Figuring it was as good a time as any and not wanting to hear any more about Ian’s possible jealousy, Riley knocked.
“Come in!” Olivia called out.
Riley pushed open the door, and the other woman smiled. “Thank God it’s you.”
“I got your message.” She looked from Olivia’s relieved expression to Ian’s furious one. “But I can come back if this is a bad time.”
“No, your timing is perfect. First, thank you for jumping into the void and helping Dylan. He’s been extremely pleased with your work.”
“Thank you.”
Olivia smiled.
Ian watched their exchange in silence.
“Dylan asked that you be made his assistant, and I agreed. You two would be a good fit.”
Ian let out low growl that startled Riley, and she turned, meeting his gaze. “Problem?” she asked.
He opened his mouth, but Olivia beat him to speaking. “Before you accept this job, you should know it involves travel.”
“Really?” Riley had never been anywhere in or out of the United States. Even college had been local.
“Yes. You’d accompany the team on road trips, and since Dylan wants to make changes to the hotels when we’re on the road, you’ll need to continue your research in person.”
Riley’s eyes opened wide. “I’d get to go to places like San Diego?” she asked, naming just one of the cities in which she’d spoken to hotel managers today.
“Yes. And you’d have to leave today for Phoenix. If that’s an issue, I understand but—”
“No! It’s not a problem,” she said, doing her best to remain professional and not jump up and down with glee over the opportunity.
Olivia’s amused grin told her the other woman had caught on. “So it appeals to you?” she asked, shooting Ian a look Riley couldn’t quite interpret.
“Oh my goodness, yes!”
“Great. So go home and pack. A car will pick you up around nine. You’ll take a late flight so you can get to work first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you for the opportunity.” Riley grinned, turned, and headed out the door.
* * *
Ian started after Riley, but his sister’s voice stopped him. “Don’t do it.”
He turned.
“Don’t stop her, and don’t take away her excitement by telling her you don’t want her to take the job.”
Ian curled his hands into a fist. “I’ve seen Rhodes hit on you at every event we run.”
Olivia dipped her head. “That’s between me and Dylan. It doesn’t make him a womanizing pig.”
“I don’t want her traveling alone with him.”
“That’s not your choice to make! Did you see her face?”
He had. She was f**king glowing. But he wanted to be the one to put that look on her face, not a job.
“She wants this job, Ian. If you want any kind of relationship with her, you have to give her the freedom to make her own choices.”
He didn’t know what exactly he wanted with Riley except that he couldn’t let her go. But the more he felt himself falling for her, the more the fear gnawing at him grew. He didn’t trust her to stay with him, and that was the crux of his problem. That’s why he wanted to manipulate the parameters of her job and keep her in his orbit and his alone.
Olivia’s hand on his arm surprised him. “You give Avery and me freedom.”
“Not easily,” he muttered.
“Okay, maybe you try to meddle in our lives, but we kick your ass when you do. I have a feeling Riley will stand up to you the same way.” She paused. “But here’s the thing. We have to love you and stick by you because you’re our brother. She doesn’t.”
“No shit.” Did his sister really think she was helping him?
“I meant, she doesn’t have to stay with you unless she wants to, so don’t give her a reason to run. All I’m saying is, think carefully before you go all caveman on her, okay?”
He raised his eyebrows, thinking that if his sister knew just how caveman he’d considered going, she wouldn’t use the term so lightly. He already had to share her with his half brother, something that threatened the very foundation of whatever they were building.
In his mind, he’d had the company jet fueled and ready to go so he could beat her to Arizona and be there for every moment she’d otherwise have been alone with Dylan Rhodes.
“I have to go.” He started for the door, finished discussing his personal life with Olivia.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Until he figured out his next move.
* * *
Riley wondered if she’d hear from Ian before she left for Phoenix. His mood in Olivia’s office had been off, and she assumed it had something to do with whatever they’d been arguing about.
She pushed Ian to the back of her mind and focused on her upcoming trip. She packed a mix of professional business clothes along with some casual wear. Olivia hadn’t said how long she’d be gone, so she improvised with mix-and-match clothing.
She called Alex and her stepmom and let them know she’d be out of town for a couple of days. Alex, she knew, had returned to his Tampa place for the week, and she figured they could use the break. She hoped, upon his return to Miami, they could pick up a more rational conversation about his relationship with Ian. And hers.
She’d already decided a complete break from Ian wasn’t what she wanted, but maybe this short time-out would be healthy for her too. Her head and her heart were torn over the best thing to do when it came to getting further involved with him. Her emotions pulled her inexorably toward him, but she worried about the intensity between them and the way he so easily provoked memories she preferred to leave buried.
Yet she related to him on so many levels, from his painful childhood to the way he kept himself isolated from everyone except those he really trusted. If she needed a tie-breaker, however, her body was all in. Especially after the way he’d treated her the other night, so gentle and giving, so at odds with the man she knew him to be.
For the next few days, she wanted to focus solely on business and proving herself to Dylan. Putting Ian out of her mind, she headed downstairs to wait for the car service to take her to the airport. She met Dylan at the gate. He was a good-looking man, tall, dark, and handsome with a goatee, something she’d never thought she’d appreciate, but on him, it worked.