by Codi Gary
A round of catcalls broke them apart, and Ryan wanted to cry out in protest when Gregg pulled away from her. She watched him take a deep, shaky breath, and her heart thumped when he whispered, “God, I’ve thought about doing that for over a year.”
Her chest rose and fell, desire still coursing through her body. “Then why didn’t you?”
His small smile flashed in the dark. “I did. On New Year’s.”
She shook her head. “But you turned away and kissed that other girl.”
He slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around her. “She pounced on me. By the time I got her off, you were gone.”
She swallowed hard. “Really?”
He stepped into her again. “Yeah really.”
She cuddled against his chest, listening to his heart slowing against her cheek. “But you never brought it up afterward.”
His deep chuckle vibrated against her cheek. “Neither did you.”
She leaned back, looking up into his handsome face. “But . . . I thought you liked Gracie.”
He smiled back at her. “Not as much as I wanted you to think.”
She raised her eyebrow. “Oh, so it was just some kind of ploy? To make me jealous?”
He shrugged. “Did it work?”
She shook her head and lied. “Not in the slightest.”
He grinned again, and slid his hands over her back. “Do you maybe want to take this someplace warmer?”
She swallowed hard. It was one thing to kiss him in a parking lot, with no way to go much further than that without being seen, but if she went back to his house, he would think that meant a green light for sex. Her fear of disappointing him weighed heavily in her mind and a knot formed in her stomach. “Actually, I’m a little tired. I’m going to go see if Gracie is ready to take off.”
He caught her as she started to pull away. “I can take you home.”
She swallowed hard. “Well, the thing is, we went shopping this afternoon and all my stuff is in her car. And my car’s still in The Local Bean’s parking lot, so . . .”
He smiled at her patiently. “Can’t you get your stuff tomorrow?”
“I’d like to have them tonight and wash them.”
“Ryan, if you aren’t interested and trying not to hurt my feelings—”
“No!” she blurted. “It’s not that. I just don’t want to move too fast.”
He touched her cheek gently and assured her, “I won’t push you for anything you don’t want.”
She went back into his arms and hugged him. “I know.”
He kissed her hair and they just stood there, wrapped up in each other’s warmth. Ryan thought about how just a few hours ago he’d had a rough time telling her she was sexy, and tonight he’d invited her home. She was already regretting her train of thought when she said, “Gregg? If you’d been thinking about kissing me for over a year, why didn’t you ever say anything? And don’t say New Year’s, because that doesn’t count.”
She waited with bated breath for him to answer, and let it out slowly when he said, “Honestly, I just never got that vibe from you. That you were into me, I mean.”
She snapped her head up and stared at him in disbelief. “Are you crazy? I could barely form sentences around you for weeks after you hired me.”
He shrugged. “I just thought maybe you were shy.”
“I’m not that shy! You’re just that intimidating.”
He leaned down and kissed her nose. “Flattery will get you everywhere, sweetheart.” He gave her another lingering kiss, and whispered, “You should probably go find Gracie before I change my mind about taking you home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She felt bereft as she watched him get into his car and pull away, but didn’t have the nerve to stop him. She wrapped her arms around herself and realized she was still wearing his jacket. Bringing the warm fabric up to her nose, she breathed him in with a smile, and with a lightened step went back inside to find Gracie.
Chapter Three
Seven days until Valentine’s Day . . .
“SERIOUSLY, WHY DIDN’T you let him take you home? Gregg is a sexy beast.”
Ryan shook her head at her new friend’s description. “It’s hard to explain.”
Gracie raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Try me.”
Ryan hadn’t slept well last night and needed coffee in a bad way when she left the house. She’d walked into The Local Bean early to grab some coffee before her first appointment, and saw Gracie sitting down with a pretty brunette Ryan recognized as Gracie’s best friend Gemma Carlson, the object of Mike’s unrequited love. Gemma was a single mother who’d had her son at nineteen, and although speculation ran like a mountain spring all over town, no one knew for sure who the father was. One rumor said he was a random guy she’d met on the Internet, and another said that Travis Bowers, country music’s hottest bachelor, had done the deed and dumped her right after.
