Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,52

more than three seconds to excitedly accept when Yvonne asked last night if they wanted to come.

Ryder tried to tell himself he was simply doing it because he knew Clint loved the Collins clan and the family gatherings. And it wasn’t unusual for Yvonne and Leo to take Clint along with them to birthday parties and other celebrations. But he and Clint always did the bigger holidays—Thanksgiving and Christmas—alone.

Of course, he’d woken up this morning and was instantly sorry he’d let Clint make the call. Not because Ryder didn’t want to go, but because his son had woken up with the flu, his fever reaching a hundred and two by early this afternoon. Clint had initially been devastated when Ryder told him they couldn’t go to dinner, but that disappointment passed quickly enough to let Ryder know that the kid really did feel like shit.

He walked to the door, surprised to see Darcy there. “What are you doing here?”

“Happy Thanksgiving to you too.” She lifted two plastic-wrapped plates. “I come bearing a feast.”

“Yvonne promised to bring us some leftovers when they came home,” he said, even as he stepped aside and she walked into the house, straight to the kitchen.

Ryder followed and watched as she put the plates on the counter. “Yeah…well…Leo, Lochlan, and Paddy looked pretty settled in with cigars and bourbon, and I figured it would be midnight before you saw any dinner. I snuck out before dessert, so I’m afraid there’s no pie.”

He was touched by her actions, but he also felt a bit guilty. “Darc, you didn’t have to leave your family dinner. You live for those parties.”

She gave him a look that screamed seriously? “Ryder, it’s the social season. I’m going to party with all of them three more times before New Year’s Day. Missing the last few hours of Thanksgiving isn’t a big deal. Besides, I was determined to come over here to make sure you hadn’t faked Clint’s illness just to get out of having to say what you were thankful for.”

He winked at her. “Dodged that bullet, didn’t I? How long did it take to get through everyone?”

“Thirty-two minutes. I timed it.”

“Jesus,” he said, teasingly. “Aren’t they going to wonder where you are?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Sunnie knows where I am.”

“You told your sister you were coming here?” Ryder asked.

Darcy raised her hands. “I know we said we were going to keep our dating a secret, but I’d kind of already told my sister about that kiss in the elevator on Halloween, so when I said I was going to bring you guys some dinner…” She paused. “I have a very astute family. They notice everything.”

Leo had warned him there was no such thing as a secret when with a Collins. And he didn’t really mind if her sister knew. He’d really only suggested the secrecy to protect Clint. “It’s okay, Buttercup. Is Sunnie the only one who knows?”

She shrugged. “Well, Pop Pop knows. And my mom and dad, which means Bubbles definitely knows too. And I think Paddy might suspect, and he’ll probably tell Colm, who will say something to Kelli. Oh wait—Ollie winked at me as I was leaving the pub just now, so I have to assume that means he knows something too. But that’s probably it. For now.”

Ryder walked over and kissed her on the forehead, grinning. “Leo knows too.”

“I didn’t tell Leo, I swear.”

He chuckled. “I did.”

Her eyes widened. “You told Leo?”

“Why do you look so surprised?”

She considered his question for a second. “I didn’t think you wanted anyone to know. I figured you’d be embar—”

Ryder narrowed his eyes, perfectly aware of where she was headed, and she stopped mid-word. “Were you going to say embarrassed? You thought I’d be embarrassed about us?” The words came out a little more hotly than he’d intended, but he didn’t like that she’d thought that.

The way she didn’t reply, didn’t even move, told him that was exactly what she’d thought. “I know you think I’m too young. And…well…I am the babysitter. And you are my boss. And—”

“Darcy, I asked that we keep it a secret for Clint. That’s it. If not for him, I wouldn’t give a shit if the whole world knew you and I were dating.”

Ryder wanted to suck the words back in the second they fell out…because Darcy’s eyes lit up.

“Dating, huh?” she said, teasingly.

“Trial dating,” he hastened to add, the damage already done.

She laughed and rolled her eyes but let his stupidly-justified semantics stand. “What