Anna.” Gwen gestures to me and Ryder sticks his hand out to shake Sarah’s then mine. When our hands connect, an electric shock sears my veins as it shoots straight up my arm. Whoa, that was seriously weird. I attempt to pull back but he grasps a bit harder on my hand for an extra beat before finally letting it go. Meeting his gaze, his knowing smirk says so much that his handshake didn’t. It screams, “I’m trouble, Miss. Run while you still can.”
Finally, he lets my hand free which I quickly return to my side. Already, my skin misses the warmth of his. I can’t get over how much trouble his eyes shout to me. Looking away feeling like I will blush profusely, the butterflies in my stomach pick up speed and are practically having a party in my stomach.
“It’s nice to meet you, ladies.” Ryder’s gaze lingers on me for an extra second before looking away. It could be my imagination or he actually smiled at me. Must have been my imagination. “From what Gwen has filled me in on, this case has now crossed into federal territory. It’s in our hands now, and as a favor to Gwen, it’s moved to the top of my files.”
Sarah nods at Ryder while I’m still standing over here, mentally undressing him. Jayde would be so happy I’m so concerned with her loss.
“Okay, so what do we do now? I mean where do we go from here?” Sarah asks him as politely as possible probably fearing I would choke on my words. Well, she isn’t wrong.
Ryder sighs heavily, running his hands over the back of his neck. “I wish I could say. The best advice I can give you is just keep doing what you’re doing. Living your life just as you would if Jayde were here. It will help with the loss of her not being here.” Feeling that was a good enough answer for her, Sarah walks back to her desk without another word. Ryder looks at me confused then smiles. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what I’m thinking.
“Ryder,” I say, finally gaining some sort of control over my emotions.
“Hmm? What is it?” he asks, fiddling with the file I didn’t even see him pick up. Must be those super sexy spy reflexes the officials teach you in training.
Normally, I’m not one to express my emotions, especially in a dire situation such as this one, but I decide to lay it all out there.
“What else can we do to try and help? I need to know my best friend is safe in some way, or else I just might go crazy. Scratch that, I’ve already gone crazy.” Ryder seems to find my little joke funny since he’s trying his hardest to hide his laughter behind the file he’s holding by placing it in front of his face.
“This isn’t funny. I need to know where my best friend is,” I say, my emotion catching in my throat. Tears threaten to fall but before they do, I’m surprised when two strong arms wrap around me and pull me against rock hard flesh. And dear god, a bolt of lightning just shot down my whole body. A. Fucking. Bolt. That has never happened before in my life. As soon as my brain caught up to the rest of my body, he let go. I can still feel the warmth of his skin against mine and like an idiot, I didn’t hug back. Stupid Anna, just plain stupid.
Ryder pulls back to look at me, like really look at me. That beautiful brown gaze stares back at me, and I’ve suddenly lost my will to speak. I’m seriously concerned about this. This has never happened before. Maybe I’m sick. I deduce that has to be the problem.
“Everything will be all right. We will find Jayde, you will be reunited and everything will work out like it’s supposed to. Trust me on that.” Strangely, I do trust him. I want to trust him with everything inside me. But trust is a very fragile thing. I learned that from Jayde. Trust doesn’t come easily, it’s earned. If Ryder wants to try and earn it, who am I to stand in his way?
“I hope you’re right, Ryder. I pray to god you are because my worst fear is you’re wrong,” I say with an exasperated sigh.
Finally, he lets my hand free which I quickly return to my side. Already, my skin misses the warmth of his. I can’t get over how much trouble his eyes shout to me. Looking away feeling like I will blush profusely, the butterflies in my stomach pick up speed and are practically having a party in my stomach.
“It’s nice to meet you, ladies.” Ryder’s gaze lingers on me for an extra second before looking away. It could be my imagination or he actually smiled at me. Must have been my imagination. “From what Gwen has filled me in on, this case has now crossed into federal territory. It’s in our hands now, and as a favor to Gwen, it’s moved to the top of my files.”
Sarah nods at Ryder while I’m still standing over here, mentally undressing him. Jayde would be so happy I’m so concerned with her loss.
“Okay, so what do we do now? I mean where do we go from here?” Sarah asks him as politely as possible probably fearing I would choke on my words. Well, she isn’t wrong.
Ryder sighs heavily, running his hands over the back of his neck. “I wish I could say. The best advice I can give you is just keep doing what you’re doing. Living your life just as you would if Jayde were here. It will help with the loss of her not being here.” Feeling that was a good enough answer for her, Sarah walks back to her desk without another word. Ryder looks at me confused then smiles. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what I’m thinking.
“Ryder,” I say, finally gaining some sort of control over my emotions.
“Hmm? What is it?” he asks, fiddling with the file I didn’t even see him pick up. Must be those super sexy spy reflexes the officials teach you in training.
Normally, I’m not one to express my emotions, especially in a dire situation such as this one, but I decide to lay it all out there.
“What else can we do to try and help? I need to know my best friend is safe in some way, or else I just might go crazy. Scratch that, I’ve already gone crazy.” Ryder seems to find my little joke funny since he’s trying his hardest to hide his laughter behind the file he’s holding by placing it in front of his face.
“This isn’t funny. I need to know where my best friend is,” I say, my emotion catching in my throat. Tears threaten to fall but before they do, I’m surprised when two strong arms wrap around me and pull me against rock hard flesh. And dear god, a bolt of lightning just shot down my whole body. A. Fucking. Bolt. That has never happened before in my life. As soon as my brain caught up to the rest of my body, he let go. I can still feel the warmth of his skin against mine and like an idiot, I didn’t hug back. Stupid Anna, just plain stupid.
Ryder pulls back to look at me, like really look at me. That beautiful brown gaze stares back at me, and I’ve suddenly lost my will to speak. I’m seriously concerned about this. This has never happened before. Maybe I’m sick. I deduce that has to be the problem.
“Everything will be all right. We will find Jayde, you will be reunited and everything will work out like it’s supposed to. Trust me on that.” Strangely, I do trust him. I want to trust him with everything inside me. But trust is a very fragile thing. I learned that from Jayde. Trust doesn’t come easily, it’s earned. If Ryder wants to try and earn it, who am I to stand in his way?
“I hope you’re right, Ryder. I pray to god you are because my worst fear is you’re wrong,” I say with an exasperated sigh.
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