Page 43 of The Moment He Saw Her

“What?” she whispered so only he could hear when Larry inspected the cabinets.

“He never laughs or smiles,” Ryder said. “Larry used to own this place and ran it into the ground. The man is the town curmudgeon.”

“I guess he’s having a good day.”

“I guess he is,” Ryder said.

“So maybe not the twirling. But we have the hurdling, which I’m sure you could do. You look agile,” Larry said, returning to the counter. He seemed determined she find something to do in the Lynpicks.

“I’ve never really understood how someone can look agile when you’ve never seen them move faster than a walk,” Ryder mused.

“I hurdled in high school, actually,” Libby said for no other reason than it annoyed her that Ryder didn’t think she could… which he hadn’t said, but it was implied.

“Go you,” Ryder said.

“There you go, then,” Larry added. “I’ll get that nosey LouJean to put your name down.”

“Oh no?—”

“You walked into that.”

“I may not be in town,” Libby said, ignoring Ryder.

“I’ll put it there anyway, and you can cross it out if you’re not here. Shame to miss it, though.”

“Where is my name going?” Libby asked out of curiosity.

“The forms are online. Just look up the Lyntacky Facebook page, and you’ll find it in the files,” Ryder said.

“Here’s your tea,” Libby said, holding out the to-go cup to Larry. She’d make sure to remove her name if it made its way onto the hurdling list.

“Larry Limpet can smile, who knew,” Ryder said, watching the man leave.

“Most people have that ability, Ryder.”

“Don’t use that prissy tone with me. I’ve known that man all my life, and that’s the first time I’ve seen his mouth move upward instead of down.”

“Fine.” She waved a hand about. “And I’m not being prissy.”

“Sure sounded like it,” Ryder muttered.

He and Libby had taken to annoying each other if one said something the other didn’t like. Like siblings… and yet not because there was that sizzle of heat in the air between them. But if they were annoying each other, then as far as she was concerned nothing else would happen, like it had the night she’d arrived in Lyntacky.

“Do some work,” he said, moving out from behind the counter to clean the front of the cabinets.

“Right, because I don’t most days,” she threw back at him.

It surprised Libby how much she was enjoying working in the cafe. She loved the interactions with the customers—another surprise, as she wasn’t usually a people person.

Ryder’s family also dropped in regularly, which told her that they were clearly close. Zoe, the only girl, had questioned her about personal things, and Libby had been evasive, which hadn’t made her happy.

What hadn’t made Libby happy was the fact that she couldn’t get that first night in Lyntacky out of her head. Ryder had come into her room and lifted her onto his lap. She’d then lain against his hard, warm chest. When his arms had wrapped around her, she felt everything inside her steady for the first time in a long while. He kissed her once, a soft reassuring kiss, and then just held her until she’d fallen into an exhausted sleep. They’d both slept, and it was the first real one she’d had since leaving Oklahoma.

“Hey, SJ,” Ryder said as a beautiful brunette arrived at the counter. She wore a tight red zip-up sweater with the zipper undone, showing plenty of cleavage, and a puffy white vest.

“Hey, hottie,” the girl said, leaning in to kiss Ryder on the lips. “Sorry we couldn’t get together last night.” She gave Libby a hard look, which she interpreted to mean “Because of you, I couldn’t see my man last night.” Why hadn’t she even thought about the fact that Ryder could have a girlfriend who would be annoyed that she was staying with him?

Mortified at the flash of jealousy, Libby realized it was time to get out of his house now, tonight. After work, she’d come up with a plan for her next move. Libby could no longer stay with Ryder, she knew that now, watching the woman put her arms around Ryder’s neck.

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