Despite what most of the older generation described as a major transgression, Gemma worked hard for her community and loved her son and her business, the little used bookstore next to the coffee shop, Chloe’s Book Nook. Ryan felt instantly at ease with Gemma when Gracie had invited her to join them, until Gracie brought up the Gregg situation.
Ryan glanced at Gemma, who attempted a rescue. “Gracie, it’s probably very personal. Ryan doesn’t have to tell you just because you’re nosy.”
Ryan shot Gemma a grateful smile, which Gracie waved off. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m your friend now. And I know you haven’t had very many girlfriends so let me tell you the first rule of friendship.” She took a sip of her coffee, pausing for dramatic effect. “All girls are nosy. Eventually I will pry all secrets from you. It’s futile to resist.”
Gemma laughed at her. “I still have some secrets you don’t know about.”
Gracie narrowed her eyes at Gemma. “I’ll deal with you later.” She turned her attention back to Ryan. “Seriously, it took a huge set of balls to ask me for help yesterday. I respect that. Maybe if you tell me why you’re so freaked out by Gregg, I can help you.”
Ryan looked from Gemma’s reassuring smile to Gracie’s eager one. She thought about continuing to protest her right to privacy, but why bother? It didn’t take a lifelong friendship to realize that Gracie would just pester her until she gave in and spilled her guts. “Okay, well I told you yesterday about how my last couple of relationships hadn’t gone so well?” Gracie nodded, and Ryan continued, “Well, I think maybe I’m just not good in bed.”
Gracie shook her head and snorted. “You dated Doug Dooly. No one can enjoy sex with that selfish pig.”
Gemma grinned at her. “Didn’t you go out with Doug?”
Gracie glared at her. “Yeah, when I was eighteen and crazy. No offense, you didn’t know better when you went out with him. Doug has the sensitivity of a gnat and I’d be surprised if he cared about anything more than getting drunk and getting off.”
Gemma gasped. “Gracie!”
Gracie shrugged off Gemma’s horror and Ryan hid a grin. Gracie was outrageous and said basically everything that came to her mind, but Ryan already adored her. Every misconception she’d had about the pretty blonde made her think that Gracie probably wasn’t the first person she’d misjudged, if Ryan’s ex-boyfriends were any indication.
“I’m just saying that all Doug cares about is Doug, and if I had to guess, I’d bet your other boyfriends were the same. I mean seriously, if you don’t enjoy sex, how are you supposed to be good at it?”
Ryan thought about that for a minute and realized Gracie was right. Majority of the time, she didn’t even orgasm during sex, she was so busy trying to make the guy she was with happy. In fact she never remembered having one orgasm with Doug, mainly because he was pretty quick on the draw. She bit her lip to hold back a laugh but Gracie caught her look. “Hey, what’s the laugh about?”
Ryan shook her head. “Nothing, I was just thinking.”
Gracie watched her for a minute, as i
f weighing whether to press for the joke. She must have decided to just let it go because she pointed her finger at Ryan. “You just need to relax and let nature take its course. I highly doubt Gregg’s the type of guy to leave a girl hanging. He’s one of the good ones.”
Ryan felt her stomach tighten with a little twist of jealousy. “Can I ask you something?”
Gracie smiled and volunteered, “No, I never slept with Gregg.”
Gemma rolled her eyes and Ryan blushed. “No, that’s not it. Why did you blow Gregg off after your date?”
Gracie’s smile dimmed a little and her eyes clouded. She sat back with a sigh and replied, “I just knew we weren’t a good fit. I mean, Gregg is hot, don’t get me wrong, but he needs someone like . . . well like you. I would have just run roughshod over him and ruined him for any other decent girls.”
