Page 65 of Deserving Ryleigh
As happy as she was to have everyone there, she needed just one person right now.
Tiny.
Her eyes scanned the very crowded kitchen until she found him. He was standing by the door with Brick, watching her intently. Ry knew without a doubt if she gave the slightest indication she was uncomfortable, he’d be there, escorting her out in a heartbeat.
Licking her lips and offering a tiny smile, she tried to let Tiny know without words how much she appreciated him. How glad she was that he was there. How much she loved him.
The thought wasn’t startling in the least. She’d loved him forever. From probably the first week she’d started working at The Refuge. That’s why she hadn’t left. Why she’d made excuse after excuse to stay, even when she knew it might mean her father could find her. She couldn’t leave Tiny.
As if her thoughts drew him, he pushed off the wall and came toward her. When he reached her, he asked, “You good?”
“I am now,” Ry said honestly.
The look of approval in his eyes, the spark of desire inhis expression, made Ry want to take his hand and drag him out of the kitchen and back to the cabin and insist he make love to her immediately. She’d held on to her virginity for this reason. To give it to someone she loved.
But she had obligations to take care of first. Talking with FBI agents, reassuring her friends, going online and making sure her father hadn’t set up any booby traps to go off if he didn’t return from his trip to escort her to wherever he was currently hiding out.
Later, all bets were off. Things might not work out between her and Tiny in the long run, but she’d make sure he knew how appreciative she was of everything he’d done for her. And the most valuable thing she had to give him…was herself.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tiny had never been more proud of anyone in his entire life as he was Ryleigh. The evening had been long and stressful, and yet she’d handled it better than some of the newbie SEALs he’d been in charge of. Yes, she’d had a hard moment after her father had been taken down, but surrounded by her friends, she’d been able to get control of herself again.
She’d been amazing with the FBI agents. They already knew most of her part in her father’s schemes, but she’d patiently answered the same questions over and over, without hesitation, for two solid hours. Then they finally reassured not only Ryleigh, but everyone at The Refuge that Harold Lodge’s days of hacking and stealing money were over.
It was a huge relief.
Tiny was glad to be back home, where it was just him and Ryleigh. Robert had sent them home with a container full of chocolate chip cookies, and had even given Ryleigh a box of Christmas Tree Cakes. She’d looked at him andbarely been able to hold back her laughter. She’d slipped the box to Lara later, with Tiny’s approval, because she knew how much the other woman loved them.
If Tiny thought Ryleigh would relax once they got home, he was mistaken. She’d been sitting at the table on her computer for an hour and a half, fingers racing. Checking, double-checking, and triple-checking that her dad hadn’t somehow scheduled some sort of electronic siege on The Refuge in case she double-crossed him.
To her surprise, she hadn’t been able to find anything. He was seemingly as arrogant as he appeared, thinking he’d be able to intimidate his daughter into doing whatever he wanted. But Ryleigh was stronger than he’d thought.
When Ryleigh sighed for the tenth time, Tiny was done. She’d done everything she could for the moment. Tomorrow would be another day for her to scour the dark web for any sign of her father’s despicable schemes.
“Come on,” he told her, taking her elbow in his hand and encouraging her to stand.
“Oh, but there’s one more thing I want to check,” she said.
Tiny reached out and closed the laptop. “Tomorrow,” he said firmly, before leading her down the hall. He brought her straight to the bathroom attached to their room.
Her mouth opened in shock. “Tiny…what?”
He’d filled the tub with hot water and bubble bath. Okay, it was the liquid soap he used in the shower because he didn’t have any bubble bath on hand, something he planned to remedy as soon as possible. But he didn’t think she’d mind, because he hadn’t missed how much she liked to smell him at night when they sat together on the couch.
“Tonight was hard, and you were amazing. But I know you have to be sore from the tension you were under. I thought a long hot bath might do you some good.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before.”
That made Tiny sad, and he vowed to do a better job at spoiling her. “Relax, Ryleigh. Take as long as you want.” He kissed her forehead, then her lips, then he left her, closing the bathroom door almost all the way, leaving it open a crack so he could hear her if she needed anything.
He went back out into the cabin and finished straightening up. He wiped down the kitchen counters, washed her used glass, folded the blanket on the couch, fiddled around a little bit longer before heading to the guest bathroom to brush his teeth. After, he went into his bedroom. He could hear the water sloshing around in the bathtub, and it made him smile.
Tiny changed into the cotton pants he’d been wearing to sleep and climbed under the covers. He picked up a book but couldn’t concentrate, especially not when he heard Ryleigh humming softly to herself.
He loved the sound. It was happy. Content. And Lord knew the woman hadn’t had a lot to be content about lately. This thing with her father was stressing her out. Hell, it was stressinghimout and it wasn’t even his dad. She’d handled the pressure of facing him amazingly well. Tiny hadn’t been thrilled to leave Ryleigh in that street by herself.
Oh, he knew she wasn’t technically alone, there were lots of people watching her, and festivalgoers everywhere…but she’d had to confront Lodge all by herself, which he’d hated. Intellectually, he knew her dad was a piece of shit, but hearing the things he’d said to her had literally shaken his foundation.
