Page 25 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Ryker stared at the smirk frozen on Charlotte’s face in the mirror. It wasn’t subtle, and it wasn’t accidental. There was something almost gleeful about it, like she was watching a show she’d waited a long time to see.
“I thought Charlotte wanted you and Ethan together,” he threw out there. “So why the hell is she smiling like that?”
Emma didn’t look at him. Her eyes stayed on the screen. “She never thought I was right for him.”
The words landed with a dull weight, like they were something she’d carried for a long time.
“And I wasn’t,” she added, almost as an afterthought. But there was no doubt in her voice.
Ryker stayed quiet, letting her work through it.
“Charlotte probably was happy we broke up,” Emma went on. “At least at first. Thought it was the best possible thing. Thought she’d been proven right.”
Her tone shifted, still calm, but with something sharper underneath. “But then she saw what she believed it did to him. The downward spiral. The vanishing act. Charlotte believed Ethan was gutted. Crushed. Emotionally wrecked. And possibly dead by my hand.”
She finally turned her head, met Ryker’s eyes. The flicker he saw there wasn’t grief. It was fire. “But I don’t think he was heartbroken. I think he wasfurious.”
Ryker held her gaze. “And that changes everything.”
Because a broken man might disappear.
But an enraged one? Hebuilds a plan.
Emma stayed quiet for a long stretch. The laptop screen dimmed slightly, going into idle mode, but neither of them moved to touch it.
Ryker kept his eyes on her. He could see the war going on behind hers, the guilt, the weight she was carrying, even though none of this was her fault.
Finally, she turned toward him, her voice quieter than before. “I’m sorry you’re in danger because of me.”
Ryker let out a breath, half exasperated, half something else entirely. He shifted in his chair, leaned an inch closer, and gave her a look that saidYou should know better by now.
“Okay,” he said, “new rule.”
She blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
“Every time you say you’re sorry for something that isn’t your fault,” he said, his voice low, “I’m going to do something about it.”
That clearly got her attention. “Do what?”
Ryker leaned in, just enough to feel the heat between them shift, tighten. Her eyes met his, sharp and guarded, but something flickered beneath the surface. Not fear. Not doubt.
Heat. Just like his.
“Haven’t decided yet,” he murmured, voice low and rough. “Might be reckless. Might be something I shouldn’t do… like press my luck and kiss you.”
Emma didn’t move at first. Didn’t blink.
Her pulse ticked at the hollow of her throat, and Ryker tracked it, felt it as if it was syncing with his own.
She gave a short, almost disbelieving breath of a laugh, barely there. Then her lips parted, and her voice came quiet but sure.
“I’d probably kiss you back,” she muttered.
Ryker’s jaw tensed. That wasn’t hesitation in her voice, it was a green light, and it hit him like a jolt straight to the chest.
But she didn’t lean in. Didn’t close the space.
She left it there,hismove.
