Challenging Ryker (Kringle Security #2)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Holy fucking annoying.

Whoever said that men were bigger babies was spot on. Ryker hadn't stopped whining since they left the hospital. For someone who swore up and down that he hated hospitals, getting out didn't appear to make him any happier.

"Are you done bitching yet?" Monica snapped at Ryker as they walked up the steps to the front door.

"I told you, I don't need the two of you fussing over me."

Yes, he had told them, a dozen times in fact, but if he could ignore her request to stay somewhere other than his place, then she could ignore his complaining about them helping him.

Payback was a bitch and all that.

"No one asked your opinion." Amelia gave him her most sarcastic smile. "Now let's get you inside so you can rest like the doctor ordered."

Just over forty-eight hours ago, she had been at his house for completely different reasons. She had left that day grumpy because of Ryker's strange mood. It looked like she was returning to the same mood two days later. Except now she knew why he was being a baby. Or at least she could assume the reason was he didn't like people seeing him hurt.

Maybe it was the whole her-taking-care-of-him thing. He couldn't be mad that she would be staying with him. He had all but begged her to stay after she was released from the hospital.

For her protection, that had been his reasoning. She doubted that changed in such a short period of time.

"Rest is for the weak."

Men were such babies. If she didn't feel like she owed him one for rescuing her, she would drop him on his ass in the front entryway and leave.

But really? There was nowhere else to go. A hotel wasn't an option. Even a semi-decent one would require both a license and a credit card. Neither of which she was willing to use, not with Gavin, or whatever his real name was, out looking for her.

That left Monica, and while she knew her boss wouldn't hesitate to take her in, it would be awkward living with Luke. She trusted the man. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved Monica and would never do anything to hurt her. But he was a man. One she didn't know very well.

You didn't know Ryker that well either but you stayed with him.

"Rest is for idiots who check themselves out of the hospital against doctor's orders after getting blown up." Monica stood with her hands firmly planted on her hips and a look on her face that made clients back down.

Of course, Ryker being who he was, only further pushed. "There was no reason for me to stay. They wanted to observe me. I can do that from here."

Monica threw her hands in the air. "Stubborn fucking man! You can't observe yourself. Someone else has to do it."

Thank God her boss was here. She didn’t have it in her to deal with Ryker's surliness on her own. She was running on barely any sleep and she was pretty sure her brain wasn't firing on all cylinders. She needed a nap, a long one, and maybe a proper shower. It didn’t seem that either was in her future unless Ryker was willing to settle his ass down. Something she highly doubted he would do considering he bitched about sleeping too much at the hospital.

A knock at the front door had her turning her attention away from Ryker. Hopefully, it was someone who could talk some sense into the man.

"Hey, Amelia. How's our favorite patient?" Luke walked through the doorway and asked with humor lacing his tone.

"A pain in the ass. He refused to let Monica or me help him walk in. He's going to fall flat on his face and then we're going to have to pick his heavy ass up." Then she thought about it. "Actually, now that you're here, you can pick him up when he falls over."

"No one is falling over," Ryker grumbled.

She gave him the side eye before giving her attention back to Luke as if to say see what I mean .

Luke merely chuckled.

"We never claimed to be in the best moods when we're injured. This is nothing. I've seen worse when we were deployed."

She had no idea there was such a thing as worse. If that were the case, then she definitely would've left his ass in the driveway. Screw identification. She would sleep on a park bench at this point.

"You can all leave. Except you." Ryker pointed at her. "You're staying here just like we agreed before everything happened."

Amelia put her hands on her hips and tried to rein in some of the control she was slowly losing.

"It's clear we remember that conversation differently."

The idea of staying with Monica and Luke was starting to sound better and better. So what if she didn't know Luke that well? It had to be better than staying with this infuriating man.

Ryker waved her statement off. "The end result was the same."

He slid onto one of the small couches.

