Page 18 of All Because I Found You

“Smart.” Nicole hugged Raelyn. “Thank you for everything. I feel so much better now.”

Raelyn bounced on the inside. Her number one goal was to provide an exceptional service to her clients and that included taking away their worries. She had done her job, and when Nicole got in her car and drove off, Raelyn let her shoulders slump in relief.

“I saw that,” the familiar deep voice said from behind her.

Raelyn jumped, nearly twisting her ankle when her wedge tilted to the left and her body went right.

“Why do you wear those things if you can’t walk in them?”

Raelyn straightened and glared at Ryder, but her words were lost when her eyes landed on his bare chest. Tanned, toned, and glistening, it took all that she had to look away. “I… What are you doing here?” she demanded, even though a part of her was very happy to see him.

“I just came by to see if you got rid of the trash bags.”

“And if I didn’t, were you planning on helping?”

“No.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. But I’ll have you know the bags are gone. Unlike you, some people are actually willing to help me when I ask.”

“And who was it that helped you fill those bags?” He tapped his chin as a perplexed look settled on the strong lines of his face.

“Would you like a cookie?”

“A coffee would suffice.”

“What makes you think I have a coffee?”

“Because you had one, and that woman, who I assume is your client, had one, which means you have two more hiding in your car.”

She refused to show any giddiness at the fact he knew something about her already. “And say I did have a coffee in my car. What makes you think you deserve it?”

“Fine, don’t share your coffee with me and I won’t share with you.”

“Share what?”

“Just something I think can add a little something special to this wedding.”

“You can have both coffees. Now tell me what it is.”

“It’d be easier to show you.” He started walking toward his truck that she hadn’t realized was parked on the other side of the barn, and she hesitated.

“Oh don’t you go and get shy on me now.”

“Me shy? In your dreams, buddy. Let’s do this.” She hopped in his truck without a second thought.

Chapter 7

Ryder didn’t know what the hell he was doing. As soon as Raelyn got in his truck, surrounding him with her coconut scent, every reason this was a bad idea came rushing at him like a linebacker. The only difference was after years of playing football, he could handle a linebacker. Raelyn was an entirely different story. She was definitely a force, and for whatever reason, he kept feeling the need to insert himself in her path.

He retrieved his shirt from the backseat and pulled it over his head. It was hot as Satan’s asshole out here, and Raelyn did prance around his yard in a barely there bikini, but he still felt like putting a shirt on was the right thing to do here.

“Oh wait! The coffees,” Raelyn said, going to slide out the door.

He reached across her, holding the door shut. Their fingers brushed, and she sucked in a jagged breath, her brown eyes meeting his. The air around them grew thick, sucking them into a cocooned bubble that if he didn’t escape, he’d be stuck in forever.

“We can have them after,” he said, releasing the door and easing to his side of the truck.

He swallowed at the unexpected intensity of when their bodies made contact. His blood boiled with the desire to touch her, but he shoved the thoughts from his mind and put the truck in drive, taking it easy as he turned the car down a dirt path.

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