Page 24 of Evelyn's Enforcer
“No more than your reaction to it.”
I grinned at the window before turning back to look at him, feeling overcome by the moment. So, I decided to shock him, by hooking my hand behind his neck and telling him,
“Then let’s make the memory of it really count.” Then I pulled his lips to mine and kissed him, making this moment as perfect as it could ever get. His surprise didn’t last long and he soon took control of the kiss, cupping my face and holding me to him. The kiss ended with his forehead to mine, so he could tell me tenderly,
“Perfection.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that…” I paused when he raised a brow, and I giggled before whispering in his ear,
“The plane could be empty.” At this he laughed and told me,
“Don’t give me murderous ideas, Dove… or Van will be first out the door.” He added this part when he saw his friend walk up the aisle toward us before taking a seat opposite.
“Did I hear my handsome name being mentioned?” he said with a wink, making Ryker growl.
Then to add humor to the moment, I lifted my hand up and made a motion of falling. Something that started with a whistling sound before ending with a splat on my knee and a ‘pew’ exploding noise. At this Ryker burst out laughing, a reaction that made me feel like I had won the lottery. His whole face changed, turning that usual stern handsomeness into something even more striking. The wide smile, the crinkles at the corner of his eyes… gorgeous eyes that glittered with humor, it softened his features to the point that I couldn’t help but give him a tender look. If witnessed by anyone looking, they would have used the word for such a gaze as ‘lovingly’. Something that Van seemed to be doing right now, because he wasn’t looking at Ryker like I was.
No… He was looking at me.
He was assessing my reaction to his friend, whereas the man in question was too busy laughing. Meanwhile, everyone else was looking at Ryker like they were seeing someone new, as if this side of Ryker had never been witnessed before. I couldn’t help but blush at the realization that I could do that to him. That I could bring out something new, something so unexpected. A side to him undiscovered by others.
It was the stuff of dreams.
But the second I saw the raised brow his friend aimed my way, I ducked my head to avoid his assessing gaze. Because I knew these feelings I was experiencing were of the dangerous kind. I was getting myself in too deep.
It seemed like running was all I had ever known, and it was easy compared to this. It felt safe. Secure. Despite, in reality, it being anything but.
Now as for falling in love, well, that terrified me more than anything else I had ever faced. Because I knew what it was like to allow another to have power over me. The power to crush me and break me in a way that was difficult to heal from. Leaving the type of scars that burned and fused to my very soul.
The unfixable kind.
And speaking of that exact type of danger…
“That’s my funny girl,” Ryker said, pulling me closer and kissing my forehead before lifting my face up with a gentle grip on my chin. Jesus, the sight of him smiling down at me like that nearly robbed me of my breath.
“Wow, Ryk, for a minute there I thought you would start snorting,” Van teased, and it was enough to get his eyes to shift from mine back to his friend.
“I know better than to give my best friend any ammunition he may use against me,” was Ryker’s reply, making Van smirk. It was also confirmation that Van and Ryker’s relationship went far deeper than just boss and employee.
“Oh, something tells me that with Girl Scout here in your life, soon enough, there will be lots more to add to that particular vault,” he said, tapping a finger at the side of his head while looking at me.
“Ironic that, especially considering you couldn’t find the real one that night,” I replied, making Ryker smirk this time, to which Van tipped his glass of champagne my way and said,
“Well played, Evie… or is it Grace? I forget?”
I frowned at this, just as Ryker warned,
“That’s enough, Van.”
Van held up his hands at this, the glass tucked against his large palm with his thumb in feign surrender.
“Hey, it’s all good and Evie it is… that is unless you’re planning on adding any other names to the list any time soon?”
“She is not,” Ryker stated firmly, giving his friend a warning look to go with his tone.
“Then I can shut my big mouth and enjoy seeing my friend happy, rather than like some crazed asshole worried out of his mind about some little thief,” he replied, raising his glass to salute us both, even as I narrowed my eyes at him. This was just as Ryker closed his eyes as if he was getting even more pissed off.
“I am not a thief,” I told him as he rose from the seat. However, he paused long enough to tell me,