***
RIDING BACK TO the dock was the longest fifteen minutes of Violet’s life.
Ryder cranked up the speed across the lake that rushed alongside Violet’s mixed feelings. Her body told her one thing, that Ryder wanted more than a fling with her, while her mind told her the opposite, that he was using her.
How could she defy her mind’s warning, putting her back in the vulnerable state she’d been with Joel?
Yes, she had initiated the first run-in with Ryder in a heated moment of...stupidity. The ball was in her court, but now there wouldn’t be another run-in with Ryder. Ever. Period.
As Ryder steered the boat into Crystal River, he geared it down. It was a slow, wavy ride back to his dock, where he immediately climbed out to dock and tied the boat down.
Through the darkness she watched his edgy body move. He was mad at her. Or he was acting mad at her because she was spot on about his intentions. Her gut told her she was wrong. The evidence told her she was right.
Violet lifted a sleeping Parker into her arms. He was the younger of the two, and she didn’t want to wake him. He was also the crankier one and, right now, battling her desire to apologize to Ryder, left her with little energy to deal with Parker. She wanted to get them in the car, home and tucked into bed so she could soak in a hot bath and sip on a large glass of chardonnay, on the road to forgetting Ryder.
As Violet touched Sophia, Ryder’s hand found hers. “Don’t wake her. I got her.”
The contact of their hands sent flames through her body that her filter, the common sense that had been vacationing all day, blew out. He was Ryder.
Violet looked at his eyes anyway, against her better judgement, against her strict no. He was doing what she was trying to do, read what she was really thinking while she tried to read what he was actually thinking.
Why? Did it make a difference? What are you looking for? An answer to why her heart raced so fast when he’s around. Why all day she didn’t feel like she had to wear a cover in front of him. And why his touch ignited a fire in her belly that she knew only his touch could handle.
Violet didn’t get her answers and with the solemn look she gave him, she knew he wouldn’t be getting his either. Because all this was a mistake.
Violet slid her hand out from under his, feeling lonely the moment she did, and stepped back.
It has to be this way. He’s Joel’s best friend.
Ryder picked Sophia up so gently, like a loving father would and Violet’s heart sank. Joel wasn’t that loving father, mainly because the kids hadn’t been part of his plan. Now, Violet stood here with the man who had taught Joel his ways and she was battling emotions, feelings and desires for him.
What was wrong with her?
After the kids were buckled in the back seat, Ryder opened the driver’s side for her. A gentleman, even after the way she’d treated him.
Why? Because she was right and he was using her. However her feelings were toward this man or his were toward her, he had gone out of his way to create a day filled with laughter, jokes and smiles for her children. For that, Violet was thankful.
“Thank you for today. Sophia and Parker had a wonderful time.” The words came out in a quick slew past her lips as she tried to slide into the driver’s seat.
Ryder caught her upper arm and stepped close enough that their bodies touched, an all too familiar way that felt so right.
Violet swallowed past the lump in her throat. What did he want? Why did his touch ignite her body into a flaming fireball unlike a touch from any other man. Ever.
“I’m not the only one who boarded this boat with judgement,” Ryder said. “At least I can admit that I was wrong.” He let her arm go and stepped back toward the house.
It didn’t matter what either of them thought about each other. It didn’t matter if she was right or wrong because he was Joel’s friend. Nothing could ever form between them.