Sunset Thunder (17 page)

Ryder stepped closer and touched the side of her face, sending confirmation that she longed to feel his touch. Without giving her body permission, she bent into the solid promise and strength of his hand.

He continued, “When I’m not with you, you’re still invading my thoughts.”

Her feelings were mutual.

“You, Violet Caliendo, are so much more than I ever knew, wanted to know or would let myself see, because of who you were, Joel’s wife...who you are, Joel’s ex-wife.”

He was questioning the same things she was.

“Now that you’ve weaseled your way into my thoughts and more importantly, my feelings, I can’t get rid myself of you and I don’t want to. I haven’t laughed, or smiled, or felt the way I do when I’m with you, in a long time. I didn’t even know I could feel like this again.”

Violet found herself feeling the exact same way whenever she was with Ryder. He brought out a part of her that was missing.

“I would never use someone for another’s expense. Especially not you. When I’m with you, Joel is the furthest thing from my mind.”
Joel who?
“It took a long time to figure out that you’re not the ice queen Joel said you were.” 

Like a sharp sword, his sentence sliced through the emotional fog she was in. 

Violet pulled away from Ryder’s touch and asked, “Joel called me an ice queen? Those exact words?” 

Ryder retracted his hand to his side and stuffed both in the pockets of his slacks, looking like a guilty boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I shouldn’t have said that.” 

Whatever was happening between them was gone, vanished.

“But it’s the truth?” she pried. 

“Those are his words, Violet. Not mine. Your touch is nothing like he said.”  

Nothing like he said? Nothing like Joel said?

“Wait a minute? Nothing like
he said
?”

Violet felt sick to her stomach. Not only had Joel called her an ice queen, he had talked about their intimacy with Ryder. And by the sounds of it, her fingers were like ice. 

“Joel talked about our love making? With you?”

“Violet...”

“He did.” She scoffed and took several steps back, until her legs bumped against her desk and the truth settled into her head. Her fingers gripped onto the edge and the horror of difficult intimate times she’d spent with Joel caused her upper torso to drop forward.

She took in deep breaths, clenching her eyes shut, unable to not compare the two. With Joel, everything had been forced, her desire, her lust, and her pleasure caused by the man’s deception. Maybe it hadn’t been good. Alright, it was awful, but Joel was telling people...
telling Ryder.

Violet swallowed the bile threatening to come up her throat. Joel’s touch was so different than Ryder’s and even how Ryder looked at her melted her into a whole different level of sexual desire, safety and wholeness she’d never felt.

Ice Queen.

Violet couldn’t do this right now.

Why was everything so complicated with Ryder?

There were so many barriers between them and every time she felt like they passed one, another popped up to mock her. It was exhausting.

Violet felt Ryder’s hand press against her upper back and lightly rub. She wanted to slap him away, but at the same time she wanted to reach for him. When Ryder was brave enough to wrap his arms around her, Violet commended him for caring when she was hot and cold like the weather, Violet let him.

He lifted her from the desk and her weight fell against the solidness of his body. Violet didn’t cry. She let the strength of his hold soothe away the hurt she felt.

“I’m not Joel,” Ryder whispered against the side of her head. “I would never talk about the times we’ve spent together. Not with him, not with anyone.” Ryder wasn’t Joel. Nothing about Ryder had ever been like Joel.

Violet moved to look at Ryder. “And I’m not Courtney.”

Ryder smiled. He pushed hair away from her face. “No, you are not.”

“So now what?”

He shrugged. “Is that a yes to deep fried pickles?”

Violet grinned at him. “You want to take me out for pickles?”

“I’ve never taken a woman out for pickles before.”

Violet chuckled. “This conversation sounds like something Parker and Sophia would have.”

Ryder chuckled too. “What do you have planned after this meeting?”

Tonight? Tonight!
“Nothing.”

“That’s perfect. We can go on a deep fried pickle date after your meeting.”

“Okay. But, can we keep this between us? I don’t want to explain this to anyone...to Joel...when I don’t know what this is.”

“It’s called dating.”

“We’re not dating.”

“There you go, challenging me again. My parents used to challenge me instead of directly answering my questions. I loved the way I always knew what I wanted when we were done talking. Just like each time you challenge me, it becomes clearer all I want is you.”

All he wanted was her.
He was definitely charming, like everyone said.

“My lips are sealed.” Ryder didn’t let her go.

“The meeting started fifteen minutes ago,” Violet reminded him.

Ryder didn’t move. His eyes traveled from hers, down her face, landing on her lips, and then back up to her eyes. He wanted to kiss her, but he was trying to restrain himself. It was adorable.

Violet closed in the distance between them for a small,
get-us-through-the-meeting
kiss. But, it was never  a small kiss between them.

DAMN JOEL.

Ryder remained behind the closed doors of Violet’s office, waiting for her text to meet her, Joel and Missy in the gold ballroom.

