Page 35 of A Lot Like Love
Ryder slapped his hand on his thigh. If she was trying to imitate him, she was doing a damn good job with that faux Texas accent.
“Sweetheart, as long as you want to be in my bed, you can callallthe shots.”
“Well now that’s settled and you know all about my daddy issues, why don’t you tell me about yours?”
Ryder groaned. “Seriously?”
“My dad swindled people out of money all my childhood and he taught me to be a damn good hustler. Only I wasn’t so good as to see that I was about to be hustled myself, by the one person I trusted. Whatever your dad was like he can’t have been any worse than mine.”
Ryder drained the rest of his cocktail before answering. “Your dad sounds like an asshole, but so was my old man. Just in a different way.”
“Tell me,” she asked, moving her barstool closer to his and leaning in toward him.
“My brothers had it worse than me. I didn’t really know what was going on a lot of the time, until the day my grandfather announced that he and Grandma were going to be our legal guardians. He offered my dad money to walk out of our lives and not come back, and the bastard took it without a backward glance.”
“And you’re okay with the fact your grandfather paid him off like that?”
Ryder ran a hand through his hair and waved to the bartender for another cocktail. “He did it because he was the only one who gave a damn about us. Our dad had a choice and the second he was offered the cash he ran and never looked back. My mom had a massive blood clot that went to her heart, about an hour after she gave birth to me, and by the time I was five I didn’t have either of my parents. My grandparents took over the role of mom and dad, and they did a damn fine job of it. And when Grandma died when we were teenagers, Granddad stepped up again.”
“So I’m taking it he’s not your paternal grandfather.”
At least opening up to Chloe had gotten her to move closer. After he’d complimented her backside earlier she’d sure as hell made him work for it. Truth was he never talked about his past with anyone, had never wanted to, until now.
“His parents were long dead, but we were close to my other grandparents because Mom saw them every day. They were pretty tight.” He shrugged. “I know from what everyone says that my mom was great, but I just don’t get why she married a douchebag like my dad, not when she was so beautiful and had everything she needed. But then maybe that’s why she went for the complete opposite of what she’d grown up with, a bad boy from the other side of town.”
Chloe raised her glass to his when his second cocktail arrived. “You were right. Your dad is every bit as crappy as mine.”
“Add to that a temper that could have heated Texas, and a half-bottle-of-bourbon habit each night, and that’s my childhood for you. I was just lucky I had two older brothers to keep an eye out for me, before Granddad took over.”
Chloe sighed. “I know you wanted to prove yourself, but why did you really leave home? Was it more than just wanting to show you could go it alone.”
“I took off when I was eighteen, became a pro bull rider. They all hated the idea of me riding for a living, but I loved it and it gave me a buzz every time I got up there. And I knew I could make it. Call me stupid, but when I’m told no, it only makes me want something all the more.”
Chloe grinned. “It just so happens that I’ve noticed that particular trait of yours.”
“When Granddad became sick I came home. It was about time I showed him I gave a damn instead of causing him more gray hairs, and I’d proven all I needed to prove.” He paused, taking a sip of his daiquiri.. “So tell me when you started hustling?”
“You make it sound so dirty.” Chloe was smiling again and part of him wanted to do anything to make sure her smile stayed fixed there.
She tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder, missing one loose curl that he reached forward to push back for her. His head was full of images of how her hair would look tumbling down her back when she was sitting astride him, but he’d asked her a serious question and he wanted to hear her response.
“I’m pretty sure you made quite an impression on some of the men you played.” Ryder could hear the huskiness of his own voice, no longer caring what they were talking about.
“When I was younger I just had to watch and learn, then I was a good distraction for my dad to use.” She pushed her shoulders up into a shrug. “He was great at bluffing, so even when he didn’t have a decent hand he’d usually clean up. But not always.”
Ryder reached for her hair again, twirling a strand around one of his fingers and shuffling his stool a little closer so her legs were arrowed between his open thighs.
“And how about you?” he asked. “Are you lucky or are you good at bluffing?”
Her thick dark lashes hid her eyes, just a glimpse of her chocolate irises visible when she glanced up, hair falling forward again. “Why do I get the feeling that we’re not talking about poker anymore?”
He grunted. “Because we’re not.” He’d tried to just talk, but all he could think about was having his hands on Chloe.
Ryder’s gaze fell to her mouth, watched as her tongue darted out, her top teeth pressing into her full lower lip. Then her eyes met his and she leaned into him, her breath warm against his mouth as she hesitated then tasted his lips, her mouth hovering, still, before moving again and starting to find a rhythm. Ryder shoved forward so their thighs were jammed together, running one hand down her shoulder, catching in her hair.
He couldn’t stifle a groan when her tongue clashed with his, her mouth open wide as she kissed him over and over again.
“I think we need to go back upstairs,” he mumbled against her mouth when she gave him a second to breathe.
