Knight in Shining Suit (44 page)

I nodded.

We went to my house. I
changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved blouse. Then I
packed a night’s worth of clothes with me.

When I came out of the
house, Ryder asked, “Do you know how to drive?”

I raised a brow at him.
“Of course! Cars do not come cheap to us village people, but I
learned some tricks.”

Ryder laughed and tossed
me his car keys. “Show me.”

I laughed. “Alright. Mr.
Van Woodsen just got himself a chauffeur.”

“
A beautiful one at that!”
he laughed.

When I got into his car, I
adjusted the seats and the side mirrors. His car was a little bit
more complicated than the normal ones I’d driven before. Ryder had
to give me a bit of orientation before I took his car for a spin. I
liked the car. It was comfortable and it was fast. I felt good
being able to drive again after more than a year.

We went to Oil Rig. I
stood by the glass walls of Ryder’s office to watch what’s
happening on the floors. All of Ryder’s staff was well-coordinated,
as if they were trained to work for the finest restaurants, instead
of a bar. I could tell that Ryder really knew what he was
doing.

He came behind me, put his
arms around my waist and nuzzled my neck.

“
Are you strict with your
employees?” I asked.

“
Why do you
ask?”

I shrugged. “They all look
coordinated.”

He chuckled. “I hire the
best, and I train them long. They’re well-compensated. And they get
all the tips and service charges. Once a week, they can bring their
family here and dine for free. I know each and every one of them
personally. They can come to me directly if they have a problem. I
believe that if you motivate your people positively, you’ll get
better positive results.”

“
How are you going to
manage all these when you finally become in charge of your entire
empire?”

“
I had a plan,” he said.
“I used to think I could take care of it all. Fly from one country
to another.”

“
And now what happened to
that plan?” I asked.

He stared at me for a
while and then he said, “You changed it.”

My eyes narrowed at him.
“What did I do?”

He leaned forward and gave
me a kiss on the lips. “I fell in love with you,” he said. “You
made me realize that there are more important things in life than
money and success, and that one way or another, I would have to
delegate. Find some free time for myself. Remember that day you
came to New York? I had the longest day of my life. Working for
twenty-four hours straight. And then you came. I was so glad you
were there. When I slept with you in my arms, I knew there was no
other place I would rather be. And that if I did have you in my
life for real, I wouldn’t miss the chance to come home to
you.”

“
Now you have me in your
life for real,” I told him. “Geography is still a
bummer.”

He smiled. “I’ll figure
something out. If I can’t fly to Malibu, I’d probably ask you to
fly to New York.”

I smiled at him. “I’d like
that,” I told him. “Honestly, I like Manhattan. I’d like to visit
again.”

“
I hope you like it enough
to move there,” he whispered.

I laughed. “I said I’d
think about it.”

That night, Ryder and I
made love slowly and passionately. It was amazing. I couldn’t get
enough of him. And it seemed that he couldn't get enough of me
either. After making love, we stayed in bed, locked in each other’s
arms.

“
I’ll leave early
tomorrow,” he said. “I won’t wake you up anymore. You still have my
keys don’t you?”

I nodded. “I’ll give them
back to you when you get back.”

“
Nope,” he said. “They’re
your keys. Keep them. I want you to be here while I’m
gone.”

“
Why?”

“
For my peace of mind. I
know you’ll be safer here. You know this house has a central alarm
system. You can enable it and it rings the police directly if
something goes wrong.”

“
I am safer at my place
when I work late. Remember you didn’t want me to walk down the
street?”

“
You don’t have to walk,”
he said. He kissed my forehead. “I’m leaving my car keys to you as
well.”

I laughed. “You’re going
to trust me with your car while you’re not sitting in the passenger
seat?”

“
It has comprehensive
insurance,” he said. “Seriously, love. I want you to drive my car
while I’m not here.”

I stared back at him.
“Ryder… that’s an expensive car.”

“
You’re more precious than
the car, Ash,” he argued. “Please. Think of it as my way of
protecting you while I’m not physically with you. I would rather
you drive the car than walk or take a cab.” He looked at me in the
eye. “Please, love. No arguments?”

I took a deep breath. I
knew I couldn’t argue with Ryder once he put his mind into
something.

“
This is the price to pay
for being with you, isn’t it?” I asked him. He narrowed his eyes. I
took a deep breath. “I have to get used to expensive things and
gadgets.”

He laughed. “We need to
find a balance,” he said. “I’m just as comfortable with walking as
I am with driving my cars. There’s one thing I need to ask you.” He
tilted my chin up so I could look into his eyes. “I can't help who
I am, Ash. I’ll always be Ryder Van Woodsen. But that does not
change the man you fell in love with.”

“
Now that we’re on the
topic, what else is there in Ryder Van Woodsen’s world? Because I
don’t want to be taken by surprise.”

He sighed. He held me
tighter, as if he needed to secure his hold on me before he told me
the real deal.

“
I grew up in Manhattan…
with my father. Paris lived in Paris with my mother. My parents
separated when I was seventeen. Because of my father’s womanizing
activities, my mother thought it was the best idea to give us the
first parts of our inheritance earlier, put it in a trust that we
could access when we came of age. I had access to mine when I was
eighteen.” He looked at me seriously. “I’m not going to lie to you,
Ash. It’s huge.”

“
Must be. Your parents
would probably leave at least a million or two in your
trust.”

He took a deep breath.
“More than a hundred actually.”

