Ricochet (18 page)

“Just give me the highlights. Details can wait till we have more time.”

Rachel gripped the counter with one hand and fisted the other. She took a deep breath, blew it out, then dove in before the words knotted in her throat. “Ryker didn’t stay with a friend last night when he and I didn’t meet up at the airport like he said.”

Rachel gave Rubi the short, R-rated version of last night’s events all the way through the apologies tonight. By the time she finished, her fingers were numb from gripping the bar too hard, and her stomach was cannibalizing itself. “I need Xanax. Don’t you keep that handy?”

When she lifted her gaze to Rubi’s expecting an answer to her very serious question, Rubi’s full lips were parted, her big green eyes wide in shock. “The woman who has been talking the big-empty talk for six months about hooking up with someone…actually…
did
? And when you finally took the plunge, it was with…?” Humor filled her gaze “Hell, girl. When you go, you go big. He’s absolutely delicious. No wonder Troy is tweaked.”

“Troy doesn’t know. At least Nathan said he didn’t tell Troy.”

“Nathan,” she said in that silky voice of hers. “That is so sexy. I can so see you with him. But Troy knows something. I can’t remember the last time I saw him so twisted, and all after he couldn’t stop singing Ryker’s praises for weeks.”

Panic tripped in Rachel’s gaze. “I don’t understand what’s going on with Troy. Maybe he just, I don’t know, saw something between us. How’d you know?”

“Ryker looks at you like a starving jaguar stalking prey. Can’t imagine everyone here tonight hasn’t seen his attraction to you. Josh is out of sorts too.” She clapped her hands and tucked them under her chin, her eyes alight. “Oh, this is so fun. Sexy little Rachel is finally getting the attention she deserves. Didn’t I tell you? Glasses and hair, glasses and hair.”

Rachel groaned and rubbed at the stress in her forehead. She couldn’t control how he looked at her or how the others reacted to whatever vibes were floating. But she had more hope with Rubi.

“You can’t tell
anyone
,” she said. “Troy’s already on edge without knowing anything for sure. Josh could ruin everything for this last stunt if he got pissed off. I’ve been saying no to him for months.”

Rubi sucked a breath through her teeth. “Yeah, that might sting his ego.”

“I don’t want to screw up my relationships with the guys. Don’t want to mess up this contract for Renegades.”

“I think you’re overreacting. I worried about the same thing when Wes and I hooked up, but everyone was cool with it.”

“You didn’t work for Renegades. Weren’t negotiating the completion of a two-million-dollar contract.”

“There is that…” Her lips slid sideways. “Okay, I won’t say anything.” She put her hand on Rachel’s forearm, gaze going bright again. “But you’ve got to give me details, Rach. Is he as amazing in the sheets as he looks like he’d be?”

“You’re terrible.”

“I am, and I’m being really good right now. Don’t press your luck.”

Rachel leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest as she thought back over the night and closed her eyes on the decadent memories. “God, it was…” There were no words. “He’s…so…intense.”

She opened her eyes, turned to press her arms to the bar, and followed the edge of a square on the counter with her finger. “I’ve never really…fucked, you know? Guys in the past have always been serious. I thought there had been a few drunken nights that seemed more sexually motivated than others, but…” She shook her head and lowered her voice, her face filling with heat. “Jesus, that man really fucks. He’s focused, absorbed, almost…”

“Obsessed?” Rubi supplied in the same hushed tone.

“Totally. It’s enthralling. All encompassing. Like nothing else exists.” She sighed, letting the delicious memory wash through her. “Un-fucking-forgettable.”

“Oh…” Rubi drew out the word in deep appreciation. “Yum.”

Rachel allowed the small smile to come. Let herself indulge in the memories for just a moment.

“Okay,” Rubi said, pulling Rachel’s eyes open. “I get the whole secrecy thing, at least where the other guys are concerned, but if you two have called a truce, forgiven the whole ‘misunderstanding’”—she put the word in air quotes—“why not keep letting him fuck the stuffing from you until he leaves? ’Cause I can guarantee that’s what his expression has been screaming since he set eyes on you tonight.”

