She was pretty sure he wanted that, too. She just had to be patient. She watched his shoulders move as he continued his trek to the exit…

Three…

Another two steps.

Two…

He reached the door.

One.

He paused and glanced over his shoulder, those steely eyes hitting her with a look of raw lust and passion.

When he walked outside, she knew one thing.

They would talk about this later, after all.

Chapter Four

Ryder slid the putty knife along the drywall, covering it with more white paste.

“Hey,” Huck said from the door leading into the back of the bakery. “Heard you didn’t get lunch.” He held up a takeout bag from Penny’s BBQ.

Yeah, Ryder had showed up earlier to get lunch then had been distracted by the new waitress. He’d had to get out of there, fast, before he let a different kind of hunger convince him to take another bite out of her.

“You heard about that, huh?” Ryder asked.

Huck just shrugged, pulled up an upside-down bucket, and took a seat. He dug into his own bag, unwrapped a burger, and looked up at him. “Autumn was there. Said you and the new girl have some history after all.”

“I wouldn’t call it history,” he said.

“Then what do you call it?” Huck took a bite of his burger.

The smell of meat and cheese made Ryder’s stomach twist with hunger. He pushed it aside and refocused on the wall. “We had a night. I thought she was the girl you guys set me up with.”

Huck’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.” He threw back his head and let loose a loud laugh, then finally noticed Ryder wasn’t laughing with him. “Shit, man. That sucks.” He tossed a French fry into his mouth. “Is that why you’re drywalling a bakery today? To hide out?”

“No,” Ryder answered honestly. “Mrs. Gates called and needed this wall fixed.”

And like the good boy Ryder was, he’d hopped right to it. He was a Diamond after all, and his father and grandfather had left him big reputations to live up to. The town and the people were a priority to him. Not just because his whole business rested on a delicate balance of them staying local and using his company for construction and building, but because it was his home. One his family had built. One he’d been a part of. One he took pride in.

“How’s the Davenport Hall remodel going?” he asked Huck. These days, that was where Ryder spent his time. It was a fixture in the town, and the old hall had taken the past two months to get up to code. Now they were only a few weeks away from restoring the historical hall to its former glory.

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of this that easy. I wanna hear more about the waitress and how she got your panties in a wad.”

Damn gossip mill. But he couldn’t expect anything less. It was a small town, and everyone knew everyone’s business. Not to mention, his sister and Bass looked ready to wet themselves with amusement earlier. Whitney was a brassy one, and he had to give her credit—she got his blood going. Didn’t change the fact that he needed to stay away from her. Especially now that she was within reach.

“I showed up, thought she was Candy. She’s not. Now she’s at Penny’s slinging drinks.”

“And you get to see her every day.”

“No,” Ryder said quickly. In fact, his plan was to avoid her for the rest of the summer.

Then why the hell had he said he’d see her later?

Shit, the woman had him thinking in circles.

“Uh-huh,” Huck said with a smile, then took another bite of his burger. “You know, sometimes games can be fun. Isn’t that what you once told me?”

God, Ryder was regretting that. Not his buddy’s happiness, but that he’d ever said jack shit about romance. Because this wasn’t romance, this was a one-nighter, and it was done. So done that he was stealing glimpses at the clock and praying for five to roll around so he could go back to Penny’s and have a chat with the mouthy waitress that had called him out and roused the beast he kept locked up.

“I’m not interested in any game,” Ryder said. “She knows I’m a Diamond now. You should have seen her face when she realized that fun fact.”

“She offer up marriage or something?” Huck teased.

“No, she looked…” Ryder frowned. Whitney had actually looked annoyed. When she figured out that he was a Diamond, her eyes hadn’t sparkled with a plan. She hadn’t even attempted to talk about seeing him again. It was like the realization of who he was turned her off more than on. “She looked like it didn’t matter,” Ryder finally muttered.

“That’s a good thing,” Huck said.

Yeah, it could be. Only it didn’t change that he actually was a Diamond. And with that came a lot of baggage. Not to mention, the more serious problem…

“She irritates me,” Ryder said, then went back to laying spackle on the wall.

Huck laughed. “Oh really? So you’re pissy because a woman doesn’t put up with your nice manners bullshit and pushes you to…what?”

“To lose control,” Ryder snapped. “I’ve been down this road with this kind of woman before.”

“Man, you’ve got to get over that.”

Ryder shook his head. The woman he’d eloped with had taken a settlement but could have taken a lot more. She’d tied his family up in court and attempted to bleed them dry before they’d finally reached a number big enough to get her to walk away. All because he’d gotten caught up with a woman that made him feel free.

Free.

The single word Whitney had used to describe herself last night.

No. Ryder had learned that control was key to everything. Giving in to his impulses would have consequences, and he wouldn’t make that mistake again. He’d slipped up last night. Sampled a temptation he shouldn’t have. Now he needed to get a goddamn grip.

When he was out of control, he was a slave to his instincts and things fell apart. He didn’t know who he was if not Ryder Diamond. And one night with Whitney had him reeling. Because for a perfect fucking second, when he’d been in the dark and surrounded by her, he’d been just a man.

“She really got to you, didn’t she?” Huck said with amazement.

“She didn’t get to me. We had a good time. That’s it.”

“Yeah, I know how that goes. You’ve met my fiancé, right?”

Ryder had to roll his eyes. Huck had once upon a time thought one night was enough. Turned out, he’d found his match in the right woman, and that one night had turned into forever. That was fine. For Huck.

But that wasn’t what was happening with Ryder. Whitney wasn’t Miss Right. She was Miss Right Now. He wasn’t ashamed of her, not by any means. Hell, any man would be lucky to have her on his arm. But she represented everything he knew to stay away from. She threatened his control—the one thing he clung tightly to.

They weren’t at the lodge anymore, and he couldn’t pretend he was just Ryder. He was Ryder Diamond. It wasn’t just good manners, it was who he was. Who he was brought up to be. Throwing caution to the wind wasn’t something he did.

But you did with her…

Which was why he needed to fix this.

“So your one-night stand’s sticking around for the whole summer?” Huck asked.

The term “one-night stand” made a tremor roll up Ryder’s spine. He’d had a moment, given in to his impulse for Whitney. Yes, it was supposed to only be for one night. But…

“What’s your point?”

Huck shrugged. “Just pointing out there’s no real avoiding her, or you’ll starve to death.”

Shit, he was kind of right. Not to mention Penny was his sister, and the BBQ was the main hangout in town, which all his friends frequented. Avoiding her wasn’t likely. But the thought of being close to her and not touching her made his hands twitch.

“This is going to be a problem,” Ryder mumbled.

“Why does it have to be a problem?” Huck asked. “Why don’t you just treat her the same as you would any other woman? Unless you don’t think you can.” Huck waggled his brows like a teenage girl.