Page 69 of The Moment He Saw Her

“What are you doing?”

“Before I tell you, thanks for all that stuff you did on my laptop. It’s organized so that even someone like me can find things.”

“If you start organized, it makes things easier.”

“So I’ve heard. What else you got?”

She looked confused.

“What else are you going to tell me about you?” Ryder clarified.

“Nothing.”

“Why nothing? My life is an open book.”

“I don’t think anyone’s life is an open book, but I really don’t want to talk about me, Ryder.” He watched as she curled her legs up tighter and clutched the mug like he was a threat to her, which just pissed him off. He’d saved her from dumb actions twice. Surely she had to know he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her by now.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that long they’d known each other, but still.

He watched as she straightened the pillows to her right and then put her cup down on the coaster his mother told him he’d needed but he didn’t use, which meant he’d ended up with rings he had to polish out.

“Are you a person who’s always organized like my sister?” Ryder said when the silence stretched between them. “She knows what she’s wearing before she opens her eyes.”

“Yes… well, usually, but that’s been tested lately,” she said.

“Have you thought about what to do when you leave here, Libby?”

“I’m unsure still.”

“So what? You’re just going to keep driving randomly around until an idea comes to you?” Ryder asked.

“Why do you care?” The words came out with a bite to them. Clearly, she didn’t like him pushing her.

“Is going back to your loser ex-fiancé an option?”

Her eyes shot to his.

“He’s not a loser. He’s… he’s just a product of his environment, like me. Why do you care, anyway? I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

Why, indeed?“Because you don’t make good decisions, Libby, and going back to him would be another bad one.”

“I can make good decisions! I am also a big girl and can sort out my next steps without you,” she said in an agitated voice.

“And yet?—”

“Right,” she cut him off. “You saved me and gave me a place to live. I’m grateful,” she snapped.

She didn’t sound grateful. She sounded pissed off. Ryder wondered why he couldn’t let this drop.

“What are you doing on your laptop?” Libby said, which he guessed was his signal again to drop the inquisition.

He would get his answers before she left town, even if it meant holding her down to get them.

“I’m looking at setting up online sales,” Ryder said. “It’s something I’ve been toying with for a while now.”

“What would you sell?”

“Specialty chocolates and fudge,” he said, looking at his laptop rather than her curled up beside him.

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