Grabbing her bag from the passenger seat, she got out of the car, careful where she stepped this time. Watching the ground before her gray boots, she started when a pair of black boots came into view.
“Easy.” Ryker gripped her arms to steady her. “I came to make sure you didn’t fall again.”
Laney’s heart flipped. She didn’t want to keep sliding further in love with him, but there was no way to stop. Regardless of the baby, Laney loved Ryker. She’d love him even if they’d never kissed or slept together. Nothing could ever diminish her feelings for him.
“Well, startling me is not the way to go about helping.”
Ryker took the bag from her arm and slid his other arm around her waist. “I wouldn’t let you fall. Ever.”
“If you keep tossing gallant gestures my way, I’m going to think you’re trying to get all romantic.”
Those dark eyes locked onto hers. “I don’t do romance, Laney. I do reality.”
Laney rolled her eyes. The reality was that she loved him, and he could ignore it all he wanted, but he had feelings for her, too. She wasn’t offended by his words, not when his actions were booming louder than ever. Laney was optimistic that Ryker would come around...the question was how long would she give him before sh
e finally told him how she truly felt? If she pulled out the cringe-worthy L word at this point, he’d sprint back into his steel shell and never come out again.
Ryker was vulnerable, not something she’d ever say to him or he’d ever admit, but the truth was glaring them both in the face. The don’t-give-a-damn attitude, the rough exterior he offered to the world, wasn’t who she saw. She looked beneath all of that and found the man he truly was...a kind, gentle and generous man with so much to give, one capable of so much love. It was a man he probably wasn’t even aware existed. Or one he was battling to keep inside.
Regardless, Laney was about to rip his mask off and shove him in front of a mirror.
“Ankle okay today?” he asked.
“Just tender, but nothing I can’t put weight on.”
His arm didn’t leave her waist, which was fine with her. She wanted his hands on her, and clearly he wanted them to be there.
“We have a problem.”
Laney froze on the sidewalk, jerking her gaze up to his. “What?”
After the security breach, she didn’t need more bad news. Dread curled in her stomach.
“We had a call from one of our contacts with the Bureau.” Ryker ushered her toward the steps. “Let’s get you inside. It’s too cold out here.”
“No.” Laney placed a gloved hand on his chest. “First tell me what he wanted.”
Ryker clenched his jaw. “Apparently someone is feeding them information. Intel only someone in our organization would know. They’ve discovered some pieces of art that are in our computer system, that only we have the log for. And I know you put those in like any other items we obtain legally, but they have a list of our back auctions.”
Laney pulled in a breath, the air so cold her lungs burned. “This isn’t a coincidence,” she murmured.
Ryker’s grip on her tightened. “What?”
“I have something on my laptop to show you guys. Let’s get inside.”
She could pull up any company document on a family computer, but she was most comfortable working with her own. She knew what documents and files to access right from the start. Time was of the essence.
As she turned, everything seemed to shift all at once. She tilted, thankfully against a firm, hard chest.
“Easy,” Ryker told her, his arm around her waist tightening. “What happened?”
Laney held a hand to her head, shutting her eyes. “Just got a bit dizzy, that’s all.”
Before Laney could say another word, her world tilted again as she was swept up into Ryker’s arms. “Put me down. I can walk.”
“And I can carry you and your bag, so be quiet.”
There it was. That emotion he held so hidden within him, one he didn’t seem to recognize. If she thought for a second he didn’t want her, she’d let it go. But when she saw a need in him, a need that matched her own, she couldn’t ignore the facts...or let the best thing in her life slip right by because she was afraid to take a chance.