CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RYDER

I’m not gonna lie. This is a part of her that made me fall in love with her. That she isn’t used to the type of lifestyle I live. The women who I grew up with had parents just as rich as mine. Just to take them on a date, you had to go above and beyond to impress them. Ashlyn isn’t that way. Although I do love the look on her beautiful face when she looks at me like I’m her king giving her a key to my kingdom. I want to share everything I have with her.

“How else did you think we were going to get there?” I ask as I watch her stand there staring at me.

“A commercial airliner. Like us normal folk.” She makes a joke, and I laugh.

“We will be ready in ten, Mr. O’Kane,” Milton announces.

“You’re going too?” Ashlyn asks him with excitement.

He gives her a warm smile. “Of course. Who do you think is gonna fly it?” Then he turns and walks off before climbing the stairs to board the aircraft.

She turns to face me wearing a sly smile on her face. “What?” I ask.

She arches a brow. “So you have your own jet, but you can’t fly it?” I open my mouth, but she continues. “There is something you can’t do.” Then she spins around and starts to climb the stairs.

I chuckle and call out, “I have my pilot’s license.”

I make my way onto the plane and close the door behind myself, looking around the plane I bought three years ago. I had a very important meeting in California, and my father was away on his private jet in Colorado. I ended up missing my meeting in California due to the delay of my connecting flight, and it cost me millions of dollars. Solution—buy my own damn plane so that it won’t happen again. And so far, it’s worked.

“Want a glass of wine?” I hear my sister ask Ashlyn as they find a seat in the back.

“Yes, please,” she says, nodding her head quickly.

I stand in the middle of the aisle and watch her big blue eyes take in the white carpet and white leather seats to the right. On the left is a couch that fits four people. She sits down and reaches out, placing her hands flat on the black table top and slowly running her fingers against it.

I rub my finger over my lips to cover my smile. She looks like a kid experiencing Disney World for the first time—awestruck! I walk toward her and sit down in the seat directly in front of her, facing her.

She removes her hands quickly as if I caught her doing something wrong. “Sorry,” she says, licking her thumb and then rubbing a smudge off.

Holding back a laugh, I smile at her and how unsure she seems. “No worries.”

She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and asks, “What kind of plane is this?”

“It’s a Gulfstream G550,” I answer.

She types a few things into her phone and then her eyes widen. “Holy shit!” She gasps.

I know what she’s doing, and I chuckle.

Her eyes meet mine, and they’re huge. “Oh my God, this thing is outrageously priced. I mean, it’s awesome, but damn!”

“I stole it,” I assure her. She looks up at me through her lashes.

“I doubt that …”

“I only paid twenty,” I tell her.

She lets out a long breath. “Twenty thousand is a steal,” she agrees with a nod.

“Million,” I correct her, and her mouth falls open again.

**

The plane touches down, and after a few minutes, it comes to a stop. Milton comes out from behind the door and opens the stairs. “We’re here, ladies and gentlemen,” he says, gesturing us to exit.

Becca goes first followed by Jaycent and then Ashlyn. I come to the last step as she makes a circle looking around. “Wait …?” She trails off. “This doesn’t look like Florida.”

“Florida?” I ask, arching my brows. “What made you think we were going to Florida?”

“Well, where else would we be going …” Her voice trails off as a black limo pulls up onto the tarmac. It comes to a stop and the back door bursts open. A blur of dark hair and a woman squealing follows.

ASHLYN

“Mom?” I ask in shock.

She reaches me and wraps her arms around me, almost picking me up off the ground. “Oh, my God,” she squeals in my ear.

I gently pat her back. “What are you doing here?” I ask slowly.

She pulls away from me and turns to face Becca, pulling her into her arms as well.

“God, I have missed you two so much,” she exclaims, gripping her just as tightly as she did me.

Becca laughs. “We’ve missed you too.”

I turn to face Ryder and see he is helping Milton remove our luggage. He gives me a quick look over his shoulder and then a wink. I take another look around at the snow-covered mountains and take in a big breath of the fresh Seattle air.

He brought me home?

I go to open my mouth to speak to him when an arm drapes over my shoulder. My mother yanks me to one side and Becca to the other. “I can’t tell you how glad your dad and I are to have our girls home,” she says and then sniffs.

I feel my eyes start to sting, and my throat tightens as I realize just how much I have missed them. “Me too, Mom.” I hug her this time. “Me too.”

She walks us over to the limo, and I see my father standing by the open trunk helping the guys load our luggage. He spots me, and a big smile spreads across his face. “There’s my girl,” he says, walking over to me. I let go of my mother to hug him.

Minutes later, we all crawl into the back of the limo with the exception of Milton. He gets in the passenger seat.

