His Secretive Lover (The Thorpe Brothers) (12 page)

When she was in her office, worriedly sitting behind her desk, she called Ryker. 

“Where are you?” he demanded as soon as he picked up the phone.

“Something came up,” she said, standing up and peering through the blinds in her windows to see if she could spot the person who might be following her from higher up.  Still nothing, she thought with frustration.  “Can I meet you later?” she asked.

There was a long sigh and Cricket could imagine Ryker’s strong hand running through his thick, dark hair.  Just like she’d done last night. 
“Cricket, what’s going on?” he asked, his voice softer now.  “First you avoid me for a week and now I can hear in your voice that something is seriously wrong.”  He paused, waiting for her to tell him what was happening but when there was still silence, he said, “I promise I can help you with whatever is going on, Cricket.  You agreed to be my wife,” he said even more softly.  “That means sharing one’s problems and concerns.”

Cricket closed her eyes to try and stop the tears.  “I don’t think…” she started to say but because he was so wonderful and she loved him so much, she just couldn’t say anything more.  She needed to tell him that she couldn’t marry him, but that wasn’t a conversation one could have over the phone.  “
I love you.  I truly do, but I can’t talk now,” she said, angry that her voice broke while she spoke, revealing how deeply she was upset.  “I’ll call you later,” she said and hung up the phone.

She sat down at her desk again, grabbing a tissue to sop up the tears and try to repair her makeup. 

Taking deep, calming breaths, she refused to let her mind even think of Ryker.  It took her several minutes, but she finally got the tears under control.  She had to simply put him out of her mind…

T
he door to her office opened causing her to spin around in surprise.  “What’s going on?” a deep voice demanded. 

Cricket looked up from her desk, her mouth falling open in
astonishment as Ryker himself stood in her office looking awesome and terrifying. 

It had felt like a century since she’d feasted her eyes on him and he looked…magnificent!  She had no idea how long she stood there staring at him, but she felt all warm and wonderful as she drank in his tall, strong appearance. 

And then the reality of his presence reached her and she jumped up.  “What are you doing here?” she demanded in a whisper, her heart in her throat as she worried about someone following him.  She almost tripped over her desk in her rush to get to the windows so she could close the blinds.  She then hurried behind him, ignoring the confused expression on his handsome face when she closed the door as well, leaning against it and taking deep breaths, trying not to hyperventilate in her panic.

Ryker watched her carefully, looking for any clue that would tell him what was going on. 
“I’m here because you didn’t come to me this morning.”

“I tol
d you,” she said, glancing up into his eyes and then down again, unable to hold his gaze when she was lying. “Something came up.”

“What?” he demanded
, sliding his hands into his pockets and waiting for her answer as if he had all the time in the world.

She bit her lip and looked around, frantically searching for something to distract him. 
“Don’t you have meetings this morning?” she asked, trying to think of some reason to get him out of her office and away from her.  Until she knew if he was in danger, she didn’t want him close by. 

“At least you’re still wearing my ring,” he said grimly.

Cricket’s right hand came up to cover her left hand protectively.  She’d forgotten to take it off and hang it around her neck.  “I…we…” she glanced down at the gorgeous ring on her finger, angry that the tears were threatening again.  She had to be strong.  She had to protect him!  “I don’t think…” she started to slip the ring off of her finger but his sharp tone stopped her.

“Don’t even think about it!” he growled at her, placing both hands on
hers, stopping her from removing the ring as he loomed over her.  “There are obviously things that we need to work out, honesty being one of them, but you’re not leaving me.  We’re getting married, Cricket.  And you’re going to tell me what’s going on.  But in the meantime, look at this,” he said and dropped a flash drive onto her desk.

Cricket felt the muscles in her neck ease up somewhat now that she didn’t have to take off the ring immediately.  It would have to
come off eventually, but at least she had time now to savor the feeling of being engaged.  Just a few more hours, she told herself.  She sat down at her desk, almost falling into her chair because her knees were about to give out on her. 

Picking up the drive, she looked at him curiously.  “What’s this?
”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stood up straight. 
“Watch it, Cricket,” he said with that commanding, deep voice that never failed to create shivers throughout her entire body.

She looked up at him, then blindly took the flash drive and plugged it into her computer.  As soon as she clicked on the only file, the image of Jason Moran’s office appeared but nothing was happening.  It didn’t matter though.  As soon as she saw that office, Cricket knew exactly what was going to happen on the screen. 

Sure enough, a few seconds later, she watched her digital image as she dropped from the ceiling onto the floor, crouched and ready to spring away, just as her mother and father had taught her all those years ago. 

Her face and hair were covered by the mask and there wasn’t really anything that one could absolutely pinpoint as evidence of Cricket’s id
entity.  Unfortunately, when she glanced up into his ice blue eyes, she knew that he knew that the person on the screen was her.

She swallowed painfully, those neck muscles tensing up once again.  She pulled her eyes away from his again and looked at the screen, cringing when she watched herself wrap up Jason’s chairs,
computer monitor, pictures…everything in his office.  Even his pens were wrapped up with pretty, pink paper with flowers on it, a design perfect for a baby shower.  Exactly what his staff thought of his latest round of temper tantrums.

There was a noise outside of her office and someone knocked on her door.  Cricket’s eyes snapped from the computer screen to the doorway, then up to Ryker, the panic written all over her face. 
She quickly clicked the “stop” button, afraid of anyone seeing her on the screen even in her disguise. 

With a sigh, he leaned over and said, “What are we going to do about this, Cricket?” he asked very softly.

