Page 23 of Deserving Ryleigh
Tiny was secretly relieved to have that vital information. It told him something important—that he needed to go slow. He didn’t care that she hadn’t had sex before. It didn’t turn him off…though hewasmindful of the fact that taking her virginity came with the weight of certain responsibilities. But for now, he was just proud of her for knowing what she wanted—an emotional attachment tosomeone before she jumped into bed with them. If they got to the point where she wanted to be physical with him, he’d make damn sure she knew that he valued her decision to let him be her first.
In the meantime, and until she trusted him enough to talk about her fears, he’d learn as much about Ryleigh as he could through observation. He already knew how little she liked the outdoors, and it amused him. She didn’t mind walking around the grounds of The Refuge, but going out into the woods where there were—gasp—bugs and wild animals, wasn’t her thing. It was pretty cute. And it reinforced the fact that she was more comfortable with her computer than anything else, and had clearly grown up that way.
Today, Stone was taking him and Ryleigh up in the helicopter The Refuge had purchased. The former Army Night Stalker pilot wanted to scope out the best routes for sightseeing tours of the area, and he’d invited them both to come with him.
“I’m not sure about this,” Ryleigh said nervously as they walked toward the newly built hangar on the property.
“What aren’t you sure about? Stone’s an amazing pilot. I have more confidence in him than I do in the pilots who fly commercial jets.”
“It’s not that. I know he’s good. I’ve seen his— Er…” Her voice trailed off.
Tiny couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve seen his records?” he guessed.
“Yeah. But I didn’t mean to,” she added quickly. “I was trying to find out more information about his background, so I could maybe find him that way. They kindof just jumped onto the screen without me doing anything.”
Tiny laughed harder. “Uh-huh. Just jumped onto your screen, huh?”
She gave him a sideways glance and seemed to relax when she realized he wasn’t upset.
“What about mine?”
“Your what?” Ryleigh asked.
“My records. They just happen to appear magically on your screen as well?”
She shrugged.
Tiny nudged her with his shoulder. “It’s okay if you saw them, it’s not as if I did anything every other SEAL hasn’t.”
Ryleigh stopped in the middle of the trail and stared at him. “You swam three miles into the ocean, dragging your injured teammate behind you, while being shot at from the shore, and then avoided terrorists who were searching for you by boat, getting to the rendezvous point that you didn’t even know would still be there or not.”
“SEALs don’t leave SEALs behind,” Tiny said with a shrug. The incident she was talking about had been hell. He still had nightmares about it. But he’d saved his teammate, and while they were being hunted, acting as a distraction for the terrorists, the rest of his team had killed the target they’d been sent in to find and eliminate. A win-win in his book.
Ryleigh simply shook her head and continued toward the hangar. “Whatever,” she mumbled, nudging him back, making Tiny smile.
Every now and then, his arm would brush against hers as they walked, and every single time, a surge of what feltlike electricity shot down his body when they touched. It was a little disconcerting…but also a massive turn-on. He couldn’t even imagine what being with her skin-on-skin would do to him. Or being deep inside her body. He didn’t know if they’d ever get to that point, but he could dream about it.
“Anyway, as I was saying, this is gonna be fun,” he told her. “We’ll both get to see The Refuge from the air. There’s so much more than just the land around the cabins.”
“Filled with wild animals. And cliffs to fall off of. And bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.”
Tiny grinned.
“You know, I was content to see that stuff through the lenses of the cameras you guys put all over the property. I’ve seen all the mule deer, squirrels, and coyotes I ever want to see through my computer screen. Not to mention foxes, raccoons, sheep, cougars, and if I’d known there werebearshere, there’s no way I would’ve taken this job.”
“Why did you? Take it, I mean?” Tiny couldn’t help but ask. He wasn’t sure Ryleigh would answer him, she was very good at evading his questions…but to his surprise, she didn’t hesitate to speak.
“I wanted somewhere off the beaten path. I was tired of the noise of the city. And all the people. I saw an ad online for this place, and read a review from someone who’d stayed here and claimed it changed her life. I looked up the website and was impressed with what I saw. It was rugged, but somehow still charming and quaint, and you guys do a lot of good things for people. I especially liked that.” She shrugged. “And when I saw it for the first time,when I was here for my interview, it just had a…safefeeling.”
Tiny nodded. “Yeah, I felt the same way when I first arrived. I mean, there weren’t any cabins or anything yet, but just being out here soothed my soul in a way I hadn’t felt anywhere else.”
“Except for the bugs, it’s perfect,” Ryleigh said with a grin.
They approached the hangar. Stone had left the bay door open and they could see the chopper inside.
Without thought, Tiny reached for Ryleigh’s hand. He wasn’t sure why, just that he needed to feel connected to her at that moment. Hearing she’d felt the same about The Refuge as he did the first time she’d stepped onto the property, made him want to be even closer to her.
They walked hand-in-hand into the hangar—but as soon as Tiny saw Stone, he knew something was wrong.
