Luckily, it stopped. Maybe my luck had started to turn around? I slipped into the cab and wouldn’t you know it, it was the driver from the day before.
"Hey!" I greeted him like he was an old friend.
He looked into the rearview mirror. "Hi. Did you get fired?"
I laughed. "No. I'm actually on my way to bring my boss his coffee."
"Oh, good. I'm glad the traffic didn't make you late."
"I was totally late, but he didn’t fire me."
"Looks like you have a good boss."
I grinned, biting my tongue from saying what I really thought. "Yeah, a good boss. That's what he is."
"Where to?"
"Cobble Creek."
"Fancy."
"Yeah, I could never afford to live there."
"I definitely don’t make many stops in that area."
"Who needs a cab when there's a limo driver in every driveway?"
The cab sped off with barely enough time for me to get a good grip on the cup. The buildings zipped by and before I knew it the hard, weathered concrete gave way to manicured lawns and actual trees without metal fences guarding them against vandalism. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter on that side of town.
"They must pay extra for ambiance," the cabbie joked.
"Oh, I'm sure of it."
He pulled up to the oversized, well-kept home. "Do you need me to wait?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.
"No. Supposedly, he has a driver who's at his beck and call."
"Seems like he has a lot of things at his beck and call."
I paused, wondering if he was referring to me. "It's a paycheck, you know."
"Yeah, but don’t let him treat you like anything less than you deserve."
I guess he was trying to be sweet, but he'd brought up a good point—was I letting Ryder treat me like shit for a paycheck?
Fuck, probably.
I let out a soft sigh and pushed my way out of the car door. Still holding Ryder's coffee, and with the first of the month looming right around the corner, there was nothing I could do at that exact moment.
"Well, I hope to see you again," I said as I handed the cabbie the fare.
He waved me off. "Don't worry about it. You remind me of my daughter, and I'd hope someone would give her a break if she looked like she needed it."
It wasn’t often I was the recipient of such kindness, and all I could do was smile—utterly grateful. I closed the door behind me and lodged a tendril of hair behind my ear, before mustering the courage to take on another day with the last person in the world I wanted to see. I took my first step onto his driveway as the low rumble of the cab's engine pulling off filled the background.
There was no turning back at that point unless I decided to walk home, and that wasn’t happening. Not again, anyway. Finally, making it to his door, I knocked, hoping maybe, just maybe, it was going to be a better day. After all, nothing could top the awkwardness from the night before—or could it? After a few minutes of standing on the porch like a goddam bill collector, I reached for the door and looked around, hoping no one was watching. The doorknob turned easily, and I was flabbergasted at the fact he would actually leave his door unlocked. But I guess when one lives in such an affluent neighborhood, crime was just a second thought—something that happened outside of their bubble.
"Ryder," I called out quietly, then realized that he would never hear such a low squeak in the massive home. "Ryder!"
There was no answer. Slowly, I crept in, closing the door behind me. I peeked past a wall into a formal living room, and then proceeded down the hall, listening for any sign of life, but there was nothing.
Maybe he's upstairs?
I turned to the curved staircase, leading up to the second level. If I hadn’t gotten my daily recommended amount of exercise yet, I was going to now. Taking a deep breath, I planted my foot on the first step, then the second, until finally, I reached the top—half out of breath.
"Why the fuck do people need this much room?" I mumbled under my breath.
Unsure which way his room was, I began to sneak small peeks behind each closed door. "Ryder?"
Fuck, where is he?
Approaching the last door at the end of the hall, I glanced over my shoulder when I was startled by a deep voice. "What are you doing up here?"
I almost dropped the coffee on the pristine dark cherry hardwood floors when I caught sight of his hard, wet body, donning only a towel. "You don’t need to scare me like that, you know."
"You're in my house."
"I know where I am."
"Then act accordingly."
You son of a bitch.
My eyes narrowed and my blood boiled. How dare he talk to me like a fucking acquaintance? He was lucky I was a fucking lady, otherwise—
"So, you didn’t answer. What are you doing up here?"
"I knocked, and the cab had already left. You didn’t answer, so I—"
"So, you broke in?"
"I didn’t break in exactly. The door was unlocked."
"That's still breaking in."
My body flashed hot, and the anger began to pool in my chest, aching to burst forth. I cleared my throat and held out the coffee. "Coffee. I have your coffee."
Is that all you could come up with?
He eyed me up and down, then turned from the door, leaving the drink in my hand.
Fucking asshole.
Chapter Seven
I stood there, still holding the cup, wanting to throw it at the back of his head. But I was sidetracked when a glint of sun hit his body at just the right angle, calling my attention to trail down his neck, and over his broad shoulders. I couldn't help but respond in the only way a woman in that situation could respond.
Fuck me.
I'd have to remember to buy new panties on the way home, seeing as how I was probably going to ruin them all by working for him.
If only he weren't so goddam good-looking. Good-looking and wet. Good-looking and wet, in a towel.
RYDER
I glanced over my shoulder. "Are you just gonna stand there, letting my coffee get cold?"
