Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,47

had been closed all morning, which was unusual. He rarely worked with it closed, unless he was in a meeting.

She sighed and decided fuck it, hitting the save button on her project, not that she’d done much to save. She really did have a substantial to-do list for work, but until she saw Ryder, until she could push aside this uneasiness that maybe things hadn’t been as great for him, she’d never accomplish a damn thing.

Darcy was about to go knock on his door, certain she was simply letting her imagination run away from her, when the phone on her desk rang. Ryder’s name popped up, and she breathed a sigh of relief, silently chastising herself for acting like a silly teenage girl.

“See. You’re an idiot,” she muttered to herself before answering the phone.

“Hello, Ryder,” she said.

“Can you come to my office, Darcy?”

“Sure. Of course.”

“Thanks.”

His tone sounded fine, but that nagging unease in the back of her brain was rattling again.

She stood up, trying to press the wrinkles in her skirt away with her hand. Then she walked to his office. The door was still closed, so she knocked.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and entered, pausing just over the threshold.

“Close it,” Ryder said. “And lock it.”

She did as he said, fighting not to smile. The last time he’d told her to lock the door, he’d bent her over his desk and rattled off the sexiest list of things he wanted to do to her that she’d ever heard.

And it had been her list!

It was just so much hotter coming from him…show-and-tell style.

She crossed the room, not stopping until she was standing next to him, behind his desk. “Busy morning?” she asked.

Ryder nodded slowly, but she could tell he was lying.

She hadn’t imagined a thing. She’d spent three weeks trying to crash through the barrier Ryder insisted on putting up between them. It had fallen down Saturday, but damn if he hadn’t rebuilt it since then.

“What’s up?” she asked.

Ryder had been sitting in his desk chair, but at her question, he rose and took a step away. And then another. Until she was behind his desk and he was in front of it.

“I don’t think we should continue dating.”

Wow. Hello, Mr. Abrupt.

“Why not?” Darcy was fighting to appear strong, unaffected, but even she could hear the disappointment in her voice.

The look on Ryder’s face told her he’d heard it too.

“I’m ten years older than you, Darcy.”

“Oh my God. No. Just no!” she said, throwing up her hands. “I thought we’d made it over the lame-excuses hurdles. But hey, you know what? I’ll humor you. I don’t see how age matters.”

“It does matter. Because you haven’t experienced as much as I have. You’re in a completely different place, different stage, of your life. You told me what you want from a relationship in that elevator, and I can promise you, I’m not that guy.”

Darcy shook her head. “I didn’t say anything about relationships that night. I described an ideal date, Ryder. And I’m old enough to know life and love aren’t always sunshine and roses and The Princess Bride.”

Ryder leaned forward, his palms flat against his desk. “I’m not saying you always look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but you mentioned your parents, and Yvonne and Leo, and I know exactly what it is you’re looking for in a relationship. And trust me, there are men out there who can give you that. I’m not one of them.”

Darcy couldn’t make Ryder’s words match the man he’d revealed to her Saturday night in her bedroom. As far as she could see, he was exactly what she’d described, what she dreamed of. “I don’t understand why you think that.”

“I’m not a romantic guy, Darcy. Nowhere near your Westley. Hell, I might be closer to that other guy, the prince.”

“You think you’re Humperdinck?” she asked, trying not to laugh. This conversation was insane.

“Yeah. But without that stupid-ass name.”

She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”

“No. I’m not. I’ve done the marriage thing before. And I sucked at it. The same way my parents sucked at it. I’m the guy who will always forget your birthday or our anniversary. I say I’ll be home for dinner at six, then roll in at nine. I can sleep through a baby crying in the middle of the night, and I’ll never notice when you get a haircut. I know that because…I lived it. With Denise.”

Darcy listened to his arguments, really listened, and realized there was something Ryder didn’t understand.