Tempt Me, page 25
Because Ryker spent so much time at Donovans Pub, he knew her mother was constantly trying to fix her daughter up with nice, upstanding guys.
Which totally left him out of the picture.
On the surface, Ryker was basically every mother’s nightmare; tattoos, long hair, beard, and extremely rough around the edges. If that guy was Kate Donovan’s idea of the perfect guy, then there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of her ever considering him.
And that was a damn shame because he knew he’d treat Ryleigh better than any man alive. Hell, he’d treat her like a damn princess if given the chance.
He thought about the way she’d stormed out of the pub and wondered why he was still sitting here nursing a drink when he could potentially go after her and make sure she was alright.
Tossing a twenty down on the bar, he nodded to Ronan before making his way out the door. There was a chance she was long gone, but he was hopeful.
Just like he was hopeful every time he tried to start a conversation with her.
He loved her snark and dry wit; and admired the way she didn’t seem to tolerate anyone’s bullshit.
Even his.
Out on the sidewalk, he glanced in both directions, raking a hand through his out-of-control hair. He was about to mutter a curse when someone beat him to it.
“Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!”
A slow smile crept across his face as he made his way toward the parking lot. There, he found Ryleigh standing next to her sensible little Toyota, stomping her foot in frustration. Doing his best to appear casual, he slowly made his way over to her.
“Hey, beautiful,” he drawled. “Is everything okay?”
Her green eyes shot daggers at him. “No, everything is most definitely not okay,” she snapped. “I dropped my keys back in the kitchen and I am not going back in there!”
That…wasn’t what he was expecting.
“Why not?”
With a groan, she fished around in her purse again before replying. “Because I had a fight with my mother and made a big stink about how I didn’t even want to see or talk to her for a few days. If I go back in there, it completely nullifies my glorious exit. Dammit!”
“Glorious exit?” Leaning against her car, he studied her. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone describe leaving that way.”
“Trust me, in that moment, it was awesome. If I have to go back in to grab my keys, it will look like I did it on purpose and…” She groaned again before digging in her purse one more time.
Gently, Ryker took the bag from her hands. “It’s not that big, Ryleigh. They’re not in there. Do you have a spare set somewhere?”
Her shoulders sagged as she nodded. “At home, but…ugh…I hate that I did this! Now I’ll have to call for an Uber to go home and back and…”
“You don’t need to call for an Uber.”
“Uh, yeah, I do, because I certainly don’t want to walk there and back. It’s already dark out and it’s a mile each way…”
“I’ll drive you.”
Her eyes went a little wide as her mouth moved with no words coming out.
He liked that he caught her off guard.
“It’s not a big deal. And, like you said, it’s only a mile away. What’s it gonna take? Ten minutes tops?”
“Ryker…”
“Do you want to go back inside and have everyone think you’re caving?” Honestly, he had no idea if that even applied to the situation, but he gave it a shot.
“Absolutely not!” she told him. “But…um…I don’t mind calling for a car.” Holding up her phone, she made a bit of a show of pulling up the app. “You don’t need to drive me anywhere, but…uh…thanks.”
With a careless shrug, he straightened. “No problem. I knew you’d be too embarrassed to accept my help, so…have a good night.” Turning, he started to walk away.
“Embarrassed? Why on earth would I be embarrassed?”
Ryker hid his smile as he turned to face her again. “You know…after being on a date with someone else earlier and then essentially sprinting from the table, I just figured you’d want to avoid anyone who witnessed that.”
Throwing her head back and exposing that neck that he’d love to lean in and press his mouth to, he fought the urge to stay where he was. Her little growl of frustration was kind of adorable, and when she straightened, she looked mildly pissed.
“He tried to put his fingers in my mouth! Trust me, it was in his best interest for me to get away from the table as fast as humanly possible.”
“Why would he put his fingers in your mouth? Was it like a third date or something?”
“Ew! No! And is there really a date rule on when it’s appropriate to put your fingers in someone’s mouth in the middle of a restaurant?”
If they were talking about the two of them, yes. But when it was her and some other random guy, absolutely not.
“I wouldn’t say rule…”
“Never mind,” she quickly interrupted before turning her back and looking at her phone.
Ryker wasn’t stupid; he knew she was going to be too stubborn to accept a free ride from him based on…whatever preconceived notion she had about him
But he refused to accept that.
“Ryleigh, this is crazy. I’m right here, my car is literally five feet away. You can be home in fifteen minutes. Just let me do this for you.”
It was insane how nervous he was and found himself holding his breath. He’d asked her out at least a dozen times and she’d always turned him down. But this wasn’t a date.
This was a chance for her to get to know him.
