Ray of Hope (Ray #2)

by E. L. Todd

  I laughed in a sarcastic way. “You make it sound so easy.”

  “I also think if you have the mindset that this relationship is going to fail, then it probably will.” He shrugged like he didn’t know what else to say. “So maybe you need to make some changes.”

  “Like?”

  “Try getting to know him better. More dates and less sex.”

  “But I don’t want less sex…” It was amazing, the best I’d ever had.

  Zeke would normally laugh at that comment but this time he didn’t. “Or you could tell him about your concerns.”

  “Ryker isn’t the type of guy who does serious conversations like this…”

  “Then maybe he isn’t the right guy for you. Relationships are about communication. If you can’t talk, then you’ll never understand each other.” Zeke was much wiser than me, probably because he was older and smarter. When he said something, it was usually true.

  “You have a point.”

  He shrugged again. “Do what you want. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”

  “Yeah, I hope so.”

  His eyes turned to the TV in the corner. “Mariners are up.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw the score. “Hell yeah. I knew today was going to be a great day.” I turned back to him and grabbed another slice.

  Zeke let a smile form on his lips.

  “What? Are you judging me?”

  “Absolutely not. I just think it’s interesting you eat so much but never gain weight.”

  “Ha.” I laughed because it was totally absurd. “Believe me, I do. It goes straight to my thighs. That’s why I never wear shorts.”

  “I thought that was because you’re always cold.”

  “Nope. Now you know the real reason.”

  “Your legs are fine, Rae. I look at them every day.”

  “But you don’t really look at them.”

  He turned his eyes back to the TV. “Thinking of buying a house soon?”

  “Now that Rex will be able to pay us back within a year, I think I’ll wait. But I do want something. I really like your neighborhood.”

  He nodded. “It’s quiet. I like it.”

  It was a luxurious neighborhood I could never afford, but I loved to admire it. Zeke’s house was way too big for just a single person, but it suited him so well. When he got married and had kids, it would be the perfect place to raise a family. Sometimes I was jealous, but then I remembered how hard he worked for everything he had, and I’d realize I had no right to be jealous. If I wanted the things he had, I needed to work harder. “I’ll start seriously looking soon. The market is good right now, so I should jump on it.”

  “True. Let me know if you need any help. I learned a lot from my realtor.”

  “Thanks. I’ll probably need all the help I can get.”

  “Nah. You’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. In fact, you’re one of the smartest people I know.”

  I appreciated that Zeke never said I was one of the “smartest women he knew.” Most people said things like that, like they were impressed with what I accomplished with the burden between my legs. Zeke always treated me like an equal, and he didn’t view me the same way other people did. “Thanks. But I’m not as smart as you.”

  “I’m really not as smart as people claim I am.”

  “You’re just being humble.”

  He shook his head. “I accidentally drove away with my gas pump still attached to the car. Not so much now, huh?” He grinned from ear to ear at the memory.

  “When did that happen?”

  “Like a year ago. I never told anyone because I knew I would be teased forever.”

  “How much did it cost to repair it?”

  “A few thousand bucks. It sucked.”

  I didn’t laugh because he seemed truly embarrassed about it even though it really was funny. “Now I have some dirt on you.”

  “And I have a lot of dirt on you I can spill to Ryker.”

  “Damn…” He got me.

  He chuckled then grabbed his soda again. “I’m not an opponent you want to mess with, Rae.”

  I knew that all too well.

  Rex and the girls came back to the table with their beers and cosmos.

  “Where’s ours?” Zeke asked.

  “I’m not your boyfriend,” Rex barked. “Get your own.”

  “But he’s your investor,” I reminded him. “As am I.”

  “Just because you’re my investor doesn’t mean I have to kiss your ass.” Rex sat down with his drink, Kayden beside him.

  Zeke and I both shot him the stink eye, giving him a silent guilt trip until he got his ass out of his seat.

  Rex finally broke under our glares and got up. “Fine. Two beers are on the way.”

  Chapter Three

  Rae

  Ryker texted me. Want to come over?

  He went straight for the kill, like always. How about we go to dinner?

  I can order a pizza.

  I’ve been wanting to try that new Chinese place next to my apartment. Besides, you always say you’re going to order a pizza but never do.

  I really will this time. It’ll be ready when you get here.

  No thanks. Pick me up at 7 if you want to go to that Chinese place.

  There was a long pause without the three dots. After about a minute, they appeared. See you soon.

  I smiled in triumph.

  ***

  Ryker picked me up and drove us to the Chinese place. We walked inside and got a table with a white tablecloth and a candle sitting in the center. Ryker didn’t say much. He stared at his menu until he decided what he wanted. Then he put it down and stared at me instead.

  “How was your day?” I didn’t see him at work unless he came down to the lab, which wasn’t very often. Jenny worked the same shift, and if she saw him too often, she would get suspicious. I didn’t want anyone at work to know we were seeing each other because people would immediately turn their noses up at me—especially Jenny.

  “Boring.” He always gave the same answer in regards to his time in the office.

  “That’s it?”

