––––––––
The next morning, Kelsey awoke to an empty bed. She glanced around the room. The light from the fireplace hadn’t been enough to allow her to see it last night, not that she was very interested at the time. It was definitely a man’s room. A beautiful cedar dresser sat against the far wall, next to the fireplace, with a door between them leading to a bathroom. French doors leading to a covered deck and a closet sat on another wall. Her eyes traveled back to the fireplace. It was open on both sides. She threw the covers back and walked into the bathroom. Inside, she found a large Jacuzzi tub next to the fireplace and a stand-up shower against the opposite wall. She smiled with delight. A large skylight allowed sunshine through, lighting up the room. She sat on the side of the tub, fantasizing about lounging in it with Ryder, and desperately wanted to try it out. She’d never seen a fireplace in a bathroom before. It was so romantic. Sighing, she pushed any romantic thoughts from her mind, and decided to take a shower before getting some breakfast.
After returning to her room for fresh clothes and dressing, she entered the kitchen to find Ryder standing at the stove frying bacon. She cleared her throat and then blushed when he turned toward her not knowing how he’d receive her this morning. He smiled at her and walked to her, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips.
“Good morning,” he murmured against her lips.
“Good morning. You were gone when I woke.”
He chuckled. “I was starving. You made me work up quite an appetite.”
“Oh sure. It was all me.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“Go sit down. I’ll make you some breakfast then I need to head to the barn.”
“You’re leaving me for the barn?”
“I have horses to take care of, darlin’.”
“What if I need taking care of?” she asked with a teasing tilt of her head
Ryder groaned. “I’ll be back later.”
“Okay, those horses must really be something if you’d rather spend the morning with them than me.”
“Oh, they are. Dark brown eyes that look so sad when I leave them. Except Tramp. He has blue eyes.”
“I can look sad,” she told him frowning and pouting out her bottom lip.
He leaned down and nibbled on her lip. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. They need to be fed and the men didn’t make it in.”
“Did we get a lot of snow?”
“A foot, but it will be gone by tomorrow. It’s supposed to warm up.”
Kelsey sighed. “Darn...I guess that means no power loss and no snuggling.”
“Really? Who made up that rule?” He nibbled on her neck.
“I think your bacon is burning.” She grinned.
“Shit.” Ryder hurried back to the stove and saved the bacon. “What kind of eggs do you like?”
“Scrambled.”
“I like mine over-easy—for future reference.”
“If you’re going to abandon me at first light, you’ll get them over-easy your head,” she muttered.
Ryder burst out laughing. “I’ll make my own breakfast then. I’m usually up at three-thirty but someone had other ideas last night.”
“Oh yeah, blame me. You happened to be up at three.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I was up after that too.”
Kelsey laughed. “Yes, and I’m so glad you were. It was a first for me. I’ve never had an orgasm during sex before.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yep. Sad, huh?”
“What the hell kind of men have you been with?”
“Not very sexually skilled ones obviously, including the last one who I thought I was in love with. He was only interested in getting himself off.”
“And you thought you loved him?”
“I did. I figured if I had love then I could live with bad sex.”
“No one should have to live with bad sex,” Ryder muttered.
“I know that now. I’ll never settle again.” She pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. Ryder placed a plate in front of her and her stomach growled in reaction to the wonderful aromas.
“Sounds like you worked up an appetite too.”
Kelsey grinned, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “Honestly, I had kind of hoped to work up a greater appetite before getting up.” She shrugged.
She heard Ryder groan. “I won’t be in the barn long and perhaps we’ll work one up for lunch.” He winked at her and grinned when she blushed yet again.
She was in so much trouble here. The man was way beyond hot and sexy. The things he’d done and whispered to her made her face heat up just thinking about them. Damn. It was getting hot in here. She smiled shyly at him, picked up her fork, and dug into breakfast. She moaned at the first taste and saw his eyebrows lift. Hoping to distract him from all the sex talk, she changed the subject.
“These are fantastic. You can cook breakfast for me anytime.”
Ryder seemed surprised but then he grinned. “Deal.”
They finished their meal in relative silence. When he was finished, he stood then carried his plate to the sink. He glanced over his shoulder at her but then grabbed his coat and hat, putting them. “I’ll be back later.”
“Can I come out there?”
