by Mia Taylor
“What was that about?” she asked as he sat. Ryker smiled wryly.
“Just business,” he replied evenly. “He was supposed to be working but he’s not.”
“At this hour?” she asked, glancing at her watch.
“My business is open twenty-four seven,” Ryker replied smoothly. Rui’s brow furrowed into a vee and she stared at him, again perplexed by his unusual behavior.
“What?” Ryker asked, reaching for the menu.
“I—nothing,” she mumbled, also turning her attention toward the words in front of her. There was no point in pushing the answers from him. Basic psychology dictated that if he wanted to tell her, he would. The more she demanded answers from him, the less likely he would be to give them.
“Are you from Miami?” she asked instead, hoping to alleviate some of the gloom which seemed to lurk over them.
“I have lived here my entire life,” Ryker replied. “Well… from all that I can remember of my life, anyway.”
“Oh? Did you live somewhere else before?”
His eyes clouded and a small frown formed on his lips as if he regretted saying as much as he had.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Probably. I was adopted when I was just over a year old.”
“I see.”
It certainly explained the lack of resemblance between him and his fair, blonde sister.
“And you have a business?”
Ryker’s mouth twisted into the semblance of a smile and he sat back in his chair.
“I have several businesses,” he replied. “But I mostly focus my attention on my construction outfits.”
Rui nodded and shifted her eyes back toward the menu again. It was hard to believe that such a well-manicured man had ever donned a hardhat in his life, but if he owned the place, he probably had people working for him.
Since when is construction a twenty-four seven business? she wondered silently but did not voice her question aloud. What did Rui know about any business other than medicine anyway? She was hardly in a position to challenge Ryker on his business practices.
“What about you, Doc? Have you always lived in Miami?”
“I grew up in Maryland,” she replied. “Did med school in Boston before getting offered an internship here.”
“Harvard?” he asked, a note of deep respect in his voice. “Impressive.”
“I was lucky,” Rui said quickly, embarrassed that he looked at her so admiringly.
“It takes a lot more than luck to get into Harvard, Dr. Granger.”
“If I’m supposed to call you ‘Ryker’, shouldn’t you be calling me Rui?”
“Well, I didn’t want to be presumptuous,” he drawled, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. His eyes glittered mysteriously and in that moment, Rui would have given anything to be in his head.
“What is it about you, Rui?” he asked quietly. “I feel completely at ease with you like I’ve known you my whole life. That is no easy feat.”
“Maybe because I’m a doctor,” she mumbled and was again struck at how ridiculous her own words sounded to her ears. Ryker reached out across the table, extending his long fingers toward hers, and she did not resist when he uncurled her hands from the fists she had made.
“I think fate put you at the nurses’ station today,” he told her, his deep voice slightly gruff. “Do you believe in fate, Rui?”
She met his eyes, a small shiver jolting down her spine, and she watched as his lips turned up into a questioning smile.
“Well?” he demanded. “Do you?”
Rui broke their gaze and shook her head.
“No,” she replied flatly, pulling her fingers away. “I don’t.”
To her surprise, Ryker began to laugh heartily.
“Well,” he chuckled, catching her eye again. “I can promise you this…”
She waited expectantly for him to finish his thought.
“I will do everything in my power to convince you it’s real,” he concluded.
Chapter Four
Reckless Abandon
Rui’s nervousness was palpable as he led her into his condo in Miami Beach.
She doesn’t do this kind of thing, he realized, the lights illuminating his path as they walked, activated by motion sensors. I wonder why she’s coming home with me.
There was only one reason that Ryker could fathom and that was that she sensed the same connection that he had felt for hours.
He appreciated the time she had spent with him and what had started out as a night with the young, attractive doctor being uncomfortable had ended with her in his condo. Ryker was beginning to feel as surprised as she looked.
It was not that Ryker was used to being refused by women but he was also keenly aware that Rui Granger was not like the other women he knew.
For example, any other woman would walk in here and look around with cool aloofness, even indifference.
Rui, on the other hand, registered unconcealed awe all over her face as she tried to find one spot on which to feast her eyes.
“This is one apartment?” she gasped, looking toward the short elevator which moved between the three floors. “And it’s all yours?”
“Well, mine and some of the staff,” he replied laughingly. “It’s a lot for one person.”
Perhaps hearing himself referred to, a man appeared from the back corridor.
“Ah, James, good, you’re here.”
“Yes, boss.”
“This is Dr. Granger, James.”
Rui looked at the man dressed only in black and then back at Ryker, unspeaking.
“Can I get you a drink, Rui?” Ryker asked her gently. “Glass of wine? More tequila?”
She grunted at the reminder of the dinner turned drinks at Picante.
“Maybe just some water,” she replied, and Ryker nodded at James.
“Water and I’ll have my usual.”
“Sure, boss.”
James hesitated in the hall and peered at him.
“What is it, James?”
“How is your old man, boss?”
Ryker’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head curtly.
