Knight in Shining Suit (10 page)

“
What more do I need to
know about you? Brothers or sisters?”

I shook my head. “Geena
was the closest thing I had to a sister. And she tore my world
apart. She’s Adam’s half-sister. Adam isn’t actually related to me
by blood, but we grew up together. He’s a lawyer, which works great
for him since he’s probably the most tactless person I know. Says
what’s on his mind even though it hurts. He was the only one who
dropped hints on me that something was happening behind my back. At
first, I thought he just wanted to make me miserable. I didn’t
listen. So when the shit hit the fan, he was the only person I
trusted. He took me in.”

“
He sounds like a good
guy,” Ryder whispered.

I nodded. “I only realized
that now. In fact, he’s the one writing you the checks.”

Ryder just raised a brow
at me and then stared ahead.

“
Will ten grand cover all…
your expenses? I mean, you offered to rent out a room for us. And
this car seems more expensive than what I asked you to
rent…”

He reached out for my hand
and squeezed it.

“
Sshhh…” he said. “Relax,
love. Let’s not talk about it. I have it all under
control.”

“
And the ring?”

He chuckled. He surprised
me by pulling my hand and brushing his lips against my
fingers.

“
You won’t see the ring
until tonight,” he said. “Pretend you don’t even know about
it.”

I laughed.
“Alright.”

He intertwined our fingers
and it surprised me how relaxed he was. Like he’s known me for a
long time.

“
You’re nervous,” he said,
squeezing my hand. “You need to lighten up a little bit. Remember,
you’re on a mission. And you need to accomplish it with flying
colors.”

I leaned back on my seat
and tried to relax a little. But inside, my heart was hammering
wildly against my chest. Whether it was because I’ll be seeing the
two people who hurt me the most or because of the tingle that
Ryder’s hands were sending down my spine, I was not
sure.

“
Just give me a recap,” he
said. “I’m supposed to act in love with you. I can’t get my hands
off you and I only have eyes for you in the whole room.”

I nodded. “Pretty
much.”

“
Okay, so how did we
meet?”

I froze on my seat. I
realized that I had spent so much time making sure that Ryder had
the perfect cover that I forgot that I must also have the perfect
love story for us.

“
God! I forgot
that!”

“
Hmmm… how about at the
bar. Oil Rig. You’re there a lot, aren’t you?”

“
Yeah I am.”

“
Okay, so we met through
your friend John. He introduced us and I fell in love with you at
first sight.”

“
Wow! You believe in
that?”

He stared over at me under
those pitch-dark shades and even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I
could feel a blush creep over my face.

“
Hey, we’re going for the
rebound story of the year, why not go the extra mile?”

I giggled. “I admire your
imagination. When did we meet?”

“
Two months ago. But you’d
lost your faith in love then. I was pretty persistent. Let’s say I
sent a dozen roses to your apartment for a month until I finally
got you to go out with me, and I haven’t let you go ever
since.”

“
Have I met your
parents?”

He shook his head. “But
you do speak to my mom on the phone a lot.”

“
Where are
they?”

“
They’re in Manhattan. I’m
just in town for my latest business venture.”

“
Where do you live in
Malibu?”

“
Let’s say a few blocks
from Adam,” he replied.

I laughed. “Okay, I’ll say
it’s the three story house with the huge wrap-around deck facing
the beach.”

He smiled. “Yeah. It could
be that house.”

“
God, I hope no one in the
party would know the owner of that house! Otherwise, we’re
doomed.”

He smiled again. “The
city’s big enough. You have zero percent chance of running into the
house owner there to nullify our story.”

“
Have we slept together?”
I asked, laughing.

He squeezed my hand. “Of
course! I can’t get enough of you.”

I laughed. “My ex is going
to eat his heart out if he hears that!”

“
Why? Was he possessive of
you?”

I shrugged. “Let’s just
say that he also didn’t get enough of me.”

Ryder stared over at me,
as if asking me to elaborate. I smiled and winked at
him.

“
Maybe that’s why he
cheated on me,” I said rolling my eyes.

“
He must be a loser then,”
he said.

“
Why did you say
that?”

“
Because if I had you, I
wouldn’t think about touching anyone else.”

I forgot to breathe right
that instant. When I finally recovered, I forced a laugh. “Right.
Keep that frame of mind. You need it to make it all
real.”

“
Not a difficult job,
love,” he murmured.

“
I’m twenty-eight years
old, by the way,” I said.

He smiled. “I’m two years
your senior.”

“
I’m jobless right now.
But I’m looking.”

He shook his head. “Why
not say you’re looking to put up your own business?”

“
Me? Put up my own
business?”

“
Yeah. With me in your
life, I have influenced your entrepreneurial skills.”

“
Wow! It’d be awesome if
that were true!”

“
Why not? Do you want to
be an employee all your life? You’ve got the skills, the know-how,
the contacts, and even the portfolio.”

“
But I don’t have the
capital.”

“
Ah-ah-ah… Are you
forgetting? Your rich boyfriend invests here and there. Why can’t
he invest in you?”

“
Trust me! My relatives
will be watching out for that! And they would know if it didn’t
happen within the next few months!”

“
In the next few months
you will have your act together. You could always say something
more interesting and a little bit less risky came up.”

I stared at him and
realized how brilliant his plan was. “You really have the answer to
everything, don’t you?”

He laughed. “Just years of
talking to a lot of people.”

