Page 15 of For You & No One Else (Say Everything 3)

Ryan chuckled and gave Jake a look. “I’d say we’re doing just fine, man. You really took care of us. I owe you one.”

“Happy to be of service.” Jake put his hand out, and they did some sort of weird handshake-and-snap thing.

Eliza squinted at them, feeling like she was missing something.

Jake put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder, patting it, and then gave Eliza a little smile. “Enjoy the rest of your night, y’all.”

“We will,” Ryan said with way too much confidence. He turned back to Eliza. “You ready to get out of here? My place is just around the corner. We could go there for a little while.”

“Your place?”

He leaned forward on his forearms like he was going to tell her a secret. “Yeah. I could show you that artwork I was telling you about.”

Her stomach lurched a little, the rich food and alcohol clashing, and she flattened her palm against the table to try to keep herself focused. All she could manage was repeating his words. “Artwork.”

He reached out and traced the back of her hand with his fingertip. “Yeah. It’s really something worth seeing in person.”

She slid her hand away from his touch. She had the sinking feeling the so-called artwork he was going to show her would be in his pants. “Do you have a dog?”

He frowned at where she’d moved her hand. “What?”

“A dog,” she repeated, concentrating so she could get the words right. The question suddenly seemed epically important. “Do you have a dog? You had one…in your photos.”

He flicked his hand dismissively and leaned back in his chair. “Oh. No, that’s my sister’s dog. I work too much to have my own.”

The dog is bait.Beckham’s words drifted back to her. Something sharp and hot started filling her chest.

“So,” Ry said. “You ready?”

Her head was full of cotton. She turned to find Jake, who was talking to customers at another table, and then looked back to Ryan, another thought hitting her. “How are you so sober?”

She could hear herself holding hers’s too long:ssso sssober.

He gave her a smug smile. “High tolerance, I guess.”

She gripped the edge of the table, trying to ground herself, get her thoughts together. “You sure your friend wasn’t more generous with my drinks than yours?”

He lifted his brows, amusement playing at the corners of his eyes. “Are you being serious? I probably have forty pounds on you, and I ate more. I think you just underestimated how much you could handle.” He leaned in again. “But don’t worry about it. You’re a cute drunk.”

His gaze swept down her face to the V-neck of her blouse. She shivered.Hadhe drunk as much as she had? He’d done the shots, but she tried to remember if he’d finished his drinks. She hadn’t finished all of hers.

A little alarm bell was going off in her brain.

“I am. Really drunk,” she confirmed. “But you’re inviting me to your place?”

He shrugged. “Sure. We can watch a movie or something. Let you sober up a little. All is not lost. We can still have some more fun tonight.”

“Right,” she said flatly. “Fun.”

He reached out and put his hand over hers again, his thumb brushing across her skin. “Yes, lots of fun.”

His tone and his touch hit her at all the wrong angles and she pulled her hand free. “You mean sex.”

He laughed, obviously pleased. “I like a straightforward girl. I’m not going to lie.” His finger tracked up her inner arm. “I’ve been wanting to get you out of that suit all night. I spent yesterday watching your YouTube videos, and I can’t say I was thinking anything about mental wellness. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Such confidence. Such assumption. Not a question. A statement.

Like she was a sure thing.

---