Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen

Ryder lugged his bags out to his car, his gaze wandering toward the front of the house, toward Madison’s apartment. She’d been doing a hell of a job avoiding him over the past few days, and he had no idea if she was planning to go to Vegas with him. He didn’t want to leave and then find out she was planning to go, but he also didn’t want to go knock on her door and wake her up if she wasn’t going to go with him.

He should’ve known better than to push as hard as he had during Liam’s party. But it frustrated the hell out of him that she could pretend there wasn’t something brewing between them. She had to feel the same attraction he did. He hadn’t missed the way she’d sneak glances at him, the thinly veiled desire in her eyes. Why was she fighting it so hard?

He loaded his suitcase into the trunk and closed the lid. Then he came face to face with Madison. She wore yoga pants and an oversize T-shirt. Her hair was up, and her face was free of makeup. There was a large duffel bag in one hand and her messenger bag in the other.

“Got room for one more?”

He broke out into a grin. “Absolutely.” He took her bag from her and put it in the trunk. He really hadn’t thought she was going to take this trip with him—especially after she’d avoided him all week—but there she was, and he wasn’t going to argue.

He opened the car door and motioned for her to get in. Even though he thought he wanted to be alone on this trip to be able to clear his mind, he really didn’t, and having her tag along was a welcomed surprise. Not to mention, this was the perfect opportunity for him to get to know her.

They were silent as he backed out of the driveway and maneuvered through town. “Are you hungry? I was planning to swing through the Starbucks drive-through, but I can go somewhere else if you’d like.”

She yawned and stretched her arms, her hands hitting the roof. “Starbucks is fine.”

He flipped on his signal light and pulled into the parking lot. It was on the tip of his tongue to say it was his treat, but the last time he’d mentioned money, she’d gotten upset, and he didn’t want to repeat that. Clearly, it was a touchy subject for her, and he’d have to tread lightly.

“Whose brilliant idea was it to leave at the butt crack of dawn?” she asked.

Ryder laughed. “I wanted to get an early start.”

“That’s an understatement.”

He cleared his throat, pulled up to the menu board, and put down his window. “What do you feel like eating?”

“Oh, um.” She leaned across the console and peered out his window. Her floral shampoo wafted toward him, and he resisted the urge to inhale deeply. Her face was so close to his, making his desire to kiss her multiply to an almost unmanageable level. “I’ll have a small dark roast coffee, no cream or sugar, and a blueberry muffin.” She sat back, and he almost groaned at how far away she now was.

The barista’s voice came across the speaker, startling him. He placed Madison’s order, then quickly glanced at the menu. “And I’ll have a Venti vanilla bean Frappuccino and an apple fritter.”

“Will that be all?” the barista asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” He drove around to the window, dug his wallet from his back pocket, and handed the cashier his credit card before Madison could object.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Madison said.

Ryder took a deep breath. He knew she wasn’t going to simply say “thank you” and move on. “I know.” He turned to look at her, expecting to see an angry glare, but her expression was indifferent. “I wanted to, okay?”

She sighed and then nodded. “Thank you.”

He braced himself, waiting for more. But she didn’t say anything further. Maybe he’d been wrong about her. Maybe she wasn’t going to fight with him for trying to be nice. She was such a contradiction, always acting opposite of what he expected.

The barista handed two drinks and a bag out the window. “Have a great day.”

“Thanks, you too,” he said as he took their order. He placed his drink the cup holder and headed toward the highway.

Taking her muffin from the bag, she placed it on a napkin on her lap, then handed him the bag. He removed his apple fritter and took a large bite.

“So, what sorts of places are you planning to see during this road trip?” Madison asked around a sip of coffee.

He shrugged. “I don’t really have anything planned. Just figured I’d stop whenever I found something that looked interesting.”

“That sounds fun.” She tore a small piece of her muffin and put it in her mouth, then wiped her fingers on the napkin. “I hear the Grand Canyon is pretty amazing. Have you ever been there?”

Ryder watched her in fascination, loving the way she could be so delicate when he knew she was anything but. “Once. My parents took me and my brothers on a family vacation when I was ten. It was supposed to be this epic camping trip, but Xander complained constantly about sleeping in a tent, so we ended up staying in a hotel. I don’t remember too much of the Grand Canyon.”

“I’ve never been there.” She averted her gaze and picked at her muffin some more.

“Then we’ll definitely have to make time to stop there.” He smiled.

“Okay.” She wrapped her half-eaten muffin in a napkin and tossed it back into the bag. “Tell me, what do you and your brothers plan to do in Vegas?”

“With my brothers, God only knows.” He laughed. “I’m sure we’ll do some gambling and a lot of drinking.”

“Strip clubs?” She raised a brow, challenging him to deny it.

“If they were single, yes, but now that they’re both in committed relationships, probably not. And if they suggest it, I won’t let them. They’ve got good women in their lives, and I won’t let them fuck it up just so they can see some woman shaking her tits in their face.” He merged onto the highway and picked up his speed before setting the cruise control.

“Wow, you feel pretty strongly about that, huh?”

