Page 54 of Save Me

“I don’t know anything about websites, Ryleigh,” he said, slowly coming to his feet.

“You don’t need to, but you’re an artist and clearly into tattoos. I think that makes you totally qualified to offer an opinion. Plus, you did volunteer, remember?”

Actually, he hadn’t.

Taking his hand, she led him down the hall to her home office and as soon as Ryker stepped through the door, he felt like he learned more about her than he had through any conversation they’d shared.

One wall was floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Some shelves were filled with books—and as he stepped closer, he found most were romances. Other shelves had Funko Pop figures from what he guessed were favorite shows and movies—all still in their boxes. He smiled at all the framed photos. There were tons of her with her family and several of her and Ivy. She was smiling and laughing in all of them and he was beginning to see how for all the months he’d been essentially chasing after her, she’d never looked as happy and relaxed as she did in these photos.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw her leaning against the doorframe and saw that she did now.

They’d turned a corner and he wondered if she was aware of it.

The bottom shelves were lined with vinyls, and he crouched down to look at her collection.

“Some of those belonged to my father,” she told him. “I grew up listening to a lot of them and when he and my mom were doing some redecorating, she wanted him to get rid of them.” Laughing softly, she added, “I couldn’t let that happen. I’ve got a record player out in the living room and every once in a while, I like to put one of these on. Particularly when I’m cooking.”

“What about when you’re working? Do you need total silence or do you prefer something playing in the background?”

“Depends on my mood.”

Straightening, Ryker turned to face her again. “What about with this site you’re working on? Music or no music?”

“So far? No music.” Then she shrugged. “But once I get a little further into it and know the direction I’m going in, I’ll probably relax a bit and enjoy having music or my sound machine playing in the background.”

“Favorite sound on the machine?”

“Either rain or the ocean.” She smiled at him, pushing away from the wall and slowly walking toward him. “Can I let you in on a little secret?”

Swallowing hard, he nodded.

“It’s always been a bit of a fantasy of mine to make love on the beach in the rain.” Her tone was soft and sultry and, as one small hand smoothed up over his chest, he wished he had the ability to change the weather. “I know it’s weird, but…”

His hand covered hers, holding it over his heart. “Not weird. I get it.”

“I’m not sure how practical it is, but maybe even staying at a hotel on the beach and making love with the doors to the balcony open while it rained. That’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to that.”

“You never know,” he said gruffly, and silently vowed to find a way to make that fantasy come true for her.

A soft sigh was her only response before she pulled back and gently cleared her throat. “So, um…the website…” Turning, she sat down at her desk and played around with the mouse and touched the screen and then another one.

“Multiple screens?” he asked before noting there were three of them.

“It helps to see some designs side by side like this. So far, I have three concepts that I’m working on and it just makes more sense to see them like this.”

He had to agree.

There wasn’t another chair in the office, so he stood behind her, crossed his arms, and studied the designs.

The first one was very simple—black and white and classic. Normally that didn’t appeal to him, but the way she placed graphics gave it more of a personality without being so in your face.

“The client wants to focus on the portfolio, so on this first one, this would either be a simple slide show, or I can make it look like an actual scrapbook with pages that flip,” she explained.

“You can do that?”

Looking over her shoulder at him, she grinned. “Of course I can. I’m actually really good at what I do, Ryker.”

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, baby girl. I just never thought of anything like that.”

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