hard and fast for her. Hell, he was pretty sure he’d been in love with her from the moment he’d opened his eyes on the beach and had seen her standing over him.

But since they’d been there, he was sinking deeper and deeper. At this point, there was no way he would come out of it unscathed if she decided to leave him. No amount of time or surfing would be able to heal his heart.

“Me?” she finally asked. “Why is it up to me?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat before answering.

“It’s your dream house. Your castle. I can’t imagine living there without you.”

He watched her lips curve up and relaxed a little.

“You want me… to live there with you?”

“More than that. I want…” He shook his head. “No, I need you to help with the remodel. I can envision a few updates, but outside of some paint, I have no clue what I’m doing.”

She chuckled. “I have a few more ideas I could help you with.”

“I was counting on it.” He pulled her closer. “So?”

“So?” she asked with a smile.

“Will you move in with me?” He felt as if his world was turning on an axis that was Brook.

“Yes, I will.” She kissed him.

He wanted to spend his Saturday with her, but because of the break-in the night before, his phone kept ringing, and several times he was pulled back into his office.

He spent most of his day scanning through his laptop, looking at every folder. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything on here that would warrant the break-in.

Shortly after lunch, he finally shut down and pulled on his swim shorts and spent the rest of his Saturday with Brook out by the pool.

Nick showed up just before dinner, and they spent the entire meal on the back patio filling him in on everything new that they had found. After they were done eating, he showed Nick the video from the security system and even walked around the yard to show him where the figure had come from and disappeared to.

“They had a boat,” Nick surprised them by saying.

“What?” He frowned.

“They must have used your neighbor’s dock.” He motioned to the dock not far from where his fence stopped. “They tied off the boat and jumped the fence,” Nick said, pointing and turning. “Then they rushed through the yard, setting off your security system. Which is when the team notified you of the motion and had you get into the safe room. Then they opened the unlocked door.” He turned to Brook. “Smooth move there, cuz.” Brook groaned, so Ryder took her hand and squeezed it. “They raced through the house and snagged the laptop case and returned the way they came.” Nick turned back to the house and frowned. “They were probably watching you before. You said you had your laptop out here during dinner?”

They both nodded. “Yes,” Ryder answered.

“Did you open it or just have it sitting here?” Nick asked.

Ryder glanced at her. “I think we opened it for a second, but then the rain started.”

“He could have missed that. Maybe looked away or had to duck out of sight for a moment.” Ryder and Brook followed his gaze around the yard. “Your neighbors live there?”

“Yes, full time,” Ryder replied.

Then Nick turned back to the house. “You also have staff working here. There are so many other possibilities.”

Ryder nodded again. “At least half a dozen, normally.” Then he realized where Nick was going with this new thought. “They’ve all been screened by the private security firm I hire.”

“Right, but sometimes things get missed.” Nick walked towards the house.