Page 8 of Fighting for You

“I’m looking him up,” Kristen announced, rapidly typing on her phone. Her brows furrowed and she pouted. “That’s strange.”

“What?” I asked, hoping she hadn’t just discovered that he has a wife and kids.

“I can’t find him anywhere on social media. I’ve tried all of my platforms,” she says, biting her lip in annoyance.

“Maybe he likes his privacy,” I stated. It was strange to think that there were still people in the world who didn’t have social media. I mean, even children somehow had accounts. But, I liked that he was private.

“Go out with him, it will be good for you,” Kristen said, patting me on the shoulder before leaving me alone again.

I read the email three more times before finally deciding to respond. I at least owed him an explanation.

Ryder,

Thank you for the kind email. I do have to apologize for running out, I was feeling ill and didn’t want anyone to see me in that state. I hope you weren’t offended. As for a drink, I must decline. I am not in a place in my life for dating. But, I have a feeling we will get a chance to talk soon...

All my best,

Meghan

I hit send before I could chicken out and erase the entire message. I quickly went back to work, but it wasn’t ten minutes later that I saw an email notification appear. Opening my email again, I almost laughed out loud when I saw a response from Ryder. Now I knew I was playing with the devil as I began to read over his words.

Meghan,

I am sorry to hear you weren’t feeling well. Now that I know it wasn’t me that repulsed you, I can sleep better at night. However, I am still adamant about that drink. And, by the way, who said anything about a date? I just wanted to see you finish an entire drink. I am intrigued by your mysterious comment about us speaking soon. Are you flirting with me?

All my best,

Ryder

This time, I chuckled to myself. He was witty and cunning, something I knew far too well that could lead to trouble. Wade was always flirty and made me laugh, that was what made me fall in love with him. I couldn’t go down that path again. Realizing if I responded again, I would only be jumping down the rabbit hole willingly. So, I erased the email and spent the rest of the day trying to pretend like the exchange never happened.

Chapter 9

Meghan

Ryder,

I can assure you that I am fully capable of finishing a drink on my own. But, if you insist on seeing this for yourself, maybe we could find time in the distant future to get a drink. For now, I just don’t have time, I am busy working on a feature article for our monthly magazine. Something about military men joining a security company. I doubt you would know anything about that. And, no, I was not flirting with you.

-Meghan

I sat back in my chair, reading over the email exchange with Meghan when I saw my buddy, Matt, enter the office.

“What’s going on?” I asked, closing out my email.

If any of the guys here got wind of those emails, I would never hear the end of their shit-talking.

“We got a new contract,” Matt said, sitting down in a chair across from me. He ran a hand through his curly blonde hair. Ladies loved Matt. He had that sweet baby face and piercing blue eyes that chicks went nuts over. Bad thing was, he was a cocky little bastard because of it. Still, I couldn’t help but like the guy.

At Salvatore Security Forces, we each had a small cubicle with a desk and computer. None of us needed or wanted anything fancy, so this did the job just fine.

“Really? I just closed my emails, didn’t see anything,” I stated.

However, what I failed to mention was that I had been busy flirting with the hot girl from the publishing company that was featuring us for a story. If the email had come through, there was no way I would have known.

“Oh, well this one is going to be big money for the company. Turns out, that charity event really helped boost business. We just got a contract with the Port of Sunnyvale. Apparently, they have had some issues with drug runners shipping their products into the city using the ports. They need security there to watch for anything suspicious and when needed, check out the cargo.”

“Don’t they already have security for that?” I asked.

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