Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“Where?”
“There’s a walkway into the city that we can go on. It’s a nice view, and you’ll be safe anywhere in this city with me.” His voice lowered, and I shivered as it vibrated through my body.
“Okay,” I replied, not willing to let the night end just yet.
The waiter walked over to remove the plates, and Ryder asked for the bill. When the waiter returned with the black folder, Ryder reached for his wallet and placed a card inside it. I fought the urge to look at the total.
When I got up, Ryder offered me his arm, and we walked out of the restaurant together.
As we walked, I asked him about his career. I didn’t know much about hockey, but I was interested in Ryder. He was born in Scotland and lived there for the first seven years of his life and moved to the States for his father’s job. He told me about growing up on the ice and how he had a knack for hockey from the beginning. His father encouraged him along the way, and with the help of constant training, Ryder ended up on a competitive team at the beginning of middle school. From there, he joined the high school team and quickly became one of the top scorers in the area. He played in college and was drafted immediately afterward to the team that he was playing defense for now. His parents moved to Canada to be close to his mother’s large family once he and his sister left home. Apparently Ryder had something like twenty cousins on his mother’s side.
We crossed a bridge over the main road and headed down to the sidewalk. Ryder reached out and took my hand in his large one, linking our fingers together. I looked up at him, aware that he was easily half a foot taller than I was and much broader. I was tall for a woman at five foot eight, but he had to be six foot four, at the very least. My heels only added a couple of inches, and I still felt short beside him. “You’re a big man,” I murmured as I looked around to see where we were.
“You have no idea,” he said under his breath. I stared at him, but he acted as though he had not responded. “Let’s go this way. We can get some coffee before I take you home, if you’d like.” I nodded, and he led me to the left as I walked with him. I looked at the small bistros and bars as we passed, hearing the laughter inside as doors opened and closed. One street led to some shops and open restaurants, and the other to a park.
I felt good with the wine flowing through my body and the man holding my hand beside me. I hadn’t been on many dates. I made a few friends in school, and when the boys asked me out I declined, saying that I had work or plans. I just never felt like committing to anything. I lost my virginity to a guy in college with little fanfare and only a handful of repeats. I couldn’t handle the idea of confiding my pain to anybody other than Tori. Relationships required that.
Not that this was a relationship. It was just a date.
“We didn’t discuss you too much over dinner. I don’t want to be that guy, Elyse.” Ryder’s slight accent vibrated through me, and I smiled weakly. That wasn’t an oversight on my part, since I hated the looks of pity and sympathy I received when talking about my past.
“I’m just a starving artist trying to make it. Your life is much more exciting than mine,” I tried to quip, but he paused with my hand tight in his.
“Somehow, I doubt that. Not with the depth I see in your eyes.” I turned around to look at him, seeing the intensity of his stare. He tugged gently, and I held my hand up as I stumbled forward against his chest. His skin was taut and warm underneath his shirt, and I licked my lips slowly as he released my hand to slip his long arm around my waist. “Elyse, I don’t want you to feel like you have to run from me.”
“I’m just getting to know you,” I murmured before his mouth claimed mine gently. It wasn’t a hard kiss, not by any means. It was gentle, and I moaned against his lips as my body responded, parts of me coming to life that I was convinced were dead or had never been reached before. His mouth moved quickly, and I reached an arm around his waist to pull him closer. I felt his tongue on my mouth and parted my lips eagerly, rewarded as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss.