Chapter 9
The sound of someone pounding on his door woke Ryder. Squinting at his clock on the nightstand, it wasn’t there, and then he remembered. She was lying with her head on his chest, and one arm was thrown over his waist. Ryder had his hand on her ass. He was also suddenly aware of how close her body was to his. Lifting his hand, he slid it slowly out from under Libby.
Memories of last night slid through his head. Her tears. The asshole ex’s words, and then the monster-in-law’s. He’d like to meet both of them and would have a few things to say they wouldn’t like.
He rolled Libby slowly to her side. She was in a deep sleep, eyes shut, soft pink lips open. The woman was cute when her guard was down. Ryder pulled the covers up to her chin because it was freezing in here now that they weren’t sharing body heat. Getting out of bed, he bit back a yelp as his feet hit the cold floor.
His mother was always telling him to keep his socks on in bed. After a last look at Libby sleeping, he let himself out of the room. He then sprinted for the door as the next knock sounded.
“Hey, Ryder,” a high-pitched voice greeted him as he opened it.
“Morning, Hellie.” Fuck, it was the day his cleaner came, and she always came early so she could spend the rest of the day studying.
“I saw your car was still there and didn’t want to interrupt anything by walking in, so I knocked.” Her eyes were taking in his rumpled clothes and sleep-mussed hair.
Helena was Dr. Hannah’s grandkid and home for a few months on study leave. She’d come into the cafe and told Ryder she’d heard he was looking for a house cleaner. He hadn’t been but rolled with it and employed her.
“Okay, so give me five, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Ryder?”
Shit. “Hey, Libby, we’ll head out in five if you want to get ready,” Ryder said, looking over his shoulder at the rumpled, delicious mess that was his house guest who’d slept on him last night. If he were Helena and caught sight of her like this, he’d add two and two and come up with the answer that they’d spent the night together in bed.
“Hey, I’m Helena.”
Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck . Dr. Hannah was one of the biggest gossips in Lyntacky, and her granddaughter was standing on his doorstep.
“Libby needed a place to crash for the night, so I gave her my spare room,” Ryder said, and he hoped the girl hadn’t heard the panic in his voice. “On account of all the accommodations being full because of the bachelor party and other events.”
Ryder liked to slide under the radar in town, not be on the tongues of locals constantly. He had a feeling that was about to change.
“Come in and make yourself a hot chocolate, Hellie. We’ll be outta your hair soon, and you can start cleaning.”
When he turned, Libby had gone. He followed, sprinting to his room.
This was not the way he liked to start his day, and here was just another reason why sharing his life was not something that would suit him. Not that he and Libby would ever do that, but still.
Focus, Ryder.
He had the world’s quickest shower while brushing his teeth. Ryder could do things like that now that he lived alone. Throwing his toothbrush in the sink, he turned the faucet to cold to wake him up. It made him shriek like his mom when she saw a spider.
Dried off and dressed, he was back in the living area in under ten minutes. Libby beat him to it, and when he arrived, she was talking to Helena, dressed in fitted black stretch pants, the ribbed sweater, and her new jacket. On her feet were the useless sneakers. She wore a striped multicolored woolen hat.
How the hell had she gotten ready faster than him? His sister took twice as long.
“I want to get into forensics,” Helena said.
“So you need a bachelor’s in forensic science?” Libby asked. “With biology or chemistry?”
“Yes, I’m in my third year, and it’s hard, but I’m enjoying it.”
To Ryder, she didn’t look old enough to drive, let alone study for three years. Whenever he saw Hellie, she had earbuds plugged in and seemed to be eating some form of candy.
“You going to do a master’s?” Libby said, sounding like she knew what she was talking about, but then he knew she had a bachelor’s in accounting, so maybe she did.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“I’ll get my things,” Libby said. She still hadn’t looked at him.
“Leave them here for now. You can get them later when you find a place,” Ryder added.
She wanted to argue but didn’t.
“No socks?” he said, looking at her ankles.
“I have them on, you just can’t see them.”
“Then why wear them?” Women and fashion—he never understood why it was so complicated. He dressed for warmth, comfort, and nothing else.
“You ever heard the word ‘fashion,’ Ryder?” Helena said from behind them.
“No. And you need to wash every window and clean the oven today.”