“We’ll talk about my father later,” he snapped, his tentative good mood fading at the reminder.
The entire purpose of engaging Rui that night was to forget about his father, about his future, if only for an evening.
“Okay, boss.”
James disappeared, leaving Rui to gape at him in surprise.
“You aren’t going to tell him about your dad?”
“I have other things on my mind right now,” he answered, trying to smile through the pang of sorrow in his gut. “Or can’t you tell?”
Rui studied him with concerned eyes but Ryker ignored her look and stepped closer to her.
“I’m glad you decided to come home with me.”
A look of confusion crossed over her face like she had just remembered where she was and she shook her head.
“I don’t know why I did,” she confessed. “I-I probably should go. I don’t really…”
She inhaled deeply but didn’t continue her thought. Her cheeks were almost scarlet, even in the dim lighting.
“You don’t really what?”
“I don’t really go to strange men’s houses.”
Ryker chuckled.
“Am I that strange?”
“You know what I mean, Ryker,” she sighed, looking about uneasily. “I-I don’t think I should be here.”
“Why not?” he asked. “What do you think will happen?”
More uncertainty crossed over her face.
“Ryker, I know you’re grieving right now,” she started but Ryker put his finger to her lips.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he interjected. “And I’m not using you as a distraction.”
Well, maybe I am a little bit, he thought grimly but he couldn’t explain away the feeling that they were connected from before. He had not been joking about fate bringing them together, no matter how bizarre an idea it mig
ht seem to Rui.
You must know that you can’t entertain this past tonight, he told himself. She is an outsider and you are the new don. The upcoming weeks are going to be havoc around here as it is. I can’t keep my life hidden from her while running the family. The worlds will collide and Rui will run screaming.
But there was more at risk than just Rui learning the truth; none of the other dons would appreciate him hooking up with someone so far outside the realm of associates they knew.
Unless I brought her in…
“Where did you go?” Rui asked, bringing him back to the living room. James entered carrying the drinks and set them on the intricate wood coffee table.
“I’m right here,” Ryker assured her. “With you.”
James cast them a sly look before vanishing back into the hall and Ryker took Rui’s hand. She was hesitant but permitted him to guide her toward the sofa where they sat side by side.
“It’s natural to reach out to strangers when you feel alone,” Rui explained. “That—”
“Rui, you don’t know me, but if you did, you would know there is nothing natural about me reaching out to someone I don’t know and haven’t vetted thoroughly.”
“Vetted?”
Ryker wished he’d chosen a different word.
If I don’t want her to have an idea of who I am, I should probably not say words like “vetted.”
“I’m just saying that like you wouldn’t normally come to the home of someone you don’t know, I wouldn’t invite someone I didn’t know in.”
She continued to stare at him with wise, amber-green eyes and Ryker could see she was debating whether to accept what he’d said.
He reached forward and grabbed her water, placing the cold glass in her hand.
“If you want to go, I’ll take you back to the hospital so you can get your car.”
She shook her dark head of hair, more strands slipping out of the loose knot at the base of her skull.
“I’ll stay for a bit.”
Unable to resist, Ryker reached behind her and freed the hair tie from her head, the strands falling freely over her small shoulders. She stared at him in surprise, apparently not expecting the movement, but she didn’t shrink back.
“You look beautiful with your hair down,” he said gruffly. “Not that you aren’t gorgeous with your hair up.”
Her pupils dilated.
“You think I’m beautiful?” she asked, sounding shocked. It was his turn to be stunned.
“You don’t know you’re beautiful?”
“I… I’ve never really thought about it.”
Ryker blinked at the response. How many women had he met who could claim the same thing? It seemed that his whole life he had only known the ultra-vapid, those consumed with weight loss and staying eternally young.
And here is this exquisite creature who has no idea how attractive she is.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
He didn’t wait for her response and leaned forward, cupping her cheek inside his large palm. Rui’s eyes grew huge, pink tinging her face, and Ryker placed a soft, warm kiss on her lips.
A small sigh escaped her but she didn’t move, frozen as his bottom lip curled against her top. Slowly, he shifted closer, wanting to feel the beat of her heart against his body and Rui didn’t resist.
Their eyes still open, lost in each other’s gaze, their embrace deepened. Rui’s hands inched toward his chest, her fingers curling into the buttons of his shirt and Ryker knew that she was succumbing to the feeling they had shared from the moment they had first seen one another.
Ryker laid back on the sofa, easing Rui on top of him, watching as she allowed herself to get caught up in the feeling of headiness overcoming her.
Her eyes closed and Ryker’s strong arms encircled her, pulling her nearer as his mouth dropped down to latch onto the curve of her neck.
Gooseflesh exploded over her skin and a small moan filled his ears. It ignited the fire which was burning inside him but suddenly, Ryker wasn’t sure if he was filled with desire or despair, the emotions running so closely together and fusing into a flame.
Rui’s shirt came off, followed by her pants, and soon she straddled him, naked, as he stared up at her with glowing, passionate eyes.