“Josh and Troy are already suspicious. You already figured it out. I could never keep my feelings from showing. Besides, it’s not what I want.” When Rubi smirked at her, Rachel reiterated, “It’s
not
. I slept with him because he was attractive, interested, and a
total
stranger. Someone I would never see again. I don’t want a relationship. And I sure as hell don’t want this shit.”

“Well…” Rubi turned to the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of lemon squares Rachel had made earlier. “He is heading back to the other side of the world in a few weeks, and not only do we need you coordinating the bridge site, but you need to take the job.”

“But—”

“I know everyone thinks you’re indispensable, and sweetheart, I’m the first to agree that you hold Renegades together like Monster Bond—great threat earlier, by the way,” she added before turning again and pulling another dessert tray from the massive stainless steel fridge. “Honestly, you’re ridiculously overqualified to be playing secretary. My advice,” she said, setting the chocolate confection on the bar in front of Rachel. “Take the site coordinator job, get away from these prying eyes, enjoy Ryker for a quick affair, and advance your career at the same time. Sounds like an
orgasmic
win all the way around to me.”

Rachel’s tension mounted. “You know how people in this industry talk. One rumor of us together on the site, and it would be everywhere. And as soon as it got back to Troy…” She rolled her eyes. “All hell would break loose.”

Rubi picked up the lemon squares, slid her finger along the edge of the platter, lifting a trace of powdered sugar, and sucked it off as she walked toward the patio doors. “You can find a million excuses
not
to take the risk, and spend your life regretting the missed opportunity. Or you can find a way to take the risk safely—you
are
the risk-assessment guru around here after all—and enjoy this happy accident.”

Rubi stopped at the door and turned back to meet Rachel’s gaze. She winked. “YOLO.”

Then she disappeared, leaving Rachel with the idiom “you only live once” floating round her brain and a huge piano hanging over her head on fraying rope.

Rachel returned carrying a platter of something chocolate. As much as Ryker enjoyed dessert, his stomach only growled to taste the plump cleavage showing beneath the low curve of her tank. When she’d set the plate down, her gaze lifted directly to his, and he felt the snap of connection between them as deeply as he had the night before, when he was buried inside her.

She must have felt it too, because sultry heat flashed before she lowered her gaze and straightened, licked her lips, and glanced away. Then Ryker couldn’t take his eyes off the sheen on that delectable mouth or banish memories of plunging into it the night before.

Blood surged through his groin, and his cock pushed against his zipper. Ryker lowered his gaze to the dessert plate and rubbed a hand over his face, trying to refocus.

“Ryker?”

The female voice drew his gaze to Lexi, and the question lurking in those big blue eyes made him realize he’d missed something. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Chocolate or lemon?” she asked, holding an empty plate near the desserts.

“Oh…” If he was going to indulge in sweets tonight, he wanted to find those between Rachel’s thighs. “Chocolate,” he said, cutting a look at Rachel and finding her eyes on him again. “Definitely chocolate.” Marx returned to the table, expression smug. He sat and looked at Jax, who was waiting expectantly. He took a plate Rachel passed him with a lemon bar beside a miniature chocolate cake. “They approved it.”

Wes, Keaton, and Duke clapped and whistled.

Jax nodded, his grin reserved. “Great. That solves one problem.”

“And creates a dozen more,” Troy complained.

Ryker didn’t care how much Troy bitched, because the team had just solved Ryker’s most pressing issue—how to stay close to Rachel. She darted a look from Jax to Ryker, and unease creased her forehead. That was fine, because the banked lust flashing in and out of her eyes tonight was still there too.

“They had a minor catch that I smoothed over,” Marx added.

Rachel’s head snapped toward Josh. “What is it?”

“Since Rachel doesn’t have as much experience as they’d like,” Josh said, “they want me to make sure everything is running smoothly with a few more site visits than usual.”

