“I’m seriously losing my mind,” he muttered before turning away. The bar was fully stocked and it was beyond tempting to have a drink. Picking up a bottle of Patrón, he was about to pour himself a glass when there was a knock at the door. It wasn’t unusual for the concierge to come up and make sure everything was to his liking, so he figured he’d just tell them yes and ask to be alone.
But when he opened the door, it wasn’t the concierge.
It was Peyton.
And she looked ready to spit nails.
“Peyton, is everything…?”
Her hand in his face stopped him. “Not a word!” she snapped before stepping around him and walking into the room. “I’ve got something to say to you!” By the time he shut the door and turned, she was already out of his sight. The suite was huge and he found her in the middle of the living room, slowly turning in a circle as she looked around. When she spotted him, she paused and frowned. “Why does one person need all this space?”
“Um…”
“You know what? It’s not important,” she muttered before walking over to him. “What the hell, Ryder?”
Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do or say, so he just waited for her to keep going.
And she did.
“You know, I knew I had you pegged from the get-go–the uptight, haughty rich dude who didn’t do relationships. I knew it and yet I threw caution to the wind anyway. And just when I thought that maybe I’d been wrong about you, you go and prove me right!”
“I’m sorry, but…what?”
She nodded and then began to walk in a slow circle around him. “Yeah, you go and prove me right! We had this amazing night last night–at least, it was amazing to me–and as soon as we left the hotel, you acted as if nothing happened! I mean…how is that possible?” she demanded, even though she didn’t wait for an answer. “Don’t you have any feelings? Isn’t it even a little awkward for you to have us working this closely together after seeing each other naked?”
“Peyton, I…”
“Or is this just the norm for you? Do you usually sleep with the women you’re working with? Schmooze them and impress them with your private plane and fancy dinners before sleeping with them and walking away? Huh? Is that your MO? Do you…”
He never let her finish and honestly, he hated that this was how he was continually having to break her train of thought but…he stepped in close, cupped her face and silenced her with a kiss. He didn’t give her a chance to say another word; he simply conquered and claimed and practically sagged against her when she kissed him back with just as much eagerness.
Glad I’m not alone…
On and on it went–hot and vicious and all-consuming–and if Ryder had his way, they’d stay like this until she believed he wasn’t that guy. It was important that she understand that…
Wait a minute…
Abruptly, he broke the kiss and stared down at her as he caught his breath. Her expression was a little dazed and confused and he had a feeling he looked the same way.
“Peyton,” he began and immediately had to stop and clear his throat. “I’m not the one who wanted to go back to a work relationship. That was you.”
“What? No, it wasn’t! You were all about talking business on the plane,” she countered.
“But that was only after you had started throwing back at me what you expected of our working relationship!”
Her eyes went wide, and she went to say something but seemed to instantly reconsider, her mouth opening and closing as she stared up at him.
It galled him how this girl had completely knocked him on his ass time and time again with her boldness. For all his years of wheeling and dealing and believing he had all the confidence in the world, Peyton Bishop had been doing nothing but proving to him just how wrong he was about himself for the past month.
Stepping in close again, he repeated his pose of cupping her face. He didn’t kiss her this time, though. Now it was his turn to say a few things.
“You have no idea how much you destroyed me yesterday,” he began gruffly. “You are bold and sexy and exciting and I want more of that. More of you. I don’t want last night to be all we have.” He felt her relax against him. “Do you want more with me? To see where this can go?”
“I do, Ryder,” she agreed softly. “But I need to know that you’re truly all in with me, that you’re not just killing time while we’re working together.”
“That’s not it at all. This has nothing to do with our business relationship. I want to spend time with you, get to know you, laugh with you, and make love with you. Are you willing to give me a chance?”
She nodded. “More than anything,” she said, her tone more than a little breathless.
“Thank God,” he murmured before sealing it with a kiss.
Peyton’s body molded to his, and it was all he could do to stop from picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom. The way she hummed and rubbed against him told Ryder she’d be open to that idea, but he didn’t want to take away from why they were here and how important it had been to her.
So for the second time today, he reluctantly broke their kiss. “Trade show,” he panted, swallowing hard. “You mentioned a demonstration you wanted to see today.”
Biting her bottom lip, she looked up at him. She was a mix of sweet and sexy, vixen and virgin and he wanted her with a ferocity that scared him.
“Would it be terribly irresponsible if I said I don’t want to go?” she asked.
Ryder’s hands were firmly gripping her waist. With a gentle squeeze, he gave her a wolfish grin. “Not at all.” Leaning forward and resting his forehead against hers as he held on to the final threads of control, he added one last thing to reassure her. “If it makes you feel any better, I never shirk my responsibilities or play hooky, but for you, Duchess, I am more than ready, willing, and able to skip it all and take you to bed.”
She went limp in his arms with a soft moan. “That was the most perfect thing to say ever.” Her tongue teased at his lips. “What are you waiting for? Take me to bed, Ryder.”
So he did.
Neither regretted missing the first day of the show.
8
For two weeks, it was like they lived in their own bubble.
The trade show had been amazing and Peyton not only learned a lot, but got to design her dream kitchen for both restaurants and the resort café. Ryder didn’t spare any expense when it came to these projects and as much as she had tried to reason that just because something cost the most didn’t necessarily mean it was the best, he tended to go with what cost the most.
It was both interesting and exasperating.
Back in Magnolia, she had gone back to work at the café and kept her normal schedule, but every night she and Ryder would collapse into bed together as if they had been apart for weeks rather than hours.
It was the best kind of exhaustion imaginable.
The man made love like he did everything else–with a commanding presence and take-charge attitude.
And she loved every minute of it.
Today was going to be their first foray out of their bubble, and she was more than a little nervous about it; although, any interaction with her mother tended to bring her anxiety to the surface. Georgia Bishop made her crazy on a good day and was known for being hypercritical. Seeing her daughter with Ryder was certainly going to have her either questioning why someone like him was dating her or she was going to start planning their wedding.