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mine.
    “I saw you pull in.” He leaned back against an SUV parked next to me and watched me.
     “I wanted to see that everything went okay.”
    “Other than the dustup, everything was fine.” I shrugged. “I got Linus back, and he’s
     getting settled in with his parents. I did a quicker intro than I normally do, but
     Linus seems to be taking this all really well, and I needed to get out and get some
     sleep.”
    His dark eyes lingered on me. “When was the last time you slept?”
    “What day is it?”
    He arched an eyebrow. “Wednesday.”
    “Then…” I paused, thinking. “Monday.”
    “Bryn.” Ridley stepped over to me. “Let me do this. Go get some sleep.”
    “I’m almost done, and if I don’t log it myself, then my jerk of a boss will have my
     head,” I teased, and he sighed.
    “Well, whatever. I’m helping you even if you don’t want me to.” He grabbed the logbook
     and started filling it out.
    With his help, everything was put away and accounted for within a matter of minutes,
     leaving only my clothing and laptop in my bag. I started to pull on my heavy winter
     boots and jacket, and Ridley told me to wait there for a second. He came back wearing
     his charcoal-gray peacoat and slick black boots.
    “I’ll walk you home,” he said.
    “You sure?”
    He nodded. “I’m done for the night, and you don’t live that far anyhow.”
    That was an understatement. My place was a two-minute walk from the garage. Ridley
     lived farther than that, but honestly, most people in Doldastam did.
    The night had grown even colder, and Ridley popped up the collar of his jacket and
     shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked. I was smart enough to wear a hat, so
     I didn’t mind it so much. The snow crunched beneath our boots as we slowly walked
     down the cobblestone road toward my loft.
    I turned to him and couldn’t help but admire him in the moonlight—tall and strong
     with the beginnings of a light scruff. Ridley’s looks could be a distraction if I
     allowed them to be. Fortunately, I was a master at reining in useless, dangerous feelings
     like attraction, and I looked away from him.
    “I’m not gonna be in trouble, am I?” I asked.
    Ridley looked over at me like I was insane. “Why would you be in trouble?”
    “Because I’m not sure that the Berlings will be able to get Linus’s money now. He’s
     a few days shy of eighteen, and there’s no telling what’ll happen to his trust fund.”
    “You got him home safely. That’s the most important thing,” he said. “Everything after
     that is icing.”
    “So you think I did the right thing by taking him home early?”
    “Absolutely.” Ridley stopped walking, so I did too, and he looked down at me. Our
     path was lit by lanterns and the moonlight, and I could see the sincerity in his chestnut
     eyes. “You have great instincts, Bryn. If you thought that Linus was in real danger,
     then he was. And who knows what Konstantin Black would’ve done with him?”
    “I know.” I sighed. “I mean, I do. But what if his parents don’t feel the same way?”
    “The Berlings aren’t like that, and if they are…” He shrugged. “Screw ’em. You protected
     their son, and that’s all that should matter.”
    I smiled. “Thanks.”
    “No problem.” He smiled back at me, then motioned to the barn just up the road. “Now
     go up and get some sleep, and don’t forget about the meeting in the morning.”
    “See you tomorrow, Ridley.”
    “Good night.”
    I turned and jogged toward the barn, but he stayed where he was in the street, waiting
     until I’d made it inside safely. The lower level of the barn was a stable, but the
     stairway along the side of the building led up to a small loft apartment, and that
     was where I lived.
    It was chilly inside, since I’d turned down the heat because I’d planned on being
     in Chicago for a month or more. Before I took my coat off, I threw a couple logs in
     the wood-burning stove and got