Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RYDER
I don’t know who I’m punishing more at this point, me or her. I’ve got Mercedes coming in for an interview in a few minutes, and all I can think about is how Eve looked walking out in a towel this morning after her shower. All I wanted to do was rip it from her and remind her over and over again what she’s been missing.
After our phone call yesterday, I fucking sat in my office with a hard-on most of the morning while I angrily took it out on all this shit covering my desk now. I took Ryland down to the beach as soon as I got home, taking the coward’s way out by avoiding Eve. I don’t trust myself around her right now, and until I figure out a game plan, I’m going to do my best to avoid her.
Hopefully, this interview will go well, and something will finally go my way. My parents and Savi will be here next weekend, which means I have a little over a week to get my shit together. The phone call went as I expected with them. My mom and Savi broke down and cried with Eve as we told them all that went down. Hell, even my dad and I got emotional when I started telling them about Ryland. They postponed their next trip and are coming here instead for two weeks before the crowd comes for the fourth. I FaceTimed them on the beach with Ryland yesterday, and they can’t wait to meet her.
I look up from my desk and see Nick talking to someone. She has her back to me, but I would know that ass and body anywhere. Auburn hair flows down her back, and the sunlight catches the hints of gold. I exit my office and head straight to the refreshment area in the waiting room.
“Do you like creamer in your coffee?” I hear Nick ask. He’s around my age, but other than our skill with cars, we have nothing in common. When he’s not at the bars picking up women, he’s dodging the ones he’s played. At least my brothers and I are honest about what we want. Nick will tell them anything to get laid and then ghost them when he’s done with them.
“Just a little, please.” Her voice shoots through me, putting all my senses on alert.
“Here you go, beautiful. Just the way you like it.” Nick hands her the coffee, and I fist my hands at my side as I come up behind her.
“Thanks, Nick.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” He gives her a grin that probably works on most girls, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let it work on this one. “Hey, since you’re new in town, you should meet up with us tonight. A few of us are going over to…”
“Shouldn’t you be working right now?” I cut him off, not letting him finish. She turns, and her eyes widen in surprise. I meet her stare dead on and see her slender throat swallow. I can only imagine what’s blazing in my eyes right now.
“Oh, hey, Ryder.” I feel him looking at me, but I don’t break my eye contact with her. “I didn’t see you standing there.”
I finally meet his gaze, and he looks between Eve and me. It’s clear we know each other, and from the look in my eyes, it’s clear she’s off limits. “I’m not paying you to stand around and chat. Get back to work.” He looks at me, surprised. I’m usually more laid back than this because I know the guys get their shit done at the end of the day and do a damn good job, but I don’t need this right now. The last thing I need to worry about is him trying to take Eve home.
“Geez, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Nick mumbles.
“And this will be your last paycheck if you don’t get your ass back to work.” He looks back at Eve, and I can tell he wants to say more but thinks better of it. I know his job is too important to him to test me. I pay my guys good, and they know it. He gives a slight nod to Eve before walking back over to the garage.
“He was just getting me coffee. I came in asking where I could find you, and he started talking to me and offered me some.”
“Trust me,” I say, turning her way once I see that Nick is back to work, “all he’s thinking about is how to get you in his bed tonight.”
“I doubt that,” she laughs. “He was just being nice.”
“And you’re being naive. I could practically hear the thoughts running through his head. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you in that outfit.” My eyes skim down her body in a tight black skirt with a white blouse. Her long, tanned legs end in black high heels. She looks every bit like a sexy businesswoman.
“Where’s Ryland, and why are you dressed like that? You look like you’re ready for a job interview.” Speaking of an interview, mine should be here by now. I frown at my watch and see she’s late.
“Ryland is with Travis and Sophia, and I am ready for a job interview. I’m Mercedes Rhodes.”
“What?” I furrow my brow at her in confusion.
“I’m Mercedes Rhodes. I knew you wouldn’t set up the interview if you knew it was me, so I changed my name.”
“You want to work here?” I ask her, surprised.
“I do. You’ve read my resume and know I’m qualified. I’m not expecting special treatment, but I do expect you to interview me and hear me out before you make your decision.” She stands up straight, holding her head up high, daring me to say no. I roll my lip between my teeth, trying to decide if I should let her have her fun. An interview isn’t necessary, but I’ll play along…for now.
