Grady didn’t answer, instead staring into his cup for the answer to what felt like a rhetorical question.
“You are too brain-washed by your mother. I’m proud of all that you have accomplished. But it’s time to do what makes you happy. For you. And no one else.”
He shrugged, but continued to stare into his untouched coffee. He was wound up enough and didn’t need the caffeine right now.
“And what about Claire?” Old know-it-all eyed him with that gypsy stare that pierced right into his soul. She was downright spooky sometimes.
“What about Claire?” he asked, knowing she’d see right through him.
“You have one week to found out. Are you going to do anything about her?”
“She’s Ryder’s fiancée. There’s nothing to do.” His stomach churned, outraged at himself, knowing he wouldn’t speak up. The thought of coffee made his gut rebel. That love at first sight business was a load of bullshit. It was just his typical reaction to an off-limits, appealing woman.
“Is she? It’s up to you to act in time.”
He shook his head. “It’s already too late.”
The insults may have been more tolerable. He rose from the barstool and tried to escape the kitchen before she responded. But she knew him too well. “Sometimes, a woman wants a man to fight for her. Makes her know just how important she is to him.”
“Sounds a little sexist.”
“And a man wants a woman to fight for him, too.”
8
E-N-M-I-T-Y
“Ryder?” Claire searched the blue suite. Where was he? The bed was neatly made, the bathroom tidy, the pillows properly fluffed in the sitting area.
Ryder’s official it’s-not-going-well tone bounced down the hall. Poking her head in, she found him pacing in front of a sturdy wooden desk with his laptop open and papers scattered across the desk and floor. Huh, library. Cool. There had to be perks to living in a colossal home. The walls were lined with books from floor to ceiling, although mostly decorative from the look of things.
If this were her library? She’d add some sink-into furniture, maybe a cozy chair in front of the fire, another in place of the desk so she could look out the window and watch the snow fall. If it would ever snow. The forecast teased at it. But since they’d landed, not a single flake.
“I’ve got this. They’re not backing out now... I’ll come up with something... Great. Keep me posted.” He ran his hand through his mussed hair. Even his button-up was wrinkled.
Ryder hung up the phone and turned to her. His eyebrows scrunched as he took in her appearance. She glanced down and could see why he looked a little stunned. Her socks were floppingly loose at her toes again, mud splatters decorated her jeans from cleaning out horse stalls, and her t-shirt was sticking to her skin after being squished under her heavy sweater and coat all day.
