“Where’s your costume?” I ask as he grabs my hand and pulls me from the room.

Ryder pushed his way through the crowd in record time, not stopping to say hello to anyone. A few people attempted to grab his attention to no avail. He was one-hundred percent focused on me, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I’m wearing it,” he replies, leading me into the bathroom and closing the door.

“And what exactly are you supposed to be?”

Backing up slowly, Ryder matches me step for step until my ass is pressed against the counter. His chest is rising and falling rapidly, his shirt tightening and stretching to accommodate it as much as possible.

“A professional golfer.”

“Very original.”

Trapping me against the counter with his body, Ryder leans down, completely ignoring my comment, and asks permission to kiss me. The heat from his body and the feel of his chest brushing against mine has my heart racing in my chest. Unable to speak, I nod my head as he captures my lips.

His hands travel the length of my body from my waist to my cheeks as he gently devours me with his mouth. Feeling as though I’m going to collapse from pleasure, I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on tight, deepening our kiss.

Moving swiftly, Ryder lifts me and places me on the counter, stepping between my legs. As he presses against me, a moan escapes, muffled by our kiss. Wrapping my legs around his waist, Ryder grunts before slowly pulling away.

“We’re going to get caught if I don’t stop now,” he says, helping me off the counter, not letting go until he’s certain I won’t topple over in my heels.

“I thought you didn’t care.”

“I thought you did,” he replies, brushing a stray hair out of my eyes.

Why? Why do I care so much what other people think? Whose opinion matters other than ours? No one’s. They can all say what they want to about us being together. They can have an opinion. At the end of the day, the only people in this relationship that matter are the two of us.

And there I go. Admitting it’s a relationship. Angela would be proud.

“I care about you, and you know what, that’s all that matters. Screw those girls. One day it will be them in this situation. One day they will be on the other end of things and realize that it’s not their place to pass judgment on others or to gossip and spread rumors.”

“You’re giving them more credit than they deserve.”

“Maybe, but I’d rather give them the benefit of the doubt than continue to fight this.”

The moment my words register, Ryder’s eyes light up with delight. Kissing me gently, he takes my hand and we head to join the rest of his friends.

As we enter the room, my instinct is to pull my hand from his, but when I attempt to, Ryder tightens his grip, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. Looking ahead of us, I spot Allison and Justine deep in conversation with Devon. Neither of them are paying any attention and, at first, I feel relieved. It’s not until Devon smiles at Ryder deviously that I feel the need to make our relationship known.

Avoid the gossip.

Be the one to announce it myself.

That’s my plan.

Ryder must read my mind because he changes course and heads toward Devon and the gossip queens. As we approach, Allison’s eyes widen in surprise when she sees our hands clasped together. She recovers quickly, replacing her look of shock with a raised eyebrow and forced smile.

“You ladies play nice. We’re going to grab drinks,” Devon announces as he claps Ryder on the back. Watching as they walk into the kitchen, laughing the entire way, I ready myself for ridicule from the ladies standing beside me. He left me to fend for myself, to fight my own battles. He understands this is something I need to do on my own.

“So it’s about time you two confess your sins,” Allison says.

When I turn to face her, I find a giant smile waiting for me. I expected her to have a sassy grin or a knowing look on her face, but that’s not the case.

“Excuse me?” My surprise is evident in not only my voice but it’s more than likely written all over my face.

“Emerson,” Justine begins, “you two have been eying each other for weeks. It’s about time you finally got over yourself and jump that man as quickly as you can. He’s a catch.”

“But you both seemed so adamant—”

“To get you to admit that something was going on?” Allison finished for me.

“Yeah. I figured that you were trying to keep us apart, not push us together.”

“Why would we do that?” Justine asks.

Her timing is perfect. As I’m about to answer, Megan walks up behind them and tosses me a forced smile.

“Because of her,” I reply, nodding toward Megan.

“Don’t pull me into this. You can have him.” Her words are laced with hatred. I doubt she even realizes the way she sounds is a complete contradiction to the words leaving her mouth.

“I can have him?” I ask, suppressing my anger. “Why, thank you. I wasn’t aware that he needed permission to find someone who appreciates him, but I’ll be sure to pass your blessing along in case he cares. What are you doing here anyway? I’m pretty sure you weren’t on the guest list.”

“I don’t need a personal invitation. Tyler’s my family.”

Her voice grates on my nerves. Picturing myself scratching at her eyes is the only thing that calms me.

“Not anymore.”

“Just because you’re fucking my ex doesn’t mean anything. His family is my family, they always will be. You might want to get used to that. I’m here to stay. The jury is still out on you.”

Laughing, Megan shakes her head and walks away.

“Don’t let her get to you,” Allison notes, sliding up next to me.

“She’s just pissed she couldn’t save her marriage,” Justine adds, reassuringly.

“Why are you friends with her?”

“She’s actually really nice.” Allison sounds sincere, but I still don’t believe it. Every interaction I’ve had with her has been bad. Either she’s in permanent bitch mode or she’s just a bitch.

“Can I ask you something?” Justine’s voice screams “approach with caution,” putting me on high alert. “What happened with your boyfriend?”

Not what I was expecting, but okay.

“We grew apart,” I reply, giving them the simplest answer I can think of. “He wanted me to be the person he fell in love with, and I’m not that person anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” they say, practically in unison.

