Page 70 of Ryder
Finally Reacher nodded, like he was responding to some unspoken question, and reached out to guide her out of the room, his hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks, Pres.” I followed them to the door, and saw him out.
When he was gone, I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, wondering what the fuck to do next. I wasn’t good at this feelings stuff, and I still wasn’t completely sure what the hell my feelings were for this woman. I knew I needed to look after her though, so I’d just focus on that for the moment.
“Hungry?” I called out, crossing the room to the kitchen, and pulling open the fridge. Well shit, it was embarrassingly low on everything, making me wonder how the fuck I survived mostdays. Surely there was something here somewhere I could cook for her.
I closed the fridge door, and she was standing right fucking there. Did I jump?A little.
“Sorry, I thought you might not have heard my reply.” Her voice was low, still sounding slightly hoarse.
“Do you need anything medicine wise?” I asked her, pointing at her throat, but she shook her head.
“I mean, I’ll take the paracetamol again, but no. It’ll just take a little while to heal.”
I nodded, unable to look her in the eye after the chat I just had with Reacher. Was I really planning on claiming a woman I barely knew? And was I really planning on doing that even if it wasn’t what she wanted? Hadn’t she had enough taken from her against her fucking will already?
“Uh… I’m just desperately trying to find anything that looks like food in this place.” I started rummaging in cupboards, and stopped moving when I felt her hand on my arm. Again, she removed it pretty fast, but I could feel her touch, still lingering, even after her hand was gone.
“What?”
She sighed, pushing her short hair back out of her eyes.
“Ryder, I should get out of here. You’ve done enough. I need to go home.”
“Uh… no.” I turned back to the cupboard, digging out some pasta, and then shoving it back away again because it’s not exactly a breakfast food.
She followed me around the kitchen.
“I can go now. I’m safe, and I don’t need to hide anymore. He’s gone, and that’s thanks to you.”
I turned to stare at her, wondering if she could see the ‘what the fuck’ look that must be written all over my damn face.
“So yet again it’swham bam, thank you, and goodbye?Wow. Way to make a man feel completely fucking used, sweetheart.”
Her face dropped, and she silently blinked at me, shock keeping her quiet.
“Fuck. That came out like I’m a pissy little bitch, eh? Sorry, Tori. I’m… I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to leave just yet, not after what happened to you. Why not let me look after you for a little while longer?”
She chewed her lip as she stared at me.
“Because you shouldn’t be the one looking after me.”
I folded my arms, leaning against the counter. How many times are we gonna have this fucking discussion?
“Who the fuck would you prefer to have doing it then? Daddy? Your boyfriend?Oh wait, he’s dead. You want the Pres’s woman? You’re gonna be fighting him for her attention, so it looks like you’re stuck with me.”
She glared right back at me, and wasn’t it hot to see a little fire back in those eyes?
“You have every right to be an asshole to me. I know I’ve more than earned it. The question is why the hell you want to try, when you’ve just let your true feelings show. You hate me, and you should. Jesus, Ryder, you really should.”
So she planned to infuriate me into letting her go? I shrugged, trying to appear more carefree than I felt, because every minute with her made me more certain that I wanted every other fucking minute she had. Nothing she could say would convince me otherwise, but as she stood there, frustrated and sassy, she wasn’t walking away. She kept saying it, but she didn’t make a move. Did she really want to leave, or was she waiting for me to push her away? It was never gonna fucking happen. Was it stupid as fuck for me to try testing that theory right now?
“Seems to me that if a person wants to help another, they’d be a real idiot to throw that away. You don’t want my help, there’sthe door, sweetheart.” I turned away and started rummaging again, waiting to hear the door slam behind her, while I fucking desperately hoped it wouldn’t.
So when it didn’t, I turned back again, to find she hadn’t even moved an inch.
“So what do you want for breakfast?” I asked finally, and she shrugged, gesturing to the random stuff I’d been digging out during my search.