She swallowed and there was another knock on her door.  “I…um…”

The door to her office swung open and Josie jumped back. “Oh!  I’m sorry to interrupt, Cricket.  It’s just that…” she noticed the extremely tall man standing up and looking down at her and her voice simply trailed off as Ryker’s normally terrifying presence worked it’s magic. 

“She’ll be out in a moment,” he said very smoothly, almost softly.

Josie’s wide eyes just stared for a full five seconds before she realized she was supposed to respond.  “Um…Yes, well, okay.”  And Josie slowly, carefully backed out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Cricket was pretty sure that Josie was already speeding down the hallway to talk to their friends, spreading the news that Cricket had a large, overwhelming male in her office with the door closed.

Forgetting about Josie for the moment, she swallowed as she
turned back, cringing as she watched the screen.  Cricket was almost finished with Jason’s office.  A moment later, she sprung upwards and pulled herself through the ceiling tiles, exactly how she’d entered several minutes earlier.  “What are you going to do about this?” she asked, her mind frantically trying to figure out a way to resolve this without her losing her job.

“What would you like me to do about it?” he asked softly, crossing his arms over his massive chest and looking down at her. 

Cricket didn’t like feeling this small so she stood up from her desk and took several steps backwards.  “Um…If I had my preference, I’d like you to lose that file.”  Her mother and father would be ashamed to know that she’d left evidence.  But even worse, she didn’t know what Ryker thought about her midnight escapade.  Was he angry?  Of course he was angry!  Why wouldn’t he be angry? 

Ryker watched her carefully, noting that she placed her back to a solid wall instead of a window, making herself feel more secure. 

He moved closer to her.  When he was less than an inch away, his arm came up to brace himself against the wall behind her and his mind filled with her feminine scent, he said, “What are you willing to do to make that happen?” he asked. 

She bit her lip,
wondering if he was really asking that of her.  Not Ryker!  Please not this!  She didn’t like this side of Ryker.  She didn’t like that he seemed to be asking her to sell herself.  Her eyes narrowed and she pushed against his shoulders.  “Get away from me,” she growled, saddened by his suggestion. 

Of course he didn’t move. 

Ryker breathed a huge sigh of relief when she didn’t go down the most obvious path.  It confirmed all of his suspicions of her.  She was sweet and kind, playing a simple prank on her boss but she wasn’t morally corrupt.  She could have sold secrets from her boss’ business to his competitors but instead, she’d turned his pictures upside down, rearranged his furniture, stole his cheap, ball point pens and wrapped his office up in ridiculous wrapping paper.  She wasn’t malicious.  She was funny and creative. 

An idea suddenly occurred to him and he wondered if she might be honest enough with him to make it work. 

“Give me a dollar,” he said, his eyes lighting up with the feelings he had for this woman.  His woman!  And he protected what was his.  Damn!  He loved her even more now!  And now that he knew she wasn’t completely lying to him, he could admit that she’d looked pretty hot in that stealth outfit.  He wouldn’t mind seeing her in it again.  Alone.  In his bedroom where he could explore all those curves underneath the thin, black material. 

She was completely confused.  He’d gone from trying to get her to prostitute herself to asking for money?  She would have sworn the look that crossed those blue eyes was relief.  But why would he be relieved?  That didn’t make sense.  And why would he need a dollar?  The man
was shockingly wealthy!  She’d seen his house.  Every room in that place had been custom designed by some fabulous architect. 

Cricket blinked, not sure why he would ask something like that of her.  “Excuse me?” she asked.

“Give me a dollar,” he repeated softly and with pride in his voice.  “Quickly Cricket,” he said to add urgency to the moment.  He was aware of the other employees moving about in the hallway.  The work day was starting and he knew he had to get this issue resolved fast or this could blow up around both of them. 

Cricket ducked under his arm and reached for her wallet.  She extracted a dollar and was about to give it to him, still confused, but she pulled back when he was about to take it from her.  “Why do you need a dollar?” she asked.

“Do you trust me?” he asked. He almost laughed at the wary expression that came into her eyes. 

Cricket eyed him for a long moment, about to shake her head no when she heard the word, “Yes,” inste
ad.  She was so surprised by her response because she never trusted anyone.  She had friends and acquaintances, but never had she allowed her personal feelings to reach the level of trust.  Until him.  She was literally putting her life in this man’s hands.  He had the power to get her fired and she didn’t like that.  Not one little bit.

But as she looked up at him, she realized that she really did trust him. 
She actually trusted him completely.  She knew that he’d never do anything to hurt her, not even turn her in to her boss as the culprit for the latest office splash, which Jason didn’t even known about since he’d been out of town last week. 

She loved him and this new sensation of loving as well as trusting someone was completely new. 

“Good,” he said, hiding his relief from this surprisingly complicated woman.  “Then give me the dollar,” he commanded her once again.

Cricket slowly handed him the dollar, her mind frantically trying to figure out what he was going to do. 

Ryker took the dollar and shoved it into his pocket.  “Good.  Now that you’ve paid me a retainer, I’m your lawyer.  Will you promise me never to illegally break into anyone’s business, home, building or any other type of edifice that assumes security for a person?”

Cricket had to smile at the way the man covered more than a person’s home or office.  “I promise,” she replied with a chuckle. 

His ice blue eyes told her how much he loved her and she almost melted with that realization.  “Good.  Now here’s what’s going to happen,” he told her, moving closer once again.  He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.  “First of all, you will never sneak out of my bed and my home again.  Is that understood?”

“I understand,” she replied, not agreeing, but assuring him that she grasped the meaning of his words.  Perhaps a technicality, but she
wasn’t guaranteeing that she might not get mad at him and want to get out of his bed.  Since stealth was her training, he might perceive it as sneaking.