He looked startled by her question so he hesitated, but then grinned. “Sure, if you want to, but its damn cold out there.”
“I’m not some delicate flower, Ryder. I’ve never been in snow like this. I want to go outside.”
He chuckled. “Okay, No need to get testy. Get dressed, and come on out. I have to clear a path to the barn, so give me a few minutes.”
“All right. Thank you.” She smiled.
He shook his head as he opened the door. “She wants to go outside,” he muttered before closing the door behind him.
Kelsey laughed and then finished her breakfast. She’d clean up the kitchen before going out to join him. She hoped she packed her mittens. Her mom was supposed to be shipping her more clothes but she hadn’t expected snow so soon after arriving here.
Kelsey sighed. She was hoping she wouldn’t need more things but it looked like she was going to be here a while longer. Her mother told her that letters were still showing up at her apartment. As for emails, she hadn’t received anymore but she wasn’t sure if that was because her stalker feared they were too easy to trace or the blocking really worked. She couldn’t help but wonder if her stalker could still find her and what would he do if he found her?
Ever since arriving in Clifton, she’d thought about going home. It was her first thought in the morning and her prayer at night. She wanted to go home. Or did she? After last night, she wasn’t sure anymore. Being here with Ryder wasn’t easy, and the man was hard to ignore.. He was gorgeous and sexy as sin, which was just bad for her. The most this could ever be was a fling...a lusty, mind-blowing sexy fling. She would go home someday. Right?
Her insides quivered and she swore her heart skipped a beat thinking about last night. Sex had never been like that for her—ever. Lord, what she had been missing all this time.
Ryder had pulled her from a deep sleep with his hands and mouth once more during the night and it had been just as mind-blowing. He could bring her to orgasm so easily with his mouth, his hands, and his body. Shit. Now she was horny. She had to stop lusting after him. He was right, it wasn’t why she was here and it could only lead to disappointment in the end. Right?
She needed to get her coat on and go see the man in the barn. Hey cowboy, how about a roll in the hay? She laughed at the dirty thoughts rushing through her mind and even wondered if he’d go for it. She imagined kissing every inch of him and wanting to since, she hadn’t gotten that chance yet. He had made it all about her last night. How she wanted time to explore that gorgeous body. The thought of running her fingers, and tongue, over his solid pecs and a six-pack stomach gave her chills and heat flashes at the same time. He said working the ranch and lifting bales of hay all day was more than enough workout to keep him in shape. You can say that again!
Kelsey quickly donned her coat and pulled a beanie over her head. Luckily, she did have her mittens. After putting them on, she stepped onto the porch. The cold hit her hard. She knew it would be cold but this snatched her breath away. Ryder had cleared a path that led directly to the barn. She hurried along the path and stepped inside the barn. She let her eyes adjust, and the warmth of the building washed over her, and then walked down the aisle. Horses stuck their heads over their stalls as if eager to see who the visitor was to their home. She rubbed their noses as she passed them, smiling at the noises they made in response. She saw Ryder come out of a room carrying a bucket. Her heart nearly stopped at the image he presented. He was the quintessential cowboy. She’d always been into cowboys and she was definitely into this one. He stopped when he saw her, smiled, and then walked toward her. He stopped in front of her.
“Hi, darlin’,” he said. “I see you made your way here.”
“Hi, yourself,” she responded a bit disappointed he didn’t kiss her. “Yeah, the yellow brick road was easy to follow.”
He chuckled and walked around her. “Come on, I have to feed Tramp, and then we can go back to the house where it’s much warmer.”
“Why do we need to go to the house? We could always have a roll in the hay, as they say.” She was trying not to laugh.
Ryder spun around, raised an eyebrow, and laughed. “Have you ever had a roll in the hay? It pokes you.”
“Oh, well I’d rather have you poke me,” she told him with a grin.
Ryder burst out laughing and turned away.
She frowned at his lack of eagerness at her idea. She followed him through the barn watching him work. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the way his jeans hugged his tight butt. Damn. She’d really hoped he’d be more in the mood. Maybe things looked different to him in the light of day.
Some while later, Kelsey entered the kitchen with Ryder behind her. She was freezing. Georgia didn’t do cold like Montana does. Her fingers felt numb, and she wasn’t sure she if she could even smile the way her cheeks felt. She stood in the kitchen shivering.
