Page 47 of A Lot Like Love
She took another sip, moving her glass when their food arrived. “Wow, that was quick.” She giggled. “It looks amazing, although I may have gone a little crazy on ordering.” The tacos were piled high.
“For a buck fifty a pop I don’t think we can go wrong.”
Ryder picked one up and took a bite. “Man, shrimp and mayo. Life doesn’t get any better than this.”
Chloe chose a chicken, mayo, and avocado one, nodding her agreement as she polished it off like she’d never eaten before. “Pretty damn good,” she managed as she swallowed her last mouthful.
Ryder was reaching forward for another when he caught her eye and leaned to wipe the corner of her mouth. “You have a little mayo there,” he told her.
Her tongue darted out, licking the spot he’d touched, but she ended up connecting with his finger as well as her skin. He seemed to forget all about his taco, replacing his finger with his mouth, kissing her instead. Chloe smiled against his lips, kissing him back.
“Yours tastes good,” she said. “Maybe it’s time for me to try one.”
Ryder pulled back and pushed one in her direction. “Glad I could give you a complimentary pretasting.”
They both laughed. “So tell me,” Chloe said, toying with her second taco, glancing down at it but not taking a bite straightaway. “What’s the deal with your family and Parker’s anyway? You mentioned some long-standing feud.”
He finished his mouthful and reached for a napkin, wiping his mouth and waving the bartender over for another drink. “I’m switching to beer. You?”
She shook her head, watching as he took a long pull of the Budweiser that was passed to him.
“Parker’s family has always been crooks. I’m all for capitalism, but they’re like vultures, sniffing around one man’s misfortune and trying to cash in. Let’s just say that none of us appreciate the way they intimidate landowners into selling out.”
“And this has been going on for how long?” she asked, no longer hungry and sipping her drink instead.
“Decades,” Ryder told her. “But the reason his family hates mine has to do with my dad.”
She waited, watching as he took another sip of beer, worrying the label on the bottle with his thumb.
“The story has it that my old man had an affair with Parker’s mom. My mother was still alive then, so it was before I was even born, but they reckon it was my dad who had something to do with her leaving town and never coming back.”
“And what do you think?”
Ryder sniggered. “That if she was truly involved with my dad she did the best thing getting the hell away from him.”
Chloe nodded. She got that he was bitter about his father, but she also knew how bad that kind of hate could eat away at a person. “So the bad blood started then?”
“That was a big part of it, but my granddad had already made us enemies with them. Whenever he caught wind of what they were doing, he’d get some sort of protection in place for any man being intimidated, and see if he couldn’t work out a way to loan him money to keep his head above water. Obviously it didn’t happen all the time, they still took a lot from a lot of families, but when Granddad heard about it first, he always stepped in.”
She was surprised. “So your granddad’s not just some hard-nosed businessman, then?”
Ryder grinned. “Oh no, he is. If they didn’t pay their loans back then he’d have to foreclose on their ranches eventually, but he liked to give them a chance to work it off, to do what he could. He firmly believes in giving everyone a second chance.”
“And that kind of thing is still going on?” Chloe asked.
“Not so much,” Ryder told her. “Parker’s old man is long gone, and he’s more interested in roughing women up. There’ve been too many girlfriends of his with black eyes for me not to hate the bastard.”
“So basically, he’s just your average nice guy, huh?” Chloe said, shaking her head and downing the rest of her cocktail.
“Enough about douchebags like Parker,” Ryder announced. “Finish that taco and we’re getting you up on that bull.”
Chloe held up her hands. “No way.”
Ryder leaned over the bar. “Two tequila shots,” he ordered.
“Heaven help me,” she muttered, digging into her taco. If she was going to drink shots, she needed a full stomach to cushion the liquor.
“The night’s still young, darlin’.” Ryder slid his stool closer and collected both shots, holding hers out to her and giving her one of his goddamn sexy winks. “You can teach me poker again tomorrow. Tonight I’m gonna teach you how to ride rodeo.”
