Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,5

the coffee table, but he grasped her wrist and took it from her.

“Used to…” he muttered, drifting away from her again as he wrapped the leather around one palm.

“Used to?” she asked, confused until her eyes locked on the way he’d distractedly begun to flip the tail end of the belt against his thigh.

Suddenly, a wide array of erotic uses for the belt sprung to mind, and Darcy began to feel hot. Flushed.

Jesus. Aroused.

Between his bare chest, his sexy, deep voice, and the way he was holding that belt, Darcy was letting her imagination travel to places where it had no business going.

“Um. I should—”

Before she could say “go,” Ryder spoke again, the words still slurred and halting.

“Everything’s…gone.” Darcy was unable to follow anything he was saying, too many of the words mumbled sounds without meaning. “I’m—mumble—wish I could—mumble—she—mumble—now I can’t…” Almost all the words he spoke were indecipherable.

Darcy studied his face, quiet in case he tried to finish what he was saying—his mind clearly bombarded by too many things he couldn’t deal with—but his eyes were closed again. She couldn’t begin to follow his line of thought, mainly because he was losing his battle to remain awake and his slurring was worse.

Her heart cracked as she thought about the pure desolation in his tone. Though an entire year had passed, it was obvious Ryder was still every bit as devastated over losing Denise as he had been the day she’d died.

She longed to find a way to tell him he still had so much to live for. So many wonderful things. This home, the boys, a good job, Leo.

Not tonight, of course. He was too far gone—from the alcohol, the guilt, and the grief.

Darcy had come to love this family very much over the past year. Clint and Vince were sweet, creative, funny kids, while Ryder and Leo were kind, attentive, loving dads. Despite all of that, there was definitely a hole in this home, left behind when Denise died.

She reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to help you.”

His eyes didn’t open this time, so she went for broke. She untied and pulled off his shoes, then she grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and covered him up.

Ryder slept through it all, breathing deeply, easily.

The alcohol had finally won, finally taken him down.

She took one last look at him before turning off the lights in the family room and quietly walking to the front door.

Just before she left, she glanced back toward where Ryder slept…and her heart gave a funny pang. Darcy had dated a lot of guys the past few years, but she’d never been in a serious relationship. Her sister, Sunnie, teased her, calling her a hopeless romantic, just like Pop Pop. Darcy insisted there wasn’t anything wrong with holding out for the right guy, and she’d always been certain that just like Pop Pop, she’d know the minute she met him.

That was when Darcy felt it.

The twittery stomach.

The racing heart.

The sweaty palms.

“Oh no,” she whispered to the silent house.

Chapter Two

Three years later…

“What are you still doing here?”

Darcy looked up from her computer, slightly bleary-eyed. She’d been staring at the screen for way too many hours.

She blinked a few times before she was able to clearly see Ryder standing next to her desk.

Wow. She must have been in the zone if she hadn’t seen him approaching. Typically, her Ryder radar was much stronger, detecting the man from a million paces away.

She took a deep breath and reached for what she called her Ryder tone—casual, nonchalant, fake as fuck. She’d had three years to perfect it, so as always, she nailed it. “Finishing up a design for Helen. She needs it for Monday’s meeting.”

“Darcy. It’s after nine o’clock. You were here before me this morning. No one expects you to work these long hours.”

She grinned, secretly pleased he’d noticed. It meant he’d noticed her.

Ryder had a reputation—well-earned—as a workaholic. There were very few days he wasn’t the first to arrive and the last to leave the office. Of course, as Vice President of Stadium Operations for the M&T Bank Stadium, Ryder’s list of job duties was endless.

She’d just recently been hired as a graphic artist in the marketing department, thanks to Ryder putting in a good word for her with the manager. She was grateful to him for going to bat for her and determined to prove she could handle her first real—benefits