This made him laugh. "No kidding. I didn't mean a tour of the island. I meant a tour of the place you'll be living."
Damn it.Last night had been hazy, especially near the end. But now that I thought about it, therehadbeen a promise that someone would meet me on the island with a key. With renewed suspicion, I eyed my so-called friend. "Tell me something."
"Yeah?"
"How'd you get here so fast?"
With an easy shrug, he replied, "Private jet."
"Seriously?" My brain stuttered, trying to catch up. "Youflewin?"
"Yup." His smile turned smug. "Landed an hour ago."
This had to be a joke."Where?"
"Here on the island."
I stared like he'd just sprouted wings. "This place has an airport?"
"It's not abigairport," he clarified. "But it's better than the ferry. Am I right?"
I bit back a curse.The bastard was loving this.
And he wasn't shutting up. "Didn't need a ferry. Just me and my pilot. Hell of a view, by the way."
I took a deep, calming breath. "So let me get this straight. You leftmeto take the damn ferry while youflewin?"And don't get me started on the seven-hour drive.
"Oh, come on," Ryder laughed. "You survived."
Barely.Blame the whiskey, but the morning sun was doing a real number on my eyes. Sunglasses would have helped – maybe not much, but more than nothing.That fucking bird.
To Ryder, I grumbled, "You could've offered me a ride."
"And what? Have you miss the fun?"
I felt like strangling him – Ryder, not the bird. "Whatfun?"
"For starters, a nice boat ride." He leaned lazily against the coffee shop's main window. "It's great for the stomach, am I right?"
Notmystomach. At least, not this morning. "You reallyarea piece of work. You know that?"
Ryder just laughed. "Yeah, but I'myourpiece of work." He flicked his head toward the coffee shop entrance. "Buy ya a coffee?"
I wanted to tell him to shove it.I'd buy my own damn coffee.
But the truth was, I would be smarter to let him treat. The amount of cash in my own wallet was less than his thousand –significantlyless. I knew this because I'd counted my cash in the limo – the same one that had dropped me off at the ferry terminal on the mainland.
Call it homework.Even so, I hadn't done enough. Sure I'd counted the money, but like a dumbass, I hadn't dug through the duffel.
I hadn't even opened it.
But I should've. Maybe then, I wouldn't have minded showing its contents to a couple of strangers on the dock – the brunette in particular. She had pretty eyes and a nice smile –toonice for the likes of me. And yet, thoughts of her smile lingered like a song stuck in my head.
Of course, she hadn't been smiling at the end.
Damn it.
I knew why.
