Page 12 of Sunny Undone

“Urgh. It’s like I rolled back into the 1970s or something. My name is Della. Dr. Della Hart. Della is the only name I go by. Not doll or babe or sweetheart.”

Ridge glances my way. “Well, aren’t you a bundle of joy in the morning.”

“I tend to be a feminist twenty-four seven and don’t need to be diminished into a sexist pet name at any hour of the day.”

Ridge cricks his neck from left to right before pouring two cups of coffee and handing me one. “Hope for our sake you aren’t sticking around, because that’s way too much outrage for this time of the morning.”

To stop myself from responding, I look in the fridge and find creamer. Once I’ve added a large dollop to my mug, I sigh as I bring it to my lips.

Sunny chooses that moment to reenter the kitchen, and I’m not sure that the addition of clothes is an improvement. The black T-shirt fits him to perfection. The way his jeans hug his ass should be illegal. And now that I know what’s underneath his denim, the deep bulge hanging to the left reminds me of exactly how big the man is.

“Where’d you pick this stray up from?” Ridge asks Sunny.

Stray!

I almost spit out my coffee and have to force myself to swallow it. I’m about to open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think about his choice of words, but Sunny puts his hands on my shoulders and squeezes them as if he knows I’m about to put his friend in his place.

“Funny story,” Sunny says. “This badass was running down the middle of the road when I was riding home last night. Someone with a flashlight was chasing her. It was like a movie.”

Ridge’s brows lift. “Badass?” He says the word like he can barely believe it.

“After I got control of the bike,” Sunny continues as his fingers dig into the tight muscles in my shoulders, “she propositioned me. Told me she needed me to help her escape.”

I look up at him. “Those weren’t my exact words.”

Sunny shrugs, flashing that annoyingly beautiful grin at me again. “Why let the truth get in the way of a good story?”

Ridge takes a sip of his coffee. “Still doesn’t explain why she’s here, unless you carried this whole damsel-in-distress role-play shit home.”

“What is it with you two and damsels in distress?” I blow out a breath. “Whoever was chasing me had already gotten to my motel room. And I had a meltdown.”

“Meh,” Sunny says. “Just shook you up a little. I made sure it was clear before Della went in, but someone had worked the place over good. So, we’re gonna help Della figure out what happened.”

“We are?” Ridge says.

“You are?” I manage at the exact same time.

“It’s gonna be fun,” Sunny says. “And we can even use going fishing as a cover so Della can go back and do whatever she was doing before she was chased out of the marsh.”

“No. I can’t let you do that,” I say. “I’m in enough trouble as it is. I’d feel worse if you got hurt too.”

Ridge shakes his head but rolls his eyes, like he can’t believe what’s going on. “Whatever. So, what kind of trouble you in, Della?”

“She’s like an environmental Indiana Jones,” Sunny says, practically vibrating with excitement.

“I appreciate the hype, but I’m an assistant professor in wetland ecology,” I say.

Sunny offers a duh!

Like what I said backed up what he said.

Ridge huffs. “Guess we’re gonna need more coffee.”

5

SUNNY

Della’s eyes are glued to the TV screen in the diner, rather than the menu. Something about how a company called CranFex just won a contract over some other big companies to develop some land about twenty minutes down the coast.