Page 62 of Save Me

Now he opened his eyes and looked at her.

“I saw you as this super confident guy with cocky swagger, and at first I thought you were just messing with me.” She shrugged. “I get the nerdy guys hitting on me—the IT guys, the accountants. You know, the kind of guys my mother’s been trying to fix me up with.” Sighing, she looked down at him helplessly. “You walked in looking like a rock star and you overwhelmed me. I felt like a complete idiot every time you asked me out. It was like I couldn’t form a normal thought because I was so nervous and…I lashed out. By now you should know that’s my go-to reaction. With everything. That’s how we ended up in this relationship.”

Damn.

It didn’t matter how many times she reminded him of it, it still felt like a kick in the gut each time.

“I can’t help how I feel, Ryker, and I know I’ve been sending you a lot of mixed signals. The thing is, I like you. A lot,” she quickly added. “The times that we’ve hung out together have been some of the best times I’ve had in…well…I don’t even know how long. It bothered me that you’ve seen me at my freaking lowest and you’ve seen just about every aspect of my life and yet…you kept so much of who you are to yourself simply because I didn’t ask.”

That’s when he knew she had a point. He’d been petty because he was hurt and…

Shit.

Coming to his feet, his heart ached at the sadness on her face. “It hurt my feelings that you never seemed to ask anything about me. Like I was just a guy you were going to parade around town to annoy your family simply because of the way I looked.”

“Ryker, I…”

He held up a hand to stop her. “It’s okay, Ryleigh. I get it. Based on the men your mother’s been trotting out for you, it’s obvious why you chose me to piss her off.” Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his. “I shouldn’t have just blindly agreed to all of this, and I think we need to be more honest with each other if we’re going to keep up this farce or whatever it is we’re calling this.”

Nodding, she said, “I agree.” She paused and gave him a shy smile. “Um…confession time.”

“O-kay…”

“I think what you do is really cool. Amazing, really. I’ve been down on the convention floor since about seven, and your name was mentioned everywhere.” Biting her bottom lip, she squeezed his hand. “I’d really like to see more of your work. Just seeing what you did with that dragon on that guy’s back was…well…it was incredible. That wasn’t just an ink drawing or a caricature of a dragon, it looked like the real thing—like it was coming right off his back.”

“My portfolio is down at my booth,” he told her. “We can go back downstairs and…”

“No,” she said, closing the distance between them. “You know, I’m not sure if the same rules apply in a casual or make-believe relationship, but I kind of feel like this was our first fight.”

He eyed her warily because he had no idea what she was talking about.

“And in real relationships, when there’s a fight, it’s usually followed by makeup sex.” She bit her lip again, and Ryker almost groaned. “So I was wondering if maybe we could look at your portfolio tomorrow and perhaps engage in some really hot and sweaty makeup sex right now.”

This girl…

Reaching up, he cupped her face and kissed her.

Hard.

Devoured her, really.

And as usual, they were on the same page. Ryleigh leaped up and wrapped her legs around him as he cupped her ass.

So good…

Striding into the bedroom, he placed her down on the mattress, but didn’t do anything about her clothes just yet. First, he walked over to the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony and opened them. He stood there for a moment until she realized what he was doing.

“Is that the sound of the waves?”

He nodded before walking back over to her.

Grinning up at him, she said, “I’ve never stayed in a VIP suite before.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ve never seen you dressed all in black like this before.” Crawling over her, he said, “Please tell me the lingerie is black too.”

Her smile grew. “I guess you’ll just have to undress me and find out.”

“If I tear this off of you—which I’m severely tempted to do—you won’t have anything to wear.” Frowning, he looked around. “Did you bring anything with you or were you really just going to yell at me and turn around and go back to Laurel Bay?”

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