Before her departure, while adding her number to Ryder’s contacts, Violet disclosed their plan in her listen-closely-I’m-not-going-to-repeat-it-tone and speed. Ryder had listened, but that didn’t stop him from kissing her senseless when she finished.

Violet’s instructions were clear. Ryder was pretending after his early arrival that he’d wandered around the resort and lost track of time. Instead of the truth...making out with Violet in her office.

Ryder still tasted the flavor of Violet’s lips.

That one little lie, on top of the omission that Ryder planned on taking Joel’s ex-wife out on a date, was nothing in comparison to the fake smile Ryder put on as he walked through the double doors and joined Joel and Missy at the round table with Violet.

Ryder was downright down pissed off at Joel.

Looking at his smug face, carefree attitude and clueless of the results his actions had, was sickening.
Didn’t Joel realize the hurt he put in people’s lives from the bullshit that came out of his mouth?

When Ryder was battling whether to spare Violet the truth of Joel’s admission about their intimate times, but not wanting to add another lie between him and Violet, she concluded the truth. Ryder’s heart ached at the effect Joel’s ignorance had on her. Strong, independent Violet Caliendo, bent over like she was having a panic attack and all because Joel couldn’t keep his bedroom stories to himself. 

And there wasn’t a damn thing Ryder could do to demonstrate to Joel how ticked off he was without putting Violet in the middle of it. She’d asked him to keep it between them and Ryder didn’t go back on his word.

Ryder forced a painful smile, a fake hug, and laughter that his body was having difficulty creating, as he recited Violet’s plan.

“Lots of hot guests on the ground, isn’t there?” Joel asked.

Ryder fisted her hands and jammed them in his pockets before one made contact with his face.

How was he supposed to stand up beside a man, at his wedding, when he was having growing hatred for him?

“Especially in the pools. Did you make it out to the pools?” Joel whistled.

Missy slapped him. “Stop it.”

Joel squeezed Missy’s shoulder. “You have nothing to worry about, babe. You haven’t had kids, you’re still smoking hot.”

A direct jab at Violet.

Ryder’s blood boiled.

He was sick and tired of these jabs and games Joel was playing. He was a selfish, heartless bastard. Joel was beginning to look more like the Ice King than his former wife was the Ice Queen.

Ryder’s hands came out of his pockets and his feet began to move. He was going to pulverize Joel. The short distance that separated him from Joel was blocked as Violet stepped between them and faced Ryder.

He sent her a,
get out of my way look,
which she ignored...of course.

Violet mastered professionalism. “You’ve made perfect timing to catch the last few questions and then it’s off to whatever plans you have this evening,” she said to him in the tone of a woman who couldn’t stand him. But, her eyes promised him an entirely different story...if he didn’t mess it up.

Fine. He would back off. For now. But if Joel didn’t get his shit together, he was going to be waiting at the end of the aisle with a black eye.

“Should we sit back down?” Violet asked, turning to everyone. Missy and Joel moved back toward the table.

Violet sent Ryder a warning.

“He’s being an ass,” Ryder snarled.

“You’re acting like a Neanderthal.” Violet didn’t give him a chance to respond and walked to the table, sitting beside Missy. Joel was on the other side and he pulled out a chair for Ryder to sit in. Ryder shook his head and continued his pace around the table. He couldn’t sit down. He couldn’t even think straight. All he wanted to do was make Joel apologize and promise to never let an ignorant remark about Violet leave his lips again. This was the woman of his children, didn’t that mean anything to Joel?

Three questions. That was it.
One. Two. Three.
Then Ryder would get to spend the rest of his night with Violet. And for no other reason than because they both wanted to.

“That about sums it up,” Violet was saying. Ryder wondered why they needed a meeting if it was so quick. Or had Violet moved the meeting along quickly, for their date.
Date.
He loved the sound of that. Finally, they were past some of the road blocks between them and able to move forward. He hoped they stayed on track.

“It’s your day to be a queen,” Violet was saying.

Ryder hadn’t been listening closely until
queen
came out of her mouth.

Ryder stopped pacing and turned to the backs sitting around the table.

“Why not surround yourself with sparkle...” Violet continued.

Ryder grinned. What was she up to?

“...with ice.” Ryder found his anger diminishing as he listened to Violet fight Joel in her own way. Ryder made his way to the opposite side of the table to enjoy the reactions of the happy couple. Mostly Joel’s reaction.

“Ice?” Missy glanced at Joel, who shared the unsure look. “I’m having a summer wedding,” Missy pointed out.

Violet smiled wide, fake smile she’d never sent his direction. “I know but there’s this amazing company that makes beautiful ice sculptures that would accent your decor. Look...” Violet began flipping through her screen. “We could arrange ice flower bouquets or swans...”

“I don’t like swans,” Missy said.

“Alright. We could do a king and queen sculpture at the head table.” There was no mistaking the pure pleasure across Violet’s face.

Oh shit. Was she going to say something?