I realized that Ryder was
smart. And being a bartender in a classy bar like Oil Rig exposed
him to a whole lot of different people. He seemed like a person who
likes to listen to people’s stories. And he was quite a charmer. I
felt confident that we would be able to pull this off. And I had
the feeling that even Geena would hyperventilate at the sight of
him. Bryan would be practically salivating with envy! That is… if
John’s right and he still had feelings for me.

We chatted, polished our
plan and then I must have fallen asleep for a couple of minutes. It
was at least an hour drive to the resort.

We arrived at the hotel
with perfect timing. A bridal car was parked in front of
us.

“
That’s them?” he
asked.

“
Unless there’s another
wedding happening here tonight,” I replied nervously.

Ryder took off his shades
and placed them on top of his head.

“
So, now, we’re officially
together,” he said to me.

I nodded, my heart
pounding in my chest.

He smiled gently. I could
drown in the deep green of his eyes.

“
Permission to become your
boyfriend, Ma’am,” he asked politely and I couldn’t help
smiling.

“
Permission granted, Sir,”
I said, giggling.

He stared at me deeply in
the eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I watch him lean forward
and brush his lips against mine. It was a soft, gentle kiss. When
he pulled away, I thought he took my heart with him.

“
Do… do I need to start
getting used to that too?” I asked, stuttering slightly. I felt
completely dazzled by this man.

He raised a brow and
grinned at me. “Oh no, love,” he replied and just before we went
out of the car, he said, “Not just that!” And he gave me a rakish
wink.

My heart pounded as I
watched him exit the car and go around to open the door for me. I
saw Bryan and Geena just getting out of the bridal car in front of
us. Before I got out, I caught a glimpse of Bryan looking at
Ryder’s car with
lust
.

I felt a thrill creep
through my veins. Operation Revenge was starting to work exactly as
planned.

“
Come, love,” Ryder said,
holding his hand out.

I took it and slowly
stepped out of the car.

Ryder took my hand and
pulled me towards him. He leaned closer to my ear and said, “I
forgot to tell you. You look breathtakingly beautiful. I’m the
luckiest man on earth today!”

And because I couldn’t say
anything to that, I just laughed. He pulled me towards him and gave
me a kiss on the forehead as his arm wrapped tightly around my
waist.

He tossed his key to the
valet. “We have bags in the back. Take it to our suite,” he said
and gave him our suite number.

Then, with him wrapped all
around me, he led me towards the hotel. As we walked past Bryan and
Geena, surrounded by some of their bridesmaids, Ryder kissed me on
the lips.

We didn’t look over at
them, I didn’t know whether they were looking at us or not. It was
like Ryder and I only had eyes for each other.

When we entered the hotel,
Ryder took a glance back, while I buried my face on his
chest.

“
Is that your ex?” he
asked.

I nodded. “Are they
looking?”

“
Yeah. Bride, groom and
entourage,” he replied chuckling.

Hearing that, I stopped
and faced Ryder. Then I stood up on my toes and gave him a chaste
kiss on the lips. As I pulled away, he leaned forward and
recaptured my parted lips, deepening the kiss. I could barely
support my weight on the tips of my feet, my stance became shaky
and I gripped Ryder’s shoulders for balance. I was glad when his
arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

When I broke the kiss I
could not bear to open my eyes. It had been a while since I’d been
kissed like that. In fact, I couldn’t remember ever being kissed
like that… like I was the center of someone’s world. The kiss was
sensual and enticing, but also reverently gentle.

He leaned his forehead
against mine and sucked in a deep breath.

“
Even if you didn’t pay
me… your kisses are worth it all,” he said.

Staring up at him with his
gorgeous green eyes, I laughed for the simple joy of the
moment.

He took my hand in his and
led me towards the lobby. I saw a familiar face there. Nicole was
dressed in an understated cream, silk gown. She had a headset on
and I couldn’t help sighing.

“
You miss it that much,
huh?” Ryder asked.

I nodded. “I was fired by
my boss because I lost faith in ever afters.”

He reached forward and
touched my cheek softly.

“
You, of all people,
deserve an ever after, love,” he said to me. “Even if you don’t
believe in it, it still believes in you. And someday, it will find
you.”

I almost cried when he
said that, but Nicole interrupted my thoughts.

“
Astrid!” She beamed. She
came over to me and gave me a hug. “Wow, you look like a goddess!”
Then her eyes drifted on to my date and I could tell she fought
hard to keep herself from drooling over Ryder, whether it was for
my benefit or hers, I don’t know.

“
Nicole, this is Ryder.
Ryder, Nicole. My best friend.”

“
Oh, it’s so very nice to
meet you, Ryder,” Nicole said, shaking Ryder’s hand. “I must say,
you do not look last minute at all.”

I had to glare at Nicole
for that. But Ryder simply laughed. “Sometimes, the choices you
don’t prepare for are the best choices you’ll ever
make.”

“
So true!” Nicole said.
“Okay, I see the bride and groom arriving. I’ll see you later. Go
and kick some butt.”

“
It was a pleasure to meet
you, Nicole,” Ryder said.

When Ryder took my hand to
lead me towards the terraces, I stole a glance back at Nicole. She
was staring at me.

“
WOW!” She mouthed and
gave me two thumbs up. I couldn’t help smiling, I was proud of
myself for the perfect choice I made.

“
Shall we go to the party
now?” I asked him.

“
Depends on you,” he said.
“Are you anxious to go in?”

“
No. Not really. If they
followed my program too, there’ll be a first dance after they are
introduced formally as Mr. and Mrs. I don’t want to be there for
that!” I said, shaking my head and wrinkling my nose.