Read Online A Little Harmless Ride by Melissa Schroeder - Free Book Online

hand out there? I know Danny would be keen on going.”
    “ Nope. I’ll take care of it.”
    He walked out the door without another word. It slammed shut behind him and silence descended for a few moments.
    “ Did you two have a fight?”
    She shook her head as she turned the heat on the stove. “Not that I know of.”
    He patted her on the shoulder. “Eli’s like that. Deep waters and all that.”
    “ It’s not my fault he fell out of bed this morning.”
    As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn’t.
    “ Is that so?”
    “ Okay, I am assuming he fell out of bed.”
    “ So you didn’t witness this?” he asked as he studied her over his coffee cup.
    “ Witness?” Then she realized what he meant. “Oh, no, not witnessed. I wasn’t in his room.”
    “ Is that right?”
    “ Yes. I was up and getting ready and I heard a thunk. Maybe he didn’t fall.” Now she realized she was making him sound like a klutz. And more than likely, the man who ran a ranch didn’t want to be seen as a buffoon.
    “ Ah, alright.”
    “ Still, he’s been grouchy since I knocked on his door. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed so to speak.”
    Good lord, she was getting worse. She decided not to say anything else and applied herself to the bacon.
    “ Boy just needs a trip to Oahu. Then, he’ll fix himself right up.”
    She said nothing to that. Jerry probably had no idea she knew exactly what he was talking about. Eli needed to blow off some steam and the best way to do that was sex. Sex meant Rough ‘n Ready.
    And why did that make her sad?
    The bacon had started to sizzle and because she knew Jerry liked his eggs scrambled, Crysta pulled out a bowl and started to work on them.
    She really shouldn’t be bothered by the fact that Eli would end up at the club at some point. She had a right to go there too, a personal invite from one of the owners. But for some reason, she didn’t want to go there—not unless it was with Eli.
    Shit. Crysta knew that was a mistake. Even thinking about him dressed in leather, a crop in his hands…she sighed. He wouldn’t be there for her. He would be there for another woman, another sub. Eli would enjoy that sub for a night.
    “ I think those eggs are scrambled,” Jerry said, amusement filling his voice. She looked down and realized she had been beating the hell out of the eggs. She laughed.
    “ Yeah, they look pretty much scrambled.” Knowing that she needed to get her mind off Eli, she asked, “When is a good time for my father to come back over?”
    “ Every day is a perfect day, as long as you’re in Hawaii.”
    She chuckled. “That’s true.”
    “ So, what does your father like to do? We have a few festivals he might enjoy.”
    And as the sun started to rise and heat the kitchen, she talked about her father and tried to forget the other man in her life.
     
     
     

Chapter Eight
    Eli was irritated. Hell, he was spending most of his days that way. And he knew, he didn’t have a right to be. It wasn’t Crysta’s fault he was so attracted. As a Dom, he had never had this problem. Now, it was interfering with his judgment. He had been jealous of Jerry. He hated to admit it, but Eli had wanted to spend breakfast alone with Crysta. When he saw Jerry, it took every bit of his legendary control not to boot the manager out of the kitchen.
    He was sitting on the hill above the ranch trying to figure out a way off the island. If he went to Oahu, he would raise Cyrsta’s suspicions. In the past, he wouldn’t have cared, but for some reason, he didn’t want her to know he was going over to Rough ‘n Ready. But if he stayed, he was going to continue to be a total ass to her.
    Worse, he had no right. On the day-to-day business, she did a good job. He thought she would be a pain in the ass, but she had stepped back and let him take control.
    Just that phrase had his body reacting. Knowing she was a sub wasn’t helping.
    A few of the men glanced his way as he rode up to