The Rider List: An Erotic Romance Read Online Free Page B

don’t remind me,” I say, cutting her short. I call down the hall to let Sophie know dinner is ready.
    “I’m just saying….” Stacy’s voice trails off.
    “Saying what?”
    “You need to have some fun. Go on a date or something. Look, I’m going to make this happen.”
    “Stace, really. Thanks, but no thanks. It’s the last thing I need in my life right now. I mean, between work, trying to find a job in the field I actually want to work in, and watching after Sophie, there’s so much going on.”
    “What?” Sophie’s voice behind me.
    I turn. “Nothing.”
    Sophie rolls her eyes.
    “I really didn’t mean it that way, Soph.” I pause for a minute and get no response from her, so I go back to Stacy. “Hey, I’m going to eat. Call you later.”
    “You better, bitch.”
    “Bye, bitch.”
    I look over at Sophie and see that she’s laughing at how Stacy and I talk to each other.
    “Wait a few years before you start calling your girlfriends names like that. Or at least don’t tell anyone you learned it from me.”
    “Don’t worry,” she says.
    “Okay.”
    “Bitch.”
    “Sophie…”
     
    . . . . .
     
    Later that night, I’m bored with everything that’s on Netflix and I don’t even bother checking the TV. Instead, I type “Adam Lewis” into Google search.
    The results don’t even show up before I realize that’s not exactly a unique name. Sure enough, I get millions of hits. I narrow it down by adding different keywords for each time I run the search: “rich,” “business owner,” “CEO,” “investor.” Nothing comes back that could even remotely be him.
    I change keywords: “wanted,” “fugitive.” I’m sort of kidding when I do this, and sort of not at the same time. Nothing alarming shows up.
    Lastly, I type in: “Adam Lewis” and “trust fund baby.” Again, nothing.
    So maybe he’s not some mega-wealthy guy after all, at least not anyone who would show up on the “Richest People In America” list (which I also checked).
    Maybe he’s a low-profile guy who is loaded for some reason that isn’t newsworthy.
    Maybe I should go to sleep and stop thinking about it because it’s none of my business and it shouldn’t matter to me anyway.
     

Chapter Four
    Evan
     
    Three weeks go by, and it’s now the middle of June. I’m patient, and I’m enjoying the wait. Audrey is a good tease, even if she doesn’t know she’s doing it.
    She stops by every day, and I get to see her. She’s always wearing the same thing, though. That’s the only downside to our routine. I’d like to see her in something else. A little mystery and anticipation wouldn’t hurt.
    Actually, what I’d like to see her in is nothing at all. A bare naked Audrey has appeared many times in my mind, and as creative as I can be with my imagination, I know there’s more to that body than I can dream up.
    I enjoy the short conversations with her. Some of them are just small-talk. Others involve movie and TV recommendations (she has a lot of these). Music hasn’t come up, and I don’t intend to bring it up for obvious reasons.
    It’s been years since I’ve felt like I was having a real conversation with a woman. The girls on the road, the groupies, are star-struck and some of them have ulterior motives.
    I used to bother with trying to figure out whether one or two of them might be being their true selves, but I gave that up long ago. So it’s refreshing to talk with someone who has no reason to act differently because I’m Evan Crawford. I like being Adam Lewis, for now.
    If Audrey could read my mind while she’s in the house, I’m not sure she’d come back. I think of all the things I’d like to do to her, the things I’ve denied myself for years because they’re all too risky to be done with a girl I meet one night in a city that I’ll be leaving tomorrow.
    There’s peril in taking that chance, but I’m not even sure it would be possible. One-night stands don’t come with the time to