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Whitney lowered her voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. I’m surprised he told you. No one knows except our closest friends. He was heartbroken. That woman crushed a part of him.”
Wow. Ryder hadn’t gone into those kinds of details, like how he’d felt crushed. He had told her more about how he regretted dragging his family into the mess.
“She really hurt him?”
“Yeah. He’d left everything and everyone and followed her to the city. He plays it off that he was young, which he was. But he was lost to her. Once the knot was tied, the ink wasn’t dry on the license before she left him and wanted a settlement. It broke something in him. Ever since, he hasn’t really let go of his control.” Penny looked at Whitney and smiled. “But since he met you, I’ve seen some of that spark come back in him.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing, if he’s worried about it.”
“He doesn’t know how to deal with that kind of passion. For a while, I didn’t, either. But eventually I let it take me down, and it’s a hell of a ride.” Penny smiled, like she was recalling a happy memory. “Ryder just keeps things at arm’s length.”
Like coffee dates and manners. It was his shield.
“I’m not after anything of his, or your family’s,” Whitney said.
“Oh, I know that!” Penny assured her quickly. “If I thought you were, I wouldn’t be pushing you to continue making my brother’s life difficult.”
Difficult. Yep, that was what she was doing. He’d been honest, and Whitney now knew what he was fighting. She didn’t want to make it harder for him. She just wanted him. Ryder had tried to date her, to keep his boundaries in place, to even be her friend, and now it was Whitney’s turn to step up and compromise.
“I’m officially taking sex off the table,” she said, and Penny’s brows rose.
“Ah…I think you lost me.”
“I mean, it’s not just about sex anymore. I want…” She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “More.”
“Oh, honey! We can definitely work with more! I’m all about getting that!”
Penny did a little dance, and Whitney felt truly happy. She had a friend, maybe even a couple of friends. With Ryder, with Penny, with their friends, she felt like she had a small part of her sister back. Like she just might get a chance to hang onto the one man she…
“Oh, fuckin’ A!” Whitney whispered and ran a hand along her forehead, where an instant phantom headache hit.
“What? Are you okay?” Penny asked.
She looked at her and shook her head. “I don’t know. I think it’s…side effects or something. Oh God…oh God…” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Side effects? Are you on medication? Should I call Lily?”
Whitney shook her head. “I love him,” she muttered. “Somehow I fell in love with a guy who’s killing me with good manners. It’s not my fault, though. He tempted me with naughtiness until I gave in.”
“That sounds like Ryder.”
Yes, it did. Now it was her turn to retaliate.
Ryder was doing touch ups to the paint with a single light on. It was well past dark, and he was the only one at the Hall. He was trying to convince himself he was doing what he should be doing. Seeing to the small details. Proving to the client that he was on top of everything. He was the first one to the site and the last one to leave. Except for that one morning…
He continued the small brush strokes along the baseboard, making sure all the paint was even and no spatter was left behind. The event was in two days. This was the final stretch, and he would be ready. Ready to discuss the future with Davenport. Ready to face Whitney and really let her go.
His chest punched at the last part.
And like God himself had read his mind, Whitney appeared, standing in the doorway of the foyer, holding a small paper bag.
“Hi,” she said softly. There was a stark vulnerability in her eyes. He set the brush in the paint tin and rose from his hunkered down position.
She stepped toward him. Those toned leg muscles flexed beneath olive skin, and his mouth dried out with the need to drink down her sweet taste. Her shirt was tied at the side. He’d learned that she liked her wordy tees. The one she was wearing tonight read:
Welcome to the big apple. Bite me.
