The sweet didn’t move from her expression. It also didn’t hide the concern that started seeping in.
I twisted on the balls of my feet to give her my full attention.
“Listen, Feb, he’s in love with another woman.”
“I know that,” she replied, the absoluteness of her words driving that thorn deeper. “I just don’t want you to get hurt while he’s workin’ through that. And I know Merry’s a good guy, but even good guys do stupid shit when they’re workin’ through hurt like that, as evidenced by the pile of stupid shit he’s amassed while doin’ just that for the last however-many years.”
“I know the score,” I told her, something she had to know.
It seemed she didn’t when little wrinkles appeared between her brows and her head tipped to the side.
“What’s the score?”
“He’ll work through it, just not with me,” I said the last quickly to reassure her. “He got what he’s gonna get from me on that. And it was good, Feb. He needed it, and it was far from shit bein’ there to give it to him. But that’s done. If we can iron things out, we’ll get back to what we had, keep that, and I’ll be happy when he finds what he needs to get happy.”
She didn’t believe me and didn’t hide the fact she didn’t. It was right there with the sweet, the gentle, the concern.
She knew.
She knew I was in deep with Merry.
There was a lot I’d share with Feb, lay on her, lean on her to help me work it through, bitch at her just so I could get it out. Anything. Practically everything.
But not that.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I declared, doing it with finality so we could stop talking about it.
She nodded, hearing my tone, knowing what I needed and, being Feb, giving it to me.
With me helping, it didn’t take long to finish the restock. When we were done, she grabbed the empty boxes and headed to the back to finish the stock take.
I went to the front to unlock the door.
I hadn’t yet fully made it down the bar to round it when the door opened.
I turned and stopped when I saw Ryker prowling in, his eyes clamped on me, his big, motorcycle-booted feet bearing down on me.
The vision of this from Ryker would likely scare ninety-nine percent of the human population straight to the point of wetting themselves.
This was because he was huge. He was also wearing a black tank stretched across a massive chest, a black leather jacket hanging from his extensive shoulders, this hiding the two sleeves of tattoos adorning his arms. He had a large, lethal-looking knife sheathed at the side of his belt. He was bald and many would think he was ugly.
I was not a woman who thought that. Rough, tough, and scary didn’t turn me off, and a man did not have to be conventionally attractive to get my attention.
Just looking at him, I knew Ryker could be a monster in bed and be that in a bad way.
He could be the same in a very, very good way.
Or he could shock the shit out of you and be all about you in gentle ways that blew your mind.
I suspected, depending on his mood, he was both of the last two. I suspected this because I knew Lissa, his woman.
She was a good woman, a hardworking one, a kind one, and not a stupid one. She would no sooner glance Ryker’s way again if he didn’t treat her right than she’d do harm to the daughter she adored. Definitely not have him in her bed and keep him there.
I also knew all about Ryker, including the fact he’d put a ring on Lissa’s finger and officially adopted Lissa’s girl, Alexis.
He loved his girls. And when the unimaginable threatened the ’burg and Alexis got caught up in it, nearly had her world obliterated by it, Ryker didn’t hesitate after he went all out to make sure she was safe. He claimed both her and her mother, officially and legally, and covered them in his considerable protection.
So no, even if the man looked like a lunatic, he didn’t scare me because he didn’t hide who he really was, and the way he looked after the women under his roof said it all.
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew