Knight in Shining Suit (32 page)

“
It took some work,” I
said. “But I was successful.”

Ryder chuckled. “That’s
not true! You got under my skin the minute I saw you,” he
said.

“
So when’s the big day?”
Alizia asked.

“
Well, we haven’t set the
date yet,” I said.

“
Oh, better hold on to him
until then. Your man is a slippery catch,” she said. Then she
turned to Ryder. “Congratulations! I’ll see you around.” With one
final wave, she went off.

I raised my brow at Ryder.
“Old flame? Someone you charmed during one of your bartender
episodes? Speaking of bartender episodes, you filled in as a
bartender last night, didn’t you? You must have gotten a dozen
phone numbers.” I didn’t know what just came over me. But somehow,
the idea of Ryder charming another woman as he pretended to be a
bartender, the way he flirted with me the night I met him really
irritated me! Plus, women… looking like Alizia! Supermodel that
fits an heir like Ryder.

I turned away from him so
he could not see the frown on my face. It took him a few seconds to
catch up with me.

“
Oh, okay, so we’re
playing the part of
jealous fiancée
now,” he said in an amused tone.

“
I’m not jealous!” I
snapped. I glared at him and then I walked away.

After a few seconds, I
felt him tug at my hand. He pulled me to him and to my surprise, he
gave me a hug.

He was chuckling. I tried
to pull away, but he refused to let me go.

“
It’s not my thing to
flirt with my customers,” he whispered. “As far as Alizia goes, we
went out twice in college. Two dates. Nothing happened. She tried
initiating a third date… plenty of times… but let’s just say she’s
not my type.”

I pulled away from him,
relief washing over me. “You didn’t have to explain that to me. I
wasn’t jealous! You can fake an engagement, but you can’t fake
jealousy.” I started walking away. He caught up with me.

I was silent for a while,
and finally, just to break the ice, I said, “Really, Ryder? Alizia?
Tall, blonde, legs that go on forever? Not your type? Even I find
that hard to believe.”

“
Nope.” He said with a
popping “P.”

“
If she’s not your type
then I don’t know what is.”

He chuckled. “Well,
recently I discovered I have a certain weakness for petite,
strawberry blondes with rare violet eyes.”

Is he mocking me because I
showed a hint of jealousy?

I glared at him. “Well,
too bad there’s very few of them!” I snapped and increased my
pace.

“
There’s only
one
actually.”

My heart pounded in my
chest. I stopped walking and faced him. I raised my brow, frowned,
but didn’t say anything.

“
I made a mistake when I
said it’s not my thing to flirt with my customers. I actually did
that…
only once
.
Because I couldn’t resist.” There was laughter in his eyes. That
embarrassed me more.

“
Stop that, Ryder!” I said
in an irritated tone.

He raised a brow and
feigned innocence. “Stop what?”

“
Stop… making me blush!” I
said and started to walk away.

I heard a low chuckle and
then I felt him take my hand. He pulled me towards him and gave me
a hug again. “But you’re perfect with your blush, love,” he
whispered.

“
But you shouldn’t be
making me!” I said, burying my face in his chest. I shouldn’t be
showing this much emotion for Ryder. At least not when we’re not in
front of my family.

“
But I like seeing you
blush, love,” he said quietly. “Let it be my prize for a job well
done.”

I stared up at him and I
could see that his eyes were dancing. I raised a brow. “Who said it
was a job well done?”

He laughed. “I think
they’re pretty convinced,” he said. He looked behind me and then he
said, “But if not, maybe this will change their minds.” Before I
knew it, I was being kissed thoroughly. Instantly, my heart melted,
my knees turned to jelly and I forgot how to breathe. The
butterflies were running wildly inside my stomach. Electricity
flowed from Ryder’s lips to mine. I wanted… to linger there
forever, in his arms… with his lips on mine.

“
Oh you two lovebirds.” I
heard my Aunt say behind me.

Ryder stopped kissing me,
and acted as if he had not seen my aunt and mother
coming.

He stared at me, and as if
he was contended that I had blushed enough, his lips curved into a
crooked smile and then he released me gently.

Damn!
I looked away from him. I turned to my mother who was staring
at me lovingly. Her eyes were almost wet, as if she were so happy
to see me being thoroughly kissed in public.

“
Are you okay, mother?” I
asked her.

“
Oh she’s just feeling
nostalgic,” my aunt replied quickly. “You know... she misses your
dad.”

My mother looked like she
was about to say something, but chose not to. Then she reached out
and touched my cheek. She smiled at me and whispered, “He loves you
a lot. You’re lucky. Even if he isn’t rich… you’re lucky because
he’s crazy about you.”

Then before she could say
more, my aunt pulled her away into a nearby jewelry
shop.

I was still staring after
them. I felt Ryder standing beside me. When I looked up at him, he
was staring at me wearily.

“
Something’s wrong,” I
said.

He nodded slightly. “But
it doesn’t look like she’s ready to talk about it yet.”

“
I’m worried.”

“
And yet you’re going to
have to give her time, until she’s ready to let it out. But you
have to make her feel that you’re there for her. Even though she’s
not telling you that she needs you.”

I stared up at him.
Hearing him say those words made me wonder if he was The Ryder Van
Woodsen, heir of a multi-million dollar family empire. Sometimes,
it was hard to believe who he was.

“
Why did you have to
be
the
Ryder Van
Woodsen?” I said under my breath. I knew I said it to myself, but I
knew he heard it too.

I started walking, leaving
him to tail behind me. He didn’t make an effort to catch up with
me. I didn’t slow my pace down.

And I meant what I said.
No matter how wonderful Ryder was as a friend, I was afraid he’d be
just as complicated as a boyfriend. Besides, I was not ready for a
relationship just yet. And when I was… I wanted more than a man who
wanted to share his bed with me. I wanted a guy who would give me
his heart and soul and put me in the center of his
world.

I followed my mother to
the jewelry shop. She and my aunt were looking at some rings. I
looked over at some bracelets. I saw a white gold necklace with a
huge amethyst pendant surrounded by diamonds. It was absolutely
stunning. I looked at the tag price. It was expensive, but I
figured I could afford it by the end of the month after I got paid
for the two weddings I had booked for the week. Adam paid me on a
monthly basis. I could afford the necklace at once, but I wanted to
show him profit by the end of the month. I didn’t want the
investors to pull out too early in the game.

“
That will bring out the
hue in your eyes.” I heard Ryder say behind me.

“
It’s beautiful.” I
smiled. “Something to look forward to when I get my paycheck at the
end of the month.”

He nodded. “How’s the
wedding business doing by the way? You always seem
busy.”

I smiled at him
widely.

“
It’s great! I’ve been
getting a lot of inquiries. I do an average of two weddings a month
now. I plan to increase that average to about four by the end of
next month.”

He smiled. “See? You’ve
come a long way from the girl that whined about being jobless at
that wedding.”

I took a deep breath and
looked at the necklace. A couple of months ago, buying jewelry was
the least of my worries. Now, I was looking at a fine gem and
dreaming of making it mine soon.

I looked briefly at Ryder.
I knew I wouldn’t be where I was now without him if he hadn't
encouraged me or given me a push. Adam and my friends had been
telling me that there was a silver lining in the mass of dark
nimbus cloud at the top of my head. It was Ryder who showed me not
only the silver lining, but also the colorful rainbow over the
horizon.

Even if there was no hope
of a real relationship between the two of us, I knew that I would
never be where I am now, if it wasn’t for him. And I will hold him
dearly in my heart… for the rest of my life.

I reached out and gave him
a gentle kiss, smiling against his velvet lips. If he was surprised
when I pulled away, he didn’t show it. Instead he smiled back at me
and reached out to push a lock of stray hair away from my
face.

“
Thank you, Ryder,” I
whispered.

“
You’re welcome, love,” he
whispered back, and I just knew it was one of those moments when we
just connected. We knew exactly what the other was
thinking.

Until, we were interrupted
by my aunt.

“
Astrid, could you come
here for a second?” my aunt called. I reluctantly left Ryder’s side
and went to the counter where my aunt and mother were looking at a
beautiful diamond studded ring.

“
Pretty?” my aunt
asked.

It was beautiful, but
without a doubt, very expensive.

“
Very,” I replied. “What
for?”

“
Nothing. Your mother is
thinking of buying it.”

“
Yes. Using your father’s
credit card!” my mother grunted.

“
Mom, did you and Dad have
a fight?” I couldn’t help asking now.

She shook her head
immediately. “No. Of course not!”

“
She’s just not happy that
your father was not able to come with us on this trip,” my aunt
butted in.

“
And to get back at him
for that, I am going to buy myself a treat,” my mother
muttered.

“
That’s an expensive
treat!” I said.

“
He can afford
it.”

I didn’t know why my
mother was acting so weird. I knew that something was up. Maybe
Ryder was right. I just needed to give her time. I might as well
call my father tonight, too.

All of a sudden, I felt
someone come up behind me. Before I could turn around, a pair of
hands shoved something over me from behind.

“
Oh my God, that is
absolutely beautiful!” my aunt and my mother breathed, looking at
the necklace that Ryder put on me.

My hand went to necklace
and even without looking at it in the mirror, I know what it is. My
heart pounded in my chest.

“
Ryder…” I started to
protest, but I felt a kiss at the base of my neck.

“
A guy can give anything
to his fiancée,” he whispered. “Your family expects
that.”

That frustrated me. I
couldn’t refuse the necklace in front of my mother and my
aunt.

I turned to face him. His
eyes were dancing.

“
Doesn’t it bring out the
violet hue in her eyes?” he asked my aunt and my mother.

“
It absolutely does,” my
mother said. “It looks lovely on you.”

“
Mrs. Jacobson, please
make sure that she wears this necklace to every gathering that you
have, especially when I’m not with her,” he said to my mom.
“Something to remember me by.”

My mother laughed. “You’re
so sweet, Ryder. Yes, I will remind her to wear that necklace every
time she comes to see us.”

I glared at Ryder. He
laughed and then pulled me to him and gave me a hug.

“
I’m still going to give
you back the ring,” I whispered when I buried my face against his
chest.

“
The necklace will do for
now.” He chuckled.

And because I knew he had
defeated me, I slid my hand inside his jacket and gave him a hard
pinch on his side.

He laughed and he gave me
a kiss on the forehead. Then he took my hand and we all went out of
the jewelry shop.

When my mother and my aunt
were far ahead of us to hear what we were talking about, I turned
to him.

“
Why did you do that?” I
demanded.

“
Because I knew it will
look lovely on you.”

“
Ryder, this is not part
of the deal! This is expensive!”

“
But the glare you’re
giving me right now, and the blush on your face? Priceless!” he
teased.

“
Don’t do this!” I told
him. “I feel so… indebted to you already.”

“
Don’t. I’m just playing
my part well.”

“
Too well!” I
said.

He sighed, then pulled me
to him again and gave me a hug. “Come on, Ash. I’m tired. I don’t
want to argue with you. Just… accept the necklace. I want to give
it to you. I don’t know why. But I do. And… well, I was hoping to
see delight in your eyes when I put it on you, actually. Not… anger
bordering on wrath.”