Page 15 of Deserving Ryleigh
“You aren’t responsible for me,” she countered.
“And you aren’t responsible for everyone who lives and works at The Refuge, or what happens there either,” Tiny blurted.
Ryleigh stopped in her tracks in the middle of the hallway and stared at him. “What?”
“You heard me. You worked your ass off to find Stone, but he’s back now. Everything’s good. You can stop worrying so much.”
To his surprise, Ryleigh laughed. But it wasn’t ahumorous sound. “Right,” she said cynically, then started walking toward the exit once more.
Tiny ground his teeth together. He hated that she was still keeping secrets from him. “I’m not your enemy,” he told her as they walked.
“Could’a fooled me.”
As soon as they stepped outside, Tiny stopped her by gently grabbing her arm. She looked at him in surprise.
“I realize I’ve been an ass, and I’m trying to apologize. I’d like to start over.”
Ryleigh stared at him with an expression he couldn’t interpret.
“Start over? New leaf? Whatever you want to call it. No more hovering over you while you work. No more insisting to know where you are and who you’re with or who you’re talking to. I want to go back to how things were when you first started working at The Refuge.”
“Really?” she asked skeptically.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer,” she said, one brow hitching up.
Tiny shrugged.
She sighed, looking away. “All right.”
Tiny felt as if he’d hit the lottery. It was a start.
“Are you tired?” he asked as they started walking toward the parking lot. He was surprised how hard it was to drop his hand from her arm.
“Exhausted.”
“Me too. I thought I’d make hamburgers for dinner instead of going to the lodge. That work for you?”
She looked at him a little suspiciously this time, but nodded.
They were silent as they climbed into his car and headed back toward The Refuge. But it was a comfortable silence, not like the ones fraught with underlying tension that they’d suffered through for the last few months.
Tiny had no idea where this new start would take them, but he was determined to discover all of Ryleigh’s secrets. Not because he thought she’d use them against him or his friends, but because he had a feeling if he didn’t, she’d disappear into thin air…and if that happened, no one would ever find her again. Not if she didn’t want to be found.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ry couldn’t help but be suspicious about Tiny’s abrupt about-face. She was very thankful that he wasn’t hovering over her all the time, but she was desperate to know what had changed his mind.
And now that he was being nice to her, another issue had cropped up…namely, that she liked being around himwaytoo much for her peace of mind. A grumpy, suspicious Tiny was easy to dislike, to block out of her head. But a nice, respectful, and thoughtful Tiny? He was impossible to ignore.
And the more she was around this Tiny, the more shewantedto be around him…which wasn’t good. She was leaving. As soon as she figured out what her father had up his sleeve, she was out of there. She’d already decided to head to the northeast. Maybe the Boston area.
The thought of leaving New Mexico and The Refuge made her headandher heart ache, but it was for the best. She’d become too attached to the people here. And gettingclose to people opened the door for her father to use them against her.
