Page 73 of A Lot Like Love
He watched as Clay looked at Chloe. “Is that right? You blackmailed my grandson into some sort of deal to pay your tuition fees?”
Chloe looked guilty. “Yes,” she admitted. “Although blackmail isn’t the exact word I’d use. More like we came to a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Nate went and got a few more beers, grinning while he walked. “Darlin’, that’s blackmail through and through, no matter how you try to sell it.”
“And it’s damn fine blackmail,” Clay continued. “Ryder deserved every penny he lost to you and then some.”
Ryder held up his hands, knowing he should be offended but liking the fact that Chloe was holding court with his family. A roomful of King men was intimidating at the best of times, let alone during the grilling they’d been giving Chloe. And besides, he knew it wasn’t blackmail—they’d helped each other and it had all worked out great.
Chloe laughed. “I’ll be heading back to law school as soon as I can,” she told his granddad. “I had to finish partway through the year due to some, ah, financial hardship, but the university was very understanding. I had good grades, but if you can’t pay your fees it turns out all the brains in the world can’t help a girl.”
“I think we need to drink to Chloe,” Ryder said, grinning at her. “For saving my ass,” he toasted.
Chloe held up her glass and took a sip, curling her long legs back up beneath her. “It’s time I put my card-playing alter ego back in her box.”
“Why?” Nate asked. “Seems like you did a damn fine job out there tonight.”
“Been there, done that,” she told him. “It’s a dangerous game to get used to.”
“Yeah,” Chase said with a laugh, stretching his foot out to kick Ryder. “Let’s hope this idiot’s learned his lesson, too.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryder said, eyes trained on his grandfather. “It’s all turned out for the best, but I want you all to know how sorry I am.”
Nate grunted and Chase held up his drink, but it was Clay he was waiting for, his acceptance what he needed.
“All’s right in the world,” Clay said. “And with that I’m heading back to bed.” He swallowed the rest of his whiskey down and stood, waving Ryder away when he jumped up to help him. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Chloe. Don’t be a stranger. These boys need a woman like you around to straighten them out.”
Chloe smiled up at Clay and they all said goodnight. Once he’d gone, it was Nate who spoke up first.
“So speaking of having you around,” he started, “are you leaving now you’ve won, or has Prince Charming here convinced you to stay?”
Ryder could have killed him. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to start with his two brothers listening.
“Nate, tell me about the gorgeous brunette you were talking to earlier,” Chloe asked, catching her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment while she stared at Nate. Ryder exchanged an amused glance with Chase. “You got pretty worked up when you saw her at the bar.”
Nate wasn’t laughing anymore, his expression serious. “She was no one. Just a girl I know.”
Chloe raised her eyebrows, her smile teasing. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
Nate grunted and tipped back his beer bottle, draining half of it in one long pull. “I get it. You don’t ask me about her, I won’t ask you about this douchebag over here.” His laugh was husky. “You don’t need to prove anything to me, I already believe you could cut me off at the knees if I played cards against you.”
“And with that, I think it’s time for me to call it a night, too,” Chloe said, stretching her legs out and twirling her hair between her fingers. “Thanks for making me so welcome.”
“Stay,” Ryder blurted out, not caring that his brothers were listening. “Don’t even think about packing up and heading back to Shelly’s. It’s late and you’ve been drinking.”
He couldn’t read Chloe’s gaze, but he sure as hell hoped she wasn’t about to walk out that door before he had the chance to thank her properly for what she’d done tonight. And try to convince her that she didn’t need to flee Dallas quite so quickly just because she had money burning a hole in her back pocket.
“Well…” She glanced at his brothers, then looked back at him again. “I guess you’re right.”
Ryder didn’t need any more encouragement to be convinced. “Damn right I am. We’re off, boys.”
Nate grinned. “You can stay here, you don’t have to go running off to the guest house.”
Ryder had no intention of answering his brother—they could tease him all they liked and not get a rise out of him right now. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re outta here. I’ve just won the place back, I think it deserves me staying there a night, right?”
The room seemed cooler than usual when they entered and Chloe went and sat on the bed. She listened to Ryder’s boots echo out on the wooden floor in the kitchen, before the door was nudged open and he appeared in the room. She wrapped her arms around herself, wondering if maybe it was just her feeling the cold. Goose bumps ran the length of her body, heart thudding when Ryder came and sat beside her, his thigh pressed hard to hers.
“Something’s already changed between us, hasn’t it?” he asked, angling his body so he was facing her, reaching out to wrap his fingers around her chin and tilt her face toward his.
