Page 8 of A Lot Like Love
Chloe finishing serving a table and put down her tray, heading for the back door. She’d seen Ryder disappear after the game and she was worried. What the hell had made him bet the deed to his ranch? Maybe he was just stupid, and god only knew she shouldn’t have given a crap about a man who was prepared to gamble that big. Yet here she was with her arms wrapped around herself, goose bumps spreading across her skin, looking for him. Because from the moment she’d set eyes upon him at the rodeo, something had made it impossible for her to stop thinking about him. She might not have returned his phone calls but it didn’t mean she hadn’t been thinking about him.
And there he was.
She stopped, looking at the forlorn figure hunched over against the side of the building, before sighing and heading toward him. The clever thing to do was walk back inside and finish her shift, and instead she was out in the cold, using her ten-minute break to comfort a drunk gambler. Sounded like her childhood all over again.
“Hey,” she called out, not wanting to startle him.
She received a grunt in reply, bloodshot eyes meeting hers when she stood over him. He was sitting on his butt, knees drawn up, elbows resting on them. His head had been hanging and now it was pushed back, tilted up to look at her. In the time since she’d seen him stumble from the card table, he’d drunk a lot of liquor. And he looked nothing like the guy she’d met at the rodeo. That guy had been confident, cocky, and powerful. This version of him didn’t remind her at all of the bull-riding cowboy who’d so brazenly caught her eye then come over and asked her out.
“Did you bring the bottle?” He squinted up at her and held out a glass.
“No,” she replied, dropping to her haunches to get a closer look at him. “But I can go back and get a water for you.”
He shook his head and shut his eyes. “Need whiskey. Or bourbon. I’m not fussy so long as I can stay drunk.”
Chloe sucked in a deep breath and told herself to walk away, to just head back to the bar and forget all about him. But she knew who he was, had always liked his older brothers the few times she’d met them, and she did kind of feel sorry for him. The King boys were notorious through Texas from what she’d heard, as much for their money as their reputations. They owned more land than any other family in the state.
She studied Ryder’s face. And their looks.He might have bet too big tonight and lost even bigger, but for some stupid reason she was still attracted to him. And the way he watched her when he talked? It sent a shiver through her that had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the sexual heat in his gaze. Tonight and yesterday, the effect had been the same, although his lusty expression had been replaced with a defeated one from the moment he’d lost tonight.
“I’m going to call one of your brothers,” she said, moving closer until she was sitting beside him. Chloe was careful not to let her thigh brush his, not wanting to give him the wrong idea. She felt sorry for him. That was it. She was not going to get involved and she wasn’t going to act on her attraction. “Can I have your phone?”
“Hell no,” he said, banging his head back and clenching his fists into tight balls.
“You need someone to come pick you up,” she said, never taking her eyes off his hands. She was pretty sure he’d slam his fist into something solid rather than her, but she wasn’t taking her chances.
“They’ll kill me,” he said, voice low as he dropped his head between his knees again. “They’re going to kill me and I deserve it.”
“They’re not going to kill you and I need your phone.” She held her hand out. “Otherwise I can just head back in and call from there. Your oldest brother’s Nate, right?”
Ryder jumped up, boots thumping loud as he stumbled. She rose and reached for his arm, fingers closing around his forearm to steady him as his wild eyes met hers. This was why she always preferred to be sober—she hated the idea of not being in control, or being vulnerable.
“Not Nate,” he mumbled. “Not Chase. Just you.”
She sighed and let him lean on her, cringing at his whiskey-laced breath. She was sober as a nun, hadn’t had anything to drink since her one beer at the rodeo the day before, but right now she was ready to down a shot just to take the edge off what she was about to say.
“I finish my shift in an hour,” she told him.
He stumbled and looked at her, his gaze meeting hers then traveling down, resting way too obviously on her breasts. She hooked a finger under his chin and jerked his head back up so he was staring into her eyes again, trying not to laugh at the goofy expression on his face.
“You don’t get to check me out,” she told him. “Now you either sit tight and drink some water until my shift is over, or I’m calling your brother. Your choice.”
He groaned as she walked with him a few steps and then gave up. Ryder was way too heavy to be leaning on her; he must have been six foot four and he wasn’t exactly a lightweight.
“Just one more drink,” he mumbled.
“No,” she said, surprising herself by how firm she sounded. “Sit here, I’ll bring you a water, and you’re not to move.”
“So you’ll take me home?” he asked, gazing up at her like a lost puppy dog. Gone was the lusty expression—now he was just plain drunk.
She sighed, wishing she’d just kicked back and had a soda instead of spending her break looking for him. “Yeah, I’ll take you home.”
“To your place,” he mumbled.
“We’ll see,” she told him. There was no way she was taking him back to her place, but she would make sure he got home safe.
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she’d regret helping him, but the poor guy had just bet away the deed to his ranch, and if anyone could help him, she could. If he gave her what she needed, she could solve all his problems.
She grimaced as she pushed open the door and walked into the noisy bar. Yesterday she’d been playing hard to get, with no intention of holding out for long where Ryder King was concerned. Now she was about to spend the evening with him because she felt sorry for him, and let him in on a secret she’d long buried. Now it had nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with business.
If only she were still in law school, none of this would have happened. But then if she were still in law school, she wouldn’t need Ryder’s help to get her back there. And having a little fun with him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. All her life she’d been the good girl, done the right thing, been the grown-up when she should have just been a kid. So long as she could still get what she needed, she wasn’t going to say no to a good time. At least until she was back in studying.Thenshe could go back to being the good girl.