  “Pretty much. I do a bunch of paperwork all day, take lunch, and then do more paperwork until three o’ clock comes around. It’s not as exciting as all the scientific discoveries you make down there in the bunker.”

  “Unfortunately, I haven’t made any scientific discoveries yet.”

  “Give it time. How was your day?”

  “I got a lot done. I finished one trial of my experiment and got good results. But now I need to repeat it two more times.”

  “Because…?”

  “For an experiment to be valid, it must be replicated with the same results.”

  “But you aren’t publishing a paper in the Yale Journal of Biology.”

  I wish I were. “No, but to ask for the funding to continue my project, I want to be completely certain of my data.”

  He nodded. “My dad wasn’t kidding about you. Said you were one of the best workers at the company.”

  Mr. Price was a good man, and I would never forget him. “How’s he doing?”

  Ryker paused before he answered. “Good. Plays golf.” He never talked about his father much, even though we both knew him in different ways. Sometimes, I got the impression he didn’t care for his father, like he was resentful for being forced to take over the company when he stepped down. I wanted to ask, but I suspected the intrusion wouldn’t be appreciated.

  “What were you doing in New York before you came here?” I realized I didn’t know that either. I jumped into bed with him because he had a pretty face and a pretty body. Those were the only prerequisites I cared about.

  “I was living in my penthouse near the park.”

  That didn’t answer my question at all. I didn’t ask where he was living. “Where did you work?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Oh…” Then what did he do all day? Did he live off his father’s cash? />
  “My dad gave me a trust, and I invested it all into stocks, real estate, and bonds. I’ve been living off the interest ever since.” He answered the question even though I never asked it. He could see it on the tip of my tongue. “I spent my time playing video games, traveling, and enjoying the nightlife.”

  I understood what that last part meant. “I understand why you were so miserable coming here.”

  “When my dad told me to take over the company, I wasn’t happy. But I didn’t have a choice. Besides, if I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have met you.” He looked at me with a gaze mixed with lust and sincerity. “So it worked out in the end.”

  It was a sweet thing to say, and I absorbed it through my skin to cherish as a memory. “I guess it did.”

  “I admit I’m fond of the weather here. Pretty mild all year round. In New York, it’s either freezing cold or humid as hell. Have you been?”

  “No.” I’d never left Washington.

  “I’ll take you sometime. I think you’d like it.”

  “I’d love to see it at some point.”

  “Have any vacation time free in the near future?”

  “I get three weeks every year and haven’t used it yet. So we’re set.”

  “I’ll give you more than three weeks. You can take as many as you want.”

  It was a nice offer, but I wouldn’t take it. “I respect your company too much to take advantage of you. I’m grateful for everything COLLECT has given me, and I don’t want to be treated differently just because I’m seeing you. I hope you accept that and don’t take that offensively.”

  Ryker took in my words without a single reaction. “If that’s what you want, I understand.”

  “Thank you.” I thought he might push me on the subject, but he backed off.

  Ryker became quiet again, but his eyes lingered on my face. His lustful thoughts were obvious. I could see an image of us fucking on his bed in the gloss of his eyes. Did he ever think about anything else?

  We ordered our food, and that broke up the tension for a few moments before it settled on the table once more. The more I tried to talk to him, get to know him, the tenser it became. Ryker was the strong and silent type. He was content saying nothing all night long. If I didn’t say anything, neither would he.

  “I want to ask you something.”

  He cocked his head slightly, his face painfully handsome. “I’m all ears.”

  “Does it bother you that we don’t talk very much?”

  “I don’t understand your question. I see you almost every day.”

  “I know we see each other. But we don’t really know each other. I feel like the only time we connect is when we’re screwing.”

  “Isn’t that the most important connection?” One of his eyebrows rose, and even when he was confused he was still sexy.

  “It’s important, yes. But all we do is go to your house and have sex. We never go out or do anything.”

  “What are we doing now?” he asked like a smartass.

  “Because I forced your hand.” And he didn’t make it easy.

  He sighed quietly, not hiding his irritation. “Rae, I’m confused. Are you telling me I’m not doing enough for you? Because I’ve done more for you than I’ve done for anyone else. I admit I’m a little closed off, but I don’t have much to say. That’s who I am. Always have been and always will be. I thought we were both happy, but it sounds like you aren’t. If that’s the case, then do you still want to do this?”

  “Of course.” Being with him wasn’t the issue. “I just…get concerned we’re doing something wrong.”

  “If you have certain expectations of how this should be, then yeah, it’ll always feel wrong. I like having you at my apartment because I get to enjoy you in private. It’s not just about sex. It’s about touching you and kissing you. It’s about being with you in the most intimate way possible. I’m not trying to hide you, and I don’t only want sex. I do want more. When we’re out in public, I have to hold myself back. I can’t touch you when I feel like it. I can’t kiss you when I feel like it. You’re overthinking this.”

  “Maybe I am…”

  “No, you are.”

  “I just feel like I can’t talk to you the way I talk to my friends. With them, we tell each other everything. But with us, we don’t really share much.”

