Page 11 of Fighting for You

As I approached him, he took the last step forward, closing the space between us.

“You must not take an early lunch?” he says, raising his eyebrows at me.

“What do you mean? How long have you been standing there?” I ask.

I eye him suspiciously. Ryder only smiles at me, there is no shame in his attempt to look like he just happened to be standing outside of the very business where I work.

“Well, I arrived around noon. I’ve been people watching for a while,” he stated.

Nodding, I simply smirked. “Well, I need to get lunch,” I said, turning to move away from him.

Suddenly, Ryder grabbed my hand and sparks of fire shot through me. I looked down at his hand on mine, my eyes wide with confusion and excitement. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but from the wild look on his face, he had felt it, too.

“Please don’t go, yet,” he pleads.

My breath falters and I am unsure what to say. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Realizing this, Ryder continues. “Look, I just want to take you to lunch. To talk and get to know you. I can’t get you off my mind,” he admitted. “Besides, you are working on an article about me. Might help if you really knew me outside of what you learn in the interview questions sent by Melanie.”

I felt my heart leap into my throat and I internally scolded myself for being so affected by this man.

“I was just heading to a small taco truck around the corner,” I stuttered.

“Can I come with you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I say.

We begin to walk to the small truck. After ordering our food, Ryder follows me to a small bench. We sit down and begin devouring our food. After a few minutes of silence, Ryder finally turns to me. “So, this was a pretty good idea,” he says, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“It’s one of my favorites,” I admit.

“So, why haven’t you been responding to my emails?” he asks.

I sat there for a moment, unsure of how to respond. I could lie, but something tells me with his experience as a SEAL, he would be able to read right through me.

“I can see that you are trying to divert me from the truth. I have been trained to hunt a liar,” he says, his tone low.

Damn, that voice could do naughty things to me.

“Fine, I can tell you won’t stop until you know the truth so here it is. I haven’t responded because honestly, I don’t know what to say. You are very sweet and I enjoy our email exchanges, but they can’t lead to anything else,” I say, my eyes locking on his. I need him to know that I am serious. “This can only be about business, about the article.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. He takes his time cleaning up his lunch and even gets off the bench, throwing away both of the trash we had from lunch. When he returns to the bench, he rubs his hands on his dark jeans.

“Alright, I appreciate your honesty. But, I can’t leave here without knowing why you are so against going on a date with me,” he says. “And don’t feed me the line about work.”

My heart flutters a bit and I try to ignore the feeling. “If I tell you the truth, you will look at me differently and I don’t want that. Can’t you just accept that I am flattered, but not interested?” I ask.

“No way. Everyone is interested in me,” he kids, his smile lighting up his entire face.

“Wow, cocky much?” I laugh. “Fine, you really are persistent aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t have advanced in my career if I wasn’t. Now, just tell me why you won’t go out with me and I will leave you alone,” he says. “A real reason.”

Something tells me he isn’t telling the truth now, but for some reason that I can’t explain, I begin talking. “A few years ago, I was engaged to a wonderful man named Wade. We were really happy, but he died in a fire. He was a firefighter. Ever since then, I just don’t feel right dating anymore.”

The words come out of me so fast, I barely have time to breathe. I can’t remember the last time that I said those words aloud. It was refreshing but also drew more painful memories that I wanted to keep tucked away.

Ryder listened carefully and unlike most people, he didn’t get me that, ‘oh poor you’ look I was accustomed to seeing when I talked about Wade. Something about how he just listened was comforting.

“I’m sure Wade was a great guy. But, if you don’t mind me asking again, don’t you think he would want you to be happy?”

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