“Take your coat off,” Ryder said from behind her.
“No. I’m too cold.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned close. “I’ll have you warm in no time.” The sound of that had her smiling as he turned her to face him and started unbuttoning her coat.
She kept her eyes on his face. He glanced up and their eyes met. She took her bottom lip between her teeth. She watched as he closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them, she gasped at the heat in them.
“Ryder?”
“I want you, Kelsey, honestly I do, but...,” he paused, his fingers fell away from the front of her coat and he raked his fingers through his hair. He stepped away and pulled his coat off, hanging it on a hook alongside his hat. “I’m going to get a fire going.”
Kelsey stood there, silent, watching his back disappear into the living room. He wanted her, but... But what? She yanked off her mittens, hat, and then her coat, tossing them onto one of the kitchen chairs. Rubbing her hands to warm them, she walked into the living room and stood watching Ryder stoke the fire. Soon she was warm again, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the blazing fire or the anger building inside her.
****
Ryder could feel her eyes on him and knew what she expected of him since they had flirted wildly before he left to work in the barn. He hadn’t meant to, he had intended to stay cool as usual but he wasn’t used to having women stay overnight here and she looked so sexy sleeping in his bed. By the time she’d come in for breakfast, he thought he’d convinced himself it was only the one night. Nothing more. But then she was there, so beautiful and so sweet. She’d all but said he was the best she’d ever had. Hearing that made his body stand up and take notice again. When he left her, he was serious about coming back and working up an appetite for lunch and much more. It wasn’t until he was in the cold light of the real world that things slapped him in the face. She was here for his protection. She could be gone tomorrow for all he knew and besides, he wasn’t looking for anything permanent and Kelsey Sullivan had commitment written all over her.
“Warmer now,” he asked standing and placing the poker in its stand. She was frowning at him and as he moved away to take a seat in his recliner, he silently begged her not to go there.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Damn. She was going there.
He shook his head and stared at the fire. “Last night...”
“Last night was amazing,” Kelsey interjected coming to stand between him and the flames. “You can’t deny that it was.”
“I’m not, darlin’, but I am going to admit that it was a mistake.”
Kelsey stepped back, her arms dropped to her sides and she turned to stare at the fire. He knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear but it was the truth. He might be a lot of things, but he was honest.
“Look, it was great, really great, but I’m not boyfriend material, Kelsey,” he said rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.
She turned slowly, folded her arms across her chest, the action pushing her deliciously beautiful breasts high and making him all the more aware of them.
“Did I ask you to be my boyfriend, Ryder?”
“No...but...well, I know how women get,” he stumbled trying his best to crawl out of the hole he’d somehow dug for himself.
“Oh, you do, do you? Well, maybe I’m not like other women. Maybe I just like to have some fun. Maybe I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” she exclaimed with a saucy toss of her silky blonde hair.
“It’s just...well, you’ll be leaving to go home once they find this guy and my home is here. So...there’s just...”
“Ryder, I get that you’re uncomfortable with me here. Hell, I’ll bet I’m the first woman to sleep in that bed with you...” When he glanced down at her accusation, she laughed. “I am, aren’t I?”
He nodded. “This is my place. My sanctuary. I don’t bring women here. My grandmother was the last truly good woman to live on this land...”
Kelsey moved forward, perched on the edge of the coffee table, and reached a hand out. Her fingers gently stroked his hand and his eyes met hers. What was it about her that made him want to talk? He hated to talk.
“Frank told me a bit about how you came to live with him and Grace. He told me...about your parents.”
He glanced at the fire. The thought of her knowing how unwanted he was by his own parents made him want to crawl into a hole and pull it in after him.
“You owe your parents nothing, they owe you. They brought you into this world and it was you that they owed a good life.”
He looked at her and saw true compassion in her blue eyes. What she said was true and it wasn’t the first time he’d heard that. Grace had told him that more than once until she’d won him over. He owed his parents nothing but he owed Frank and Grace the world for saving him.