"I, uh—"
I turned back to my room, shaking my head. I knew what she was staring at, and I had to admit I quite enjoyed her attention. Grabbing the dark navy blue jeans off my bed, I turned slightly to see if she was still standing in the hall, but she was gone.
Fuck, why'd I have to be such a dick to her?
I hoped she wasn’t downstairs crying. Tears and feelings weren’t my forte, and early morning tears and feelings were the worst of all. I threw on my jeans and a black, V-neck shirt and headed down the stairs, combing my hair back with my fingers.
Turning left off the staircase, I made my way into the kitchen to find her standing in front of the large glass wall, overlooking my well-manicured backyard.
"Do you like what you see?"
She twisted her body, shooting me a look of pure disdain before turning back to the view.
"I'm sorry. I dunno what gets into me sometimes."
"I do," she huffed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Her arms fell to her side. "It means that you think you can treat me however you please."
I picked up the cup of coffee she'd set on the counter. "I don’t think that."
"Then tell me why you treat me the way you do?"
"Can we talk about something else?"
"No. Tell me."
"You're not the boss around here, you know," I said before taking a sip of the already cold drink.
She whipped around. "It's always gonna be you isn’t it?" Her eyes were red with anger.
"Me?"
"You're always gonna be in charge of our relationship—business or not."
I slammed the cup on the counter, causing it to splash all over the black marble. "You're free to leave, you know." I couldn’t control the anger this woman incited any longer—my rage focusing in on the first annoyance that crossed my path which happened t
o be the sickeningly sweet taste in my mouth. "And what kind of coffee is this?"
She looked down at my cup. "Coffee with creamer."
"Was that on your list?"
"No, it—"
"That's because I don’t like creamer."
"I just assumed—"
"And that’s the problem—you assumed. Your job is to know and anticipate. Know and fuckin' anticipate!"
Her lip quivered, and her eyes glistened with welling tears. I knew I'd gone too far.
Fuck, shut your goddam mouth.
Inhaling a deep breath, I decided to change the subject. "Let's go."
She crossed her arms tightly and turned her body—her body language shouted stay away. What else could I do but try and console her? I stepped out from behind the counter and inched toward her, noting how the soft morning sun glistened off her long blonde hair.
The closer I came to her, the more her body tensed, and I knew touching her in any sort of real way would be awkward. So I paused mid-step and slid my hands into my pockets, looking over my shoulder toward the front door.
Damn, I wish I was out there.
Before I could turn back, she was already rushing by me. I guess she was more uncomfortable than I was. She pulled the door open, letting in the cool morning breeze which wafted the lavender shampoo in her hair all the way to my nose. Her scent made me want to rip her clothes off and take her like I knew she wanted all these past years. I could show her what she'd been missing out on—what I'd been keeping her from.
But I couldn't. Summer would kill me for crossing the line, and probably causing Hannah to quit, ultimately, adding to Summer's workload. Yeah, I wasn’t going to cross Summer.
I ran my fingers through my hair, grabbing a fistful in an effort to steal my attention away from her—but it wasn’t working. Slowly, I backed out of the kitchen and spun around trying to figure out what I would say to her on the car ride to work.
Closing the door behind me, I made my way over to my driver, Jace. "Does she looked really pissed?"
He smiled and shook his head as he pulled the door open. "So pissed."
"Fuck me."
He chuckled as he pushed the door closed. I could feel her anger sweep over me the second I sat down, and I knew I'd need to say something amazing to get back in her good graces. It shouldn’t be too hard since I was used to sweeping women off their feet, and in any case, it was Hannah. I was always able to sweet talk my way out of shit with her.
I shook off the anxiousness from the morning and turned to her, cracking my world famous smile. "So, I—"
"Don't you dare talk to me right now," she growled, staring out the window.
She didn’t even turn to spit her venom at me. Was I that disgusting to look at? There was no way—I'm fucking Ryder Thorne.
"Hannah, lose the fucking attitude. I'm trying to be nice here."
She turned from the window. "Well, you ain't trying hard enough. And why are you going to work without a suit on?"
"I have my suits at the office. But why are you so concerned with the way I dress? You never cared before."
She returned to looking out the window. "I've always cared," she whispered tremulously, just loud enough that I could make out what she'd said.
Without a second thought, my hand shot up from my side and found its way to her shoulder. "Stop. Just stop," I exhaled.
She bit her bottom lip as a tear cascaded down her cheek.
"I know what I did. You don’t need to remind me. I know…" my words trailed as my hand moved toward the back of her neck.
Her flesh was soft and warm, and begged for me to pull her close—but I had to stop myself. The gesture would confuse her, and it might just confuse me, too. I pulled my hand away, and set my gaze on the back of Jace's head, as it was the only place that couldn't judge me at that moment.
Not a word was uttered between us as the quiet suburban streets gave way to the bustling city thoroughfares. The situation wasn’t going to work, and I needed to find a way to let Hannah go—forever this time.
I rubbed the scruff at the bottom of my chin, trying to get lost in the blur of the brick buildings, zipping by my passenger window. The car eventually slowed, stopping in front of my office building. Before Jace could open the door for me, I hopped out to speak to him privately.
