Page 5 of All Because I Found You

If he just kept ignoring her, she would leave. He went about his day like he would do if a sexy siren in strips of navy weren’t outside his window sunbathing.

“I know you’re iiiinnn there, and you can keep ignoring meeee.”

“Okay. Two can play this game.” Ryder stormed into his bedroom and grabbed his cellphone. He tapped into his music listening app and synced it with his Bluetooth speaker, turning his favorite alternative metal artist to full volume. The window panes vibrated, and his eardrums ached. With a satisfied smirk, he went to the window and tossed it open.

He grabbed the speaker and propped it on the windowsill. A laugh rumbled up his throat and froze when he spotted Raelyn up from the chair.

Was she… dancing?

Her head flung forward and back, her dark hair whipping with the movements, but his eyes lingered on the two perfect mounds bouncing with each shimmy and fist pump.

She flipped her hair out of her face, a smile on her lips as her eyes met his through the window. She gave a thumbs up. “Great song. I love the Deftones!”

He narrowed his gaze and swiped the speaker from the window before abruptly shutting the music off.

“La la la. La! La! La! Never ends. Never ends. Oh!” Her voice floated in the window, and it took everything he had not to slam his head against the wall. Instead, he slammed the window shut.

A light bulb clicked on in his head, and he ran to the door that led out to the garage. This had to work. A smile spread wide across his face as he overrode the sprinkler system and turned them on.

The sound of the pipes shifting and coming to life was like music to his ears. The tick tick tick of the sprinklers echoed through the day, and he hurried to the window to watch a soaking wet Raelyn hurry to take cover.

He came to a skidding stop in front of the window, and his shoulders slumped forward.

Raelyn stood in the middle of the two sprinklers, arms up in the air, tits lifted just as high, head back and water dripping down her tan and overly sculpted body. How much time did she spend in the gym? He growled at the thought, annoyed at himself for getting distracted by her… well, amazing body.

She tilted her head and lifted her sunglasses, pushing her dark hair out of her face and giving him a wink. “Thanks! It was getting really hot,” she called out just before giving a spin.

He groaned when her ass faced him, the navy material barely covering her thick, shapely curves. He stared longer than he cared to, but he couldn’t take his gaze away, blaming it on the fact that he hadn’t seen something as beautiful and real in a very, very long time.

It's not like he had a lot of visitors coming to see him. Though from time to time, he would head out of town and pick up a woman at a bar for the night. There was never any emotion or connection. He’d always been up front with the woman, letting them know it was a one-night deal and no matter what, they weren’t allowed to touch his face. Sometimes he struck out, but the good side of his face, and the charm he still managed to maintain from his youth, helped him score more times than not.

The way his dick throbbed at the sight of Raelyn, he was thinking it had been too long since his last hookup. Though he had a feeling it could have been yesterday, and he’d still react the same way. There was just something about the woman—an annoying pull that was pissing him the hell off.

He tore himself from the window and stalked into the kitchen. She liked the water so much he’d leave the sprinklers on. The crops needed a good watering anyway, especially with the July heat. Besides, he didn’t need her to have heat stroke out there. He wasn’t exactly skilled in the medical field. Never had any interest in anything other than football, crops, and business.

“Nope! Don't give up. Refuse to give up. Need to make this happen.” Her off-key voice went higher, then lower, competing with the tick tick tick of the sprinklers. Unfortunately, the sprinklers never drowned her out completely.

Earplugs. He had to have earplugs somewhere. He started flinging drawers open, searching for the little plastic case filled with at least three sets of plugs. He used them when he mowed the lawn, cut wood, and worked on the farm equipment. Not as often as he probably should, which is why he couldn’t remember where the hell he had put them last.

“I know you’re iiiinnn there, and you can keep ignoring meeee.”

“Argh!” The roar ripped from Ryder. The frustration that had been building boiled over and poured out. He screamed again for good measure.

“Stop singing!” he barked, his words echoing in the open space around them.

Raelyn jumped, hand to her chest as she blinked up at him through long lashes. Water dripped down her chest, beading in the V and causing his eye to drift there despite his resolve not to. She pulled her hair up, securing it with a pen.

The upbeat smile that seemed to be a fixture on her lips slipped, taking a deep turn downward. Tears filled her lids, and his stomach knotted at the despair in her eyes. Damn it. Women crying were always his weak spot.

“Look, don’t cry.”

She sniffled, her breaths coming out in gasps. Jesus. He didn’t think he’d yelled that loud.

“Please. I’m sorry.”

She swiped at her eyes, her shoulders shaking with each jagged breath.

“Okay. I will go with you to the barn if it means that much to you.”

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