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The air shifted, and I felt it this time…the fact that there was a subtext under Ryder’s words. I also realized that hot sex could apparently distract me from almost anything.

Because I’d forgotten about the reason for the handcuffs in the first place.

Was that what Ryder was talking about?

Sterling’s gaze drifted to me, and his eyes softened in a way that made my insides flutter. Then he looked back at Ryder as the corners of his mouth eased into a faint smile. “I’m fine,” he finally said.

“Huh,” Ryder murmured, studying him. “That’s new.” Then he strolled to the fridge. “All right. Welfare check complete. I’m sure you won’t mind if I grab something for the road,” he said as he opened up the door.

And then gasped.

“Oh my hellfry,” he said, as if he’d just discovered a body. He carefully slid out a plate holding a lone, glorious slice of dense chocolate cake, the ganache on top dark and glossy. “Is this…Marvis’s chocolate cake?”

Sterling groaned. “Put it back.”

Ryder shook his head, backing toward the door with the plate clutched against his chest. “I need to take this with me. For public safety reasons.”

“Ryder,” Sterling warned. “Marvis left that for me.”

But he was already out, slamming the door behind him like a man fleeing a crime scene.

“And that,” Sterling said calmly, turning back to me, “is why I changed the locks.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but then his grin widened, and my words died off. “And also so I can fuck you on the kitchen table on Marvis’s off days without being interrupted,” he continued.

I gulped and then shook my head. “Okay,” I said, pressing my palms to the counter. “We need to reset for a moment before you distract me again.”

He huffed out a laugh as he nodded for me to continue.

“Do you really believe all that stuff you said last night…what I’m pretty sure Ryder was trying to hint at just now?” I asked quietly. “The gas. The pulse. All of it?”

Sterling’s expression sobered immediately, and it felt as if his stare was trying to make its way through my skull so he could see what I was thinking. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I do.”

My stomach tipped. “Then why don’t you look like it’s tearing you apart right now?”

He pressed his lips together for a moment, like he was feeling for the truth before saying it. “Because I’m not afraid of it anymore.”

“Why?” I asked.

He stepped closer, and his hand came up, his knuckles brushing against my cheek softly.

“Because you’re here,” he said simply. “Whatever that thing does to me, whatever it stirs up…you quiet it. You cut straight through it.”

My breath caught.

“I don’t know how or why, but I know what I feel when you’re with me. And it’s not chaos. It’s…quiet.”

I stared at him, my heart full and my brain short-circuiting.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said casually, like I wasn’t currently a sappy puddle pretending to stand upright. “For a job you might like.”

“I already have a job at the historical society. I’ll have you know I’m Albert’s most prized employee.”

Sterling’s eyebrow lifted slowly.

“I mean, technically I’m his only employee,” I added. “But he did point a pen at me on Friday and not immediately fall asleep, so I feel like that counts for something.”

A corner of Sterling’s mouth tipped up. “High praise,” he said. “In Albert terms, that’s basically a promotion.”