Page 30 of All Because I Found You

She bit her lip, her brown eyes drooping slightly as her gaze darted to his mouth. He could kiss her now. She was inches away, a tilt of his head, a swipe of his lips, and he could find out what exactly Raelyn Shaw tasted like. He imagined she’d be a combination of sweet and spicy.

Her teeth slid off her lip, leaving it glistening and begging for his mouth. He leaned toward her, knowing he shouldn’t, but unable to control his urges. She was pushy and, at times, infuriating. She didn’t shut up, but he was starting to realize it was one of his favorite qualities about her.

She inhaled on a gasp. His eyes slipped shut, and her long lashes brushed over the apple of her cheeks. Throwing every reservation he had to the wayside, he let his eyes slip shut, too. His heart hammered against his chest. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a woman. Too long really. He moved his head, his mouth ready and waiting.

A knock on the door jolted them away from each other, and Raelyn gave the tiniest of squeaks. She slapped a hand against her chest and took a few deep breaths.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I doubt it’s the lady in white at the door.”

“I’m going to hurt you.”

“I’d pay money to see that,” Ryder said, and hurried over to the door. He adjusted himself, then yanked it open.

Gene stood there with his hat in hand. He gave Ryder a nod.

“Hey Gene,” he said but didn’t move out of the doorway.

“Ye gaun to let me in?” Gene asked, but Ryder didn’t step aside. He didn’t say anything either. He just stood there like a freaking idiot.

Raelyn popped up on his side and held her hand out. “Hi, I’m Raelyn. You must be Gene.”

Gene’s eyebrows shot up toward his bald head. He glanced at Ryder, and Ryder could see the millions of questions in Gene’s gray eyes. He had a few himself. How did she know who Gene was? Had he mentioned him. Maybe he had. After all, Gene was one of the few people he saw on a daily basis… on any basis, really.

“It’s nice to meet ye, Raelyn.”

“You as well. We were just about to eat dinner. You should come in and join us.”

“Ye know what. I just remembered I forgot something down at the farm stand. Ye two have a great evening.”

Ryder let out a relieved breath, not that he would have minded having Gene over for dinner, they ate together pretty often, but adding him to the mix right now when he was unsure about everything having to do with Raelyn just seemed like it would be an awkward situation. Though Raelyn probably wouldn’t stop talking long enough to make anything awkward. Still, he liked this alone time he was having with her and wasn’t ready to let anyone else into their bubble just yet.

“Maybe next time,” Raelyn said, and there was no reason for that sentiment to make Ryder feel anything, but damn, it made him feel a whole lot of shit he wasn’t quite understanding.

Raelyn gave Gene another wave and stepped away from the door, letting Ryder step outside. He looked at her. “Give me a minute.”

“Take your time.” She smiled.

The door clicked shut and Ryder walked down the front steps with Gene. Gene stopped and turned toward him, keeping his voice low. “If I knew you had company.”

“I wasn’t expecting to.”

“She’s a pretty young lass. Friendly too, it seems.”

If only Gene knew. Ryder shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned on the heels of his boots. “She’s… interesting.”

Gene patted him on the shoulder with a laugh. “I’ll let ye get back to her then. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“No, but before you go, did you need anything?”

“Just stopping by to check on ye. Go do whatever it was ye were doing. Pretend I never came by.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, Gene.”

Gene tipped his head, put his hat on, and strolled off to his truck. Ryder opened the door, almost expecting Raelyn to be there eavesdropping but was surprised when she wasn’t. He made his way to the kitchen and found her at the table, taking a sip of her beer.

“Gene seems nice. Didn’t expect that sexy accent. It’s Scottish, right?”

His eyebrows pulled together. Sexy? “Yes.”

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