No Turning Back (Breaking the Rules #4) - A.M. Madden Page 0,52

was a forced smile and nod.

Once the sun went down, and the temperature cooled a bit, we ate and then took Kayla for a long walk on the beach. After returning to our starting point, we sat on the sand, where I tossed a tennis ball for Kayla to retrieve.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked when a few minutes of silence had passed.

“You.” It wasn’t a lie… it wasn’t entirely the truth either. We vowed to be honest with each other at all costs, but I needed to break that vow for obvious reasons. If Riana got a hint of just how much her news had freaked me out, it would wreck her. I needed to deal with this and focus on us and not on the pregnancy.

Sure, I knew when the day came that she announced her pregnancy, all the deep-rooted angst over what my brother had gone through would bubble to the surface. What I hadn’t planned for was all the emotions that came with it. It was hard enough living through that tragedy, for lack of a better word, as a spectator. But to be so consumed with fear that someone I loved more than anything could face a medical emergency, even if that possibility was a rarity, messed me up.

“I really did miss you, Ree.”

“I missed you too.” When she leaned into my shoulder, I kissed the top of her head. “So tell me about your trip.” Of course, she went to the second topic I wanted to avoid. Until now, I’d spared her the details whenever we’d spoken over the last week.

“It was exhausting,” I admitted. “All week I wished you were with me.”

“That would’ve been more of a distraction to you.”

“In the best of ways.” Kayla dropped the ball in my lap, her tongue lagging out of her mouth as she anxiously waited for another toss. I faked her out a few times and then threw it in the opposite direction.

We both watched her charge down the beach as Riana said, “Someday, maybe I can go with you. I’ve never been to California.” She distractedly picked up a shell and dusted the sand off it. “Actually, I haven’t been anywhere… except for the cruise the guys gifted me.”

“We’re going to change that… create new memories. You need to see the world, Riana Carter.”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Only if I can see it with you, Ryder Carter.”

After another hard pitch, I lifted her onto my lap. “Not only do I want to show you the world… I want to give you the world. I envision us traveling to so many places in the future.”

Her eyes connected with mine as a slow smile spread. “What will we do with Kayla?”

“I’m sure Cooper and Ricky wouldn’t mind watching her for us.”

“True. I am lending them my uterus,” she quipped with a sly smirk.

Not being able to resist those full lips, I crushed my mouth to hers and kissed her slow and long. Our tongues tangled, moving the kiss into a different dimension. The arousal high I’d been on for the past week grew exponentially. I needed her. Tonight would be the night Riana and I finally came together. It’d been long overdue, and making out on a public beach, or anything else we’d done up until that point, would no longer suffice.

First to break the kiss, I skimmed my thumb across her bottom lip. “It’s time to take you home and make love to you.”

Before Riana could respond, the cold sandy snout of a possessive golden nudged between our heads and pushed us farther apart.

“Eww… Kayla!” I couldn’t help but chuckle when Kayla ignored Riana’s disgust and began licking my face. “Her obsession with you is becoming a problem,” Riana grumbled with a wry smirk.

“She loves you too.” While scratching the fur behind her ears, I directed my next comment to our dog, who continued to snub Riana. “Don’t you, girl?”

Kayla’s response was to place her paws on my shoulder and in the process knock Riana off my lap. “Seriously?”

Riana scowled when I chuckled again. I helped her up and dusted the sand off her ass. “Are we ready to go home to continue the romance?” I asked, attaching Kayla’s leash to her collar.

“Yes, please.”

I looked at Riana and deadpanned, “I was talking to Kayla.” And by saying so, I earned myself a good, forceful shove.

Chapter Eighteen

Ryder

The moment after we properly cleaned the sand off Kayla in the hall, she conked out in