“Follow me then, Ms. Rhodes. I’ll show you around first, and then we can head to my office for the interview and any questions you may have.” Knowing she’s won, her face lights up with a beautiful smile. The corner of my lip turns up slightly as I hide my amusement.
I watch her take in Ryder’s Restores as I walk her around. I can’t help the pride that washes over me. I’ve thrown everything I had in me to get this place to where I wanted. It saved me from drowning. I did what I told her I was going to do all those nights ago when we talked about our dreams.
“You did it, Ryder.” She looks at me with pride shining in her eyes. “It’s even more amazing than the pictures on the website,” she says in awe as she takes in everything.
“Website?” I raise my eyebrow in confusion.
Her cheeks get red as she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. “Well, you don’t have a private social media account, so I had to stalk you through your website and business pages. I wanted to make sure you were okay and still following your dreams. It helped me get through the day and made the pain more bearable, somehow, to know you were still doing what you love.” I look away, not wanting to see the painful memories resurface in her eyes. It still hurts too much to see it.
I finish showing Eve the garage where we work on the cars and introduce her to a few of the guys. Thankfully, Nick is busy on the phone with a customer.
We walk back through the lobby, and I tell her all about my plans to expand and have a showcase room.
“I love that idea,” she says, smiling. “You get to showcase your work plus make some commission on any cars that are sold through here. It’s a smart business move.”
“I thought so.” I give her a small smile as I lead her back to the office. I cringe when I see all the invoices piled on the desk and post-it notes with phone messages on them. I didn’t get through as many as I wanted to before the interview.
“Sorry about the mess. You may rethink this position after you find out what you’re about to walk into. Our office manager, who kept things running, retired, and everyone I’ve hired hasn’t worked out, so I’ve been balancing the two jobs until we find someone.”
Eve walks around the desk and looks at all the invoices. “You don’t have an electronic system for all of these?” She picks them up and scans through them.
“No. Mary worked with Jimmy and was old school and set in her ways. She was good at what she did, so I let her do her own thing. The other two girls I hired started to input things but didn’t last long enough to finish the job.”
“What about inventory and parts? How do you keep track of what you are buying and what you are running low on?”
“That would be all the sticky notes covering my desks right now,” I wave my hand at the papers. “The guys just write down what they need, and I reach out to my contacts to try to find them.”
“This is giving me anxiety,” she laughs and takes in the scattered mess. “It’s taking you so much longer to get things done this way.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been doing more in the office these past few weeks than I have since starting this business.”
“Besides getting a system into place electronically, what else would this job entail?”
“Basic office stuff,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “Payroll, ordering any supplies for our lobby when we run out…answering the phone when the guys can’t.”
“I can do this job, Ryder. I’ve got a business degree, and this is what I did for my last job. I know some things about cars from being here all the time when you worked with Jimmy, so I’m familiar with how things run. I was going to start to look for work this week anyway and check out the local daycares for Ryland. I’ll eventually have to find my own place, so this would really help me out if you don’t mind us working together.”
She looks nervous as I walk over to her behind the desk. I know I haven’t done a good job telling her how I feel. Hell, I’ve been a goddamn yo-yo lately with my feelings teetering on the edge of insanity with what she can make me feel, but if she thinks she needs to save money for a place of her own, she’s way off from what I want for my future…for our future. I’m not living apart from Ryland, and once I have Eve back in my bed where she belongs, there’s no chance in hell I’m going to let her leave it.
She steps back and hits the desk when I invade her space. I’m so close I can see the different shades of blue swirling in her eyes…eyes that have always had the capability of pulling me in so deep that all I want to do is lose myself in her and never come up for air. The problem with that is I need to be able to trust that this time, she won’t let me drown.
Fear weaves its way in as I find myself protecting my heart and biting back what I really want to say. “I’ll hire you on a trial basis starting today. You have until this weekend to prove to me that you can do this job.”
“O…okay.” She searches my eyes, and I know she’s trying to see past the wall I just put up. “I won’t let you down,” she says softly.