“I loved my grandfather, much more than I loved my parents. He knew how they treated me and did everything he could to protect me, but he got sick and couldn’t take care of me. I’d stay with him in the summertime, here on the ranch. I hated when school would start and I’d have to go back to them. I’m sure Frank told you how they treated me. They were drunks. All they did was lay around the house and make me wait on them. If I didn’t do something they told me to do, I got a beating. The bigger I got, the worse they got. I wanted to live with my grandfather.”
“Why didn’t you or your grandfather report them?”
“The same reason every child who’s beaten doesn’t. Embarrassment. My grandfather didn’t report them because they threatened to take me away and he’d never see me again. They were ruthless enough to do it, and he knew it. The only ones who knew about how it was were my friends. The ones you met here. I made them promise not to tell anyone—ever. To this day, no one mentions it.” He paused, and she squeezed his hand.
“One of my friends, Riley Madison, lived through it with his own father. We were close. I tried to get him to run away with me, but he wouldn’t go. He was afraid if he did and his father got him back, the beatings would be worse. Our parents were smart in the way they beat us. They never left a bruise where anyone could see it. If I had bruises and had to take gym, my mother would send a note in that I was sick and couldn’t attend the class.” He shook his head. “I hated them both and I still do.”
“They’re still alive?”
“Oh yeah, in fact, they call me almost monthly to ask for money. It will be a cold day in hell when I give them any. My grandfather died when I was fifteen. I was heartbroken. I loved him so much. I couldn’t take it anymore so when I turned sixteen, I ran—as far, and as long, as I could. I was heading for Florida and had made it as far as Georgia. I was so tired. I came upon a dirt road. Well, at least I thought it was a dirt road. It was Frank and Grace’s driveway. I followed it until I came to a barn. I figured I’d just rest there for the night.” He laughed. “I was woken up by someone kicking my foot. I jumped up and tried to run, but Frank caught me by the collar. He told me he was taking me inside while he called the cops. But Grace wouldn’t let him make the call. She told him to leave me alone and asked me if I was hungry. I told her no but when she put two ham sandwiches in front of me, I wolfed them down. She told Frank I was going to sleep on the couch. Of course, he told her if everything she owned was gone in the morning along with me, not to bitch to him. She winked at me and I knew right then, I wanted her to be my mom.”
Kelsey reached over with her other hand and with both, she cupped his hand gently. She reminded him of Grace sometimes. “They are both amazing people.”
“I know, and I’m very fortunate to have them in my life. I call them Mom and Dad. They are my parents as far as I’m concerned.”
Kelsey laughed. “Frank told me about taking you fishing.”
Ryder chuckled. “I couldn’t believe anyone could be that angry and not want to hit something, or someone. He’s the one who talked me into trying my hand at building furniture. I had so much anger in me, and he said to take it out on something with a hammer. I thought he was joking but once I started doing just that, I began to love it.”
“So how did you go from making furniture to having this ranch and breeding horses?”
“My grandfather left me this ranch when he died, but I couldn’t take possession until I turned twenty-one. Thing is, I didn’t come back until I was twenty-three. I was traveling for two years and hard to track down. The lawyer finally contacted Frank. It seemed he never knew I’d been living with Frank and Grace. My parents were living here on the ranch in the original house. The house they burned to the ground by one of them falling asleep with a cigarette in their hand. They both got out but everything was lost. When I came back to the ranch, they had an RV hooked up, and they were living out of it. I told them to get off the ranch but they refused, so I called the sheriff and had them evicted. They weren’t happy but they went. My grandfather had left me a lot of money too. He knew I dreamed of owning a Paint horse ranch.”
Ryder took a deep breath. “He left me a letter, telling me how proud he was of me and to follow my dream. I did. I started going to auctions and buying horses. I bought a few horses from Becca when she decided to turn the house into a bed and breakfast. She needed gentle riding horses, so I took the Paints off her hands. When I bought Tramp, I knew he was the perfect stud. I was right too. People come from across the states to have their mares bred with him. I make a ton of money on stud fees alone. Jake, Gabe, and Wyatt helped me get things established. They raise and sell Quarter horses along with training them. Because of them, I was well on my way.”
“They seem like great friends. I like all your friends.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes at her. “Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s too bad Trick is married. He is really hot and don’t even get me started on the sheriff.” She squealed when he suddenly pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and smiled down at him.
He felt better telling her his past. He’d never shared any of it with a woman before.
“Trick would never leave Kaylee, so no hope for you there.”
