Page 31 of The Moment He Saw Her

The sound of someone pounding on his door woke Ryder. Squinting at his clock on the nightstand, it wasn’t there, and then he remembered. She was lying with her head on his chest, and one arm was thrown over his waist. Ryder had his hand on her ass. He was also suddenly aware of how close her body was to his. Lifting his hand, he slid it slowly out from under Libby.

Memories of last night slid through his head. Her tears. The asshole ex’s words, and then the monster-in-law’s. He’d like to meet both of them and would have a few things to say they wouldn’t like.

He rolled Libby slowly to her side. She was in a deep sleep, eyes shut, soft pink lips open. The woman was cute when her guard was down. Ryder pulled the covers up to her chin because it was freezing in here now that they weren’t sharing body heat. Getting out of bed, he bit back a yelp as his feet hit the cold floor.

His mother was always telling him to keep his socks on in bed. After a last look at Libby sleeping, he let himself out of the room. He then sprinted for the door as the next knock sounded.

“Hey, Ryder,” a high-pitched voice greeted him as he opened it.

“Morning, Hellie.” Fuck, it was the day his cleaner came, and she always came early so she could spend the rest of the day studying.

“I saw your car was still there and didn’t want to interrupt anything by walking in, so I knocked.” Her eyes were taking in his rumpled clothes and sleep-mussed hair.

Helena was Dr. Hannah’s grandkid and home for a few months on study leave. She’d come into the cafe and told Ryder she’d heard he was looking for a house cleaner. He hadn’t been but rolled with it and employed her.

“Okay, so give me five, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Ryder?”

Shit.“Hey, Libby, we’ll head out in five if you want to get ready,” Ryder said, looking over his shoulder at the rumpled, delicious mess that was his house guest who’d slept on him last night. If he were Helena and caught sight of her like this, he’d add two and two and come up with the answer that they’d spent the night together in bed.

“Hey, I’m Helena.”

Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck. Dr. Hannah was one of the biggest gossips in Lyntacky, and her granddaughter was standing on his doorstep.

“Libby needed a place to crash for the night, so I gave her my spare room,” Ryder said, and he hoped the girl hadn’t heard the panic in his voice. “On account of all the accommodations being full because of the bachelor party and other events.”

Ryder liked to slide under the radar in town, not be on the tongues of locals constantly. He had a feeling that was about to change.

“Come in and make yourself a hot chocolate, Hellie. We’ll be outta your hair soon, and you can start cleaning.”

When he turned, Libby had gone. He followed, sprinting to his room.

This was not the way he liked to start his day, and here was just another reason why sharing his life was not something that would suit him. Not that he and Libby would ever do that, but still.

Focus, Ryder.

He had the world’s quickest shower while brushing his teeth. Ryder could do things like that now that he lived alone. Throwing his toothbrush in the sink, he turned the faucet to cold to wake him up. It made him shriek like his mom when she saw a spider.

Dried off and dressed, he was back in the living area in under ten minutes. Libby beat him to it, and when he arrived, she was talking to Helena, dressed in fitted black stretch pants, the ribbed sweater, and her new jacket. On her feet were the useless sneakers. She wore a striped multicolored woolen hat.

How the hell had she gotten ready faster than him? His sister took twice as long.

“I want to get into forensics,” Helena said.

“So you need a bachelor’s in forensic science?” Libby asked. “With biology or chemistry?”

“Yes, I’m in my third year, and it’s hard, but I’m enjoying it.”

To Ryder, she didn’t look old enough to drive, let alone study for three years. Whenever he saw Hellie, she had earbuds plugged in and seemed to be eating some form of candy.

“You going to do a master’s?” Libby said, sounding like she knew what she was talking about, but then he knew she had a bachelor’s in accounting, so maybe she did.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“I’ll get my things,” Libby said. She still hadn’t looked at him.

“Leave them here for now. You can get them later when you find a place,” Ryder added.

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