down to it.”
My eyes widened. Parker had said nothing about a girl.
“He stole a girl from you?” I repeated. “What do you mean?” I was pretty darn sure Parker wasn’t hiding a wife somewhere.
“Her name was Natalie,” he said. Ryker wasn’t looking at me now, instead staring at his empty wineglass as his fingers toyed with the stem. “She was sweet, and young, and way too damn trusting.”
“What happened to her?”
Now he glanced up at me, and the pain in his eyes made my breath catch.
“She died.”
Wow. Ryker had been right. Talk about putting a damper on the whole evening. Nothing like discussing a tragedy to bring the mood way down.
“I’m sorry.” I was at a loss as to know what else to say.
Ryker seemed to shake off his black mood, reaching to empty the rest of the wine into our glasses. “It is what it is,” he said with a shrug. “And it was years ago.”
While it may have been years ago, it certainly didn’t seem like he was over it. I wanted to know more details about what had happened, how Parker had “stolen” Natalie from him, but thought it would be insensitive of me to ask, so I kept my mouth shut.
Dorothea came back then and I gave an internal sigh of relief. Her chatter helped break the awkward silence. She set a plate of cannoli in front of us, and despite how full I was from the pasta, I reached for one. The crispy shell melted in my mouth.
“So why did you become a cop?” I asked, washing down the creamy ricotta with the last of my wine. Nothing got the conversation ball rolling again like asking a man to talk about himself.
“The idea of putting criminals behind bars appealed to me,” he said. “The neighborhood I grew up in was a rough one, and it always pissed me off how the gangs ran things and the cops just avoided getting involved. I didn’t want kids to have to go through what I did just to get to school each day.”
He seemed very matter-of-fact, like I should know what he was talking about, but I had no clue. My going to school had consisted of Schultz, our driver, taking me in the back of the Rolls-Royce to a private school my parents had paid out the nose for in tuition. We’d worn uniforms and our lunches were freshly made choices of things like tuna niçoise salad or roasted vegetables on ciabatta.
Ryker glanced at me and caught the blank expression on my face. His smile was rueful. “Sorry. You probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Lake Forest is a long way from the south side of Chicago.”
“So tell me about it then,” I said, but he shook his head.
“Nah. You wanna hear it even less than I want to tell it.” He cracked his practiced grin again. “Tell me what you like to do for fun, Sage.”
I swallowed my disappointment. It was so obvious that he was just putting the moves on me, steering away from anything too personal. Now that I’d seen a little underneath, it was that much easier to spot when the real Ryker disappeared and the player came out.
I had a decision to make. It seemed Ryker was an expert at adding to what I was sure was a long list of conquests, and the question was, did I want to be the latest entry? While Megan had pushed me to take advantage of all the assets Ryker displayed—as well as others currently hidden—I found myself lacking enthusiasm for being another notch in his belt. I also had the suspicion that regardless of the “bombshell” and “smokin’ hot” comments, Ryker wouldn’t have looked at me twice without the connection to Parker.
Kind of a waste, though, I thought, my gaze again landing on Ryker’s hands.
No no no. Don’t go there.
“Um, I don’t know,” I said, remembering he’d asked me a question. “I like to shop.” An understatement, though since I was paying my own bills now, the trips to Saks and Nordstrom were fewer and farther between than I’d like.
“Shop?” Ryker twitched an eyebrow in distaste. I laughed.
“I like baseball,” I said.
“Cubs fan?”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. White Sox.”
He grinned. “Me too. They’ve got a game tomorrow afternoon. Wanna go?”
The temptation was strong—I adored going to White Sox games—but I shook my head. “Thanks, but I need to pack tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?”
“Parker has a meeting in New York with some new clients,”