Save Me, page 13
He had been right the other day when he called her out for not bothering to learn anything personal about him. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but now it suddenly seemed huge.
Enormous, really.
And as much as she knew she could wait to see him until Monday night when he got home, she didn’t want to wait that long. Another quick search told her where the convention was and she was able to purchase a ticket. Then, just to play it safe, she booked a hotel room. If Ryker wasn’t happy to see her there, she was going to need a place to stay.
Once that was booked, she calmly got up and made herself some lunch and ate while she packed. Next, she took a shower and casually went through her closet looking for something to wear. There wasn’t a real rush because it was only one in the afternoon and the convention was open until eleven tonight. The drive would take a little under four hours and if Ryker was as wildly popular as that article claimed he was, she wouldn’t get to see or talk to him until close to closing time anyway.
“But I’m still going early to scope it all out and learn what I can,” she murmured as she pulled out a pair of black jeans and a black and silver sweater. “Could I be more of a cliché?” Still, she embraced the look and slid on a pair of high leather boots and big silver hoop earrings. Her hair was loose and wavy, and by the time she had everything together, she almost didn’t recognize herself.
I’m embracing my inner biker chick…
No…this wasn’t about bikers…but she had no idea what they called women who loved getting tattoos.
“I suppose I’ll find that out as well. This will be both interesting and educational. Yay, me!”
Still, she killed some time wiping down kitchen countertops and fluffing pillows, but as soon as three o’clock hit, she hefted her weekender bag over her shoulder and walked down to her car.
Road trips weren’t normally her thing, but she was a woman on a mission. It didn’t matter that this relationship with Ryker was a casual fling; she was a little hurt that he held such an important part of his life back. After he’d held her while she cried the other day and pretty much shared all her misery with him, she thought he would have given her just a tiny glimpse into who he was.
Or at least his last name, for crying out loud.
There was a list of questions running through her head and she hoped she wasn’t making a colossal mistake by going to the convention. If Ryker got pissed by her showing up and ended things, she’d feel…well…
How would I feel?
Suddenly, that wasn’t such an easy question to answer.
The logical part of her wanted to say it wouldn’t be a big deal. Their relationship wasn’t serious and it would mean she could go and play the heartbroken girl at the pub and maybe that would ease the tension between her and her mother for a little while.
Liar.
Or…she’d be mildly disappointed because Ryker was a cool guy to hang out with and the sex was off-the-charts fantastic.
“So, okay…I’d miss the sex.”
Liar.
Well, not a total liar on that one, because she really would miss the sex. No man had ever made her feel as good as Ryker had and she was seriously considering not getting into any kind of deep conversation with him tonight and just maybe surprising him in his room and…
“Oh, crap,” she muttered. She’d been going on and on and on about how what they had wasn’t real and she wasn’t looking for a relationship and there was no reason for Ryker to keep up the pretense all the way up in Virginia Beach—especially when he didn’t know she was going to be there. For all she knew, she was going to show up and find him with another woman!
And the knot of dread in the pit of her stomach hit so hard that she almost had to pull over.
“Okay, okay…one thing at a time. I can’t possibly get mad at him for playing by my own stupid rules. Stupid, stupid, stupid rules! Gah!”
The reality was, if things went south and he got pissed at her for showing up and ended things…she’d be devastated—just like if she showed up and found him with another woman.
It was beyond tempting to simply turn the car around and go home and feign ignorance. It was bliss, after all. But, she wasn’t a quitter and she didn’t shy away from challenges.
Unless they involved her family, in which case, all bets were off.
But right now, this challenge seemed too important to ignore.
So, hitting the button on her favorite playlist, Ryleigh Donovan made her way to her first ever tattoo convention.
His shoulders ached, his hands were cramped, and his head was pounding.
It was both a touch of heaven and hell.
The noise level in the convention center was insane and the crowd around his booth was almost suffocating. There’d been a reason he took a year off from this and now he wished he’d waited and taken another before making a “comeback.”
Ugh…
“Ry, you want me to grab you something to drink?” Billie asked. “Marc’s here and we were going to get something for us, so…”
“Just water,” he told her. “And make sure it’s cold or get me a cup of ice, please.”
“You got it.” She started to walk away and then paused. “Two more hours to go.”
Nodding, he thanked her, his eyes never leaving his client’s back and the massive dragon he was filling in. If they weren’t at a convention, he’d want to do this in two sessions, but because of the strict timeline, it was all getting done today. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he could get it done and it was going to look awesome; he was just itching to get up and move around.
And sleep.
Sleep would be great right about now.
All day, Billie had made sure he had plenty to eat and drink and got his bathroom breaks, but damn, he was exhausted. From the moment the convention center doors opened the previous day, he’d been going nonstop. He’d spoken on a panel yesterday and answered what felt like a thousand questions, and then he’d jumped right into working on his first client. Fortunately, he’d been able to get two in yesterday because what they wanted was on a much smaller scale than today’s guy. It had been a long time since he’d pulled an eighteen-hour day where he worked like this and it made him realize just how much he missed the energy of working one-on-one like this.