“Oh, okay. What about Sam?”
“You’re really pushing it, darlin’.” Ryder laughed. “Sam is seeing someone, so leave him alone. Christ, we all grew up with the girls, and then women, chasing after Wyatt, Trick, and Sam.”
“Oh yeah, like the rest of you are chopped liver.”
Ryder burst out laughing. “We had our share, but it got to be where it was a competition. When we were in our twenties, we were terrible with the girls at least until Sam took off to college, then the playing field got a little easier. When Trick married Kaylee, it was down to Wyatt. Then he left for the Marines. Finally, the rest of us had a chance.”
“Oh please. I don’t believe that for a minute.”
Ryder grinned. “No?”
“Nope.” Kelsey brushed a kiss along his lips, and then frowned. “What kind of name is Trick?”
“His real name is Patrick but when he was little, he couldn’t say it. He called himself Trick and it stuck. The only one who gets away with calling him Patrick is Kaylee. That woman could call him hey you and he’d be fine with it. He loves her very much.”
“They seem very happy. All of them do. I really liked the women I met.”
“They’re all great and have made their men very happy.”
“Don’t you ever want to get married? Be happy like that?”
“No. It isn’t that I don’t want to be happy. I just don’t want kids. I never want to be like my parents were, and mistreat anyone.”
“That’s bullshit, Ryder. In fact, you’d be a great parent because you know what it’s like, plus the fact that Frank and Grace raised you right.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She didn’t respond but he saw her brow furrow, and she glanced past him for a moment. When she looked at him again, she reached up and touched the scar by his eye. “How did you get this?”
“I brought my old man the wrong beer so he threw the bottle at me. I didn’t duck fast enough.”
Kelsey gasped. “How can people be like that?”
“I have no idea. If they didn’t want a child, they shouldn’t have had one. Unless they had me just so they’d have someone to wait on them. I did everything around the house.”
“Where are they now?”
“I don’t know. Last month when they called, they were in Utah. I don’t care where they are. I never want to see them again—ever. It’s bad enough when they call me. Always asking for money.”
“You don’t send them any, do you?”
“No. I never will. It’s my money. I made it, not them. They didn’t do anything but lie around the house collecting disability. For what, I have no idea. They aren’t disabled. They’re just lazy. I think they found a doctor who would say they are, though what kind of doctor would lie for them I have no idea.”
“It’s hard to tell.”
****
Kelsey stared into his green eyes and saw the pain there. She lifted her hand and gently caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her hand. Her heart broke just a little for him knowing how unwanted he’d felt for most of his life. She wanted to tell him she wanted him, but it wasn’t the way he needed someone to want him. She closed her eyes a moment against the ache in her chest. When she opened them, he was staring at her and the heat in his eyes could have rivaled the flames in the fireplace.
He slid his hand along her neck beneath her hair and pulled her face down close to his. He pressed his lips to hers. He moved his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened for him. She groaned when his tongue moved into her mouth, dueling with hers. She wanted him, even if not the way a parent wanted a child, she wanted him the way a woman wanted a man.
She pulled back from him and kept her eyes on him as she moved to get off his lap. He moved to pull her back to him but she shook her head. He frowned at her. She dropped to her knees between his knees. Reaching out, she pulled his T-shirt over his head and smiled.
“If you remember, I told you last night there is something I want to do to you,” she whispered as she unhooked his belt buckle and opened the snap of his jeans. She slowly lowered the zipper and moved her hand inside, wrapping it around his hard cock. She heard him groan.
“Lift your butt a bit,” she ordered him with a grin. He laughed but did what she told him. She pushed his jeans, along with his boxer briefs, down to his thighs. She leaned forward and kissed the head of his hard eager cock.
Ryder fisted his hands in her hair, the sensation thrilling and encouraging her to run her tongue along the length of him from top to bottom. She cupped his balls in her hand as she put her mouth down over him as far as she could. She moaned and he shuddered. Dropping her hand from him, she gazed up at him as she sucked on him. His eyes met hers. Her mouth was making his shaft slick. She sucked hard and his head went back as he moaned out her name.
Kelsey had honestly never enjoyed this before but with Ryder, she wanted to make him come apart for her just as she had for him. She felt his thighs tremble beneath her arms and she loved that she was making him weak in the knees.
