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Ryan hooked a finger under my chin, guiding me down for a tender kiss. I hummed into his mouth, relishing in the taste of him; one that was quickly starting to grow on me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“I told you: I’m taking you on this date. I’m not going to let you pay for the entire thing. Especially not with what I have planned.”

“Okay, now you’re scaring me—what exactly do you have planned?”

Ryan’s head rested on the back of the couch, and he turned, giving me that killer smile. “It’s a secret.”

“If you’re planning something that extravagant you have to let me pay for something.”

Ryan mulled over the idea. He’d been staying with me for a week, and now he needed to head home—the Thompsons were forced to cut their vacation short when one of the kids came down with a fever. We’d left Ryan’s bathroom a bloodied mess, and he needed to get it cleaned up before someone else found it. Thankfully, he’d healed enough to where they wouldn’t notice. The cut on his head was hidden by his hair, and he was getting around better now that the bruises were healing.

“Fine,” he finally relented. “You can pay for the hotel but that’s it.”

“Hotel? Are you whisking me away to kidnap me?”

He snickered, nose wrinkling in that adorable way I was quickly growing to admire. “Well, I figured that we might be better off going out somewhere that isn’t Hazelbrush.”

A weekend away in a hotel with Ryan… alone. The idea had my heart racing, but I wasn’t sure whether it was good or bad.

“I wouldn’t be offended if you wanted separate rooms,” he continued. “I understand if you’d want your privacy.”

“You were literally sleeping on top of me last night. Sharing a bed is the least of my worries.”

Ryan groaned, hiding his flushed face in his hands. After he fell asleep on me watching a movie, I hadn’t had the heart to move him. Once I dozed off, it was the best sleep I’d ever had.

“Then what are you so scared of?”

“Sex,” I blurted without thinking. Sure, our make-out sessions had grown pretty heated, but it had been clothes-on fun only—as frustrating as that could get.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Ryan said confidently. “If and when you’re ready, we’ll have that conversation.

“What if I’m never ready?” I avoided looking him in the eyes.

“Then that’s your boundary to draw, and I’ll have to be okay with that.” Ryan checked his phone and grimaced. “I should get going. I need to get rid of those bloody towels before Stacy finds them. God knows I don’t want to explain what happened.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive, Captain Concussion?”

Smiling, Ryan got to his feet and straddled my legs. Blood surged south, but I tried to ignore it. Ryan cupped my neck in his hands, tipping my head back so our lips met in a soft, sweet kiss. His tongue flirted with the tip of mine, and he pulled back.

Ignoring it wasn’t working.

“I’ll be fine,” he whispered, winding a rogue curl around his finger. “All you need to do is get us a place to stay in Jacksonville, and I’ll worry about the rest. I’ll call you tonight.”

With that, he was gone. The sudden emptiness in the house had me questioning if the past week had all been a dream.

Pulling myself from the couch, I dug something out of the back of my closet—something that I had to get rid of if I wanted to make this thing with Ryan work. It was my last tie to Grace, and I needed it gone.

After running a few errands, I stopped by the shop to talk to Charlie. Noise in that place wasn’t unusual but as I entered, there was an extraordinary amount of banging. Specifically, a rhythmic, metallic clang that seemed to pierce right through my skull.

I stepped into the cool, air-conditioned lobby, calling out for Charlie. She responded from the office, and I followed the sound, pausing just before I entered to summon the strength to tell her what I needed to. I hadn’t seen Sawyer since he attacked Ryan and assuming it was him in the garages, I had to bring myself down a notch. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I did see him.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming by.”

Charlie pulled my attention away from the garage door. She stood there, bouncing a pen off her palm.

Click, click, click…