I take Ryder’s hand as I settle in next to him, and I can’t help the big smile on my face. “How did you all pull this off?” I ask in amazement.

My mother smiles over at Ryder. “Ryder called us yesterday and asked if we were available this weekend. He wanted to surprise you by bringing you home.”

I tighten my hand on his. “Aren’t you sneaky?”

He chuckles and nods.

“I’m glad we didn’t blow it this morning,” Jaycent says. “We weren’t in on the surprise.”

My mom smiles over at Becca. “And who is this, Becca?”

“This is Jaycent.” She pats his leg. “My boyfriend.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jaycent,” my mother says.

“You too, ma’am.” He nods once, and she giggles like a teenager.

I can’t help but laugh.

“I assume this is the man you were telling me about.”

I feel Ryder shift in his seat beside me at the fact another person knew about them together when he had no clue.

I take my free hand and place it on his chest as I lean into his side. “Thank you,” I whisper softly so only he can hear as my mother talks to Becca about their relationship.

He leans in as well and kisses me softly on the forehead. “You’re welcome, beautiful.”

Thirty minutes later, we are walking into my childhood home, and I kick off my shoes, taking in a deep breath. The smell of vanilla hits my nose, and twenty-five years of memories comfort me. It’s like I never left.

“Okay, ladies. I’m making your favorite tonight!” my mother exclaims. “All of you go and wash up. Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

“Sir?” Ryder and I turn to see Milton standing by the front door. “I will be on my way …”

“Where are you going?” my mother asks him.

“I have a hotel—”

“Nonsense,” she interrupts him, waving her hand in the air. “You’ll stay here with us.”

He shakes his head. “I couldn’t—”

“I don’t take no for an answer, Milton,” my mother interrupts him again, and he sighs as if he already knows this. “We have four bedrooms, and each room has its own bath. You will stay here with us, and you will also quit calling me ma’am.”

He gives her a soft smile and nods his head once.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing Ryder’s hand and practically yanking him up the stairs to the second floor. I enter the first door on the right and then close it behind us.

I make my way to the adjoining bathroom, removing my clothes, and he silently follows my lead. I open the glass shower door and turn on the water. He closes the door behind him as he steps in.

I whirl around on him and place my hands on his hard chest. The warm water spraying my back. “Why did you do this?” I can’t help but ask.

He smiles softly and reaches up, placing some of my hair behind my ear. Pieces of it already wet from the sprayer.

“You deserved this,” he says.

I shake my head. “How did you … Why would you …?”

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him. His eyes search my face, and I can already feel his cock harden against my lower stomach. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am,” I tell him. “I was.”

He shakes his head and lets out a long sigh. “When I was in the elevator and I watched you say I love you.” He licks his lips. “I heard the longing in your voice. I could see the sadness in your eyes. And at the moment, I had thought it was Bradley. But later on when you told me that was your mother, I realized just how much your life has changed for you over the past month. And honestly, I didn’t know what I could do to make it better.”

“You didn’t have to do anything,” I tell him softly as my hands slide up his chest and wrap around his neck.

He guides me to the left until my back hits the cold shower wall and the water comes down on our sides. He removes his hands from my back and places them against the wall on either side of my face as his head leans closer to mine. “I don’t think you understand how much I love you, Ashlyn.” I swallow at his words, and he cups my right cheek. His hand holding my hair back. “I would give you the moon if you wanted it,” he whispers.

“I don’t need the moon,” I say breathlessly as his thumb softly caresses my face.

“Then what do you need?” he asks, his eyes dropping to my lips and then rising back to my eyes. “All you have to do is name it. And it’s yours.” His voice is deeper, rougher.

I stay silent as my eyes search his, trying to process everything that has happened to me in the last month. I stood in this very shower a month ago the night before we flew out to New York, and I would have never guessed I’d be back here with Ryder. My heart pounds harder in my chest.

As if he can hear it, he lets go of my face, and his fingertips very lightly trail down over my chin and along my neck. My lips part, and I start to breathe heavily, and it’s partly due to all the steam filling the shower. His hand stops on my chest, and he smiles. “You know what this reminds me of?”

“No,” I answer softly.

“Being in this shower with you reminds me of my birthday. That afternoon on my balcony in Panama City. You. Me. And nothing but the rain.” My knees start to buckle at that memory. He lowers his head to my neck, and I close my eyes and lean my head back, hitting my head on the wall. His nose trails up my neck, and my head falls to the side. “God, you took my breath away, baby,” he admits as his hand makes its way back up my chest and to my neck. I grip his muscular biceps straining against my fingers. “I knew right then and there you were gonna destroy me.”

“I’m sorry,” I rasp, knowing exactly what he means. I felt the same way so many times.

