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He grinned. He loved her sass. In was in every move, every breath, and every word.
Wild.
It was just her.
“I brought you dinner,” she said and held up the brown bag.
He took it. “Thank you.”
He opened it and struggled not to laugh when he saw what was inside: an assortment of candy. He raised a brow and looked at her. “I’ve never had candy for dinner.”
“Well, I’ve never asked a man on a date, so I figured candy was a starting point.”
Ryder’s blood stopped pumping, and his chest stilled like he’d forgotten how to breathe.
Had he heard her right? Surely not. This was their game. The “I’ve Never” part of it was never meant to be serious. She’d said so herself from the beginning.
She took another step toward him, and her delicate throat worked on a hard swallow. She glanced down, her fingers fumbling in front of her. My God, the woman was…nervous.
The smart-mouthed, rise-to-the-challenge, no-dates-allowed woman was actually nervous.
“I was wondering if, ah, maybe you wanted to get coffee sometime?” she asked.
Ryder’s mouth slackened, and he stared at the smal
l female before him. She was larger than life, her presence so much bigger than her actual frame, yet right now, she looked so innocent. Lost even. And she was coming to him to find herself?
“Coffee?” he asked.
She nodded. “I promise to be on my best behavior.” When she tossed him a little grin, his ribs almost split open from the racing rhythm of his heart beating like crazy.
“I kind of like it when you’re on your worst behavior though,” he rasped, then closed the distance between them. That fog was settling in his brain again. The one he should be fighting. The one he knew better than to be blind to. But she was changing the rules.
“I was thinking of maybe staying around Diamond for a while. And having you for a friend or…maybe more…could be nice.”
His brows sliced down. “Nice?”
That single word cut him faster and sharper than a blade. Whitney didn’t do “nice.” She didn’t do “more.” She didn’t do dates. And she knew neither of them did “public.”
He’d been on the other end of this conversation a few weeks ago. Just the idea of a date and friendship and nice had pissed Whitney off. Now she wanted that from him. Why now? How had the tables turned so drastically?
“Why?” he asked. “Why this change of heart?” His body went cold. He didn’t know what she was ultimately looking to gain by coming here, but he knew it would destroy him if she asked for something he had to deny. “Come out and say what it is you’re really after.”
She frowned at him. “I’m after you,” she admitted, and part of him shut down at the admission. She was the freest, wildest woman he’d ever met, and suddenly she was sticking around and wanted him.
He didn’t buy it. Couldn’t. Because it went against everything she was. So was her aim to set him up? String him along?
He dropped the candy bag and closed the last inches between them. He threaded a hand in her hair, maneuvered her against the wall, and pressed hard into her body.
“Where’s the mouthy woman I’ve come to know? Where is she?”
“I’m right here,” she said. Her thighs spread enough so Ryder could wedge himself farther between them. The woman had him instantly hard. All the damn time. Now she was pulling a one-eighty, and he was so lost. Had no idea what to think or how to react other than what he knew, which was to resist the impulse to throw caution to the wind and simply be with the woman his heart desired.
He’d been through this once before, and it had been too good to be true then.
He pulled her to him, hating that he couldn’t let her go without at least one more touch. His mouth against hers, he said, “You come in to my town, make me lose my mind since day one… Now you’re changing everything you said you wanted because you think there’s more to gain?”
She nodded. “I didn’t ask to feel this, but I can’t deny it if I do. I’ve never told a man I love him before. This is new for me.”