Ryker’s patience strained. “How often?”

“Three days a week.”

This wasn’t about how well he or Rachel could do the job, it was about him wanting to monitor things between them. Control freak.

Jax sat back in his chair, eyes narrowed on Marx. “Are you going to be able to do that with your current workload?”

He glanced at Rachel, and one corner of his mouth lifted. “I’ll make it work.”

“Okay.” Jax crossed his arms. “But you need to understand that this is Ryker’s show. I know how blasting people can disagree on a path to the same end result, and Ryker has a proven method that works for him. Can you stay objective?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll hold back in pointing out things that will cause problems, or suggesting a better way to do them.”

“Great,” Ryker said. “Then I won’t hold back on telling you where to put your opinions and suggestions.”

Josh cut a stiff almost smile he was trying to hold on to in the face of his frustration.

“Ooooh-kay.” Duke drew out the word as he stood. “I think it’s time for pool hoops. Come on guys, two on two.”

Keaton and Wes stood.

“Let’s go, Troy,” Wes said. “Nothing you say is going to make a difference anyway.”

“No shit,” he muttered, shooting Ryker a glare before he started for the pool.

Ryker ground his teeth. A come-to-Jesus chat was going to be had with that man…soon.

After they left the table, Marx told Ryker, “We’ll need all your credentials, and you’ll have to submit an SOP and an action plan for approval before the blasting starts.”

The standard operating procedure, or SOP, Ryker knew all about. “Action plan?”

“It’s a detailed plan,” Jax told Ryker, “on how you plan on blasting to achieve the results you want. You can use the one from last month’s train blast as a template.”

“Fine,” he said, his gaze on Marx. “I’ll e-mail you my credentials tonight, and I’ll head out to the site tomorrow to scout and sketch out a plan.”

“Whoa,” Rachel said. “I can’t leave that soon. Besides, setup for these things takes time. You don’t just take off one day and kick into gear.”

“Why not?”

“B-because there’s a shitload of work involved, precise work, focused work,” she said, looking at him like she couldn’t believe he’d asked the question.

“I can be precise and focused without wasting time.” He glanced toward Jax. “If you want this bridge blown while I’m still here—”

“I can’t get away tomorrow either,” Josh said. “I have to give Precision a little notice on my change of schedule.”

“Better for me,” Ryker told him. “I can sure as shit scout a bridge on my own.”

Marx dug the side of his fork into the chocolate cake, and liquid chocolate spilled out, reminding Ryker of…what else…chocolate fondue.
Christ
. He shifted in his chair, but it didn’t ease the tightness in his groin. One that wouldn’t be alleviated any time soon, judging by Rachel’s growing anxiety.

“Really,” Marx said dryly, forearms against the table, fork hovering over the dessert. “You’re going to single-handedly carry all the equipment, video, photograph, take notes, measure—”

“Did you miss the part about me being a Ranger for eight years?” Ryker picked up his own fork, cut into the cake, and broke it open, allowing the chocolate to spill out. “Scouting a bridge by myself is like a vacation.”

“Actually, Rachel’s an awesome scout.” Jax held one of the lemon bars. “If you two go over the employees first thing tomorrow and want to head up to the bridge site mid-morning, I could have the guys load up trucks and trailers with what we’ve got as a start and you could scout the bridge in the afternoon. I can be there by the time you’re done, bring another load, maybe round up a few staff, and you, Rachel, and I can finalize the action plan tomorrow night.”

“Jax—” Rachel started, her expression stricken.

“Then Rachel can write up the action plan while you’re creating the SOP,” he continued.

“Wait. Jax—” Rachel tried again.

“I know,” he said, grinning across the table at her. “It’s short notice and I’m messing with your schedule. But if you take any other job within Renegades, you’re going to have to learn to be flexible, honey. You’ve gotta loosen up, get spontaneous. You know how things shift on the fly in the field.”

In Ryker’s opinion, Rachel was plenty spontaneous.