No Turning Back (Breaking the Rules #4) - A.M. Madden Page 0,31
and he wants me to run it.”
“That’s fantastic, Ree!”
“I know. Cooper’s sister, Rebecca, has stepped away from the day-to-day involvement with Bella Viaggi, the yacht they run, to raise her kids. She already volunteered to help me in any way I need her to. I’ve already laid out some ideas using Angels on Earth as a blueprint of sorts.”
“So Cooper’s sister and Ricky are best friends?”
“Yes… and her husband, Marco, and Ricky actually go way back. They worked together for Sunset Cruises for years. Rebecca met them when she accepted a job as Marco’s assistant cruise director. Ricky played a huge role in their relationship.” She went on to explain the boss-employee connection that forced them to either conform to corporate rules or choose love. “The pair chose love, left Sunset with Ricky, and the trio started their own cruising company. The rest is history.”
“Good for them. I can’t wait to meet them all.”
“Me too.” She looked away before bringing her eyes back to my face. “You really are okay with this?”
Taking her hand between mine, I nodded without hesitation. “I am. Like I said earlier, I worry about your safety.”
“I know, but I’ll be fine, Ryder.” The earnest expression on her face got to me. Riana was such a pure soul that just being in her company made me feel like a better person. I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips before she pulled away to say, “Your kisses still make me weak in the knees.”
“Good to know since that kind of has to do with what I’d been thinking about these past few weeks.”
Smiling devilishly, she asked, “Does it involve more kissing?”
“A lot more.” I pulled her into my embrace. “It’s quite simple, actually. I want to resume what we had.” There was much we still needed to discuss, like my career and what came with it. But I’d never leave her for a job again. That I already knew… anything else that came our way could be handled as far as I was concerned. “Say you want the same, Ree,” I urged. “Say you want to give us a second chance.” She cupped my face and pressed her lips to mine for a chaste kiss. “Is that a yes?”
“That’s a yes.” Like a man possessed, I crushed my lips to hers, savoring every part of her mouth and tongue. Since the moment I’d laid eyes on her again a few weeks ago, I’d craved her in every way. Yes, I wanted all her kisses and every single touch, but I wanted more than that. I wanted us to slip right back into the connection we once shared.
It felt like my birthday, Christmas, and winning the lottery all at once. I honestly knew that I couldn’t live another day without Riana being part of it. All that used to be important had now taken a back seat to having her back in my life.
While we became lost in each other during an explosion of unbridled passion, I also knew the touching, kissing, and groping couldn’t lead to more… not yet. As much as I wanted to carry her to bed, strip her naked, and devour every inch of her, tonight wasn’t about sex. It was about new beginnings, a new chapter in a beloved old tale.
And as hard as it was to do, I forced myself to break away with a pained groan. We simultaneously fell back against her couch, side by side while dragging in one labored breath after another.
I looked at her with a tortured expression, one that came from the tortured body part between my legs. “Ree, please know I hated having to stop… but I absolutely needed to stop.”
“I know,” she agreed without hesitation. Thank Christ, I thought. Because if she had insisted to keep going, there would have been no fucking way I could deny her.
“From what I heard about pregnancy”—she waved a hand over her crotch—“well, you know.”
“Know what?”
A rosy hue tinged her cheeks. “That pregnancy can cause a woman’s libido to go haywire.” She twisted her body to face me. “I guess it’s good you’ll be around if that happens.”
Well. Fuck. Me.
“Oh, no worries. I’m definitely your man, gorgeous.”
Chapter Eleven
Ryder
On the coffee table, Riana’s phone lit up and buzzed with another text, further pulling me out of sleep. I glanced at the time on her cable box. Even though it was just after 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday, I wondered if she had an appointment she needed to