“Hey!” Chase grunts in surprise.
“Leave him alone, Tee,” Layla mock growls.
“What? It’s not my fault my brother in law is eye-candy,” Tee says innocently.
“I don’t think she and Kade should ever meet,” Chase adds dryly.
“I know, right! It would be a disaster,” Layla responds, shaking her head.
“I must meet this Kade fellow,” Tee muses to herself, lifting up her hands to tie her blonde locks into a ponytail.
“Okay, lovelies, it’s been great but we're gonna head off. I’ll be back to see my favourite nephew,” Tee announces.
“He’s your only nephew,” Layla says, pointing out the obvious.
“For now. You’ll probably be knocked up again soon, and who could blame you?” Tee tells Layla as she eyes Chase once more. My body shakes with silent laughter. I grab Tee and push her towards the door. We say our goodbyes and head back to Ryder’s.
*****
I set the food out on the dining table. Thick juicy steaks, a greek salad, corn, garlic bread, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Ryder walks in and groans in appreciation as I’m putting the dessert in the oven.
“Smells so good,” he says.
“Everything is ready if you’re hungry.”
“Are you going to eat with me?” he asks as he pulls out three plates.
“Yeah, just waiting on Tee,” I say.
“I can’t believe you cooked,” he says, grinning.
“Why?” I ask, confused.
“I dunno. You’re best friends with Tee…” he trails off.
“Hey, Tee can cook, she just chooses not to. Probably rebelling against her mother,” I tease.
Ryder bursts out laughing. “Yeah, that’s probably what it is.”
“What’s so funny?” Tee asks as she walks out wearing shorts and a cami.
“Nothing, let’s eat. I’m starving,” Ryder says as he hands us each a plate.
“I’ll cook tomorrow,” Ryder offers.
“You can cook?” I ask, impressed.
“Of course I can cook. My mother taught me,” he says, looking slightly offended that I would think otherwise.
We enjoy the meal together, making small talk and joking around.
“So, what are you doing tomorrow night?” Ryder asks me. Tee is washing the dishes while Ryder wipes down the table. I love the ‘cook never cleans’ rule.
“No plans. More house hunting tomorrow. And I need to go hand in some résumés."
“What kind of work are you looking for?” he asks, his brows furrowed.
“Tee and I usually just do bar work, but since we're considering staying for a while I guess I’ll look for a receptionist job or something,” I tell him. I do have a few different qualifications. Nothing fancy, but I can work as a dental assistant, and I have a diploma in business. I can also usually find work giving private guitar lessons.
“Well, you can always get a job at Steele. Layla will see to that,” Ryder says with a low chuckle.
The sound gives me goose bumps.
He continues, unaware of my reaction. “Anyway, about tomorrow night, I was wondering if I could take you out. On a date,” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
“Oh, umm… well… Umm...” I'm usually pretty articulate, I swear. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?” I blurt out.
Ryder frowns and shakes his head. “No, I don’t. Why would you think that?”
“That girl, remember?” I say, blushing profusely.
“Oh. Right. No, I am definitely single,” he says awkwardly.
“I’ll need to check with Tee if it’s okay,” I think out loud.
“What? Why?”
“You’re her cousin, if she has an issue with it I'd have to say no,” I tell him frankly.
“I’ll talk to Tee, okay. How about that?”
“Well, then if she is okay with it, I would love to go on a date with you, Ryder,” I say with a smile.
“Good. You had me sweating there for a moment,” he says with a wry smile. “So, around seven? And look, how convenient, I don’t even have to pick you up,” he teases.
I giggle. “No, I guess you don’t.”
“Lexi!” Tee says, calling me to go into our room. She wants to watch some show about Vikings on her laptop with me. I roll my eyes at Ryder.
“So, tomorrow then,” I whisper.
“I can’t wait,” Ryder says, his eyes zooming in on my lips.
“Me neither.”
“Queen of f**king hearts,” he says under his breath. I'm dying to know why he calls me that. Wasn’t the queen of hearts evil? I’m about to ask him when Tee says my name again, this time louder.
“ LEXI!”
“I better go before she wakes up the neighbours,” I say in between giggles.
“I guess you better. Goodnight, Lexi.”
“Night, Ryder.”
*****
Chapter 6
Lexi
“Where are you going?” Tee asks me as she paints her nails a lime green.
“Out,” I evade.
“Out, where?” she asks, her brown eyes narrowing slightly.
“Ryder asked me out to dinner.” I watch as she puts her nail polish bottle down and stares at me thoughtfully for a while.
“Oh, yeah, he asked me for my permission, wasn’t that cute? You know he’s a bit of a man whore, right?” Tee finally responds.