Nobody's Lost (Rescue Me Saga #5)(10)
“I don’t want you sleeping outside. But I wouldn’t feel right giving you Patrick’s room. I can let you take the sofa, if you’d like.”
“I won’t be sleeping.”
“But you’ve probably been up all night, same as I have.”
“I’ve stayed awake longer than this while on guard duty. I’ll be fine.”
“Ryder, just how long does Adam expect you to shadow me?”
“Until the mission is completed and the objective achieved—or Patrick returns. I won’t sugarcoat the situation, and I won’t leave you in any kind of danger.”
“But I’m not in danger.”
“You sure?”
“I told you, I have no enemies.”
“Give me the access codes to the security system and go get some sleep.” She wrote them on a piece of paper that he pocketed in his jeans. “Call out if you need me. Rest assured no one will harm you on my watch, Megan.”
“Thanks. I do appreciate you coming on such short notice like this. I hope your wife and family don’t mind.”
He tensed, not wanting to reveal more about himself than she needed to know. “I live alone.”
“You wouldn’t have a little sister, would you, Ryder?”
“What?” Had his mind strayed from the conversation? Wouldn’t be the first time he’d tuned out a woman.
“Just wondering if you have a sister, because my brothers are just as protective as you are. Maybe it’s a Marine thing.”
He glanced down at the floor. “I have one older sister. She lives up in Santa Fe.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re going to stay, because I really didn’t want to go to a hotel.”
Ryder nodded. “I’m going to check the perimeter. Pleasant dreams, Megan.”
*
Megan watched him walk out of the room, his body ramrod straight. Did the man even know how to relax?
Well, she did. This night had been exhausting, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and zone out for a few hours. She contemplated having another belt of cognac to help achieve that, but decided against it. First, she’d try lying down and closing her eyes. If that didn’t work, she’d resort to alcohol or sleep aids. She didn’t like taking drugs or anything that impaired her mind or judgment, not after having to rely on so many of them just to keep the pain at bay for so many years. Never again.
Before going to her room, she made up a bed for Ryder on the sofa. Surely he’d realize soon how ridiculous he was being about all-night guard duty and would at least take a nap.
Stretching out on her bed, she pulled the sheet and summer bedspread up to her neck and curled onto her side. Every time she closed her eyes, thoughts of her missing computer bombarded her. She couldn’t wait to get to the computer store.
Megan turned on her other side and reached for one of the paperbacks on the nightstand, flipping the light on before settling back on her pillows. Maybe if she read a few chapters, she’d become tired enough to sleep. She might even replace the mayhem in her life with that of the protagonist’s in this fascinating mystery novel by her favorite author.
Her mind strayed a few times to the erotica site she accessed from her iPad when she needed a little self-induced stress relief, but the last thing she needed was any more sexual stimulation tonight. That potent man patrolling Patrick’s condo right now exuded enough sexiness to keep her in fantasies the rest of her life.
An hour later, she realized the book had the opposite effect to making her sleepy. She’d replaced the male protagonist’s image in her mind with one of Ryder Wilson. No more sleepy than before, she picked up the latest issue of one of Patrick’s boring news magazines. When she heard a knock on her bedroom doorframe a few minutes later, she jumped.
“Megan?”
“Come in.”
The door opened. “Sorry, but I saw the light on and wanted to check to make sure you were okay.” He glanced at the magazine now lying on her chest. “Can’t sleep?”
She set it aside. “Not a wink. My mind won’t shut down.” She tented her knees, keeping the covers on. “Any sign of trouble out there?”
“All quiet. Can I get you anything?”
She shook her head. Seeing to her needs was above and beyond his mission.
Ryder’s gaze darted from her to the floor in front of him and back. Megan motioned toward the foot of the bed. “We might as well get to know each other a little better if we’re going to be under forced confinement for a while. Have a seat.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What—the having a seat part or the getting to know each other better part?”
“Both, actually. I don’t think your brothers would like hearing about a major lapse in protocol on my part, like sitting on your bed while you’re in it.”
She grinned. “Ah, a cautious man. Well, brothers be damned, if you won’t sit here, we can go into the kitchen and brew some coffee or cocoa or something. Then you can tell me more about Adam.”
He furrowed his brow. “You really should try to get some sleep. You’ve been through a lot in the last few hours.”
“Short of taking a sleeping pill, I don’t think sleep is going to happen. The sun streaming through my windows shortly is going to make that even harder. Unless you put a blindfold on me.”