“Let’s hope you don’t this time.” I step back and avoid her gaze, knowing it will be brimming with hurt and guilt that I can’t stand to see on her beautiful face. I know I’m being an ass with that little jab, but I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
I wave my hand at the desk. “I’ll send Bobby in to show you the system and answer any questions you have.” Normally, I train the staff myself, but there is no way I can hold it together if I continue to be this close to her. “Feel free to take anything home with you. I don’t care if the work gets done here or at home. We can work out a schedule with Ryland, and between the two of us and my brothers, we won’t have to put her in daycare.”
“Ok, sounds good.”
I walk to the door and stop when she speaks. “Thank you for giving me this chance. I know how much this business means to you.”
I grip the door handle tightly and nod my head before leaving without looking back. If she only knew what having her here at my business is doing to me. This was our dream, and for years, I thought it was gone…that I would have to do it without her. This fake trial will hopefully give me the time I need to see if she’s really in it with me for good this time. Everything I have ever wanted is right within reach, but the truth is, I’m still too damn scared and angry to take it.
“Are you sure she can handle two kids, okay?” I ask Travis for the millionth time. Miles’s band is playing in our town tonight at everyone’s favorite local bar on the water, Captain Jack’s. Travis and Sophia insisted we all get out of the house for the night to have a little fun. Fun is the last thing I’m feeling as I eye the babysitter that Sophia and Eve are talking to.
“She’s got to be close to eighty by now. Miss Beth babysat us , for Christ's sake. What if she falls and can’t get back up?”
“Relax, will you,” Travis laughs. “We used her last summer when Mom recommended her. Max loved her. She walks the beach every single day and does water aerobics at the Y three times a week. She’s healthy as a horse and will probably live well into her nineties. Ryland is already sleeping in Jake’s room anyway, so technically, she only has to handle Max until he goes to bed.”
“Fine,” I sigh, rubbing my hand roughly over my face.
“You good?” Travis eyes me over the kitchen island. “You look a little tense tonight. Is everything okay at work? Eve sounded like she was loving the job when I talked to her about it yesterday. Is it not working out?”
“No. She fits in just like I knew she would. The guys love her, and for the past two days, she’s done more in that office than I have been able to get done in months.”
“So what’s the problem then?”
The problem is that I’m finding it harder and harder to stay away. For the past two days, I’ve resorted to avoiding her at all costs. When I’m home, I make sure Ryland is always with me so we are not alone, and when she goes to sleep, I head back to work or the gym until I know Eve has gone to bed.
“You are going to have to face the truth eventually,” Travis says, quietly studying me when I don’t answer him.
“Which is?” I grip the countertop in front of me and raise my eyebrow at him.
“That you love her, and no matter how scared you are of losing her again or how angry you are about her leaving and not telling you about Ryland, you still love her despite it all.” I look over at Eve and watch her laugh at something Miss Beth said. She’s wearing a white sundress tonight, and her long hair is swept up in a high ponytail. I see her slender throat move as her hand plays with the gold sun charm on the necklace she is wearing. She thought she had lost it and hasn’t taken it off once since she found it in one of the storage boxes I brought home. It was a gift I gave her the night she moved in with me.
“Is there any part of you that could walk away from her because of everything that has happened?”
I look back at Travis. “No,” I say without hesitation.
“Then let her in, Ryder. You need to let her see what you are feeling…the good and the bad. She can’t help fix what’s broken if you aren’t even willing to show her how deep the break is.”
I let Travis’s words sink in as the girls say goodbye to Miss Beth and meet us in the kitchen. I feel Eve’s eyes on me as we walk to Travis’s truck. I know she senses my mood and is trying to get a read on me. We’ve never tried to hide our emotions from each other in the past, and truthfully, I don’t like it one bit. I miss the closeness we once had.
I hold the door open for her as she gets up in the back seat. Her dress hikes up from the height of the truck, and her upper thigh comes into view. I get a small glimpse of white lace underneath as I grip the door harder. I may not have all my emotions figured out right now, but one keeps staring me blatantly in the face and has never stopped. I still want her with every part of my being. I won’t be able to resist much longer. I just hope she’s ready because when I do let her fully back in, there’s no chance in hell I’m ever living without her again.