Ricochet (Renegades #3)(40)
Author: Skye Jordan

“You’re adorable when you worry.”

“Shut up. I’m trying to—“

“Take care of me. The same way you take care of the others.” He leaned forward, elbows on knees, getting closer, to feel her heat, smell her scent. He could tilt his head, ease in and have his lips on hers. Desire slid beneath his skin. “I know. That’s what makes your ramble so sweet.”

“Fine, forget it.” She scowled at him and pulled the bottle from his skin. “Ruin your career and your future if you want. I was going to tell you that if there’s anyway I could help—I don’t know how, because I don’t know how that military shit works—it was worth investigating so you didn’t ruin your future, but that’s obviously not—“

He closed the distance and pressed his lips to hers. At the same time, he lifted his hand to cup her head, knowing she’d immediately pull away—which she tried. But he held her there for an extended moment, just to feel her lips again.

And, yes, they were as supple and full and soft as he remembered.

Then, before she pushed away, he released her.

The stunned look in her eyes was so cute, he wanted to kiss her again. But he didn’t. “I hear you,” he said softly. “And I appreciate the worry. So far, I’m in the clear. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.” He lifted his brows. “Okay?”

She licked her lips slowly, as if trying to drag in the taste of him, and the sight was like an electric current along his skin.

“Don’t do that again,” she said, but there was no punch behind the words. “Anyone could walk in that door, and—“

“I’d hear them before they even got close, sugar.”

“You’re missing the point again—“

“No, I’m not.”

She gave him one of those stern looks that made him grin and changed the subject. “One of the problems with Josh is that he’s with a company where making waves brings success. The more information they uproot, the better their job analysis. The better their analysis, the less risk the insurance company takes, and—“

“I know how it works,” he said. “The bigger problem with Marx is that he doesn’t like me threatening his territory—you.”

“Please don’t refer to me as territory. I’d have to get pissed off, and honestly, I just don’t have the energy.” She pushed the second bottle into his other hand and leaned forward to pick up the laptop off her desk, then sat on the edge of the sofa beside him again, the computer angled so they could both see the screen. “I have all the resumes pulled up here for you to look at, but I wanted you to check out Charlie’s first. I think he’ll make a great foreman for you.”

“Why aren’t you with him?” he asked, unable to keep the question he’d been wondering about since last night tucked away any longer.

Her gaze swung to his, that cute little crease between her smooth brows. “What?”

“Marx,” he said. “Why aren’t you with him? I mean only him.”

Her eyes narrowed and the skin beneath her right eye quivered. “Only…him?”

“He’s everything most women want,” Ryker pushed. “And he clearly wants you.”

The muscle of her jaw jumped and she turned away. “I’m not trying to be a bitch, but it’s none of your business.”

“You’re right, it’s not,” he said. “But I still want an answer.”

“Wow. This is going to be a long few weeks if…” She pressed her lips together and curled her fingers into the sofa cushion at her thighs. “Look, Josh is great, but he’s looking for a wife. He wants the whole picket-fence, meet-the-parents-with-a-ring-on-your-finger type of forever, and that’s just not me. At least not now. And as I told him, not anytime in the near future.”

He narrowed his eyes as if that would help him see deeper inside her. “Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want permanent,” she said, her annoyance leaking into her voice. Her gaze turned on him. “I don’t want complicated. I don’t want forever. I just want simple. No strings. I certainly don’t owe you an explanation.” She refocused on her laptop. “So, back to Charlie. He’s a retired marine, so you two will have the military jargon in common—“

“What about the other guy?” he asked. Staffing was the last thing he gave a shit about right now. “Does he know you’re picking up men on the side?”

Her expression darkened with impatience. “What other guy?”

“The one on the phone last night. The one you were making excuses not to see.”

Her lips remained parted, her eyes searching his. “You were…eavesdropping?”

“No, I overheard.”

She rolled her eyes toward her computer again. “You ‘overheard’ me talking to my father. I can understand how you would assume I’m sleeping around, considering how we met.” The skin of her cheek and neck darkened to a bright pink. “But I’m not. And I don’t…usually. You were…a fluke.”

Like a tick, his frustration burrowed deeper. “Nice. Maybe I’ll tattoo that on my ass.”

“Nathan, you don’t want anymore from me than I want from you, so stop this…this…whatever the hell this is. Focus. I think you’ll like Charlie.” She slanted him a disgusted look. “I’m sure he’ll understand your Ranger tattoo immediately.”

“Just hold the fuck on,” he said, voice growing louder as all the information gelled. “If you’re not with Marx, because you don’t want serious, and you don’t have a guy in the wings, and you’ve already fucked me twenty ways to Sunday, why the hell do you keep pushing me away? Because you’re right, we both want the same thing, and you know I’m going to be on the other side of the world in a few weeks. Is there any less of a commitment than that?

“I said simple.” Her voice rasped as she tried to keep it down. Her eyes shone dark and bright with anger. “There is nothing simple about this. If I’d known who you were I would never have slept with you, because fucking guys at work causes these kinds of problems.”

“The only problems here are the ones you’re creating in your head.”

“You know that’s not true,” she said, her expression incredulous. “There’s Troy and Josh and Renegades. There’s a lot at stake here. Relationships with people we both care about, the success of a business that means everything to those people.”