Page 11 of A Lot Like Love
“They let you play,” she quipped.
“Take the next right then keep driving straight,” he told her, refusing to acknowledge what she’d just said.
They were silent, the only noises the thrum of the engine and the music playing on low. Ryder shut his eyes. His only consolation was that the alternative to being in the car with Chloe was being anywhere alone with his brothers. They’d have beaten the crap out of him by now, not giving a damn how bad he felt about what had happened.
“What do you want?” he finally asked, annoyed and tired of playing games.
A slow smile spread across Chloe’s face. She was enjoying every second of this, he was sure of it.
“I win the deed to your ranch back, but I get something in return. Otherwise I drive straight to your big bad brother tonight and tell him what you’ve done.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest, leaning back against the door so he could watch her.
“Yes,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I want somewhere nice to live for the next few months, and when I win it back I want you to pay my law school tuition. In full. It’s only blackmail if you say no, right?”
“Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut?” he asked, trying to read her face and failing. She was almost expressionless; the only tell that she was serious was the way her brows were drawn slightly closer together than before. “If I do what you ask?”
“I won’t tell your brothers, but word travels. It won’t be long before everyone around here knows what you’ve done. I give your family a couple of days, maybe a week tops. But I can win it back for you, so yeah, you can trust me.”
Chloe slowed and he waved her on.
“That’s our driveway there.”
She turned in, then stopped, the car grinding to a halt on the gravel. She put it in park and angled her body so they were staring at each other.
“The way I see it you’ve only got one option,” she said. “Unless you think someone’s going to bail you out and buy the land back, you need me more than I need you.”
She was right. Damn. “Do you realize this is the first time in my life anyone has been able to say that to me?” He’d done some pretty stupid things before, but never anything he couldn’t talk his way out of, or couldn’t fix with money. He’d neverneededanyone.
“Say yes to me, Ryder, and your ranch will be yours again in a few short weeks.”
“No.” He shook his head, still not taking his eyes off her. “I need it back now.”
“And I need time to play some poker, study these guys, make them think I know just enough not to be a pain in the ass if they let me join the table. I can get it back, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Ryder raised an eyebrow as he studied her face, deciding that agreeing to her terms wasn’t exactly going to be difficult. “If I let you stay, will you be in my bed?”
“Sure,” she said, her smile sweet. “So long as you’re not in it.”
“Ouch.” And there she went again, turning him down and just making him want her even more. Those pillowy pink lips were just begging to be kissed, her long blond hair just the perfect length for him to tangle around one fist.
“So what do you say?” she asked.
Ryder looked away, didn’t need to be able to see out into the blackness to know what was there. This land meant too much to him, his family meant too much to him, not to do whatever it took to right his wrongs. Every blade of grass, every post in the ground,everything, had belonged to Kings for generations, and he wasn’t going to be known as the idiot youngest heir who lost what others had worked so hard for. If only he’d thought about that before instead of letting his goddamn ego do the talking.He’d always joked that he was the black sheep of the family, but it wasn’t a title he wanted to be stuck with. He’d been an idiot and he needed to make the right decision now.
“I’ll play along because for some crazy reason I actually believe you can do this,” he told her, reaching out and stroking the hand that rested on her thigh, before closing his fingers around her wrist. “But try to screw me over and you’ll regret it, sweetheart.”
“Said the wolf to the lamb,” Chloe murmured, her body still as she stared at her wrist. “Now let go of my arm and don’tevergrab hold of me like that again.”
