Page 48 of The Moment He Saw Her

Red rolled his eyes but walked away, and his wife followed to serve a customer.

This was going to be more work than she’d anticipated, Libby thought, peering in the bag and then shutting it again when she saw the receipts and ledgers.

“These people are far too trusting,” Libby muttered, hugging the bag to her chest as she headed back outside.

Cold slapped her in the face as she walked. Following the directions she’d been given, Libby reached a building that said Community Center above two doors. Opening one, she entered.

People had stacked coats and boots in the cloakroom. Moving to another door, Libby opened it and looked inside. The room held about thirty people, but it was the man standing before them that drew her eyes.

Ryder Duke was dressed in a white gi, and his belt was black. She closed the door to a crack and watched as he did a series of moves and called out instructions. He was impressive standing up there dressed like that. Impressive and seriously hot. Scanning the people, she saw SJ. The woman was focused on Ryder with a dreamy look on her face.

Not his girlfriend my ass.They were a couple, or they were the other thing. Either way, they were something.

Everyone was dressed in exercise gear and practicing the moves Ryder was directing them to do. They ranged from old to younger and in between. Libby watched for a few minutes more and then closed the door softly.

She’d seen that belt and knew what it meant because her brother was a black belt.

Libby had a feeling there was a lot more to Ryder Duke than he let on, but then most people were hiding something, like her.

Retracing her steps, she was soon back on the main street.

There had to be somewhere she could stay in this town. She watched a gray pickup stop beside her, and the window rolled down.

“I can show you that RV now,” the man inside said. “Get in.”

Maybe it was the cider, or the fact that everyone knew everyone in this town, so if she went missing, someone would know who had abducted her. Or it could be that she’d outstayed her welcome with the hot Ryder Duke. Whatever the reason, she was soon climbing inside Fox Gleeson’s pickup with the Rollaway’s accounts still clutched to her chest.

If things went from bad to worse, she’d hit him with them.

Chapter14

Ryder loved martial arts. For someone who had drifted for so long, clueless what he wanted to do with his life, it had given him discipline and control.

He’d never told his siblings he didn’t know what his direction should be. Truth was, he’d been ashamed that he was simply drifting while they all seemed to have a goal or, at the least, went out in the world to find what they wanted.

It had been his Uncle Asher who pointed him toward martial arts. He’d found a man who taught in his home a two hours’ drive from Lyntacky. From his first lesson, he’d been hooked. Ryder had spent many long grueling hours of practice to reach the stage where he was ready to be tested for his black belt, and he was proud of the fact he’d achieved what he set out to do. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, and the most rewarding.

People thought he was the laid-back, easygoing Duke, and he was, mostly. But he had his own brand of determination and stubbornness. He also had anger he’d learned to harness. That and fear. He’d gotten his first real taste of that when his father had died suddenly. Ryder had hated how vulnerable and scared that made him feel.

“And that’s it for today, everyone. You all make sure to practice those moves,” he said when they were done.

“Ryder, I just need you to show me a few things,” SJ said, moving closer.

The woman was a man-eater, and a product of her parents, who were class A assholes. He’d been dodging her advances for years and thought them harmless. After what Libby said to him earlier about believing SJ was his girl, he didn’t want to anymore.

“What’s the issue, SJ?”

“If you could just come in behind me and help me through the moves. I can’t seem to get them right, Ryder, and you’re so good at them.”

“There are no moves I taught you that need me to do that. Show me what you don’t get, and I can run you through it while facing you.” The shock on her face told Ryder he’d never spoken to her in that tone before, but maybe he should have.

But when you grew up with someone, you tended to just put up with their crap.

“I take my classes seriously, Sydney Jane, and flirting doesn’t factor into it. So, if you want to learn, all good, I’m here for that, but if not, then see you around.”

She glared at him, then with a swish of her hair, she was gone.

“You pissed off with anything particular, or life in general?” JD, said, moving to his side.

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