“Kelsey, you have to stop, darlin’,” he groaned through gritted teeth. He was holding back and she didn’t want him to.
“Just let me do this, Ryder.”
“I’m too close.” He tried to pull back, his fingers tangling in her hair.
“Good.”
Ryder blew out a laugh. “No, not good. I want to be inside you.”
“Later,” she told him, and then took him deep into her mouth and sucked hard.
He stiffened as a low groan tore from his chest and he came. Kelsey licked him clean and kissed her way up his chest to his lips. He deepened the kiss and pulled her tightly against him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he told her with a grin. She knew he enjoyed it.
“I know. I wanted to.” She leaned in and kissed him again.
“Well, thank you. It was amazing. Now I owe you.”
“No. I owed you...for last night.” She smiled.
“I think we need to head to the bedroom and work up our appetites for lunch.”
“Can we get in that big Jacuzzi of yours first?”
“Sure.”
“Can you make a fire in there?”
“Whatever you want, darlin’. Come on.” She pushed to her feet and watched him stand, pulling his jeans up but leaving them undone. He took her hand, and led her to the bedroom.
Once they reached the bedroom, she entered the bathroom and started the water in the tub while Ryder added logs to the fireplace. The fire had gone out earlier, so he had to light it again but she could hear the snap and crackle of the wood so she knew it was strong. While she stripped off her clothes, she watched the blue and orange flames flicker around the logs. She stepped into the tub and sank down into the water. The hot water felt amazing after being out in the cold even though she’d warmed up by the fire. She watched as Ryder stripped off the rest of his clothes before stepping into the tub. He turned the jets on and Kelsey moaned at the sensations.
Ryder moved closer to her and kissed her. His mouth moved across her cheek to her ear where he tugged on her earlobe. “Sit on the edge of the tub, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
She opened her eyes wide. “What?”
He smiled at her. “Trust me.”
“All right.” She scooted up and sat on the edge of the tub. The air cooled against her skin but the warmth of the fire behind her was keeping her warm. When he spread her legs and settled between them, she knew what he was going to do. “Ryder...”
“Shhh. Relax,” he said as he kissed her inner thigh and slowly moved closer to his target.
Her legs started shaking as he moved them over his shoulders. She grasped the edge of the tub and moaned when he moved his tongue through her strip of curls. Her head fell back as his tongue moved against her clitoris, and then he sucked on it. She felt him inching his fingers inside her. He moved them against her G-spot as he continued his assault on her clitoris. When the orgasm hit her, she screamed and almost slipped off the tub edge into the water but Ryder caught her and held her against him. Slowly, he lowered her into the tub.
“Are you all right?”
“Oh my God! That was amazing.” She was breathing hard, almost painfully. She’d never experienced anything like that before.
Ryder kissed her. “I love how you taste.” She blushed tasting herself on his lips. He ran his fingertip over the scar on her thigh. She stiffened up. “Don’t be embarrassed by this. It’s a part of you and there is nothing ugly about it. That man who told you that was an ass.”
“I know he is, but it’s hard to get past it.”
“Trust me when I tell you that you are beautiful.” His gaze traveled over her making her suddenly self-conscious yet feeling exquisite, sexy, and for perhaps the first time in a long time, beautiful.
Ryder sighed, brought his eyes up to meet hers, and grinned. “I’m hungry. I guess I came through with that promise to make sure we worked up an appetite for lunch, huh?”
He stood and put his hand out to her. She accepted it and stood. He pulled her to him and kissed her lips quickly. “What do you say we get some lunch.”
Kelsey nodded. Ryder helped her from the tub and both of them dried off. She wrapped the towel around her. “I need to go put some clothes on.”
“Your robe is fine.” He winked at her. She smiled and ran from the room. She put her robe on and met him in the living room. He was stoking the fire back to a roaring blaze.
“I love the way both fireplaces are open on both sides.”
Ryder glanced at her over his shoulder. “Just seemed like the smart thing to do to keep the house warm, if I needed to.”
“It works well. What would you like for lunch?”
He grinned at her, making her laugh then he scooped her up into his arms, kissed her hard and she knew exactly what he wanted. They walked to the kitchen, where she fixed lunch, and then spent the rest of the day in bed.