Nobody's Lost (Rescue Me Saga #5)(14)

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

He stared at her as if she were clueless. Oh, of course he would be worried about her safety.

“I have a helmet. I ride with Patrick sometimes on his BMW.”

“We’ll see.” He opened the hatchback to collect her bags.

“Do you have kids, Ryder?”

He shifted his gaze toward her. “No. Why?”

“I just wondered. You’re always saying ‘We’ll see.’ Just reminds me of what my dad would say when he hoped I’d forget about whatever it was I wanted.”

She thought she saw a glint of humor in his eyes, but if it had been there, it soon disappeared. “I take it you didn’t forget very often.”

She flashed him a smile. “Never.”

He sighed and shook his head, but she definitely saw the hint of a smile before he averted his face. “Maybe we can go for a ride later on, when the day cools off.”

She joined him behind the SUV. “That sounds great. Thanks for the offer.”

Perhaps a ride in the mountains or desert. Maybe he’d relax if they left the city for a while.

Ryder took the bags from the cargo area and carried them to her office. “I’ll start working on the locks while you’re busy in here.” He left her alone.

The hours spent inside setting up her new laptop and second monitor flew by. At lunchtime, he brought her a sandwich, but she barely paused to eat. She breathed a sigh of relief when all of her latest work had been restored on her computer. She hadn’t lost anything.

A soft knock came to the door. “We have about three more hours of daylight, if you still want to take that ride.”

That he would remind her was surprising, but she saved what she was doing and closed the lid on her laptop. She tried to knead the knot in her right shoulder.

“Want me to work the kinks out first? I used to give a mean neck, head, and shoulder massage.”

She nearly came at the thought. “Please!”

His footsteps approached, and she closed her eyes. The t-shirt she wore was so thin she felt the heat from his body against her back as if she were naked.

Stop thinking about getting naked with him.

His hands were heavy and strong as he laid them on her shoulders. Without even beginning the massage, her shoulders tingled. Magic hands.

More lightly than expected, his fingers and thumbs probed the muscles of her shoulders. When his thumb pressed into the knot on the back of her right shoulder, she groaned, and his movements stopped.

“Did I hurt you?” His voice sounded more husky than usual, probably from being silent so long as he concentrated on her massage.

“God, no. You just homed in on where I hold most of my tension. Keep doing that.”

Ryder didn’t move immediately. She grinned. He probably was berating himself for touching his master sergeant’s little sister in such an intimate way. The man really did take his responsibility to her brother seriously.

No surprise. Adam’s Marines revered him.

When he did begin to work on that knot, she groaned again. So good. Her head lolled to the side to give him better access.

“Feel better?”

“Yes—but please don’t stop.” Not yet. The next sound from her mouth was more of a moan, and she blushed. Sounded as though she was turned on, but truly she just loved what his hands were doing. Her nipples hardened, and she was thankful he couldn’t see them. Maybe she needed to put an end to this.

Soon.

“You’re very good with your hands.” Her voice sounded a little husky now, too.

“My wife used to enjoy massages, too.”

She patted his hand to stop him. Dear God, she was getting turned on by a married man. No wife would be this understanding of a man’s loyalty to his military buddies.

“Isn’t she going to miss you if you spend too much time here with me?”

His hands stopped. “No. She left me years ago. We’re divorced.”

Megan swiveled around in the chair, breaking the contact with his hands. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

She saw the hurt in his eyes, but he tried to shrug it off. “You didn’t pry. I wouldn’t respect you much if you didn’t ask about her when you thought I was married.” His gaze dropped to her chest, and her face grew hot. He could see her nipples and had to know the effect his hands had on her.

Being a gentleman, he quickly met her gaze again. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t give her back the man she married after I returned from my last deployment.” He shrugged. “It happens.”

She nodded. “I know Patrick couldn’t make it work with his old girlfriend after he came home either. I guess a lot of relationships are casualties of long and multiple deployments. How many times were you sent over there?”

“Three since 9/11, but I also served in Kosovo in ninety-nine. That’s where I first met your brother.”

“Were you planning on a career in the Corps?”

“Initially, but missed it by a long shot. Didn’t reenlist after Fallujah. Eight years was plenty.”

“Well, thank you for the many years you served. I know I couldn’t have made it eight minutes.” A silence ensued that told her that this conversation was over. “I guess I’d better lock this computer in Patrick’s safe and get ready if we’re going to ride tonight.”