Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,9

They’re fielding a million calls right now,” Ryder explained, his finger off the button so the man couldn’t hear. “This doesn’t exactly constitute an emergency. We aren’t in danger or injured.”

Darcy and Ryder were going to have to agree to disagree on what constituted an emergency because, in her mind, this was a big one.

Darcy considered calling her dad. Aaron Young was a cop, and he’d hightail it over here to try to get her out if he knew she was stuck. But she couldn’t do it. As much as she was freaking out inside, she knew there would be others who would need him more. It wouldn’t be right to drag him away from his job just because of what she knew was an irrational fear.

Ryder pressed the button. “We appreciate you letting us know, Rodney.”

“I’ll be in contact if I’m able to get anyone here to help. Otherwise…”

Ryder went ahead and finished the man’s comment when it was obvious he didn’t want to point out they were well and truly stuck. “Otherwise, we’ll simply wait until the power comes back on.”

Ryder returned to his previous spot, leaning against the back wall. She watched as he completely removed his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. If she weren’t struggling for air, Darcy would have found his actions hot. But at the moment, she couldn’t get enough oxygen to her brain to appreciate Ryder’s sexiness.

Oh God. Was the air thinning out? Were they going to suffocate?

Ryder pointed to the bags she still held. White-knuckled, actually. “Might as well get comfortable, Darcy. It looks like we’re going to be in here a few hours.”

Hours.

Oh God.

She couldn’t do hours!

Then she glanced down and realized… “Vodka.”

“Are you proposing we get drunk?”

“It couldn’t hurt.” In her case, it could only help. She lifted the bag, pulling out a bottle.

She was surprised when Ryder took the bottle of Grey Goose from her and opened it before handing it back.

“Ladies first.”

She grinned, lifted it in a silent cheers, and took a drink, wincing slightly. “Oh, what I’d give for some orange juice.” Darcy handed it to Ryder, who took a longer swig.

“I’d prefer vermouth and an olive.”

“Shaken not stirred, James?” she teased, grateful for the conversation. If she’d been trapped alone, she’d be in the fetal position in the corner already.

“Shhh. My identity is a secret.”

“Careful, Ryder. That’s dangerously close to a sense of humor.” Darcy laughed as he put the cap back on the bottle and set it on the floor between them. She and Yvonne teased him about his general lack of silliness. The man was the epitome of buttoned-up and serious.

“I’ll tread lightly,” he deadpanned, causing her eyes to widen. Two jokes in a row. This was a record.

Darcy slid down the wall at her back until she was sitting. Ryder followed suit, sighing heavily.

“Not exactly the Halloween you had planned,” he said.

She shook her head. “Nope. By now, I would have expected to have put a dent in Sunnie’s spiked punch, and everyone would have raved over my Wonder Woman costume.”

“I can see you as Wonder Woman,” Ryder said. “God knows Clint sees you that way.”

Darcy was touched by Ryder’s compliment. She was crazy about his son too. “Was Clint doing anything for Halloween?”

“He’s spending the night at his best friend Charlie’s house. Charlie’s mom was planning to take them out trick-or-treating. He’s Mario to Charlie’s Luigi.”

“Clint will rock a Mario costume.”

Ryder nodded. “The kid is video game crazy.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

Ryder rolled his eyes, though he didn’t look annoyed as much as amused. Darcy, Vince, and Clint had spent literally hundreds of hours in the past four years, either online together or whenever she was babysitting or visiting with Yvonne, playing all sorts of video games. They’d gone through a major Mario Kart phase, and they were now obsessed with Fortnite.

Ryder said she was a bad influence on his sons, but she knew he didn’t mean it, especially considering the number of times he’d come over to watch them, asking questions about whatever game they were playing, as if he’d like to join in. She’d offered him the controller countless times, but he always shook his head and said he preferred to “leave the gaming to the professionals.”

“No Halloween costume for you?” she asked.

“I’m wearing it right now. Haggard businessman stuck in an elevator.”

“I guess this is karma trying to teach us both a lesson about working so late on a Friday night.”

Ryder shrugged one shoulder. “I work