Luke gave them an update. "Caden's back at the office digging into Gavin and pulling video footage from around the office building. Your vehicle wasn't parked there long, so we should be able to catch who tampered with it. We’ll rotate surveilling your house, as well as the office. Monica and Amelia's office, that is. I find it hard to believe these two aren't connected. Two separate incidents so close together are too much of a coincidence for me. I know Caden thinks a con artist wouldn't blow up a vehicle but I also wouldn't think he’d chain a woman up either."

She flinched at the mention of Gavin and what happened to her. She had known Ryker would tell his teammates; there was no way for them to help her without them knowing all the information. But that didn’t make it any easier. She couldn’t imagine what they thought about her, how she allowed herself to get into that position to begin with. She hadn't had time in the hospital to think about it because she had been too worried about Ryker. Now, thinking back on it, they knew what happened to her before she even said anything.

"Sweetheart, come here."

Amelia looked around the room; it was obvious Ryker was talking to her. There were only four of them and she doubted he would be calling Monica that. Before she even realized her feet were moving, she was next to Ryker and allowing him to take her hand to pull her down next to him.

"When did we get to the nickname phase?" she asked.

"When I need you solely focused on me, and that word seems to get me the results I want."

Cocky bastard. The beaming smile only further cemented she was right calling him that. It would be best if she figured out a way to resist his charm. It wouldn't lead her anywhere good, and she was swearing off men. At least in the relationship sense.

Sex? No problem. Well, hopefully. She had yet to fully test that theory.

Feelings? Hell no. There was no room for that. Being burned once was one time too many.

"And what exactly do you want?" she asked, putting some distance between them.

"I don't want to see that look on your face every time someone mentions the douche canoe you call an ex."

Amelia’s cheeks grew hot. "I don't want to discuss him right now."

Or ever for that matter. She wanted to bury her head in the sand and let someone else deal with the problem. Unfortunately, that was how she got in her current predicament—allowing someone else to take care of her hadn't exactly worked out in her favor.

"I'll give you that." She let out a sigh at his declaration but it was done too early. "For now. But we will be talking about him. I need to know what happened."

"Only if you tell me what happened with your mother and why you kicked me out of the room."

The betrayal she felt when he declared he wanted to speak to his mother alone had come out of the blue. She had no reason to feel that way, not when the person he wanted alone time with was family. But for some reason, after refusing to leave his side until he woke up, it hurt knowing he didn't want her there. Or for her to meet his mother.

"That's not playing fair."

Maybe it wasn't, but if he wanted to know about her life, then she wanted to know about his. The look she gave him said it all, and she knew she had him when he let out a slow exhale.

"It's a good thing we're alone."

Amelia looked around the living room. Sure enough, Monica and Luke had disappeared. When the hell had that happened?

"They snuck out when I asked you to come here. I think they knew we needed some time alone."

Huh. So much for being aware of her surroundings. She had been so focused on Ryker that she hadn't heard anything else. She would need to analyze that later.

"My mother and I have a … strained relationship." Ryker held up his hand before she asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue. "I'm not ready to discuss the why of it, but just know me asking to speak to her alone had nothing to do with you. I'm not ready to expose that part of my life. Yes, I know that makes me a hypocrite but there are some things that are easier to keep buried. My relationship with my mother is one of those things. While I understand why she came out, I wish she hadn't put things on hold to rush out. There was no need. I was fine."

Oh, hell no. There was so much fucked up about that statement that she didn't even know where to begin. Oh wait, yes she did.

"She's your mother , Ryker. Of course, she would rush out to make sure you were okay. You're her son and someone blew up your vehicle. They could've killed you. I think that alone is a damn good reason for her to fly out."

Honestly, she had been surprised it took the woman as long as it did to show up, but according to Caden, where Ryker's mother lived didn't have a large airport, and between the connecting flights and the delays, it had taken much longer.

"Let's agree to disagree. Like I said, that part of my life isn't up for discussion. Not yet."

It was the yet she would be working on. Whatever it was that had Ryker thinking he wasn't good enough for his mother to come make sure he was alive was ludicrous. This man had a heart of gold and deserved everything in life. Maybe she couldn't be the person to give it all to him, but she sure as hell could give him this.