Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(61)

“Is everything all right?” he asks, bringing my attention back to him.

“Everything is fine.”

“You sure? I didn’t hear from you at all the past week.”

I narrow my eyes at him. Did he forget what was happening? “That’s because I wasn’t allowed to see her. Remember?”

“You could have called, though. I would have picked up.” He looks back again to the facility, his hands fidgeting with the jacket in them. “Everything’s all better now?”

“Appears to be. I’m getting to see her, aren’t I?” Something is off here.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s just been a long week.”

“For you and me both.” I pause as he looks back to the office yet again. “Is everything okay with you?”

“Fine.” He takes a step backward. “I need to get back inside.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Vaughn

“Keep your eyes closed,” Ryker instructs as Lucy and I walk over uneven ground.

“This is ridiculous,” I mumble as Lucy giggles, and then I remind myself to see this through the eyes of a curious eight-year-old instead of a woman who isn’t too fond of surprises.

“It really is hard for you to let someone else be in control, isn’t it?” Ryker’s voice heats up my ear. “Relax, Sanders.”

“You’re right.” He is right. But having to cover my eyes with my hands while being led through wherever he’s leading us is downright ridiculous.

“Can we write that down? That I’m right?” His laugh rumbles over my skin as Lucy keens in excitement beside us.

“Funny.”

“Where are we?” I ask as the sound of people laughing in the distance can be heard. Horns honking. Birds chirping.

“I asked you to trust me,” he warns.

And I take heed of the warning, all the while trying not to be a little miffed that he took complete control of my first day with Lucy in a while.

“I had things planned out perfectly fine,” I say, knowing I sound like a brat, but the unknown is unnerving me.

“Up these steps here.”

“Because that’s easy to do when you’re blindfolded.” Another grumble from me.

“It’s like we’re on a secret treasure hunt, Auntie Vaughn,” Lucy says, the excitement in her voice snapping me out of my grumpiness.

“Right, Lucy? Just like that one princess movie,” Ryker says and chuckles because I know damn well he has no idea what he’s talking about.

“Smooth, Lockhart.”

“I try. A few more steps, ladies.”

“’Kay,” Lucy says.

The sounds all around us are so familiar, recognizable, and yet so generic that I have absolutely no clue where we are.

“Stop here,” he says and holds our arms in place. “Are you ready, Lucy?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she squeals.

“I figured since you were a princess, I needed to arrange a date fit for royalty.”

Her giggle fills the air as she all but vibrates in anticipation beside me. “Can I look?”

“Yes.”

And if I thought her squeal was loud, then I don’t even know what to say about the sound she emits when she sees the scene set before us. We are on the terrace of the Belvedere Castle in Central Park. The whole thing has been transformed.

There is a canopy draped in some kind of sparkly fabric that sits over a table complete with candles and fake gold goblets and covered in all kinds of arts and crafts. Standing beside the table are two women who are wearing royal garb, and their smiles are as wide as Lucy’s.

“What?” she exclaims as she looks at Ryker and me with wide eyes and a disbelieving smile, all but bouncing out of her shoes.

“Well, if you’re a real princess, then you need to do real princess things. These two ladies-in-waiting are here to transform you into the princessiest princess of all time. And after you have your makeover and complete your majestic art, then we’ll have a feast fit for royalty out here.”

“You mean this is all for me?” The way Lucy looks at Ryker has chills chasing over my skin, and it has nothing to do with the air chilling with the setting sun.

Ryker nods as tears well in both Lucy’s and my eyes but for completely different reasons. “You’re a princess, aren’t you?”

She nods fiercely.

“Then go get ready!”

She jumps up and down and all but runs toward the two women standing there waiting to pamper her.

I don’t have words—none—as I look around the space. Fairy lights have been hung between flags and crests. There is a sunbed behind us draped in elaborate fabric with tables on either side. A bottle of wine and a charcuterie board sit on one of them.

“Ryker.” My voice sounds as awed as I feel. “What did you—? We can’t accept this.”

He runs a hand down the small of my back. “Who said I did this for you?”

When I turn to look at him, he just lifts an eyebrow and gives me a shy smile that all but warms all of me in every way possible.

And of course, I feel like an ass. Not only for doubting that he’d know what Lucy would like but for thinking he hijacked my time with her to do something for himself . . . or whatever my excuse was going to be.