“Yeah, right,” the girl scoffed.
“Come to the cafe after. I’ll feed you and you can study,” Ryder said.
“Sweet.”
Stepping to the hooks beside his front door, Ryder took down a thick scarf that his mother had given him and he never wore and handed it to Libby.
“I can’t wear that.” Libby finally looked at him, and he saw the wariness.
“Why?”
“It’s not mine,” she said, backing away from him. She’d put something around her eyes, and again he marveled at how fast she’d gotten all that done. The woman was cute, no getting around that fact. Those eyelashes, though—he was sure he felt a breeze when she blinked.
“You slept in this house, and it’s not yours,” he said. He wanted to add in my arms but kept the words to himself.
“Who does that scarf belong to?” she asked, eyes narrowing now.
“One of the women I sleep with. I rotate Monday through Saturday. Sunday is for rest.”
She stared at him.
“It’s mine, all right?”
She took it and wrapped it three times around her neck. It was red tartan and looked cute, not that he’d tell her that.
“See, that wasn’t hard. Now get in the car.”
She did as she was told, and he backed out of the driveway in silence.
“Thank you, Ryder.”
“Welcome. But you dribbled on my sweater last night, so you owe me for that,” he said as they drove to the cafe. “But leave the rest now. It’s done, we’re good, and if my muffins want to rise and I want to keep my reputation as the best cake baker in town, I need to be in a good mood.”
“You think it matters?” She ran with the change in conversation.
“Of course. Baking happy is way better than baking pissed off.”
“Okay, so I won’t say anything, then. I’ll find somewhere to stay during my lunch break, Ryder.”
“But not in your car, and be honest if you can’t find anything. You think I was angry last night? You should see my uncle, who is the chief of police, when he’s riled, and he will be if he hears you tried that again.”
“How does he know?” Libby asked.
“He rang me about the bikers and asked where you were staying. I had to tell him.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure why everyone is so concerned about me when they don’t know me, but I will find somewhere else to sleep and not in my car,” she promised.
“People care in this town, so remember that,” Ryder said.
He parked down the side of the cafe.
“That didn’t take long. Couldn’t we have walked?” she said as they got out.
“It’s the ass crack of the day and colder than?—”
“Right, got it,” Libby said quickly.
They entered. He disarmed the alarm, and then he set her to work. When Meadow breezed in, Libby had mastered the coffee machine after only a short lesson.
“Meadow, Libby has worked out the coffee machine, so feel free to boss her around now. I have a feeling she could be lazy if left unchecked,” Ryder said. He then pulled out his phone as it rang. When he looked at the caller ID, the surprise was that it had taken an hour for her to make contact.
“Ryder?”
“Hey, Mom.” He headed upstairs so he could have the conversation he knew was coming in private. “What’s up?”
“Who is Libby? Is she that girl Sawyer took to Circle Left?”
“She is.”
“And why is it she was in your house this morning, no doubt after being in your?—”
“Whoa, hold it right there. That did not happen, and I was only helping her out because her car broke down. There were no accommodations left in Lyntacky, and I found her sleeping in her car behind Bob’s garage. What did you want me to do with her?”
There was silence then for five seconds—surely a record for Robyn Duke.
“You could have brought her here,” she said, her tone warmer now.
He hadn’t thought of that but had an answer anyway. “I don’t know her that well, Mom. I really didn’t want to do that to you.”
“Right, because Dan was working the night shift and you’re always looking out for me. That’s sweet of you, darling.”
“You know me, the sweet Duke.”
“But—”
“Mom,” he said, sighing.
“I want to meet this woman who is now working for you and living in your house, Ryder.”
“I’m giving her a few days’ work until her car is back on the road, and she’s looking for other accommodations today. Don’t make this into a big deal, okay? You’re the sensible Duke, remember?”
“All right, sweetie, but you just call if you need me, and I can make up the bed if you want me to.”
“I know you will.” And no way was he letting Dan sleep in the same house as Libby Gulliver.
“She’s small with really good manners, Mom. I doubt Libby is a threat to me.”
“Even so. Now I have to run because I’m on school drop-off, and then I need to get to the library.”
“Bye, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too, honey.”
He’d just pocketed his phone when he heard the deep voice below.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Ryder muttered, taking the stairs back down.