Page 86 of Daddy's Heart

“That’s great, but what does that—”

“It’s better this way,” she said quietly, then slipped away from him and out of the bathroom.

“You’re not in any condition to go out today,” he said, following her. She wanted to get away from him so badly, she’d put herself through the pain of all that moving around?

“I’m not putting it off anymore. I start at the library on Monday, which is only a few days away. The sooner I start looking, the sooner I’m out of your hair.” She walked into the guestroom where her clothes were still hanging in the closet and folded half neatly in the drawers.

“What is this about? Why in such a hurry?” He pushed the drawer she’d opened shut. “Stop moving around and look at me,” he demanded. He wouldn’t be brushed off. If she was hell bent on getting away from him, the least the woman could do was tell him why.

She turned toward him, her hair dripping water down her shoulders as it brushed along her skin. She grasped the towel, holding it tightly, as though it would fall and unveil some great weakness to him.

Her lips trembled when her eyes finally met his, glistening from unshed tears.

“I saw the apartment listings.” The words fell between them.

“The apartment listings?” He cocked his head to the side. What the hell was she talking about?

“On the counter. In the kitchen.”

“What—” his heart stopped. “Sam.” He rubbed his forehead. “The paper?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, lowering her gaze.

“The one that had one column for condos for sale and another for apartments for rent?” he asked.

Her brows snapped together, and she lifted her chin. Confusion warred in her sweet eyes. All the hurt she’d been sporting in her heart could have been easily avoided if she’d spoken up days ago.

“I was looking at the ads for condos. I’m looking for one to flip,” he explained.

“Flip,” she repeated.

“Yeah. Flip. It’s been a while since I took on a renovation project, and I was thinking about taking one on.”

“Oh.” Air whooshed out of her, and her lips curled softly at the edges. “You’re buying a condo. Not looking for an apartment for me?”

His shoulders fell. How the hell could she think he’d want to do that?

“Why would you think I wanted you out?” He didn’t touch her, but fuck, he wanted to. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss away all her doubts.

“I—It’s not like I haven’t dragged a bunch of drama into your life.” She shrugged. “I mean, Randall showed up here!”

His jaw tensed.

“Yeah, he did.” Ryder did his best to keep his tone even. She didn’t need to feel the guilt of that prick on her shoulders. “That’s not on you. That’s on Anderson. That’s on Randall. That’s not your fault.”

She turned away, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“He—I don’t understand why I even dated him. He was such a fucking prick.” Anger leaked into her tone.

“Sometimes we don’t see the bad in people because we don’t want to,” he offered.

She nodded. “He was so nice at first. I was so busy with school and working part-time, he was fun to hang with. I thought he was a good guy ’cause he never put any ties on me, you know? Never got mad because I was busy or working. But then I realized it wasn’t because he was understanding, it was because he didn’t care. If I was around, great, if not—no skin off his back.”

Ryder fisted his hands and slid them in his pockets.

“When the cops came asking me about him, if I knew anything, I should have stayed out of it.”

“You did the right thing, answering those questions honestly. From what George told me at the hospital, Randall nearly killed an old woman.”

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