Chapter 40
“Good morning, princess,” Riley says from the plush couch. He sits up from where he lounges. He wants to go to her, to beg on his knees for forgiveness when he sees the mix of confusion and sadness in her face.
“Yesterday was a lot, so I told Mikey to let you skip training today.”
“Oh… um, thanks,” Liz says, walking over to the kitchen and looking for food. With four giant men all living with her, it’s no surprise she can’t find anything to eat. She closes the fridge with a groan.
“Alex thinks Dmitri is ready to move, so the next time at the lake needs to be our last for a while. We need to make him think we’re leaving,” he says, watching her rifle through the cabinets.
“It’s a little late for lunch, do you want to get dinner?
We don’t even have to take it to go,” Riley says, hope flashing across his rich, caramel eyes.
Liz eyes him, still angry for everything he told her, or more so that he withheld it for so long. Her heart betrays her mind when it starts to beat faster at the thought of going out with him again. She sighs, asking, “Where would we go?”
“The bar has a small restaurant in the back, I thought we could go there and talk.”
Liz just nods and walks back to her room.
She digs through everything she has trying to find something to wear, unsure of what he wants to talk about.
She opts for a plain pair of jeans and a cropped tank, slipping her high-top sneakers on.
She looks in the mirror and thinks it’s good enough for a bar.
The next forty-five minutes are spent taming the mess of tangles on her head and twisting it into a claw clip.
Just as she is finishing her makeup, Riley knocks on her door and enters.
She walks out of the bathroom to see him unbuttoning his sleeve and rolling it up his arm. She looks him over, wearing a nice button up and a pair of snug black jeans that drive her crazy. She looks up to his face, a matte black skull mask that only covers the top half.
“You said we are going to a bar,” she says, rushing over to her closet and digging around for something to change into. She grabs a small pile and brings it to the bathroom.
Riley smiles and follows her. He crosses his arms and leans on the doorframe, watching her struggle to pick an outfit. “What you’re wearing is fine, love. You look great.”
“No, you look great. I look… comfortable,” Liz says, pushing him out of the bathroom and closing the door.
She strips out of her clothes and squeezes into a tight black midi con dress with a slit up her thigh.
She admires her toned, hourglass figure in the mirror before putting on a pair of strappy black heels.
She takes the clip out of her hair, running her hands through it to make it sit just right and walks out of the bathroom.
Heels clicking across the floor, Riley takes one look at her and practically jumps off her bed.
He rushes over to her, hands going right to her lush hips, pulling her close to him.
“You look incredible,” he says, looking into her eyes. “Are you still mad at me?”
“I was never mad at you, just hurt. Can we talk about it another time?” Liz asks, stomach grumbling loud enough for Riley to hear. Reluctantly he lets go of her waist, picking up her hand instead, and leads her to the elevator.
Liz doesn’t miss the longing in his eyes when he looks at her. “Why do you keep looking at me?” she asks when she sees him do it again.
“I told you, you look amazing.”
Liz looks away, trying to hide the red blooming across her cheeks.
She forces herself to focus on how he hurt her rather than how her heart flutters every time she looks at him.
When the doors open, Liz steps out and goes right into the barn, headed to where the truck is parked, but Riley stops her.
“I thought we could take my other car tonight,” he says casually as he walks by his truck. Liz follows him past his truck, then Mikeys, when she sees the headlights of some type of sports car light up. The closer they get to the car, the more excited Liz gets.
“You have a fucking Audi R8 and you’ve been driving me around in a big dumb truck?” she shrieks at him, running over to the car. “I knew it! I told you, you give off sports car vibes.”
He watches her with a mix of awe and confusion as he follows close behind. “I’ll be honest, princess, seeing you this excited about a car is a huge fucking turn on.” He strides over and opens the door for her.
Liz climbs in and gets settled into the soft leather. Riley climbs in, closes his door, and pushes a button, sending the car roaring to life. He quickly pulls out of the barn and heads toward town.
“So, why get all fancy to go to the bar?” Liz asks, watching the muscles in his arm flex as he shifts gears and the way his legs move when he presses the clutch.
“The back is nicer than the bar. Mitch built it for all the guys to bring their girlfriends when he got sick of them complaining about their girls not wanting to go to the bar, girls are happy and he gets to keep his clientele” he tells her, shifting again.
Liz tries to look out the window, but Riley’s powerful arm shifting gears keeps pulling her attention back.
She stays silent, admiring every detail of the beautiful car and equally beautiful man driving it.
Before she knows it, Riley is pulling into the parking lot, getting them there in record time.
She reaches for the handle when Riley stops her, so she sets her hand back in her lap and waits for him to open her door.
As soon as he has the door open, he reaches out his hand and, to his surprise, Liz takes it and climbs out.
They walk up the rickety wooden porch and Riley pulls the door open, trying to get her to the back as fast as he can, feeling his jealousy grow with all the eyes on her.
With his hand on the small of her back, he ushers her to a white door at the back of the room.
He opens the door and watches as Liz takes in the room before them.
They step through the doorway and Liz can’t believe it’s even the same place.
Whitewashed brick walls mixed with black marble floors and twinkly lights lining the ceiling make it feel like an entirely different place.
There are small tables with white cloths scattered around, two intricate chairs at each one.
In the center of the dimly lit room is a table with a candle and deep red roses sitting atop it.
Riley walks over and pulls out a chair. Liz smiles up at him and sits, heart pounding in her chest.