Maybe this was the kick in the ass he needed to go back to Laurel Bay and pull the trigger on the parlor.
Maybe.
He worked some green into the dragon and did his best to focus on the tattoo and not on how tired he was. At some point, Billie put an icy bottle of water in front of him and he paused long enough to drink most of it down in one shot.
And instantly cursed the brain freeze it gave him.
“Hey, I know you,” he heard Billie saying some time later. “You’re the girl from the drawing.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, yeah…Ryker did a drawing of you! Damn! He was spot on!”
For some reason, that made him look up, and he froze.
Ryleigh.
She was here.
In the middle of his world, in the midst of all this chaos, and…she was staring at him defiantly.
She looked stunning all dressed in black—sexy and sassy and definitely out of her comfort zone.
He nodded to Billie to indicate that Ryleigh could come into the booth, but once she did, neither said a word. She could obviously tell he was busy, and Ryker was more determined than ever to finish this dragon.
And now he had the perfect motivation to get it done.
Ryleigh stepped further into the booth and Billie immediately got her a stool to sit on and offered her something to drink.
“If there’s any water…”
“Be right back!”
As if knowing that he couldn’t look at her or be distracted, she sat primly on the stool and watched him work. Ryker was used to people doing that and it didn’t bother him.
But having Ryleigh watch him made him nervous for the first time in possibly ten years. That was when he competed for the first time, and he had no idea there would be so many people hovering around him. Over the years, he’d gotten used to it but right now this all just felt…huge.
Huge and intimidating.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to tune it all out, to clear his mind of all the sights and sounds and smells around him and simply focus on the art.
When he finally finished, he straightened in his chair and then bent back as far as he could go—until the stretch was more pleasure than pain—before he came to his feet. “You’re all good, Nick,” he said. “Let me help you to your feet.” After doing that, Ryker grabbed the full-length mirror he had in the back of the booth and held it up so the guy could see the finished product.
“Holy shit, Ryker,” Nick said with awe. “This is fucking amazing! So much more than I thought it would be.”
Ryker was used to the praise, but it still pleased him to no end to see the look of pure satisfaction on a client’s face. “Glad you like it, man. Billie’s gonna come and get it covered up for you and give you a list of instructions you need to follow to a T.” Pausing, he gave Nick a stern look. “To a T, no joke. If you have any concerns once it’s all healed over, you’ve got my card and don’t hesitate to reach out, okay?”
“Thanks, Ryker. You’re a legend!”
Ryker shook his hand before stepping aside so Billie could come over and finish things up. After another full body stretch, he turned and finally faced Ryleigh.
“So…” he began.
She came to her feet and stared up at him. “So…”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Ryker forced himself to say, unsure of what she was thinking right now.
“Up until late this morning, I had no intention of coming here. But then I talked to my sister, who mentioned you being a tattoo artist, and I figured I’d come and check it out.” She crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “You know, since you never thought to mention what you do for a living. Or your last name—Ryker Masella!”
And then she turned and stormed away.
With a nervous glance at Billie, he said, “So, uh…I’m gonna go.”
Her smile was practically giddy. “Yeah, you better go after her because there have been tons of guys hanging around checking her out.”
“They were watching me work.”
“Yeah, no,” she said with another wide grin. “Most eyes were on your girl, so you really should quit chit-chatting with me and go after her.”
Sure enough, when he looked up the aisle, there were three guys walking with her, and she didn’t look like she was hating it.
“Oh, hell no,” he muttered as he grabbed his satchel. “Secure everything for me, Bill.”
“I’m on it!”
As Ryker strode up the aisle, he noticed people stepping out of his way and most got a little wide-eyed as they recognized him, but he wasn’t looking to stop and talk to anyone. There was only one person he wanted to talk to and he had a feeling she was going to make him work for it.
Picking up his pace, he caught up with her—and her three admirers—and boldly stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her path. Her green eyes blazed fire, but he wasn’t afraid to stand here and argue with her in front of an audience.
“So you just showed up here to yell my name at me and then leave?” he asked, crossing his arms. A quick glare at the trio with her and they all scattered.
“Wow. Impressive,” Ryleigh said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “You come here, talk, tattoo, and then scare people off. I’m surprised they didn’t bow at your feet first.”
“Ryleigh…”
“What the hell, Ryker?” she hissed, looking around nervously because clearly she wasn’t as into putting on a show. “You’ve been lying to me!”
“That’s not how I see it,” he countered. “You never asked what I did! Hell, you never showed any interest in me or my life until it suited your purpose! All those times I hit on you at the pub and you looked at me like I was something you scraped off your damn shoe. You turned me down with snark and disdain every chance you got. And the funny thing is, I’m used to it. I’m used to people looking at my ink and thinking less of me because of it. You knew nothing about my background, my upbringing, nothing, and yet you passed judgment on me based on how I look. Why the hell would I willingly give you more ammunition against me?”