The way she looked at him told him she was considering it.
“I just…I don’t want you to read anything into this,” she began carefully. “I know you’ve asked me out before…”
“Pfft, please. I’m not dense. This isn’t a date. This is just me helping you out. I know that.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t even know your name.”
“What are you talking about? You know my name.”
“No, I know part of your name. There’s got to be more to it than just Ryker.”
Shaking his head, he said, “Nope.”
“Seriously?” she deadpanned. “So that’s it. Just Ryker. No last name?”
“Maybe that is my last name,” he countered.
“And your first name?”
He grinned. “Just one name.”
“So…you’re Ryker Ryker?” she asked with one brow perfectly raised.
When she said it like that, it sounded ridiculous, but he was enjoying the banter. “No, just the one name. You know, like Adele, Cher or Madonna.”
Her lips twitched. “Are you saying you’re like…an aging pop diva?”
I walked right into that one, didn’t I?
“Or like Bono, Sting, or Prince,” he corrected.
“Do you sing?” she asked.
“Um…what?”
Nodding, she once again asked, “Do you sing? I mean…the single name and the comparison to all these musicians, I’m assuming there’s a connection.”
Unable to help himself, Ryker laughed. “Ryleigh, I’m just offering to take you to pick up your keys so you can take your car and go home and save face with your family. Do you want my help or not?”
She eyed him warily. “Fine. I do. But I’m texting my sister and my best friend Ivy. If anything happens to me, they’re going to make sure bad things happen to you.”
“Consider me warned,” he told her before walking over to his truck.
“Um…maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
With a weary sigh, Ryker turned to face her. “Why now?”
“There’s no way I can get into that truck! It’s like…I’d need a ladder to climb in!”
Fine, the truck was a little on the high side. The Ford had been modified quite a bit, but…it was temporary. He was only driving it until he found something else.
“No ladder, Princess. There’s a step and I can help you up.” Walking up behind her, Ryker opened the door and held a hand out to her. The look she gave him told him she was not happy about it, but when she finally put her hand in his, he felt like they’d finally taken that first step into friendlier territory.
Only took six months, but…who’s counting?
It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to not put his hands on her ass to help her that last little bit, but it was close. She smiled nervously at him once she was seated, and Ryker jogged around to the driver’s side and climbed in.
“Okay, where to?”
Ryleigh didn’t come out and give him the address, she simply started giving him direction. “Make a left out of the parking lot and go down to Elm and make a right.”
He did as she instructed.
“So…this fight with your mom. It was bad, huh?”
“To me it was.”
“You don’t think it was to her?”
Shaking her head, she said, “Go down to Peachtree and make a left.”
He nodded.
“My mother like to…instigate,” Ryleigh went on. “And when she pushes me to where I’m a ranting lunatic, she just smiles and looks at me like I’m crazy. It doesn’t matter how many times I ask her nicely not to interfere in my life or set me up with strange guys, or ambush me like she did tonight, she doesn’t listen. It’s exhausting and…ugh. I’m just done.”
“Is she like this with all your siblings?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Just me.”
He found that a little hard to believe, but as he turned onto Peachtree, he waited her out.
“Go down about a mile and my apartment complex is on the right.”
“I didn’t realize there were apartments back here.”
“It’s a small building; only four units. None of them are particularly big. I have a two bedroom, but the second bedroom is tiny so I use it as an office.”
“Okay, I have to ask…why is your mom like this with only you?”
She sighed loudly. “I wish I knew,” she said sadly. “I really wish I knew. She was over-protective of Arianna, but still fixed her up with a couple of Jamie’s friends. Liam joined the Marines a year after high school, so she didn’t have a chance to do anything to him. And when he came home, he got involved with Tessa so…”
He nodded.
“Patrick is like…I don’t even know. It’s like she’s a little intimidated by him and so in awe of his business accomplishments that she doesn’t want to bother him. She whines every once in a while how she wishes he’d meet someone, but she never truly bugs him about it.”
“And Jamie?”
“Jamie’s just…Jamie,” she said. “He’s got a new girlfriend every week and she thinks he’ll eventually find the right girl and settle down.”
“I mean…I guess that makes sense,” he reasoned, “but…”
“Tonight I told her that if she’d just leave me alone and let me date who I want to date, everything would be fine.”
“So…date someone.”
Turning her head, she glared at him. “Oh, gee, Ryker. That’s brilliant. Why don’t I just date someone?” Rolling her eyes, she straightened in her seat as they pulled up to her building.
And then instantly groaned.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“If I don’t have my car keys, I don’t have my house keys!” she cried. “Dammit!”
He was beginning to see how that was her go-to reaction to things.
