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“I’ve been having seconds thoughts about—” he started, but she talked right over him.
“If you think putting your bag on my bed means you get the bedroom, you’re wrong,” she informed him in a hard voice. Then she disappeared into the bedroom on those clicking heels and hauled his bag back out, giving it a little kick in her bright red stilettos for emphasis.
14
Nita pressed her lips together and folded her arms.
She saw the annoyance in Ryder’s expression morph into anger. It didn’t scare her, but it was annoying. Not annoyance at him, but at herself.
She’d had a stellar plan on the drive over. She’d lay down some ground rules, most of which had to do with no flirting, no innuendo, and most importantly, no sex. Then she would tease him all night before springing her idea of him going to the derby practice tomorrow. If he agreed, the reward would be some down and dirty sex on that luscious king size bed. Was it devious, using sex to get her way? Damn right it was.
But the minute she’d stepped off the elevator and he didn’t come over to help her, topped by that look on his face that said he had regrets… well, her anger had welled up and when that happened she lost all rational control of her words.
“Are you just going to stare at me, or will you put my bags in the bedroom like a gentleman?” she said, the scorn dripping off the words.
Jesus, Nita, get a grip!she berated herself.
“Do it yourself,” he spit out, and turned to the fridge to take out a beer. He jerked the cap off on the edge of the counter, then took a long pull as he walked to the living room. He stopped in front of the wall of windows, ignoring her.
She smoothed down her skirt and weighed how badly she wanted him at the warehouse. She looked at her pride as a superpower, since it forced her to do things like study harder to beat Kensley’s practice test scores. But sometimes it got in her way, like probably now.
Luke might not even show up. But if he did, she could try to face him down alone. The problem was she became a different person when Luke showed up. An insecure woman who doubted herself. She hated those kinds of women. Having Ryder there would, at the very least, deflect Luke’s attention from her. Maybe that bit of breathing space would help her develop a tolerance for Luke’s shitty allure. She also secretly hoped Luke would do something stupid and Ryder would mop the floor with him.
That image pushed her to lower her guard.
“Let’s talk about this,” she suggested. Then, needing reinforcement, grabbed her own beer from the fridge and banged the cap off on the counter.
Ryder didn’t reply, just quietly drank as he looked out over the dark Cavendish property.
“I’m guessing that you think I’m going to turn into some doe-eyed woman who says she loves you after two fucks and a night sleeping in the same place as you, am I right?” she asked, standing beside him.
He cleared his throat, but didn’t speak.
“Plot twist… I’m not that kind of woman. I don’t believe in love, but I believe in lust. When you believe in lust, it takes all the personal stuff out of it. I also don’t believe in relationships, so you can lust it up with anyone you like as long as you stay sexually healthy,” she said.
That had him turning to look at her.
“You’re telling me, crazy poodle skirt lady, that I can go out and fuck someone, and as long as I wear a condom, I can come back and fuck you?” he asked, skepticism heavy in his tone.
“Yeah,” she replied. “I mean, if you’re capable of that. In my experience, most guys—”
“I’m not most guys and could probably go through three or four women in a night,” he said, watching her as he took a long pull on his beer.
“What, is that a test? To see if I’ll freak out?”
“Maybe,” he admitted, but the anger in his expression eased out, replaced with something closer to humor.
“I’m not freaking out. And whether or not we have sex, it won’t change anything. You’re here to do a job, and I’m here to help you do it.”
He stared at her for a long moment as she downed the rest of her beer. She burped and wiped her mouth with a forearm. That made him laugh.
“Real ladylike,” he commented.
“Who said anything about being a lady?” she asked.
“True.”
“So… truce? At least for these next weeks?”