I stared up at him, my
eyes wide. “Wow!” I breathed.

“
I was investing since I
was eighteen,” he said. “I made my first million when I was
twenty.”

I listened quietly to
Ryder. I knew he was rich. But until now, I didn’t have an idea
just how much.

“
Soon, I’ll be inheriting
more when my father retires and finally gives me full reigns to the
business. I will be the one to handle it full time. Paris will just
be part of the board, with controlling shares. But she won’t have
hands-on management.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because she doesn’t want
to. She would like to operate my bars more than our
restaurants.”

“
She operates your
bars?”

“
Except the ones in
Malibu.”

“
What else do I need to
know about the man I’m sleeping with?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I’m
practically debt-free,” he said,” he said. “I don’t mortgage to
invest. I owed my first investment to my trust fund. And I rolled
the income into another investment. I’m practically made, Ash.
Success came to me at an early age. I guess I was lucky. My parents
made sure I had everything I needed and more.”

“
Yet you’re grounded,
Ryder,” I said. “When we’re together, I find it hard to believe you
are
the
Ryder Van
Woodsen.”

“
That’s what I have been
trying to tell you,” he said,” he said. “I don’t exist in glamor,
and my life isn’t always in the limelight. I can be your ordinary
guy… your normal bartender even. You don’t have to be afraid with
me, Ash. Just take a chance.”

I nodded. “I already
am.”

He hugged me to him.
“Please don’t deny me the chance to spoil you… to make you feel
like a queen. I like it. I used to hate girls who chased after me
because of the material things I could give them. Now, the woman I
want doesn’t want anything from me at all. Maybe that’s one of the
reasons why I fell in love with you. But that doesn’t take away the
fact that I am who I am. And I want to shower you with everything,
Ash. Please don’t deny me that.”

I laughed. “Okay. But
don’t squander your millions on me, Ryder. You have to remember, a
bouquet of flowers and some diamond jewelry weighs just the same to
me, as long as they came from you.”

He chuckled. “I’ll
remember.” He stared at me for a while and then he took a deep
breath. “You’re beautiful,” he said,” he said. “I love
you.”

I smiled. “I love you,
too.”

Ryder leaned forward and
kissed me. That started a whole rollercoaster ride of passion
again.

***

Ryder was gone when I woke
up the next morning. He left me a note on the bedside
table.

Love,

I mean it. I want you to
stay here while I’m gone. I left the car keys here. You can arm and
disarm the alarm with the password.

I’ll be home sooner than
you think. I’ll just finish up with my meetings and I will come
home to you. Until then, please be miserable without me. Because I
am miserable without you.

The password is 278743. To
make it easier for you to remember, spell your name on the keypad.
:-)

I love you very
much.

Ryder

I cried after reading his
letter. I missed him so much already. It wasn’t like this with
Bryan. He could go to a convention for a week and I would still be
my chirpy self at work. I was too busy with my job then, I didn’t
have time to miss him. But with Ryder, it was different. It seemed
that no matter how busy I became, I’d still have a heavy lump in my
heart.

When Bryan broke my heart,
I was torn and broken. I thought the only way to take the pain away
was to get back together with him, put it all behind us. Had I done
that, I wouldn’t be here in Ryder’s bed, hugging my pillow and
missing him like crazy.

Ryder is everything that I
have ever dreamed of. He’s everything that I was afraid to dream
of. Who would have thought that a couple of months ago, I was
whining and sulking about Bryan and Geena? Now, I’m having a fairy
tale relationship with a Manhattan prince.

I guess I had to feel that
pain in my past to journey towards Ryder. And I wouldn’t want to
have it any other way. I think I would go through a hundred more of
the heartbreaks with Bryan, if it meant I would have Ryder to come
home to at the end of it all.

My thoughts were
interrupted when my phone rang.

“
Where have you been
hiding?” Dannie asked.

I had not spoken to my
friends since the day I left for my parents’
anniversary.

“
Nowhere,” I said. “How
are you doing?”

“
I’m good. Let’s catch up.
I want to hear all about your parents’ anniversary and your date
with that hot photographer,” he said,” he said.

“
Where are
you?”

“
I’m still at home. Meet
you at Starbucks?” he asked.

“
Okay. Want me to pick you
up and we’ll go to Starbucks together?”

“
Fine. I’ll call Nicole
and John. Hopefully, they have time off from work.”

After I hung up, the
landline rang.

“
Hello,” I
answered.

“
You don’t know how that
feels,” Ryder said chuckling. “Calling home and the voice you’d
like to hear the most answers your telephone.”

“
You’re not shy with
flattery, are you, Van Woodsen?”

He laughed. “Except it’s
not flattery. I’m just… telling you exactly what I feel,” he said,”
he said. “Did you just wake up?”

“
Yes,” I replied
quietly.

“
Are you
crying?”

Now, after hearing his
voice, I couldn’t help crying. “No.” But I knew the tone of my
voice betrayed me.

“
What’s wrong, love?” he
asked.

I took a deep breath.
“Will it drive you away if I tell you that I miss you
already?”

“
No,” he replied
seriously. “I miss you too.”

“
God, Ryder! I have to
stop being silly!” I said more to myself.

“
You’re not silly,” he
said. “I like it that you miss me.”

I took a deep breath. “You
really did leave your car keys,” I said.

“
I told you I want you to
use it,” he said.

“
How did you get to the
airport?”

“
The usual. I asked one of
the guys from the bar to pick me up,” he said,” he said.