Okay, now a lot of people were crowding around and he saw several phones up taking video. Muttering a curse, he took her hand and dragged her away from the spectators.
“Where are we going?” she demanded.
“Anywhere that isn’t here.” He had a room here at the hotel and knew it was the only logical place for them to go.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a line at the elevators and neither of them said a word the entire ride up to the top floor.
That’s when Ryleigh’s sharp tongue was back. “VIP level. Why am I not surprised? I guess when you’re a freaking global champion tattoo artist, you get to stay in the Presidential Suite.”
“It’s even got a balcony overlooking the beach,” he snapped back.
Yeah, they were heading for one hell of a fight and part of him couldn’t wait. He’d been keeping a lot of his feelings—and himself—quiet for her sake. And had it gotten him anywhere except into her bed?
No.
A no-strings fling or affair or whatever you wanted to call it was something he’d never had a problem with before, but it wasn’t what he wanted with Ryleigh. It was never what he wanted with Ryleigh.
But apparently, it was all he was going to get from her.
Fucking A.
As soon as they were in his suite, he turned to her before she could say a word.
“If you’re looking for an apology, I’m not offering one,” he stated firmly. “You said this was fake! You said nothing we were doing was real, so you’ve got a whole lot of nerve coming here and saying any damn thing to me! So if this is it—if you drove four freaking hours here so you can tell me off and tell me this charade is over—then do it.”
The defiant stance was back. “I could’ve done it down on the show floor, but your adoring fans probably would have chased me out of there.”
Ryker’s head slowly fell back as he mentally counted to ten. When he faced her again, he saw a little crack in the tough girl attitude. She looked…disappointed. Sad.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” he said, his voice raw. “I’ve played by your rules and it’s not enough. Well, you know what, I’m done playing. It’s all too much so…just tell me off and go because I’m too damn exhausted for this.” Turning away from her, he walked over to the sofa and collapsed on it. Every inch of his body hurt, his head was pounding, and this so wasn’t the way he wanted to end a successful day. Closing his eyes, he slumped back against the cushions and waited for Ryleigh to tell him off.
And waited.
And waited.
“It hurt my feelings that you kept who you really are from me,” she said quietly, and even without opening his eyes, Ryker knew she was standing in front of him. “I realize I behaved horribly since we’ve met, but you have to know that your tattoos had nothing to do with it.”
Now he opened his eyes and looked at her.
“I saw you as this super confident guy with cocky swagger, and at first I thought you were just messing with me.” She shrugged. “I get the nerdy guys hitting on me—the IT guys, the accountants. You know, the kind of guys my mother’s been trying to fix me up with.” Sighing, she looked down at him helplessly. “You walked in looking like a rock star and you overwhelmed me. I felt like a complete idiot every time you asked me out. It was like I couldn’t form a normal thought because I was so nervous and…I lashed out. By now you should know that’s my go-to reaction. With everything. That’s how we ended up in this relationship.”
Damn.
It didn’t matter how many times she reminded him of it, it still felt like a kick in the gut each time.
“I can’t help how I feel, Ryker, and I know I’ve been sending you a lot of mixed signals. The thing is, I like you. A lot,” she quickly added. “The times that we’ve hung out together have been some of the best times I’ve had in…well…I don’t even know how long. It bothered me that you’ve seen me at my freaking lowest and you’ve seen just about every aspect of my life and yet…you kept so much of who you are to yourself simply because I didn’t ask.”
That’s when he knew she had a point. He’d been petty because he was hurt and…
Shit.
Coming to his feet, his heart ached at the sadness on her face. “It hurt my feelings that you never seemed to ask anything about me. Like I was just a guy you were going to parade around town to annoy your family simply because of the way I looked.”
“Ryker, I…”
He held up a hand to stop her. “It’s okay, Ryleigh. I get it. Based on the men your mother’s been trotting out for you, it’s obvious why you chose me to piss her off.” Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his. “I shouldn’t have just blindly agreed to all of this, and I think we need to be more honest with each other if we’re going to keep up this farce or whatever it is we’re calling this.”
Nodding, she said, “I agree.” She paused and gave him a shy smile. “Um…confession time.”
“O-kay…”
“I think what you do is really cool. Amazing, really. I’ve been down on the convention floor since about seven, and your name was mentioned everywhere.” Biting her bottom lip, she squeezed his hand. “I’d really like to see more of your work. Just seeing what you did with that dragon on that guy’s back was…well…it was incredible. That wasn’t just an ink drawing or a caricature of a dragon, it looked like the real thing—like it was coming right off his back.”
“My portfolio is down at my booth,” he told her. “We can go back downstairs and…”
“No,” she said, closing the distance between them. “You know, I’m not sure if the same rules apply in a casual or make-believe relationship, but I kind of feel like this was our first fight.”