  He didn’t blink as he stared me down. “Because I’m not your friend, Rae. Our relationship is different from what you have with them—in a good way. We’re physical and romantic. We connect in a different way—a physical way.”

  Maybe he was right. Maybe I was trying to find an excuse to end this relationship before it ended on its own. I knew I was falling for him. Every single day, I was a little deeper in the hole. Every kiss, every touch, and every time we had sex was sucking me further in. I didn’t know what it was about Ryker that made me feel this way. Sometimes I thought he was too good to be true. And sometimes I feared he was with me for the wrong reasons—because I stood up to him, unlike all the others.

  “So, are we okay?”

  His voice brought me back to the conversation. “Yeah.”

  “Are you sure?” He leaned over the table and lowered his voice.

  “Yes.”

  “Would you be pissed if I got this food to go so I can eat it off you?”

  “Chinese food isn’t very sexy…”

  He lowered his voice even more. “Believe me, I can make it sexy.”

  ***

  The phone rang in the lab and Jenny answered. “Hello? Yeah, she’s right here.” She set the receiver on the counter. “Rae, it’s for you.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Kayden.”

  “Cool.” I ripped off my gloves and tossed them in the safety box before I grabbed the phone. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”

  “Are you busy right now?”

  “Not really. I just harvested my specimens and transferred them to the petri dishes. Then I need to incubate—”

  “You know I don’t understand that mumbo jumbo.”

  “And you know I don’t know what mumbo jumbo means. So what’s up?”

  “I was wondering if Ryker has any single friends you could hook me up with. He’s gorgeous, so maybe he knows other gorgeous guys.”

  Kayden didn’t chase after guys, and she didn’t show much interest in the dating world. Maybe she was finally out of her funk and realized she needed to get laid. “Where’s this coming from?”

  “I guess seeing you with Ryker makes me miss dating.”

  And it would make any girl miss good sex. “I can ask him.”

  “Thanks. That would be great. And please don’t set me up with a weirdo like how Jess did to you.”

  “You mean the firefighter with the curious tongue?”

  “Yeah. Yuck.”

  “I’d never do that to one of my girls. Not sure what Jess’s problem was.”

  “She probably didn’t know. So make sure you do your research for me.”

  “I will. Talk to you later.”

  “Bye. Love you.”

  “Love you too.” I hung up.

  “You tell your friends you love them when you get off the phone?”

  “Yeah.” Some people might think it’s weird, but I didn’t. “We could all use more love in the world.”

  Jenny made a strange face then walked away.

  She probably thought I was a lesbian. But whatever. It was better than her thinking I was sleeping with Ryker.

  ***

  I called Ryker on the cab drive home.

  “Hey, sweetheart. I was just thinking about you.”

  “Are your hands in your pants?” I glanced at the driver and didn’t care if he could hear me. He’d probably overheard worse conversations.

  He chuckled into the phone. “No. But they will be soon unless you come over.”

  “You always want me over there.”

  “Can you blame me? Look at you.”

  I smiled unwillingly and saw my reflection in
the rearview mirror. I looked like a stupid lovestruck teenager. “I was actually calling for something else.”

  “You want me to go over there? I can do that. When is Rex moving out, by the way?”

  “Not soon enough.” I ignored the first question. “Kayden wants to know if you have any hot friends you can hook her up with.”

  “I wouldn’t know if I had hot friends.”

  “Don’t be annoying,” I said. “It’s not rocket science to know if someone of the same sex is attractive.”

  “It’s not. But I’m also not gay.”

  “This masculine bullshit is annoying. I know Kayden and Jess are both damn fine, and I’m totally straight.”

  “My cock agrees with you on that part.”

  I paused over the line.

  “About you being straight,” he clarified. “Your friends are pretty, but I’ve never gotten hard for either one of them.”

  At least that cured the awkwardness.

  “I’ll see what I can do. I have a few local friends. I’ll ask around.”

  “Thanks.”

  “She can’t find a guy on her own? I’m surprised.”

  “She’s gorgeous but shy.”

  “Honestly, just have her walk into a bar in a tight skirt, and she’ll have her pick of the crop. Any woman can do it if they give off the right vibe.”

  “I think she’s looking for someone that checks out.”

  “Well…my friends aren’t exactly good guys, if you catch my drift. If she’s looking for a fun night, I can arrange that. But if she’s looking for a boyfriend, not so much.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what she’s looking for.”

  “Since she’s your best friend, you should ask her.”

  ***

  Rex and Zeke were sitting on the couch when I walked inside. Safari was sitting alone on the other couch, his eyes closed as he took a nap. The TV was on and a basketball game played.

  “When are you moving out?” I tossed my purse on the table and entered the living room.

  “Uh, hello to you too.” Rex dogged me then took a drink of his beer.

  “Hi,” I said. “And when are you moving out?”

  “Damn, Groovy Bowl just opened three days ago.”

  “And business was booming. So you should be able to get the hell out right about now.” Safari and I needed our space. I could give Ryker a key, and he could come and go as he pleased, preferably naked.