Ricochet (Renegades #3)(37)
Author: Skye Jordan

“Well…” Rubi turned to the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of lemon squares Rachel had made earlier. “He is heading back to the other side of the world in a few weeks, and not only do we need you coordinating the bridge site, but you need to take the job.”

“But—”

“I know everyone thinks you’re indispensable, and sweetheart, I’m the first to agree that you hold Renegades together like Monster Bond—great threat earlier, by the way,” she added before turning again and pulling another dessert tray from the massive stainless steel fridge. “Honestly, you’re ridiculously overqualified to be playing secretary. My advice,” she said, setting the chocolate confection on the bar in front of Rachel. “Take the site coordinator job, get away from these prying eyes, enjoy Ryker for a quick affair, and advance your career at the same time. Sounds like an orgasmic win all the way around to me.”

Rachel’s tension mounted. “You know how people in this industry talk. One rumor of us together on the site, and it would be everywhere. And as soon as it got back to Troy…” She rolled her eyes. “All hell would break loose.”

Rubi picked up the lemon squares, slid her finger along the edge of the platter, lifting a trace of powdered sugar, and sucked it off as she walked toward the patio doors. “You can find a million excuses not to take the risk, and spend your life regretting the missed opportunity. Or you can find a way to take the risk safely—you are the risk-assessment guru around here after all—and enjoy this happy accident.”

Rubi stopped at the door and turned back to meet Rachel’s gaze. She winked. “YOLO.”

Then she disappeared, leaving Rachel with the idiom “you only live once” floating round her brain and a huge piano hanging over her head on fraying rope.

Rachel returned carrying a platter of something chocolate. As much as Ryker enjoyed dessert, his stomach only growled to taste the plump cleavage showing beneath the low curve of her tank. When she’d set the plate down, her gaze lifted directly to his, and he felt the snap of connection between them as deeply as he had the night before, when he was buried inside her.

She must have felt it too, because sultry heat flashed before she lowered her gaze and straightened, licked her lips, and glanced away. Then Ryker couldn’t take his eyes off the sheen on that delectable mouth or banish memories of plunging into it the night before.

Blood surged through his groin, and his cock pushed against his zipper. Ryker lowered his gaze to the dessert plate and rubbed a hand over his face, trying to refocus.

“Ryker?”

The female voice drew his gaze to Lexi, and the question lurking in those big blue eyes made him realize he’d missed something. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Chocolate or lemon?” she asked, holding an empty plate near the desserts.

“Oh…” If he was going to indulge in sweets tonight, he wanted to find those between Rachel’s thighs. “Chocolate,” he said, cutting a look at Rachel and finding her eyes on him again. “Definitely chocolate.” Marx returned to the table, expression smug. He sat and looked at Jax, who was waiting expectantly. He took a plate Rachel passed him with a lemon bar beside a miniature chocolate cake. “They approved it.”

Wes, Keaton, and Duke clapped and whistled.

Jax nodded, his grin reserved. “Great. That solves one problem.”

“And creates a dozen more,” Troy complained.

Ryker didn’t care how much Troy bitched, because the team had just solved Ryker’s most pressing issue—how to stay close to Rachel. She darted a look from Jax to Ryker, and unease creased her forehead. That was fine, because the banked lust flashing in and out of her eyes tonight was still there too.

“They had a minor catch that I smoothed over,” Marx added.

Rachel’s head snapped toward Josh. “What is it?”

“Since Rachel doesn’t have as much experience as they’d like,” Josh said, “they want me to make sure everything is running smoothly with a few more site visits than usual.”

Ryker’s patience strained. “How often?”

“Three days a week.”

This wasn’t about how well he or Rachel could do the job, it was about him wanting to monitor things between them. Control freak.

Jax sat back in his chair, eyes narrowed on Marx. “Are you going to be able to do that with your current workload?”

He glanced at Rachel, and one corner of his mouth lifted. “I’ll make it work.”

“Okay.” Jax crossed his arms. “But you need to understand that this is Ryker’s show. I know how blasting people can disagree on a path to the same end result, and Ryker has a proven method that works for him. Can you stay objective?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll hold back in pointing out things that will cause problems, or suggesting a better way to do them.”

“Great,” Ryker said. “Then I won’t hold back on telling you where to put your opinions and suggestions.”

Josh cut a stiff almost smile he was trying to hold on to in the face of his frustration.

“Ooooh-kay.” Duke drew out the word as he stood. “I think it’s time for pool hoops. Come on guys, two on two.”

Keaton and Wes stood.

“Let’s go, Troy,” Wes said. “Nothing you say is going to make a difference anyway.”

“No shit,” he muttered, shooting Ryker a glare before he started for the pool.

Ryker ground his teeth. A come-to-Jesus chat was going to be had with that man…soon.

After they left the table, Marx told Ryker, “We’ll need all your credentials, and you’ll have to submit an SOP and an action plan for approval before the blasting starts.”

The standard operating procedure, or SOP, Ryker knew all about. “Action plan?”

“It’s a detailed plan,” Jax told Ryker, “on how you plan on blasting to achieve the results you want. You can use the one from last month’s train blast as a template.”

“Fine,” he said, his gaze on Marx. “I’ll e-mail you my credentials tonight, and I’ll head out to the site tomorrow to scout and sketch out a plan.”

“Whoa,” Rachel said. “I can’t leave that soon. Besides, setup for these things takes time. You don’t just take off one day and kick into gear.”

“Why not?”