“Don’t be sorry, baby.” His hand on my neck snakes around to the back and grips my hair. I suck in a breath, and my pussy throbs as his hard cock presses into me. “I’m sorry,” he states and pulls his head away from my ear. His dark green eyes glare down into mine, and I cling to him. “I’m sorry that I’ll never be able to walk from you again.”

I try to shake my head to tell him that’s no reason to be sorry, but his hand in my hair prevents me from moving.

“Tell me I’m yours,” he orders.

“I’m yours,” I say breathlessly. “I love you.”

“Fuck.” He hisses at my words. “I thought I’d never hear you say that.”

“I love you,” I repeat. “I love you …”

He cuts my words off when his lips smash into mine. I open my mouth wide on a moan, and his tongue enters my mouth as he tilts my head more to the side. His free hand grabs my thigh and yanks my foot off the shower floor. I grind against him the best I can as his mouth devours mine in pure need.

The warm water beats down on us; my soaked hair clings to my back, shoulders, and chest. And I can’t help but shiver even though my body is on fire.

I let go of his shoulders, and my hand slides between our bodies and grabs the base of his cock.

He pulls his lips from mine quickly. “We can’t.”

“We are,” I argue still breathless.

“Your parents.”

“We’re both adults.”

He goes to argue, but I let go of his dick and shove him to the side. His back hits the wall not expecting my next move. Now he’s under the sprayer, eyes open, and water running down a hundred percent of his body like a waterfall. And all I want to do is dive in.

I step in front of him and run my nails down his chest. He hisses in a breath. “You can’t stand there and tell me you don’t want me.”

He arches a dark brow. “I would never …”

“Then take me!” I demand.

I’m not sure if it’s the challenge in my voice or the naughty smile on my face, but in the next instant, his lips are back on mine and he’s got my back pinned against the wall.

**

“God, I missed this so much.” Becca moans through a mouthful of food.

We all laugh. “Are you girls cooking for one another, or are you eating takeout?” my mother asks us. I look at Becca as she takes a bite of bread, and my mother sighs. “I figured.”

“Hey, now,” I say, taking a drink of my glass of wine. “I cook.”

“Yeah.” Ryder dabs his lips with the napkin. “She cooked me breakfast twice this week.”

“Breakfast, huh?” My father speaks. “You guys living together already?”

The room falls silent, and I swallow the large bite I had just put in my mouth without even chewing it. “Nnnoo,” I choke out before taking another drink of my wine to wash down the bite of lasagna that was stuck.

“Not for my lack of trying,” Ryder exclaims.

“Ryder!” I say his name in shock. We haven’t discussed living with one another.

 

I stand in the kitchen making him coffee, and he walks out of his bedroom. “You keep spoiling me like this, and I’ll have you moved in.”

 

That was the only time he has ever mentioned it. Hell, just last week, we weren’t even speaking. When has he had time to think about us living together? Let alone, us discuss it?

“What?” he asks with a shrug. “Are you saying you haven’t thought about it?” he asks, arching his dark brow.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“I didn’t know it was that serious,” my father says, looking back and forth between us. He doesn’t sound mad or disappointed. Just curious.

“It is,” Ryder answers since my mouth still can’t speak.

“Well, I think that would be nice,” my mother says, nodding her head in approval. My parents aren’t old fashioned. They know I’m not a virgin, and they probably think we already spend every night together.

“But …” I manage to get out.

“But what?” Ryder asks. I look at Becca, and she smiles widely at me. Jaycent puts his head down and pretends to study the food on his plate. “Becca and Jaycent are moving in together,” he states and then looks over at them. That gets Jaycent’s head up. “Are you moving in with Jaycent, or is he moving in with you?” he asks.

“She’s moving in with me,” Jaycent declares, and it’s almost as if there’s a challenge there. For Ryder to argue that to see if he truly is okay with them being together.

He doesn’t. Instead, he looks back at me. “See,” he simply says before taking a bite.

I got the message. Becca is moving out. Timothy will sell the apartment, and I don’t have a place to live. That sinking feeling comes back that I just need to move back home. Soon, I’ll have no job and no housing. How long will Ryder stay after that?

Thankfully, my mom ends that awkward conversation by turning her attention to the man sitting at the other end of the table. “What about you, Milton?”

“I don’t cook, ma’am.” he jokes, and everyone laughs, breaking the awkward silence.

“How do you know my girls?” she asks, and I watch Becca smile proudly that she refers to her as one of her girls.

“I have known Becca and Ryder for twelve years now. I’ve worked for the O’Kane’s since I was thirty,” he states.

I take another bite of my food, looking over at him. I know nothing about Milton except that he drives Ryder around and can fly a plane.

“Really?” my mother asks with interest.

He nods. “Timothy, Ryder’s father, hired me out of a favor.” He takes a quick sip of his water. “And what was supposed to be temporary became permanent.”