Page 60 of Burning Daylight
“Don’t open it,” he orders. “Not yet. Wait until you’re alone.”
His eyes are on my mouth as he says it, and something thuds out of rhythm behind my ribs. The tension hums, thick enough I can reach out and grab it.
“Okay.”
There’s a pregnant pause and then I ask, “We’re friends now, right? Even if we never see each other again?”
Something that looks like disappointment settles over him, but as quickly as it’s there, it’s gone.
“Yeah, Little Rose,” he rasps. “We’re friends.”
“Okay. Good, that’s…good.”
“When do you leave?” he asks.
“Soon. Tomorrow.”
I try not to dwell on how much it hurts now. How it’s somehow worse than when I first found out.
Before it felt like a leash re-collared to a life I was trained to live. Now it’s more jagged, like broken pieces ripping down my middle and digging into my sides.
It feels like…a door closing.
A missed opportunity.
Ryder hums, his eyes flashing.
“You done?” He nods to my now empty coffee.
I don’t want to admit that I am, because I don’t really want this to end, but I nod anyway.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“Okay.”
The word barely leaves my mouth before he downs the last of his own coffee and stands, pushing his chair in with one hand and moving to my side.
From this angle, I’m directly facing his waist, and my eyes drop to his zipper, my stomach flipping when I notice the bulge behind it.
Memories of how it felt under my hand, twitching as I stroked its impressive length, make my mouth dry and my legs tense.
When I drag my stare away, he’s giving me a filthy grin.
“You can touch it, if you want.”
I blanch, half yelling, “What?”
He gives me a look likeI’mthe unhinged one, and then I realize he’s holding out his hand, trying to help me up.
Mortified, I slip my fingers in his. “Oh, right. Yeah, let’s go.”
His head tilts as he pulls me upright. “What’d you think I meant?”
“Exactly what you said.” I lift my chin. “Why? What didyouthink I thought you meant?”
His smile grows, eyes dancing. “You’re blushing.”
“It’shot,” I snap, ripping my hand from his.
