Page 25 of Crazy for You

What time are you coming out tmrw? It was from Ryan.

She scowled, annoyed that her heart beat faster just at the sight of his name. Ryan was one of the most organized people she knew. Surely he’d written down their appointment. 10, she wrote back.

That’s what I thought. Just making sure

Sure you’re not checking up on me? She meant it as a joke, but the silence that followed her words hung heavy in the air. She squirmed, picturing Ryan in his bed, wearing nothing but boxer briefs…No, strike that, wearing nothing at all…

Just going over the schedule, he answered finally.

Ugh. Why did he have to be so annoyingly platonic where she was concerned? Okay, well, if that’s it, I need to get back to some very important business. She pulled up the screenshot she’d sent Mandy, the one showing Todd Pierce the biker with the Tinder logo clearly visible, attached it to her message, and hit Send.

What the hell? His reply was instantaneous this time.

Gotta go. In search of a hot date. See you tomorrow at 10

Her phone rang. Ryan. A funny quiver took hold in her stomach. “Did you call to offer dating advice?” she answered.

“What’s this about?” His voice sounded low and scratchy and so friggin’ sexy.

Annoyed with her traitorous body for practically melting at the sound, she let out an exasperated sigh. “I need a man, Ryan. It’s been a long time. Know anyone?”

“Em—”

“What? We’re just friends, right? Don’t friends help friends find dates?”

He exhaled into the phone. “You’re going to need to ask one of your girlfriends for help with this one.”

“Then why did you call?” she asked, frustrated because Ryan was the only man she wanted, and the one man she couldn’t have.

“I don’t know.” He sounded as frustrated as she felt.

“I’m hanging up now,” she whispered.

“That’s probably best.”

And with a click, she ended the call.

6

Ryan was going to lose his fucking mind. He’d just caught Trent up on the ropes course smoking a joint when he was supposed to be repairing a line damaged by a fallen tree limb in last night’s thunderstorm. And Emma…Emma…was on her hands and knees in the dirt potting plants and gossiping with Mandy about the men she’d contacted last night on fucking Tinder.

There was no logical explanation for the fact that he felt like a goddamn Neanderthal at the thought of her going on a date with someone else. No explanation except that he was a damn fool because he was so hot for Emma he could barely see straight when he was around her, yet he’d been the idiot who insisted they remain just friends.

“Lookin’ good,” he said, stopping a few feet away from where they were busy planting some kind of purple and yellow flower in the beds Emma had built around the front perimeter of Off-the-Grid’s office building.

Emma looked over her shoulder at him. “Do you like them?”

“Yeah. They look great.” They definitely brightened up the side of the building, but not nearly as much as Emma’s presence did.

“So what did you think of Todd Pierce?” Mandy asked, sitting forward on her knees.

“Who?” Ryan asked, drawing a blank.

Mandy rolled her eyes dramatically. “Emma said she sent his photo to both of us. She’s thinking about asking him out. What do you think?”

Ryan bristled, remembering the photo of the ponytailed loser on the cheap foreign bike she’d texted to him last night. “I think…” The only motorcycle she ought to be riding is mine. “I think that guy looks like bad news.”

Emma gave him a dirty look. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

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