Page 28 of Rival to the Billionaire

I reach for the vibrator's control and flick it on. I close my eyes, relishing the feel of the vibrations against my fingers.

I wonder if it's enough to erase the memories of sitting next to Ryder on the plane, unwittingly watching him as he fell into a peaceful sleep.

My God, to think that he had looked so…peaceful. So careless. So much like the Ryder I'd known when we were kids—before the animosity, before the fighting, the bullying.

He'd looked…perfect.

On the plane, he had been the Ryder I'd once thought of as mine. Sleeping beside me. Leaning into my body.

For a moment, in the space between wakefulness and sleep, I had thought of embracing him—of resting my chin against his shoulder, of pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, his eyelids, his lips.

No. No. No.

My breath comes out in deep, ragged sequences, and I try to wake myself up and shake off these crazy thoughts.

Nothing good can come out of thinking about Ryder Anderson.

Nothing.

In the back of my mind, I know that. Know that it's madness to even consider harboring a shred of feeling for a man like him.

He's been my enemy for so long. We've been in this vicious, spiteful game for so many years.

I know better. I am a rational, reasonable, and clear-headed person, who knows when a person is bad for her.

And Ryder?

He is the worst, most toxic person I've ever known.

And yet…

I rotate my hand, turning the vibrator's frequency faster.

It's a sexual fantasy, Jen. Not reality.

You'd never be with a man like Ryder.

Never.

And yet…

My mind goes into a kaleidoscope of images…

Ryder pulling me close.

Ryder kissing me.

Ryder teasing me.

Ryder touching me—almost too intimately.

Ryder making sexy promises.

Ryder making me feel like I'm the only thing that matters.

Underneath the lavender-scented water, I let my fingertips trail over my nipples, circling into lazy, slow spirals that bring an instant rise in tingling depths.

I think about Ryder's deep voice, rumbling quietly beside me on the plane.

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