Megan’s laughter catches my attention and we all turn, watching in silence as Megan makes her way around the room, greeting each person as if they are a guest in her home. The only two people she doesn’t approach are Ryder’s parents. I have a feeling she burned that bridge as well.

“What really happened with them? I know about her cheating, but there has to be more to the story than that,” I ask, directing my question to Allison. She’ll give it to me straight, and if she’s actually the center of the rumor mill, she’ll have all the details.

“Remember when I told you to ask Ryder about his last assistant?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Megan insisted that he hire a man. She was afraid someone would try and steal Ryder from her. She can be insecure like that sometimes. She really is a nice person, but she has low self-esteem. So, there was one day when she needed to help Ryder with a few things. He was out of town and needed files, so she went into the office to use his computer and send them to him. It should have taken her five minutes but instead, she was in his office, with his assistant, for well over an hour. When she emerged, she was flushed and her blouse was on inside out. He quit the next day.”

“She cheated on him with his assistant?”

“She’ll never admit it to anyone, but that’s the way it looked. That was about a month before you started. Rumor has it, he caught her in a few lies on top of that. She won’t even tell us what really happened. You might have a better chance getting it out of Ryder.”

Not wanting to bring that up with him again, I think I’ll accept Allison’s story as fact and move on.

“Thank you,” I say to the girls.

“For what?” Justine asks, biting her lip as her eyes shift from mine.

Devon appears at my side and hands each of us a drink. “Hey.”

This could get interesting. Justine is obviously smitten with Devon, but I wonder if he feels the same.

“Play nice,” I say only loud enough that he can hear me as I step around him and head for the patio. I’m needed outside. I can’t imagine why, but I leave him with the girls and use his words against him.

“Oh, I plan to,” he calls after me.

His words make me wonder what type of person he really is. Will he wake up in the morning with both of them next to him in bed, or will he wake up alone? I saw the way Justine’s eye lit up when he was talking to her. Allison seemed unimpressed, but not much appears to impress her these days.

Walking onto the back patio, I hear Ryder call my name, but when I look around, I don’t spot him right away. Heading toward Angela and Tyler, I hear him holler my name again. Stepping off the patio, I finally find him sitting in a chair in the middle of the yard, in the dark, facing the house.

Quickly removing my shoes, I make my way through the grass. There’s still a chill in the air and the grass is cold and damp, soaking the feet of my stockings. When I finally reach him, I’m surprised to find only one chair. The one he’s sitting in.

“What are you doing way out here?” I ask, stopping in front of him and blocking the light from the back patio.

“Cooling off. Someone got me hot and bothered and the more I watched her sway in her dress, the more my body decided to take notice.”

Laughing, I look down to inspect the problem but it’s too dark to see.

“Have a seat,” he says, patting his thigh.

“You didn’t think to bring a chair for me?” I ask, carefully sitting on his lap.

“I did. Then I realized you wouldn’t sit on my lap if you had another option, so I left it on the porch.”

Rolling my eyes, I lean back against Ryder and stare at our friends and family on the patio. Laughter floats across the breeze. Angela and Tyler are wrapped in each other’s arms, taking to his parents. I can still see Devon and Justine in the dining room, engrossed in conversation. Allison and Megan are in the kitchen staying out of trouble for now.

All of our hard work to surprise Tyler was worth it. He seems to be having a good time. The other guests are having a good time. I’m happy and content at the moment.

“You know,” Ryder says, wrapping his arms around me tighter. “This changes things.”

“I know.”

Of course I know that. I’m going to have to start looking for another job first thing Monday morning. As much as I enjoy working for Ryder, it wouldn't feel right. Especially considering everyone in the office will know we are together by the time they clock in on Monday unless Allison and Justine find a way to keep their mouths shut, which I doubt. Even as accepting of our relationship as they are.

“I was talking to Tyler today, and he thinks it would be a good idea to switch you and Allison.”

“What?”

“Well, he wants the four of us to be able to hang out together more, so he suggested having you work under Hunter instead of him. Plus, Allison has already worked for him and this would be good experience for her as well.”

“I was planning on looking for a new job next week,” I confess, my voice soft and unsure.

“Um, no. You’re an asset to the company. My father would be furious at me if you left. Plus, I like having you at the office. You brighten my day, you know what the hell you’re doing, and as soon as Hunter realizes that, you’ll be moving up through the ranks. Based on merit, not how I feel about you,” he adds, knowing my concerns.

“I like that idea,” I say, turning to face him. “I also like being able to see you every day.”

“I have other thoughts on that topic, but I think I’ll save that for another night. Baby steps, right?”

“I’m pretty sure we left baby steps in your bathroom an hour ago.”

“Well, if that’s the case…”

Wiggling his eyebrows at me, I smile but narrow my eyes. Something is obviously on his mind.

“Care to share what else you were going to say?” I tease.

“Only if you promise not to run away from me if it scares you.”

“Hmmm. I’m not sure I can promise that. But I can promise to keep an open mind as to whatever you’re about to suggest.”

“I can live with that,” he replies, “but for now, let’s go mingle. I’ll share my dirty little secret with you later.”

“Seriously,” I state, standing and placing my hands on my hips. “You’re going to make me wait? I’ll go insane wondering what it might be.”

“That’s the point,” he whispers in my ear.

Taking my hand, he walks backward toward the house, mimicking my pout the entire way. This man is everything I need in my life right now. Whatever his idea is, I have a feeling I’m going to want to go along with it.