Page 20 of Deserving Ryleigh
This new Tiny was so hard to get used to. For so long, all she’d gotten were scowls and distrustful glares when she was on her computer. And questions. Lots of questions. Tiny always wanted to know what she was doing when she was working; it took her out of her head and made it hard to concentrate. But today, he’d managed to not only come into the cabin without her hearing, but had obviously puttered around the kitchen getting her a drink as well. It was disconcerting.
“Ryleigh?”
Hearing her given name should’ve brought back horrible memories. Of her father threatening her. Yelling at her when she screwed up something. But instead, coming from him, it was…nice. He was the only one who called her Ryleigh, and it made her feel special.
“Right, sorry. I’m good.”
“Did you figure it out?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Awesome. Tonka will be very relieved. You have to behungry. It’s past lunch, and I’m assuming you didn’t stop to eat anything. I made us some sandwiches.”
Ry blinked at the plate that suddenly appeared next to the glass of water. It was a turkey and cheese sandwich. Made with mustard and lettuce and tomatoes. Heavy on the cheese.
Exactly how she liked it.
Looking up at Tiny, she blurted, “I’m not sure I like this nice you.”
To her surprise, instead of getting irritated, he actuallysmiled. “You’ll get used to it.”
But Ry wasn’t sure she would. “Don’t you want to ask me what I did? How I fixed Tonka’s records? If what I did was illegal, and if it could come back and hurt The Refuge?”
Tiny surprised her by turning her chair toward him as if she weighed nothing, then leaning over, caging her in by putting his hands on the armrests. She should’ve felt hemmed in, threatened, but surrounded by Tiny’s masculine scent, seeing the muscles in his arms ripple as he braced himself over her, and staring up at his stubble-covered jaw, it was all Ry could do not to throw herself at him.
“Ididask what you did…you said you fixed the problem. I wouldn’t understand anything you told me abouthowyou did it, and I already know what you did was illegal…and I don’t give a shit. I also already know you wouldn’t do anything that would come back to bite The Refuge in the ass.”
All Ry could do was blink up at him. This was such a big turnaround from how he’d been acting for the last few months, it didn’t seem real.
“Look, I’ve been an ass. I know it, and I’ve promised to be better. Am I comfortable with the things you can do? Not really. But in all the time you’ve been here, you haven’t done anything to screw up our business. I’m thinking you’ve probably done a lot of stuff that has made thingsbetter, not worse. You found Jas and Reese and didn’t want any recognition for doing so. You worked your ass off to find Owl, Lara, and Stone. And Tonka told me that you didn’t even hesitate to volunteer to help him.”
He sighed, looking away briefly before locking his gaze on hers again.
“You want to know therealreason why I was so horrible to you, Ryleigh?”
Ry didn’t need to ask. She knew. Because she was a criminal. Did illegal things that could definitely hurt The Refuge if they were discovered. And because she’d lied to everyone.
But he blew her mind when he spoke.
“Because I was so goddamn attracted to you—and the last woman I thought I was in love with tried to kill me.”
She stared at him with huge eyes, shocked at his admission of attraction toward her and literallydumbstruckthat someone had tried to kill him.
But as soon as his words sank in, anger rose within her, hot and fast. “What was her name?”
Instead of telling her, Tiny grinned. “Nope, not happening.”
“What’s not happening?” Ry asked.
“If I tell you her name, you’ll find her with that computer of yours and do who the hell knows what. She’s paying for her sins, you don’t need to take retribution against her.”
The hell she didn’t. “What happened?”
“Not now. I’ll tell you the whole sordid story, but you’ve been hunched over that computer for so long, your back has to hurt. And you have to be hungry. How about you eat, then get changed, and after we go tell Tonka he’s good to go, we can take a walk. Maybe we can take Wally and Beauty with us. Let them get some exercise. Tonka told me both dogs have been glued to Elizabeth’s side as her new bodyguards. Maybe we’ll see if Jas wants to come too. It’ll do everyone some good to get some fresh air.”
Ry didn’t want to walk. She wasn’t exactly an outdoor kind of girl. She’d never really had a chance to enjoy nature while growing up, and besides, she liked being on her computer. Liked being a nerd.
What shereallywanted to do was find whoever the bitch was who’d tried to kill Tiny and make sure her life was a living hell. It wouldn’t take much to drain her bank account, get her fired from her job, and make sure everyone she came into contact with knew she was an attempted murderer.
