Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
His father’s company. Thinking of it as Ryder’s was a slippery slope of doom. Unsurprisingly, given the time, the parking lot was empty except for Ryder’s and my vehicles. His was a year-old electric Range Rover that cost more than my education. Despite my protests, he’d given me access to the executive parking lot that required a security code to enter. I’d never told him, but the few times I’d met him here for lunch, I’d parked in the standard visitor lot, like any other nonemployee who came to the building.
Tonight, though, I cut every corner in my quest to reach Ryder as fast as possible, and this parking lot had a direct elevator to the executive’s floor about five steps from any of the parking spots.
Rich people sure loved convenience.
My skin itched as though hundreds of ants crawled across the surface, making me want to crawl out of my skin. I’d been through some shit in my life and had learned to keep an even keel in most situations. My coping strategies also made me a grumpy, unapproachable bastard most of the time, but I tended not to freak out or let anxiety rule my life. Not tonight, though. From the second I’d decided to confront Ryder at work, I’d been fighting an internal beast who wanted to bulldoze every obstacle in my path and get to my man as soon as possible.
The thirty-second elevator ride took three hours, and the hallway leading to Ryder’s executive suite turned into a five-mile trek. I walked as fast as I could, yet my heart still raced too fast for the number of steps I took, and the trip went on for an eternity. As I’d expected, dark hallways and a quiet floor greeted me. Calloway Enterprise’s staff went home hours ago, including Ryder’s assistant. Her desk sat empty and so organized that it could have been a staged showroom model.
My heart leaped into my throat as I reached Ryder’s—his father’s—office. I needed to keep its true owner in the forefront of my mind to remind myself that this was a temporary situation.
It had to be temporary because I wanted Ryder in my life permanently. If he continued to run this company, I feared I wouldn’t get my wish.
I knocked lightly so as not to startle him. Seconds ticked by without a response. I frowned. “Ryder?” I called as I knocked again. Light glowed beneath the door, indicating he hadn’t gone home, plus his car still sat in the parking lot. Maybe he’d run down the block to grab some dinner from the Mediterranean restaurant he loved.
“Ryder?” I called again. This time, I tried the door, which wasn’t locked, and it opened for me. “Ryder, it’s me. You here?” I stuck my head in the door, making a quick scan of the office and its wall of windows, which he boasted was one of the best views in the city. I stepped in and looked left, only to lose my breath.
“Ryder?” I gasped as I rushed across the room. Down on the carpet, slumped against a window, sat my boyfriend. The dark smudges beneath his eyes and the pallor to his usually tanned skin told me all I needed to know about his self-care. A close scan of his face had me realizing he’d lost weight as well.
How had I not noticed? Was my head so far up my ass that I missed all the signs of someone I loved in crisis?
The first word that came to mind was defeat. Ryder appeared so defeated, as though the universe had beaten him down so severely, he had no strength to get back up.
I dropped to my knees beside him. “Baby, are you okay?” Neither of us was big on pet names, but the term slipped out as an easy way to remind him I cared.
So damn much.
Slowly, he turned his head until our gazes met. The abject despair in his eyes had my heart fracturing. He swallowed once, then whispered, “I’m sorry, Alex,” and my heart split in half.
“No, baby,” I whispered back. “I don’t need that.”
“Come here.” I scooted back against the window, then urged him up and over my lap. His movements were sluggish, so I mostly muscled him until he straddled me. Once we were chest to chest, I wrapped my arms tightly around him, and he melted into me as though holding himself up had become too much.
“I’ve got you,” I said, still whispering, though not a soul remained in the building. “I’ve got you, Ryder.”
He clutched me like a lifeline, burying his face in my neck as we held each other. God, as heartbreaking as this moment was, it felt so damn good to have him in my arms.
The pain bled from him, into me, until I experienced it along with him. An unbearable ache so deep invaded every cell in my body. How long had he been living with this anguish? And how much longer could he bear it?