Love Takes Time (Christian Romance) by Kaci Hart

trepidation when he said it. 
     
    “That
doesn’t sound good.”
     
    “Don’t
worry.  Most of my family will be nothing for you.  It’s my dad
though.  Everything is a test for him and he’s constantly watching
people’s actions and motives.  He can be a bit pushy and might seem
stuffy.  I just want to let you know before we go so that when he says or
does something that I will most likely be embarrassed about later, you go easy on
me afterwards.”
     
    “Gee. 
What a way to put a little pressure on a girl.  You make it sound like I
should be afraid.  Don’t you think you might be exaggerating a little bit
Ryder?”
     
    “Not
in the least.  If anything, I’m not making him mean enough.  I mean
it’s always with good intent but he just does things wrong sometimes. 
You’ll see what I mean.   I just feel like it would be wrong to send
you in there and not give you a little heads up about
him.  And like I said, mom and my brothers will probably be eating out of
the palm of your hand so don’t worry about them.  Just trust me, don’t
take anything my father says as being meant to offend you.  He thinks
about things differently than most people.  He’s a real straight shooting,
priority led individual.  The kind of person that puts business
first...well after his family.  He’s not a bad person, just ... well the
only way to explain it is that he’s just dad.”
     
    The
question came out of her mouth before she realized.
     
    “Is
that why you are like you are?”
     
    Ryder
looked at Chelsea and she could tell her words didn’t come out right.  
     
    “That
came out completely not like I wanted it to.  I’m not saying that I think
that there is anything wrong with you because you know I like you.  A lot
in fact.  It’s just that since I’ve known you, I’ve found you to be a very
by the books kind of guy.  Maybe a little predictable in your routine of
what you will do.”
     
    Chelsea
looked at Ryder as he considered her words. 
     
    “Okay,
so I like a little routine.  You make it sound like I do the same thing
all the time.”
     
    “Come
on now Ryder.  You are totally predictable.  For instance, let’s say
we go to a restaurant for dinner.  It’s going to be at seven pm on the dot
and no matter what it is, you are starting off with a water to drink. 
Your meal will be a nice steak and potato dish with a complimentary red
wine.  If they don’t have those things, you won’t be in that
restaurant.  Anyway, you are tipping twenty-five percent exactly and God
forbid you would ever use poor English.  Those last two I like a lot by
the way.”
     
    “That’s
not fair. You’re around me all of the time these days.  Of course you’re
going to learn my little idiosyncrasies.  But you are spot on in thinking
that it’s from my dad.  He practically ruled me with an iron fist.”
     
    She
looked at him as he thought about his father.  She saw from the nostalgic
look in his eyes that he did care what his father thought of him. 
     
    He’s
a good son.
     
    “That
was all my older brother Ramsey’s fault.  He’s my dad’s namesake and I’m
pretty sure dad really wanted him to follow him into the family business,
eventually taking over.  Ramsey had different plans though.  At a
young age he was pretty sure that he wanted to go into politics.  He
wanted to do what he thought would make a big difference in the world so dad
let him.  That was when he was fourteen so I guess I was almost ten
then.  That was when dad started grooming me to take over.”
     
    “Wow. 
Isn’t that a little young to know what you want to do with your life?”
     
    “You
would think so.  I remember that of the few times I remember ever knowing
of my parents arguing--it was about me and the way he was so hard on me. 
He told my mother that he absolutely refused to let the business not be in the
hands of a Chatham man.  Believe it or not, it meant a lot to