Page 16 of Double Booked

I could feel the surprise from the crew but I wasn’t. Riley had mentioned that bourbon was her drink of choice at the island in addition to wine. Glenda nodded and turned away. Jake leaned forward from his spot next to Riley. “You drink bourbon?”

Riley laughed. “You know people drink bourbon outside of Kentucky. It’s a lot harder to find in Minnesota, I’ll admit though.”

“Minnesota, that’s where you’re from?” Cody, one of the guys on the crew sitting next to Justin asked.

“You betcha,” Riley winked and the table laughed.

“What do you do up there?” Jake asked.

Riley hesitated and I dropped my hand onto her leg to give it a gentle squeeze. I know some people would think that being a writer wasn’t a real job but I knew how hard Riley worked.

“I’m an author,” she said, hesitantly.

“Oh so you’re one of those starving artist types,” Vicky giggled into her pink drink. Riley smiled stiffly but didn’t correct her. I had a feeling she did pretty well for herself even if she didn’t talk about it.

“What do you write?” Jake asked, kindly. I liked Jake and outside of Justin he was probably the next closest friend I had. His wife Jessica was the sweetest person I knew and Jake adored her. They were good people and I hoped Jessica could be a friend to Riley when she visited.

“I write mystery and thrillers,” Riley said. “True crime type of stuff.”

“Wait, are you R. Archer?” Riley nodded and Jake’s eyes widened. “I just realized why you seemed so familiar. My wife loves your books.”

Riley’s eyes widened and the cutest look of disbelief crossed her face. “Wait, really?”

I had looked up Riley’s books and they were pretty popular but she seemed shocked to learn she had a fan. Not for the first time, I wondered what kind of people she had in her past that caused that reaction.

“Yes, really. She has your entire Meira Quinn collection. She’s going to die when I tell her I met you. She’s out of town this weekend for her sister’s birthday party”

“Well, maybe next time I could meet her,” Riley offered.

Jake grinned widely. “That would be amazing. I’m going to get husband of the year because of this.”

The table laughed, well aware Jake probably got husband of the year every year for how much he doted on Jessica. I caught Justin watching Riley. To most, his face would be unreadable but to me, I could see the interest in his eyes. That was good, interest was good. Justin caught me watching him and the corner of his lips tilted in a smile and a small nod as if to tell me he approved and I relaxed slightly. I still worried about Justin pulling away from me like he had in the past when I started dating someone but as Riley laughed and joked with the table, I wondered if this time would be different. Riley seemed to fit into the group well enough and she had this magnetic presence about her that might be enough to keep Justin here.

Our food came and everyone dug in. At this point, the desire that had been simmering inside of me since I saw Riley in the office was boiling over. I had never met someone who made eating fries so attractive before. I shifted in my seat, my cock pressing against my jeans uncomfortably. I thought Riley was oblivious to my dilemma until she finished eating and rested her free hand on my thigh, fingers dangerously close to my cock. She looked over at me with a small smirk playing on her lips. Oh, she was the best kind of trouble.

“Careful, baby girl.” I whispered in her ear as she listened to whatever story Cody was animatedly telling the table. Her response was to drag her hand higher until it was pressing directly on my cock and I snapped. I stood up abruptly and tugged her out of the booth. Justin snorted, as the rest of table looked at me with wide eyes before everyone minus Vicky broke out in knowing grins. Riley laughed and waved goodbye as I threw some money down for our food and drinks.

“We could have stayed for another drink,” Riley teased me when we hit the parking lot. Luckily, my truck wasn’t parked too far from the entrance and her laughter faded as I pinned her against the side of the truck.

“Like you didn’t know what you were doing,” I growled softly, pressing soft kisses against her neck as she arched against me. “My willpower is only so strong, baby girl.”

“Thank goodness for that,” she said, laughter threading through her words.

I kissed her then, covering those teasing lips with my own and her laughter turned into a breathy moan. I broke the kiss far quicker than I wanted to, my own smile growing at her sound of protest. “Come on, I have a bed that’s way more comfortable than the side of a truck.”

“I don’t know,” Riley said as I helped her into the truck, “I think the truck is kind of growing on me.” She yelped when I playfully smacked her ass but the grin she threw over her shoulder had my pants tightening.

I had never been so thankful to live in a small town where it only took ten minutes to get anywhere when we were pulling into my driveway five minutes later. The one story ranch house wasn’t much but it was the first project I had completed after taking over the business from my dad. Excited barking came from inside the house. Maggie and Rex had caught wind of our arrival.

Riley laughed as the barking continued. “Now that’s a great alarm system.” She hopped out of the truck before I could get the door for her.

“They’re something alright,” I fake-grumbled as I got her suitcase out of the back of the truck. Reaching out, I snagged her hand as I carried the suitcase up the porch steps.

“I love this porch,” Riley murmured as she took it in. One of the major renovations I had done on the house was to add a ten foot deep porch with two ceiling fans and a porch swing. I stained it a light color and my mom had decorated the swing with blue and white cushions.

“This house was the first project Justin and I completed after we took over the company from my dad. It was supposed to be a flip but I fell in love with the place and decided to keep it.” I explained as I turned the knob and cracked the front door open.

“Well that’s definitely different,” Riley commented, eyeing the door. I arched an eyebrow at her and she explained. “Leaving your door open. That’s very small town of you.”

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