"Jace, I need you to keep her busy today."
"Busy?"
"Like drive slow. Get stuck in traffic. You know, busy."
"Busy. Got it."
I opened the door to my car and leaned in. "So, I need you to run a few errands today. Jace knows where. I'll see you later this afternoon."
She was silent, but the hurt in her eyes said it all. Backing away, I shut the door and backed away.
"Don't come back until later, Jace."
"Anything in particular you need, sir?"
"Shit, I dunno. Stop for groceries. Do some laundry. Buy me a tie. Just keep her busy."
He nodded then got back into the car. A sense of relief washed over me as I watched him merge seamlessly back into traffic.
HANNAH
I could feel the driver staring at me through the rearview mirror, and it was awkward, to say the least. Although, he was rather good looking, with his dark brown hair parted on the side, and his baby blue eyes surrounded by thick, black lashes, I wasn't in the mood to appreciate his handsomeness.
I was, however, in the mood to loathe Ryder and his stank attitude. The way he spoke to me was uncalled for, and I wanted nothing more than to quit and move on with my life. I'd given him enough of my youth—a commodity I was running out of.
"Ma'am, would you like to head to the mall to pick up a suit for Mr. Thorne?"
"A suit?"
Jace cleared his throat. "Yeah, he needs a full suit, maybe some shoes, and then groceries."
"Groceries too, huh?"
"That's what he said."
"He told you to keep me away, didn't he?"
He pulled his eyes away from the mirror to look over his shoulder. "No, why would you say that?"
"How long have you known Ryder?"
"Mr. Thorne? Maybe a few months."
"Do you like working for him?"
"Oh, yes. Mr. Thorne found me studying in the stairwell at his office building where I worked as a janitor. I'm trying to finish up my Master's Degree in business management. He offered me this job, so I had time to study while I waited for him between trips."
"Really? Who knew he had a soft spot."
Jace chuckled. "Mr. Thorne is quite the man. I drive him to an orphanage right outside the city sometimes—"
"An orphanage?" I interrupted.
"He donates money to make sure the kids are taken care of, and spends a lot of time there playing with the kids."
"Hmm…"
I wonder if he'd always done that and I just never knew? Was I so self-absorbed that I never wondered what he did in his spare time?
"What else does he do, Jace?"
"That's something you'd need to ask Mr. Thorne. He's really a good guy if you'd give him the chance."
"He's had his cha—" I paused mid-sentence when I realized I was divulging too much information, and it probably wasn't professional to reveal that I used to—am—no used to be in love with my boss.
"Cha?"
"Never mind," I mumbled.
He looked at me through the rearview mirror again. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Tell me about you."
"Nothing really to say. Just thankful to be finishing up with school soon, and Mr. Thorne said he'd give me a job if I wanted."
"Well, isn’t he just a regular philanthropist all of a sudden," I replied snidely.
Jace laughed. "Let me take you shopping. Maybe it'll get your mind off of him for a while."
I looked out the window, trying my best not to smile. It'd been a long time since I'd hung out with a man, and Jace seemed like he'd be good company.
"Well?"
"It sounds like fun,"
I conceded.
He turned right onto the next street, then a left after that, dropping us off right in front of the mall. He pulled up to the curb in front of the main entrance and parked.
"Wait, why are you stopping here? Aren't you coming in?"
"I am. I just don’t want you to have to walk from the parking lot."
"Oh, my gosh, don't be silly. Go park, and I'll walk with you."
"Only if you're sure, ma'am?"
"Please, call me Hannah."
He glanced over his shoulder and shot me a smile. "Hannah. That's really pretty."
"It was my grandmother's name."
"Well, if she is half as beautiful as you, the name definitely fits."
My cheeks flashed hot, and I knew I probably resembled a cherry tomato. Talk about not having any sort of smoothness in a flirtatious situation. "I don't know what to say."
"No need to say anything. That smile is enough."
Oh, my!
He turned back to the wheel and proceeded to drive around the packed lanes of cars, searching for a spot. After a couple of loops around the whole lot, he found a lonely spot pretty far from the main entrance.
"Well, this is gonna be a long walk. Are you up for it?"
"I am," I replied, pushing my door open.
"No, let me get that for you."
"I'm okay, really."
"Wow, I don't think I've ever met a woman so determined to take care of herself."
"Really? What kind of women do you meet?"
"The wrong kind." He winked.
I shook my head and pushed my way out of the car, blinded by the bright morning sun. "It's such a nice day. Too bad we aren’t at the beach."
"That can be arranged, you know," he said, locking the car with the remote.
"No, it's a work day, and I don’t need either of us getting fired on my conscience. I would feel horrible, and I would be homeless." I chuckled.
"Now that would never happen," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Are you ready?"
I nodded, moving in the direction of the mall, brushing his shoulder just slightly in the process. The feeling it caused in the pit of my stomach caught me off-guard. I felt like I was cheating on Ryder, even though, he'd made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me. "Sorry about that," I said, moving away from him.
Tempt Me: A Second Chance Billionaire Romance (Me Series Book 2) Page 5