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“What the fuck?” he whispers, looking around the room. “Did he do anything else?”
I recall the sink being on. “He was in the kitchen. That’s what I heard first. I heard the sink come on.”
I hasten into the kitchen, throwing the light on and looking around.
What in the hell?
“Is anything different or missing?” Ryker asks me, looking around the room as he moves in front of me.
“He did my dishes,” I breathe.
“What?” He looks at me pointedly.
I nod. “He did my dishes. And come to think of it, there are nights I don’t remember doing them and yet when I come down in the morning, they’re done…”
His brows furrow in confusion. “I’ve dealt with some fucking weirdos, but this is…”
“Yeah.”
“I know you’re supposed to come to dinner with me tomorrow night, and it’ll be our first date and all, so I don’t want to push your boundaries, but do you and the cats want to come and stay with me tonight? I’ll sleep on the couch, of course. But it would make me feel better to know you’re safe.”
He looks down from where he towers over me. It warms me that he included my cats, but I know getting them over there would be an absolute pain in the ass. Still, I nod.
“I really don’t want to stay here tonight, but can you stay here? If I get out the cat carrier, Piglet will lose his shit. He will think he’s going to the vet, and it’ll become a huge thing.”
He smiles, eyes full of understanding. “Of course. Let me go lock my house up.”
I move in step with him, and he looks at me, quirking a brow. “Where you go, I go. At least for tonight.”
He laughs. “Come on then, tag-a-long.”
After arguing over sleeping arrangements, locking his house up, and fighting Tigger over his side of the bed, Ryker is next to me in my bed. We’re both lying on our backs, staring at the ceiling as awkward, ringing silence permeates the room and every cavern of my ears.
This is the most comfortable place to sleep, and having him downstairs wouldn’t make me feel any better. I’d still feel alone.
“Thank you for this,” I whisper.
“Of course.” He rolls toward me, and instinctively, I do the same.
I can’t deny there’s something between us, but it’s not the same. It’s not enough. I consider myself a virgin, although I’m not. My virginity had been stolen from me, along with my dignity and sense of security. It had taken years for me to be comfortable enough to be on my own. And now, it seems another seeks to rip away what I’ve built.
I won’t allow it.
I won’t fucking stand for it.
My solitude is mine.
I’ve waited to ‘lose my virginity’ to the next man I choose to allow in my body. I’d resigned to making it mean something. I thought for the longest time I’d want that person to be Ryker. But even though I feel safer with him next to me, it’s not the same as when I stood in my office with Emery far too close only hours ago.
It’s not the same.
I keep telling myself to throw that notion out of the fucking door because he’s my boss—amongst other things—but my brain and body are locked in a battle and I’m on the sidelines waiting to see who wins.
“Not tired?” Ryker asks.
I shake my head. “My body feels too alive to sleep,” I admit.
“It’s the adrenaline, happens to me a lot in the field. Shit, sometimes, if too much happened on shift, I can’t get to bed for hours after getting home.” His gaze seems to darken even in the moon-illuminated room. “I could help with that, though.”
