A haggard breath left me, and I was shaking when I looked at him from over Kayden’s head, the air growing so thin that the only thing I was breathing was him.
It didn’t seem to matter to Ryder that everyone was staring at us when he growled under his breath, “Not gonna happen, Cookie. Not unless poor Brad wants to lose his hands.”
“That was delicious.” Ryder wiped his mouth with a napkin after he’d just demolished three cinnamon rolls once he’d finished his main meal.
The man liked his sweets.
“Second that,” Cody agreed.
“I need to watch out…Mom opens her own restaurant and she’s going to run me out of business,” I said as I stood to unbuckle Kayden from his highchair.
“Pssh.” She waved her hand in the air. “Charmers. The lot of you.”
I carried Kayden to the kitchen sink so I could wash his face and hands. He howled and fought me the whole time like I was putting him through the worst kind of torture, then he took off running out the sliding back door the second I set him on his feet.
“I’ll go out with him so he can play a bit,” Cody offered, pushing up from his chair and tossing his napkin to his plate.
“I just brewed some fresh iced tea. Why don’t we all go out for a while and enjoy the fresh air? It’s a gorgeous day,” Mom offered.
“Sounds good to me.” Kayla stood, too, gathering plates and plunking them into the sink.
“I need to use the restroom then I’ll meet you all out there,” I said.
I did my best to ignore the energy that pounded through the room when Ryder pushed to standing.
The man a shockwave.
I could feel those eyes tracking me the whole way as I turned and made a beeline for the hall. I rushed down it, quick to lock myself in the bathroom.
How was I supposed to manage this? That severity that crashed into me every time he looked my direction? The way it felt like I couldn’t fully move when I was in his space? The way he kept watching me like he wanted to rip me out of this dress?
He made me feel like I was the only person he could see, all while knowing he would deny me if anyone asked.
But this denying thing felt impossible.
This connection.
This bond that seared and flamed.
I used the restroom then washed my hands, and I glanced at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed, and I swore there was something different in my eyes. Something that shined bright, arising from the depths, something that could no longer be contained.
Blowing out a sigh, I dried my hands, unlocked the door, and turned the knob. I gasped when it suddenly swung open from the other side. Ryder was there, pushing through, so tall that he loomed over me.
A force of nature that made my knees knock.
Caught off guard, I stumbled back two steps.
Ryder shut and locked the door behind him.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” I finally managed through the surprise.
A breath later, he was in front of me, and he set both his palms on the sides of my face. He tilted it up as he angled down. “I can’t go one more second without touching you.”
“Someone’s going to know you followed me in here. I thought we needed to keep this thing quiet?”
“We do,” he grated.
“Then you’re being reckless.” The words were hushed.
I thought they only tugged him closer because he leaned down and barely brushed his lips over mine before he angled back, that severity covering me like a shroud. “This whole thing is reckless, Dakota. But how am I supposed to resist when you’re wearing this dress?”
Playfulness edged into the seriousness, and his hands tightened on my jaw.
So sweetly possessive my heart careened in my chest.
“If you keep looking at me like that while I’m wearing it, then I’m never going to take it off.”
“Oh, you’re going to be taking it off, Dakota.” He backed me deeper into the tiny room, and my back hit the wall.
Desire poured, flooding the confined space.
“Especially after you put that fucking deplorable image of you with Brad into my mind. Was bad enough the night you were out with him.”
A slight giggle got free, and I let the tease wind into my voice. “Are you jealous, Ryder Nash?”
“At the thought of another man touching you? Fuck yeah, I’m jealous, Dakota. Then you had to go rubbing it in. You’re really trying to drive me out of my mind, aren’t you?”
“And what was I supposed to say?” I got entranced by the energy that swept the atmosphere, mesmerized by Ryder here, looking at me this way.
My spirit light and my heart pounding so heavily I was sure the rest of the house could hear it.
“You were supposed to say that you wouldn’t dream of touching him. Of touching anyone.” It was a soft growl, a razzing that slipped from his delicious mouth.
His mouth I was fast becoming addicted to.
I feigned regret. “Oops, I guess I didn’t get the script.”
Possession reverberated in his wide chest, and he pressed me harder against the wall. That big body covered mine.
So powerful.
So protective.
It was everything I’d craved for so long that a needy whimper slipped out.
Ryder only tightened his hold. “Script goes like this, Dakota…you’re mine, and I’m yours. You got it?”
“I’ll try to remember.” I whispered the tease.
“You better,” he rumbled back, pecking his lips to mine.
I moaned that time.
That was all it took for him to deepen the kiss.
A crackle that sparked.
Our mouths moved in a desperate dance, and his hand came around to the back of my neck to angle me just right. His lips plucked and pulled at mine before his tongue swept into my mouth.
Tangling.
Licking.
Commanding.
My hands shot out, diving into his hair as he rubbed himself against me.
Gasping, I writhed back, my breath instantly gone.
My pulse crashed as it thundered.
I nearly cried when he peeled himself away. He dropped his forehead to mine, panting with his hands still gripping my face. “You’re everything, Dakota Cooper. The most important thing in this world. Whatever happens, promise me that you won’t forget that.”
“I won’t.”
He gulped then nodded as he stepped back, then he sent me a cocky grin. “Do you have any idea the number of times I’ve considered following you into this bathroom, wondering if you’d let me kiss the hell out of you? Wanting to push past that line?”
A surprised laugh ripped from my throat, and I shook my head, my grin coming slow. “Probably as many times as I imagined you doing it.”
His hand slipped under the skirt of my dress and took a handful of my left butt cheek. “I blame it on this dress.”
Shivers raced, a collision of this love and the playfulness and the edge of the darkness that kept seeping into the atmosphere.
“I guess I’m going to have to order one in every color.”
“You do, and I can’t be held accountable for my actions. All of them are going to end up tattered shreds on my bedroom floor.”
“Oh, and here I thought it was going to be on my office floor?”
“Whatever floor is below us at the time. The bedroom. The kitchen. Your office. This bathroom is seeming like a mighty fine place.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but I think my family might notice if I come out and my dress is torn to bits.”
“We can blame it on a pack of wild dogs that came through.”
“I’m pretty sure a wild dog would be the one to blame.” My fingers plucked at the fabric of his shirt.
Amusement traipsed through his features, this fierce affection that pulsed so thick when he reached out and stroked his thumb over my bottom lip. “I love you, Cookie.”
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of hearing that.”
“Good, because you’re going to be hearing it forever.”
Emotion dumped into my chest.
All the years of holding it back and there was no chance of keeping it checked any longer.
“You’re the only person I’ve ever loved, Ryder.”
He rushed forward, pressing his lips to my forehead, breathing me in before he forced himself back to the door. He set his hand on the knob and glanced back. “This pretending bit is fuckin’ painful.”
My bottom lip caught between my teeth. “We won’t have to do it forever, will we?”