He nodded. Tanner had lost Jules once because of his stupidity, and Ryder wouldn’t let it happen again. He was waiting for Xander to mess things up with Kylie, too, but so far, he hadn’t, and Ryder wanted to keep it that way.

“You should try to catch a show or two while you’re there,” she suggested, finishing her coffee.

Ryder relaxed as much as he could in his seat. “And what do you plan to do while you’re there?”

She stared out the window and gave him a barely noticeable one shoulder shrug. “Wedding stuff, I suppose.”

Ryder waited patiently, hoping she’d open up a bit more. Surely, the wedding would only be one day. What did she plan to do for the remainder of the weekend? Visit family? Friends?

“You make it sound like once we get to Vegas, we’re going different ways,” she said suddenly.

His ears rang. Did she want to spend time with him in Vegas? He had a hard time believing that when she’d done everything in her power not to make this trip with him.

“No… I just assumed you’d be busy with the wedding and family stuff and wouldn’t want to hang out with me and my brothers. I mean, you’re more than welcome to, but I wasn’t planning on it.” He frowned. “That didn’t come out right.”

“No, I get it.” She twisted around to face him. “I don’t want to impose on your time with your brothers anyway.”

He had a sinking feeling there was something big she wasn’t telling him. “Like I said, I guess I figured you’d be too busy visiting your family to want to hang out with me.” He scrunched up his face. Why couldn’t he say what he wanted without it coming out sounding rude?

“Yeah, I’m sure I will.”

“I doubt I’ll be spending every second with my brothers,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to check for traffic and then speeding up to pass a car. “So, if you’re asking in a roundabout way if I’ll spend time with you in Vegas, my answer is yes.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “Not even close to what I said, but I’ll give you points for effort. Certainly can’t say you’re not determined.” She pulled a brush from her bag and ran it through her hair a few times. “If you get tired of driving, I’m happy to take a turn. I’m very good at following the GPS.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He liked driving; it always helped to clear his mind.

Although, this time, having her in the seat next to him, so close he could smell her sweet, floral perfume, feel her body heat, hear her soft, rhythmic breathing, this trip was anything but peaceful and calming. It was torture. All he wanted was to touch her, kiss her…talk to her.

“What’s the plan today? Are we stopping anywhere or just driving straight through?” she asked.

“We’re still in Florida, so I’m not sure there’s anything in this state we want to see. But we can stop if you want.”

“Can we stop in Louisiana for the night?” There was more excitement and hope in her voice than he’d ever heard before, and he couldn’t tamper the thrill shooting through him.

“Absolutely. If we don’t run into too much traffic, we should be able to make it before nightfall. There’s a wonderful hotel in the French Quarter, within walking distance of Bourbon Street.” He snatched his phone from the center console and Googled the hotel.

“Uh, you really shouldn’t be driving and Googling.” Madison clutched the dashboard, eyes wide.

“You do it then.” He tossed her his phone. “Call and make a reservation.”

She picked up his phone and hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip. He watched her from the corner of his eye. There were no more doubts in his mind that she really didn’t have the money for this trip. He wasn’t going to call her out on that because he knew it would probably embarrass her, but he also wasn’t going to put her in a position where she had to explain herself, either.

“Find the number for me and I’ll call,” he offered.

Her shoulders relaxed, and she tapped on his phone, then handed it back to him. “It’s ringing,” she said.

He pressed the speaker button and waited for someone to answer. A moment later, he was greeted with the normal friendly tone of a hotel staff member. “I’m wondering if you have two rooms available for tonight?”

“Let me check for you,” the woman said. “There’s a convention in town for the weekend, so we’re at full capacity, but it looks like we have one room available. It’s one of our suites, separate sleeping and living rooms. One king size bed.”

Ryder glanced at Madison, who was frowning. He had no problem sharing a bed with her, but he wasn’t going to force the issue. He’d stayed in a room like this before, and the couch was big enough for him to comfortably sleep on, giving Madison freedom to have the bed to herself.

“I’ll take it,” he said, returning his attention to the phone call.

“Great! Name for the reservation?”

“Ryder Collins.” He answered the rest of her questions, recited his credit card information from memory, and then ended the call. “There.” He grinned.

“There’s only one bed.” Her voice bordered on panicky.

“You can have it. I’ll take the couch.”

“Ryder.” She crossed her arms and slouched in the seat. “You can’t pay for a room and then just give it to me. That’s not fair. I’ll sleep on the couch. I really don’t mind.”

“Whatever you want,” he said casually, not wanting to argue with her about sleeping arrangements when they had to spend all day together in the confines of his car. But there was no way he was going to make her sleep on the couch.

“Why do I have a feeling you’re just saying that to shut me up?”

He laughed. “Now, why would I want to shut you up?”

“I’ve always wanted to walk Bourbon Street.” She kicked off her shoes, put the seat all the way back, and stretched her legs out, wiggling her toes.

“Comfortable?”

“Very. These seats are amazing. I’d sleep in your car if I had to.”

“Well, you won’t have to.” He winked, and she blushed ever so slightly. God, that was a gorgeous sight. He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel, gripping it tighter. Then he blew out a long, slow breath.