“Does your landlord live in the building?”
“No.”
“Do you have a complicated lock on your door?”
She blinked at him like he was crazy.
Without waiting, Ryker climbed out of the truck and jumped up into the bed. His toolbox was back there, and he quickly rummaged around for what he needed before climbing over to help Ryleigh out.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“We’re going to get into your apartment, get your keys, and take you back to get your car.”
“By breaking in? I don’t think so,” she said with a snort.
“Would you rather go back to the pub and see the smug look on your mother’s face?
“No.” There was a definite huff of annoyance after that, but she held out her hand so he could help her down. “I can’t believe I’m going to let you pick my lock…”
There was a very dirty comeback on the tip of his tongue, but he held it in.
They walked up to the second floor, and Ryleigh simply stepped aside and held her phone up like a flashlight for him. In less than a minute, he had the door open. As he straightened, he stared down at her. “Tomorrow, get a better lock.”
For a moment, he thought she was going to argue, but all she did was walk into the apartment and back out in less than a minute. “Thank you,” she murmured.
The drive back to the pub was primarily spent in silence because he couldn’t believe that she didn’t have more safety precautions in place in her home. Anyone could break in even if they didn’t have the know-how that he did.
As if reading his mind, Ryleigh blurted out, “I have a deadbolt that I use every night, so…it’s not like anyone can just get in.”
“You need something better in general,” he replied. “If you want, I can pick something up and install it tomorrow.” His voice was gruff and a little harsh, but he hated thinking of anything happening to her.
“No, but…thank you. I’ll pick something up myself.”
He pulled back into the pub parking lot and parked, but didn’t move to get out. Twisting in his seat, he figured this was his chance to say what he needed to say and hoped she wouldn’t laugh in his face.
“Here’s the thing, Ryleigh,” he began. “I like you. I think you’re pretty and have a wicked sense of humor and I’d like to take you out sometime. We’ve been doing this dance for several months and I don’t think you ever take me seriously, but I’m telling you right now that I am serious. I’d like the chance to take you out on a real date—not here at the pub—and I think you should give me a chance.”
There.
He'd said it.
She studied him for several long moments and for the life of him, he had no idea what was going through her mind. But if he had to venture a guess, he’d say that she was trying to come up with yet another way to turn him down, even though he’d saved her ass tonight.
The silence dragged on until he thought he’d go mad.
“Look, um…”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Okay,” she said confidently. “Let’s do it. I’ll go out with you.”
And Ryker was fairly certain his jaw hit the ground.
* * *
Get your copy of SAVE ME here:
https://www.chasing-romance.com/save-me
* * *
And check out the entire DONOVANS series here:
https://www.chasing-romance.com/the-donovans-series
Also by Samantha Chase
The Donovans Series:
Call Me
Dare Me
Tempt Me
Save Me
* * *
The Magnolia Sound Series:
Sunkissed Days
Remind Me
A Girl Like You
In Case You Didn’t Know
All the Befores
And Then One Day
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Last Beautiful Girl
The Way the Story Goes
Since You’ve Been Gone
Nobody Does It Better
Wedding Wonderland
Always on my Mind
Kiss the Girl
* * *
Meet Me at the Altar
The Engagement Embargo
With this Cake
You May Kiss the Groomsman
The Proposal Playbook
Groomed to Perfection
The I Do Over
* * *
The Enchanted Bridal Series:
The Wedding Season
Friday Night Brides
The Bridal Squad
Glam Squad & Groomsmen
Bride & Seek
* * *
The RoadTripping Series:
Drive Me Crazy
Wrong Turn
Test Drive
Head Over Wheels
* * *
The Montgomery Brothers Series:
Wait for Me
Trust in Me
Stay with Me
More of Me
Return to You
Meant for You
I’ll Be There
Until There Was Us
Suddenly Mine
A Dash of Christmas
* * *
The Shaughnessy Brothers Series:
Made for Us
Love Walks In
Always My Girl
This is Our Song
Sky Full of Stars
Holiday Spice
Tangled Up in You
* * *
Band on the Run Series:
One More Kiss
One More Promise
One More Moment
* * *
The Christmas Cottage Series:
The Christmas Cottage
Ever After
* * *
Silver Bell Falls Series:
Christmas in Silver Bell Falls
Christmas On Pointe
A Very Married Christmas
A Christmas Rescue
Christmas Inn Love
The Christmas Plan
* * *
Life, Love & Babies Series:
The Baby Arrangement
Baby, Be Mine
Baby, I’m Yours
* * *
Preston’s Mill Series:
Roommating
Speed Dating
Complicating
* * *
The Protectors Series:
Protecting His Best Friend’s Sister
