Ryker (The Powers That Be Book 4) Read Free

morning before. “Will you at least stay on the phone with me for a minute?”
    “Of course. Deep breaths.” When I didn’t say anything, Gladys called, “Frank?”
    “I’m here.”
    “What’re you doing?”
    “Breathing.”
    She laughed. “That’s enough. Go!”
    I closed my eyes and reached for the door handle. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said when I got out and faced the house.
    “Wait!” she yelled scaring the bajeebus out of me.
    “What?” I hissed, automatically hunching down trying to hide behind my car as if she was there and had seen something.
    “What’re you wearing?”
    I huffed out an annoyed laugh as I stood straight again. “God! Don’t fucking do that! You scared the shit outta me!” When my heart stopped trying to claw its way out of my chest, I answered, “I’m wearing black jeans…”
    “Flares or leggings?”
    “Skinny. And the burgundy blouse you made for me last year.”
    “Nice! What jacket?”
    “My army green pea coat.”
    “Shoes?”
    “Black ankle boots.”
    “You go, girl! Go get your man!”
    I shook my head before taking a breath and blowing it out, still holding the phone to my ear. “Here goes nothing.”
    Walking up the drive toward the house on wobbly legs I wondered why I’d agreed to do this. But as I took in the cute little house in front of me, I knew why. It was for the preservation of my and my children’s future.
    “Where are you?” Gladys whispered.
    “I’m in the driveway. Almost at the walk to go to the front door. Between a blue pickup truck and a hot pink VW Beetle.”
    “Okay.”
    A few seconds passed.
    “You there yet?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “I think my feet are stuck.”
    She chuckled. “I’m right here. Go!”
    I took another step and that’s when the front door opened and I froze.
    “Fuck,” I whispered.
    “What?”
    “Fuck!” I now whisper-hissed, standing there like a statue hoping I wouldn’t be seen, you know, right out there in the open in broad daylight and all.
    “What?” she asked even louder.
    Oh, my God.
    Ryker had come out onto the front porch in jeans and was shirtless but that wasn’t the “Oh, my God” part.
    “What’s going on?” Gladys whispered.
    But I couldn’t answer as I stood there, almost half hidden by the blue truck watching as Ryker made out with a platinum blond woman who was built like a fucking stripper, meaning she was hot. And when I say “made out,” I mean, practically screwing her right there on the porch, grabbing her ass and grinding himself all up on her.
    Fuck!
    Fuck!
    “Frankie!”
    “Hang on!” I snapped into my phone.
    And that’s when Ryker heard me and pried his lips off the chick and looked my way.
    Fuck, fuck, fuck!
    “Can I help you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me, watching me as if I was exactly the Peeping Tom I was.
    I immediately dropped my phone into my jacket pocket and decided to go with the first thing that popped into my head. “Uh, I, uh saw this Beetle and, uh, I love the color, so I was, um, trying to get a better look at it.”
    Shit.
    Shit!
    “That’s mine!” the blonde answered with a giggle, then tiptoeing up and giving Ryker one last kiss she turned and walked toward me on heels that would’ve broken my ankles, calling back to him over her shoulder, “Call me, baby.” When she got to me, she said, “My dad got this for me because he knows it’s my favorite color. Oh! I’m Lindsey!”
    “Hi. Uh, Frankie.”
    She giggled, cocking her head to her shoulder. “No kidding?”
    “No kidding.”
    “Awesome! Well, I need to go but I live over on Elm across from the university. You’re more than welcome to look me up and I’ll let you drive it sometime!”
    God. And she was nice too. Ergh.
    “Thanks. I’ll, um, definitely look you up.”
    “’Kay! See ya!” She opened her car door, blew Ryker a kiss over the top of it, got in and started it while I stood watching it all. She waved to me as she backed down the