Wild Embrace (Wilder Irish #11) - Mari Carr Page 0,6

and a 401K—job.

Especially since it meant she got to work on the same floor of the same building with him, every single day, instead of just seeing him on the all-too-rare occasions lately when she babysat.

She had known Ryder Hagen for three years, eleven months, and twenty-seven days. And she’d been absolutely obsessed with him for too much of that.

Not that the man had a clue about her crush.

God, she hated that word.

Today marked the end of her second month on the job and, while she loved what she did, she was still struggling to acclimate to the heavy workload. Helen, her department manager, assured her things would ease up a bit once football season was over, but there were still several months to go until February.

“I’m almost finished,” she said.

Ryder stepped closer, bending over to look at the screen, and she sucked in a deep breath, catching the faint smell of his musky, woodsy cologne. “That looks fine,” he said. “What’s left to do?”

“Fine?” she asked, disappointed, leaning back in the chair and suddenly thinking her design must suck worse than she’d thought. Darcy was her own worst critic, typically stressing over everything from shading to fonts to filters.

Ryder breathed out a long sigh. “Good? Great? Fill in a word, Darcy, then save that and shut down the computer. It’s late.”

“Wow. High praise,” she muttered. “Don’t overwhelm me.”

“Darcy,” Ryder said in a tone he seemed to have reserved just for her. The only way she could describe it was reluctant amusement.

When she’d first started working here, she realized no one in the office spoke to Ryder like he was a real person—no jokes, no teasing, no easy banter, or camaraderie.

Instead, the other employees were all business around him. It wasn’t that Ryder was an unreasonable or unkind boss. He didn’t yell or scream. In fact, he was very fair and straightforward, but he didn’t grab a sandwich with other people in the office or join in on the occasional happy hour or even gab by the coffeepot for a few minutes each morning.

Instead, Ryder put out “keep your distance” vibes. Though Darcy wasn’t sure he was aware he was even doing it. It was actually those vibes that called to her because she felt like there was something behind them—sad or wounded. And there was something in Darcy’s genetic makeup that couldn’t stand to see him always alone at work, because she didn’t get a sense that was what he truly wanted.

“I just need another minute or two to—”

“Don’t you have a party or something tonight?”

“Shit.” Darcy bounced out of her chair so fast, she nearly coldcocked Ryder with the top of her head. Luckily, he moved away fast, or she would have given him a black eye.

“Oh, Ryder. I’m so sorry. Um. What time did you say it was?”

“Nine,” he repeated.

“Oh my God. Sunnie is going to kill me. I’ve got the vodka for the punch.” Darcy pulled a liquor store bag from her bottom desk drawer.

“You have liquor in your desk?”

She laughed. “I ran out and grabbed it on my lunch break. And it’s not like it’s in a flask.” Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she joked, “Just to be clear, a flask in my desk would be frowned upon, right?”

“It would,” he deadpanned.

He didn’t laugh, but Darcy was used to that and didn’t take it to heart. Hell, she took it as a challenge and had for years. On the rare occasions she’d managed to make him chuckle, she honestly felt like she’d won the Olympic gold.

She quickly saved her work and shut down her computer. Then she noticed Ryder had his briefcase.

“You done for the day too?” she asked.

He nodded. “I was just leaving when I saw the light on in here. I’ll walk you to your car. It’s late.”

That sealed it. She was working this late every night for the rest of her life. She smiled, hoping she was managing to project an air of coolness. “Let me guess. You aren’t coming to the Halloween party.”

Ryder shook his head. “No. I’m not. Long week. I’m tired. Though I appreciate the invitation.” His tone didn’t suggest he appreciated it at all. Instead, she got the sense he wished she and Yvonne would stop inviting him to stuff so he wouldn’t have to keep coming up with excuses.

And while she wasn’t surprised he wasn’t attending, she was disappointed.

Ryder still shared a house with Leo, and now Yvonne. Leo and Ryder had put an addition on