Power Play - Tiffany Snow Page 0,91

the rush of danger. Hmm. Probably not good for a relationship.

“I’ll clean up,” I offered, but he waved me away, setting the dirty dishes in the sink.

“I’ll do it later,” he said. “Right now, I’d rather get out of the house.” I caught him looking at my chest again. “Before I take you back to bed, and it wouldn’t be to sleep.”

My face heated and I didn’t reply. Probably because climbing back into bed with Ryker sounded like a pretty damn good way to get my mind off things.

He turned to McClane. “Okay, buddy, I’m taking the lady home. Be good. Don’t eat the couch.”

“Do you have a shirt I can wear over this or something?” I asked.

“That’d be a crime, but I’ll allow it,” he teased. “In the chest of drawers there’s some T-shirts. Help yourself.”

I headed back to the bedroom while he continued piling dishes in the sink. I wasn’t going to complain. I hated doing dishes.

The top drawer was what I pulled out first, quickly discovering that was not where Ryker kept his T-shirts, though I did take a longer-than-appropriate glance at his boxer collection.

Okay, moving on.

I crouched down and pulled at the bottom drawer instead, which seemed stuck. I frowned, yanking harder, then fell back on my butt when it finally opened.

Jackpot! A pile of T-shirts.

Grabbing one, I pulled it on over my head and it came halfway down my thighs. I was just pushing the drawer back in when a corner of something glass caught my eye. Curious, I reached underneath the pile of T-shirts and pulled out a picture frame.

I held it up to see and my jaw dropped open.

It was a photo of Ryker, but he wasn’t alone. A woman was with him, his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist. But that wasn’t what was making me stare in stunned astonishment.

Parker was there, too, standing on the other side of the woman.

All three were smiling and laughing, looking into the camera. As though they were the best of friends.

The woman was pretty and young. She had short blond hair that just brushed her shoulders. Petite, she only came to shoulder-height on the men.

Natalie. It had to be.

What had happened to make things go so wrong between them? How had her death torn Parker and Ryker apart? I would have thought, from looking at the picture, that they’d have both mourned her and been there to help each other through it.

I heard a step in the hallway and hurriedly replaced the picture and shoved the drawer shut just as Ryker stepped into the room.

“Find something?” he asked.

“Sure did. Thanks.” I forced a smile, my thoughts churning with the mystery that was Parker, Ryker, and Natalie.

I followed him outside and a few minutes later we were heading to my apartment in his pickup. The windows were down, and my hair teased my face as the breeze tossed it with invisible fingers. He drove with one arm draped over the wheel, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

“So did you buy this somewhere?” I asked, looking around the interior. It was an antique, yes, but very well cared for. The upholstery on the bench seat was perfect, as was the dash. Not a speck of dust anywhere.

“I bought it when I got out of the Marines,” he said. “It was a piece of junk. But I fixed it up. Took me a long time. It’s a hobby, fixing up old cars and trucks. I have another one I’m working on now.”

“Motorcycles and vintage automobiles?” I asked.

He turned his smile full wattage again. “I know. Cliché.”

I may have sighed a little. With his heavy boots, mirrored shades, and the dog tags dangling around his neck, Ryker had the bad-boy thing written all over him. But when he smiled, he was pure charm and boy-next-door.

Going back inside my apartment altered my mood drastically. Ryker removed the crime scene tape so I could get in, then walked with me to my bedroom.

I stopped short at the door, my horrified gaze drawn to the blood-soaked bed. I’d blocked out how much blood there’d been, but there was no hiding it in the bright sunshine streaming through the window.

Tears stung my eyes even as my stomach rolled. “Oh God,” I whispered, trying to swallow down the bile in my throat, but it was no use. I made a beeline for the bathroom, making it to the toilet just as my stomach heaved up the breakfast