Page 14 of Riding Danger

Grace:No. For one I have a doctor’s appointment. Also, I don’t want to.

That was the last message before the chat went silent and worry gripped me.

Me:Doctor’s appointment? What’s the matter?

Grace:Nothing’s wrong. I have my first consultation with the reconstructive surgeon.

As long as I could remember, Grace had wanted bigger breasts. It had taken her years to build up the courage to make the appointment. I was happy she was finally doing it.

The chat with my friends meant I didn’t have to dwell on the situation with Ryder. Sure, he needed time to get to know Ethan. He also needed to understand that I needed time to know and trust him with the most important person in my life.

The rest of our shift was quiet and once we pulled into the station at seven am, the place was buzzing about the body Joel and I had found.

As we were removing our equipment from the car, my cell phone buzzed once more.

Ryder:I think we need to talk

Shiloh:Wanna meet for breakfast?

Ryder:The only breakfast place in town is your father’s diner.

And Harry would be there since the police would have questions about the body they found outside.

Shiloh:I’ll be home in an hour.

I quickly texted Tess, to ask if she minded taking Ethan to school. He’d stayed there last night for my shift and she would get him ready for school. But I usually picked him up and drove him and Maggie’s kids to school.

Not even a minute later she texted back

Tess:Of course I can sweetheart. Do you need me to bring you breakfast?”

Shiloh:No, I need to do something. And I have the obstacle course race with Aidan and Jason this morning, too.

As quickly as I could I went through my paperwork before signing out.

I arrived at my cottage to find Ryder sitting on my front step. He looked too damn good. The black leather jacket looked worn. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would assume it was the same one he wore all those years ago. But, under that, he wore a loose shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. Seriously. The man was out to drive me insane.

He stood up as I approached. “Jason said you’re also doing the obstacle course thing.”

Oh, silly man. Jason and I had been in competition since high school. It was a toss-up which of us were better. Of course, neither of us held a candle to our Special Forces friends, but we didn’t need that, we just tried to beat each other. “Yeah. I need to change, though.”

“Okay. We can drive together.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You sound serious.”

“Shi. Let’s talk on the way.”

6

RYDER

Igestured for her to enter before me and I watched as she walked through to her bedroom. The effort it took not to stare at her ass was both monumental as well as fruitless.

When I texted Jason, he told me she was on shift, still, sitting and waiting for her was better than pacing my bedroom. After dinner I drove home and worked a little more before attempting to go to bed. After several hours of tossing and turning, I got up and made my way down to one of the Salinger gyms I was told I could use as part of my stay at the B&B.

That killed another two hours. By the time I got back to my room and showered, the sun was rising and I knew I could pick up some breakfast in the dining room.

Without thinking I found myself outside Shiloh’s house. I didn’t want to disturb her or cause her to worry, so I refrained from calling her.

---