Page 66 of Head Over Heels
Wild horses couldn’t drag him away. He met Sophie’s gaze. “We’ll be there.”
* * *
“She’s fucking impressive,” Griffin said to Ryder.
Sophie had left for another meeting, leaving Griffin and him alone.
Ryder nodded. “She is.”
“I researched her background before we talked, and until the mess with her company, she was hot shit. She knows everyone.” Griffin ran a hand through his hair. “Maddie told me she was the person people called when they wanted into the most exclusive party. That she knows how to get people eating out of the palm of her hand. Being her best friend, I thought she was exaggerating. Clearly I was wrong.”
“She’ll get stuff done.” An understatement.
There was a moment of silence before Griffin cleared his throat. “Are you sleeping with her yet?”
Ryder jerked with shock. “What? No.”
Griffin smiled good-naturedly, holding up his hands. “Technically this isn’t my business, but I don’t want things to get messy either. We need to keep her as long as we can.”
Ryder shook his head. “Why would you even think that?”
Griffin laughed. “Do you want a list?”
“Yeah.” He was a fucking cop, he wasn’t supposed to have tells.
Griffin shrugged. “One, she flushed the second you walked in the room. Two, you looked at her like you were contemplating screwing her on the desk in front of me. Three, I practically choked on the sexual tension between you. Four, you kept looking at her neck and she kept touching her neck in the same spot. Five, you said ‘we’ll’ be there. Six—”
Ryder held up his hand. “All right, I get the picture.”
Griff chuckled. “I didn’t even need the other stuff. I knew the second you shook hands there was something going on between you.”
Technically, they’d agreed there was nothing between them. Only he couldn’t seem to stop kissing her and she couldn’t seem to stop kissing him back. He decided on the simplest and most factual statement. “I’m not sleeping with her.”
Griffin smirked. “Well, in fairness, she’s only been in town a few days.”
And she was already causing havoc wherever she went. Ryder shrugged. “We’re neighbors.”
“And it’s your business. You might be the project manager, but she works directly for me. You’re not even on the same payroll as her, and there’s no rule against ... dating her. As the mayor I’d ask you to be careful because I’d like to keep her around for as long as possible.” He propped his elbows on the table. “As your friend, let me say nice job. She’s . . . something else.”
She was. But despite marking her, he had no real claim on her and couldn’t pretend otherwise. He reiterated, “Just neighbors.”
Griffin chuckled before pointing at the door. “That kind of skill set, with her charisma, it’s only a matter of time before her association with that disaster wears off and people start clamoring for her. We need to get as much out of her as we can before she goes back to Chicago.”
“Understood.” A pit grew in Ryder’s stomach. Griffin was right. Now that he’d seen her in action, there was no way Chicago wasn’t coming for her.
He’d be lucky if she even lasted through the Halloween festival.
Hell, he’d be lucky if she lasted the summer.
At some point Sophie was going back to Chicago where she belonged.
Ryder was pretty sure that, after forty-eight hours, the knowledge wasn’t supposed to feel like a kick in the gut. Fuck. He liked her. Not wanted her, not was amused by her, but liked her.
He was so screwed.