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“Okay, no more snarky comments. Now, hear me out. My suite provides someplace quiet to talk, and remember, Toblerone chocolate, soda pop, peanuts, and a foot rub. Have I talked you into it?”
She pulled her hands out of his and looked up at him. “Ryker, you really don’t have to try this hard. I’m the one who needs to grovel here. I’ve been the jerk.” Amy felt her throat start to close up and her eyes get itchy.
Ryker brushed back some of her curls behind her ear. “All I want is for you to talk to me. Help me to understand what’s going on. Can you do that?”
She ducked her head down and mumbled the word yes.
He put his knuckles under her chin and lifted it. His eyes were warm, comforting, and so much more. “It’s going to be all right, Amy. I promise you.”
18
Ryker left her outside in the hall for a moment, to do a sweep of the room before inviting her inside. Lark had told her about Kostya always doing that, so she rolled with it. When he held open the door for her, she stepped into a very nice suite.
“The mini-bar in this place has to be amazing,” she enthused.
“That’s why I promised the good chocolate and not just M&Ms.”
Ryker helped her off with her coat, and she watched him drape it over one of the four dining room chairs. “Why don’t you go take a seat on the sofa, and I’ll call out what’s available to eat and drink, and you tell me what you want, does that sound like a plan?” Ryker asked.
“Sounds good,” Amy said as she sat down on the soft cushions. If she weren’t so nervous to talk to Ryker, she could easily just melt into this sofa and fall asleep.
“Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Orange Juice, Pi—”
“I’ll take a sparkling water if they have it,” Amy interrupted him.
“They do. What kind of nut selection?”
“No nuts, unless they come in a Snickers bar.”
“You’re in luck.”
“Packets of cheese and crackers?” Amy asked wistfully.
“Yes again. You’re on a roll. What else?”
“I’m done. Isn’t that the price of a prime rib dinner?”
“Probably,” Ryker laughed. He stood up and brought the haul over to the coffee table. Amy saw that he brought a Coke and Toblerone chocolate bar as well.
“No peanuts?”
“They only had honey-roasted cashews. I’m not a fan.”
Ryker went back to the mini-bar area and grabbed a bunch of little napkins that were by the coffee maker, and handed her a couple.
“Ryker, I want to explain why—”
“Food first,” Ryker interrupted. “No deep dark conversations without consuming sugar, salt, and fat. It’s a rule.”
“I don’t remember being taught that rule before,” she teased. “Trust me, I would have remembered.”
Ryker gave her a tender look. “If I told you that my mom used to say that to all of us kids, would it hurt you, Amy?”
She bent her head and concentrated on opening the cheese and cracker snack pack. “No, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” she answered him. It wasn’t his question that had her looking down, it was his knowing that was a hot button for her. It was the compassion that was on his face. She’d gathered from his voicemail that he wasn’t mad exactly. But she had expected an abrupt conversation where he demanded answers. Not teasing, cajoling and warmth. He was confusing the hell out of her.
“So, eat up. That’s the salt portion,” he said nodding at her snack pack. “Save some crackers for me, since I didn’t get my peanuts. Then we’ll both move on to our chocolate.”
“You’re not getting any of my cheese and crackers,” Amy protested. “Go find something else to snack on with salt. I worked a full dinner shift tonight, and I didn’t get to eat. If you make a grab for my crackers, you’ll lose a limb.”
