AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyes fell on the crusty Italian bread, butter and olive oil. The appearance of her favorite foods had her moving back into her temptation phase a bit early. By the smell of things, an array of her favorite pasta dishes awaited her, too. She could feel the men's stare as they waited for herreaction.
Ryder spoke first. "Dinner is almost ready, baby. I hope you'rehungry."
She scoffed as she took the seat next to where Ryder was standing. "Being hungry is never my problem." She paused, before adding, "It's the choking it down and keeping it there I strugglewith."
"Well then, we'll have to take it one bite at a time, won'twe."
Her phone rang again. She pulled it out, this time turning it offcompletely.
"Who was that? Is someone harassing you?" Ryder's concern wastouching.
"Harassing, no. In fact, quite theopposite."
He didn't like her cryptic answer. When she didn't expound, the traitor, Trevor, answered for her. "That's her parents' ringtone."
She gave him the evil eye for mentioningthem.
Ryder's eyes widened. "Why is that a bad thing? I bet they're worried aboutyou."
"I wouldn't know. We barely speak. I was supposed to have dinner with them in New York last week. It was the only good thing that came out of the break-in. I had a legitimate reason to cancel onthem."
Ryder looked distressed at the news, which struck her as funny considering how he'd been avoiding seeing his own father who, as best as she could tell, was only a few miles away from him at themoment.
"Far be it from me to give advice on parent-child relationships, but since they rarely call, don't you think they might have something important to say if they phoneagain?"
"Oh I know what they'll have to say. I have it memorized. I'm immoral, chasing fame instead of religion. Then they'd remind me that my brother Milak would be a priest by now. He was the perfect child in their eyes. They never forget to remind me how much they wish he were alive. Oh, they leave off the part about wishing it had been me instead of Milak in the car that night, but I know. I can hear it loud andclear."
She heard the bitterness in her voice, recognizing her normal shrew-like tone she always got when she spoke of her parents. In many ways, she wished they would just cut her out of their life completely. That would be easier to take than this hot and cold savior routine they insisted on putting her through randomly, fucking with hermojo.
An awkward silence fell while she watched Ryder strain the cooked pasta and bring the hot dish to the island counter table where small salads and the bread already waited. She was glad to be seated as her heart rate raced watching Ryder putting a portion of each type of food on the plate in front of her. She felt lightheaded, almost faint in her panic. Her brain knew he'd given her small portions, yet for a woman who normally ate less than half that amount of calories in an entire day, the serving lookedenormous.
Maybe I'll go for a couple miles run later to work this alloff.
That was her other trick. Exercising untilexhaustion.
"Give me your phone." His request surprised her. She'd expected him to lay down the law about how much she'd have to eat. She handed over the smartphone and watched him turn it on before setting itaside.
His next order came seconds later. "Pick up your fork. Stab the lettuce and take a bite ofsalad."
They may be seated at the dinner table, but Ryder was using the same stern tone of voice as he had barked his orders to her on the first night they met. That deep, yummy tone that went straight to her girlie parts. It surprised her that it didn't seem to matter what words he uttered, only that he used that melting hotdominance.
The first bite of salad tasted good. Almost as if he'd known, he hadn't drowned the veggies in heavy dressings, making it easier for her to justify. The men tore into their much bigger portions as she slowly chewed and swallowed, determined to eat slow enough to time the end of her salad with the end of theirmeal.
As if he knew her trick, Ryder slowed his bites, finally putting down his own fork to watch her intently. When her salad was gone, she wanted to stop. Had Ryder Helms not been there, she wouldhave.
"Now take a bite of pasta andsauce."
This would be harder. The food was heavier, full of unwanted calories. The carbs would make her feel bloated. She resisted pushing away from the table, instead filling her fork with the tiniest bit of food she could and still call it a bite. Her hand trembled as she raised the pasta to her lips, finally opening and savoring the heavenly taste on hertongue.
She closed her eyes, determined to enjoy the flavor as much as she could before panic prevented the nextbite.
The renewed sound of her phone ringing broke thesilence.
"Answer it and see what they have to say," Ryder asserted, back to givingorders.
Funny how it's all about choices. Minutes before she couldn't be bothered to talk with her parents, but now, faced with talking to them or eating a heavy dinner, they suddenly lookedbetter.
"Czesc, Papa. Do czego mam ten zaszczyt?" She almost laughed out loud at the surprised look on Ryder's face as she carried on the conversation with her father in Polish. It distracted her enough that she almost missed the animated shouting at the other end of thephone.
