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Chapter 31
Ladies don’t day drink. Good thing I’m no longer a lady. ~ Phoebe’s rules for becoming a better person
“You’re going the wrong way,” I tell Ryker the next morning when he turns left instead of right on East Kilbourn Avenue.
His response? He grunts. Someone needs to learn grunting is not an answer.
“Where are we going?”
My eyes widen and I rub my hands in excitement when I get an idea. “Are you taking me with you to catch a skip?”
Ryker glances over at me with a look of confusion written all over his face. “You’d like that?”
I bob my head. “Yeah. It would be interesting. I could probably learn a thing or twenty from you as well.”
Here’s the thing. I started out in the whole private investigator business because Hailey and Suzie were willing to take a chance on me without asking for all kinds of information I couldn’t give them. And they paid cash. Always a bonus when you’re living under an assumed name.
But now that I’ve gone out on my own for some insurance claim cases, I’ve discovered I like the work. Sure, it can be boring sitting in a car outside someone’s house for hours on end, but that’s why podcasts were invented. And there is absolutely nothing like the feeling of capturing the ‘gotcha picture’ as Suzie refers to the pictures of the cheaters getting caught red-handed.
“Okay. I’ll take you out on one condition.”
“Anything.” I can’t agree quick enough.
“You follow everything I say. I don’t chase insurance scammers. I chase criminals who are running from the law. It’s dangerous.”
Dangerous? I don’t like the sounds of that. “But you’re careful, right? You don’t take unnecessary chances?”
Ryker reaches over and grabs my hand. “Are you worried about me, Princess?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course, I am. You’re my boyfriend.”
“I’m not your boyfriend.”
Oh, shit. Have I misunderstood everything? This is what happens when you’re forced to marry a man your parents choose for you. You have no experience in romantic relationships. I try to tug my hand away, but Ryker holds tight.
“I’m a thirty-five-year-old man. I’m not a boy.”
No need to remind me. My feminine bits still tingle from where he showed me how much he isn’t a boy this morning. The man has stamina. I rub my legs together at the reminder.
I gather my courage together and ask, “What are you then? If you’re not my boyfriend?”
“I’m your man.” He winks at me before returning his attention to the road.
I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I didn’t misunderstand everything after all. Look at me, having social skills and everything.
“Where are we going?” I ask again once my heart has calmed.
“It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise? Don’t tell me the big bad bounty hunter can be romantic.”
Ryker shakes his head, but there’s a grin on his face. “Only with you, Princess.”
Yeah, right. Insert eye roll here.
He squeezes my hand. “No, seriously. You are the only woman I’ve ever made an effort for. I’ve never chased after a woman. Not to sound like a jerk, but I’ve never needed to.”
Now I do roll my eyes. It isn’t lost on me how all the women pant after him wherever he goes.