His hands explored the smooth lines of her soft skin, the need to possess her overriding any minor protests his mind could conjure. He knew that he needed to feel her as deeply as possible, that being inside her was the only thing which would cure his worsening melancholy.
“Wait!” she gasped when he sat up, burying his face in her chest, his tongue lashing out to taste her skin. Through his lips, he felt the intense beating of her heart.
“What is it?” he mumbled, his mouth continuing to seek every hidden part of her body, pressing her backward so that she lay on her back against the leather sofa.
“Ryker…”
He reluctantly raised his head and looked at her, but his yearning to have her was overcoming his reason. He was pulsating between her legs and he knew she could feel him.
“Tell me,” he whispered, his breaths falling from his mouth in quick, uneven rasps. “Do you want me to stop?”
He prayed she would say no but the look in her eyes told him that it was not what she was thinking at all.
“Tell me,” he said again, biting on his lower lip. The primal urge was becoming more than he could bear.
“Kiss me again,” she murmured and he did, pressing his hot mouth against her parted lips. Their tongues met and Ryker fumbled with his pants, until they were both flesh to flesh. Her eyes seemed like saucers and she nodded once, their mouths still melded.
But when he entered her, their bodies unifying as he had so desperately wanted, Rui cried out loudly, her knees locking at his waist.
She seemed to be sucking him in, body and soul, clenched against him as he eased himself fully inside her.
Her moans fuelled his desire, causing him to move faster, harder and with more vigor until he felt Rui shuddering beneath him.
“Good,” he purred. “Good.”
He was not far behind her, his need to expel all the sadness he’d pent up inside him for years, it seemed, deigning to release in such a feral way.
When he could resist no longer, he groaned, his own form spasming to match his lover’s, the two a slick combination of spent passion. He fell into her neck, kissing the sweet flesh behind her ear and more goosebumps exploded over her body.
“Are you all right?” he finally managed to ask, propping himself up and peering into her face. Her hazel eyes held a dazed look about them but she nodded almost dumbly.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing,” she insisted but she shifted her eyes away.
“Rui?”
She swallowed and worry consumed Ryker.
“What is it?” he insisted, pulling himself up. “Tell me!”
“I… couldn’t you tell?” she muttered.
“Tell what? Did I hurt you?”
“No!” she laughed, shooting her eyes back toward him. Her face was the color of canned beets.
“Rui, you’re making me incredibly nervous,” he told her. “Please tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I… I’ve never done that before.”
“I know,” he sighed, wondering if she was about to fall into a pit of regret. “But I want you to know that it did mean something to me, even if we only just met. I told you that I feel connected to you—”
“No,” she laughed. “I mean…”
She bit on her lower lip and Ryker continued to stare at her uncomprehendingly.
“Are you going to make me guess what you’re thinking?”
She shook her head but when she spoke again, it suddenly all made perfect sense to Ryker.
“I’ve never had sex before.”
Chapter Five
Unhappy Surprises
It was difficult for Rui to concentrate on anything but Ryker in the coming days and he didn’t make
it any easier to forget him—not that Rui wanted to.
On some level, she realized that giving herself to him had put her in a vulnerable position emotionally. No matter how much she wanted to tell herself that it was no big deal, she knew it was, that she hadn’t waited twenty-six years for a one-night stand.
It hadn’t been her design to wait, to hold out for what some women considered their “perfect man.” Rui was much too sensible to believe in soulmates and “dream” partners.
Her life had simply consisted of work and school. From a young age, her parents had deterred her from any sort of social activity and subliminally, Rui had accepted that she was not attractive enough to compete with the frilly, silly girls with whom she shared classes. Even as she blossomed into womanhood, the traces of her somewhat awkward youth fading away, Rui was always the same, ill-at-ease girl she’d always been, particularly around men. It had never dawned on her that men might find her attractive, even if she had considered it for more than a minute or two.
Sure, there had been dates. The opposite sex couldn’t resist the idea of capturing a doctor, after all. It was the ultimate ego boost, Rui was sure. But all those evenings ended with a firm handshake and leaving in separate vehicles at the end and Rui would rarely be asked on a second outing.
Until now.
With Ryker there were second dates and third…
“Dr. Granger!” Lucille purred. “You got another bouquet of roses today…”
Rui glanced at the nurses’ station with embarrassment but before she could respond, Dr. Sheldon rounded the corner and eyed the flowers with annoyance.
“Rui, can you please tell your boyfriend to stop filling reception with this crap? I can’t see the counter!”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Rui said quickly but even as she spoke, she wondered why she was fighting it. She couldn’t deny the feelings between them or the fact that Ryker picked her up after every shift, even if she finished at six o’clock in the morning. Rui was both flattered and stunned that he managed to keep her schedule straight when she barely managed to do it herself.
If he wasn’t her boyfriend, no woman in the history of the world had ever been more doted upon by their one-night stand, but at the same time, Rui was terrified.