Ryder’s feet nearly gave out on him as her next words left Violet’s mouth. “An ice queen...”

Ryder gripped the back of the wooden chair in front of him.

Violet continued. “...doesn’t that sound amazing?” 

Missy shook her head.

Joel shot a glance at Ryder, but Ryder shrugged it off innocently. If Violet wanted to come right out and mention the on/off and up/down craziness between Ryder and Violet, Ryder would stand by her side and hopefully he would get to throw a punch or two in Joel’s direction. But Ryder had no idea where Violet was going with this, so he remained quiet.

“Doesn’t ice at a wedding seem...cold-hearted?” Missy exchanged a look with Joel that confirmed Joel had mentioned Violet’s nickname to his fiancé.

Violet didn’t miss it. 

Ryder wanted to clarify that Joel was a lying bastard and Violet was anything but an Ice Queen. Ryder was one hundred percent positive about that. No matter how thick she built the barrier around her, every inch Violet let Ryder in, he saw more of who she really was.

But, Ryder was stuck. He couldn’t say a damn word. He wanted to take Violet out of this whole ludicrous situation, but it wasn’t his place.

However, a little helping hand wouldn’t hurt.

Ryder moved behind Violet for full view of the ice sculptures across her iPad. He could have stood between Missy and Violet, but much preferred taking in the womanly smell of Violet and feeling her shoulders tense as his grazed her.

“I like the idea of ice sculptures. Let me see what the options are.” With one hand on the back of Violet’s chair, Ryder used the other to scroll her iPad, purposely rubbing his body against hers with each movement.

Violet didn’t move. She didn’t take her machine or ask him politely to remove his hand, she simply watched.

Ryder stopped at two lovers entangled...naked. “Oooh, that’s interesting.”

Violet let a giggle escape and the sound was soothing music to Ryder’s ears. He wanted to make this cautious woman let loose everyday of their lives.

“They’re naked,” Missy observed, appalled, as if she’d never seen a naked person.

It was art. Actually, it was amazing. “It’s two lovers entwined in the beautiful art of lovemaking and that, Missy, is magnificence.”

“That is porn,” Joel said.

Another laugh bubbled in Violet and she cleared her throat. “Let’s move on.”

Her finger touched the screen and Ryder swatted it away. “I’m not finished.”

“Yes, but it’s not your wedding.” Violet slapped his hand away.

Ryder caught her hand. “That’s right, because if it was my wedding, we would all be in the silver ballroom.” The silver ballroom where images of Violet sprawled beneath him on the head table were so enchantingly real it was like they’d already been there together.

Violet glared at him and the way her little nose squished together was adorable. He almost reached down and kissed her.

“Yes, we all know you would choose the silver ballroom and have a winter wedding with snow falling in the background. I’m sure a naked ice sculpture of two lovers entwined would fit perfectly in your decor. I will make a note of that for your future wedding.” Violet stopped suddenly.

With her head still turned at him, Ryder watched as the awareness of everything she’d just shared in front of Joel and Missy, crossed her face. Her eyes pleaded an escape she would never find.

“Yes, let’s make notes now. I think I want three ice sculptures at my wedding. This love making couple...” Ryder clicked the add button on the screen and Violet forgot her fears, distracted by taking his order off.

“Would you get your hands off my iPad.”

Ryder didn’t listen. “And the ice king and queen...” Ryder stretched the last word as he began flipping the pages on the screen. “You never know what lies under the chillness of an ice queen...” he muttered under his breath, for Violet only.

“Ryder Carlex,” Violet scolded reaching for his hand again.

“Violet Caliendo,” he mocked her.

Violet laughed, a wonderful mixture of frustration and humor, and he knew she’d forgotten they weren’t alone.

She grasped his hand and pushed him away. At the same time, she turned her whole body for leverage.

“You are worse than Parker, I swear. Next time we are on the boat, I’m taking the electronics away from you.” She poked his chest with the last word. “And we will see how you like it.”

Next time? Next time! He would like that plenty.

As Ryder tripped backwards, he laughed at her empty threat and pulled Violet to her feet with him. Suddenly, he was lost with her, forgetting that they weren’t alone, or that there were truths between them still unresolved. Violet stumbled against him laughing.

“Maybe I will skip the life jacket next time we are on the swim deck.”

Violet’s eyes flared. “You don’t even know if I can swim.”

“Then don’t tempt me.”

She laughed again only this time it was interrupted by Joel clearing his voice, then he asked, “You two went on the boat together?”

Violet stiffened, and then surprised him, when she sent Ryder a look that said,
that’s not all we did
, and he loved that it was laced with humor too.

Ryder knew right there that they could get through whatever Violet was scared of. Whether it be his past, or her future, Ryder didn’t want to spend another day without her smile, her laughter and that naughty side of her that excited him.

“I like the window in the silver ballroom,” Missy said, oblivious to the tension in the room. “Violet, is that room still available?”