Gemma smiled at Ryan and said, “What Gracie’s trying to say is she’s a little boy crazy. She tends to break nice guys’ hearts to the point that all women become the evil enemy.”
Gracie glared at her. “Hey, I just haven’t found the one yet, okay? And it’s not like I sleep with all of them.”
Ryan grinned at Gemma and asked, “Have you ever seen Oklahoma?”
Gemma grinned back at Ryan, her eyes twinkling. “Yeah I’ve seen it.”
“What are you two babbling about?” Gracie glared between them, and both women burst out laughing.
Ryan tried to stop laughing and said, “You just remind me of Ado Annie.”
Gemma waited for Gracie to scowl or get angry, but was startled instead when Gracie started singing, “‘I only did the kind of things I orta, sorta . . .’”
Startled patrons and employees turned to stare at them, and the three of them burst into fresh peals of laughter.
RYAN LOCKED UP the studio and looked at the surrounding shops, scrunching her nose at the red hearts and cupids that decorated the store windows. She really didn’t think Valentine’s Day was a big deal. She’d never had a boyfriend on the actual day, unless you counted Troy Grover when she was in fifth grade and he gave her a Power Ranger’s Valentine. Most of the time it was everything that happened before Valentine’s Day that made her despise the overwhelming pressure the world of marketing drummed into her brain through every avenue of communication and visual stimulation. Watching all of the happy couples making gooey eyes at each other and the men rushing around to buy cards and bouquets last minute just added to the problem, and made her shake her head in disgust.
She reached her car and started to open the door. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped a foot in the air and turned to find Gregg smiling apologetically. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay, I just didn’t hear you.”
“Well I just wanted to catch you and see if maybe you’d like to have dinner tonight?”
Her face broke into a relieved smile. “I was afraid you were mad at me.”
He shook his head. “No, I understand why you didn’t want to leave with me last night. I meant to call you earlier but got caught up with Sally Barrett wanting me to drive around with her and take pictures of some of her property listings. I’m okay with taking things slow.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “So what do you think?”
“I’d love to go to dinner with you.”
His face split into a gorgeous smile and he smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty?”
Her heart hammered at his touch. “Sure. That works.”
His hand dropped slowly and his eyes held the same heat they had the night before.
“All right, I’ll see you then.”
Ryan watched him walk toward the Tahoe and couldn’t stop the tingles radiating across her cheek from where his thumb had been.
GREGG KNOCKED ON her door at 7:27, a dozen red roses that Nancy at Hall’s Market had wrapped up for him in his hand. He was dressed in a blue-collared shirt, khakis, and brown dress shoes. His jacket was brown corduroy with a thick, warm lining and he’d already messed up his hair by running his fingers through it nervously.
Ryan opened the door and Gregg sucked in his breath. The light from the living room illuminated her from behind, making her mane of red hair darker and her smile brighter. She wore a soft-looking cream sweater that fell off one shoulder, revealing rich pale skin down to the soft rise of one breast. A wide black belt was attached to her sweater, accenting the indent of her waist and the flare of her hips. Her legs were encased in tight boot-cut jeans, and short black boots gave her an extra two inches in height.
“Hey Gregg.” Her voice was soft, and he felt a stirring below the belt when her little pink tongue reached out to smooth over her lip nervously. “Are those for me?”
Gregg tried to yank his eyes away from her exposed flesh and cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
He held them out to her and she took them with a smile. “Do you want to come in while I find a vase for these?”
“Sure.” Gregg stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him, his eyes on the sway of her hips as he followed her into the kitchen. There was something different about the way she was moving. She seemed taller, and her shoulders weren’t rounded forward. Usually she walked with her eyes downcast and moved in a quick, no nonsense fashion. Tonight she glided across the floor to the kitchen like it was made of ice.
When she bent down to pull a vase from the bottom cupboard, he gripped the counter behind him to keep from gripping her butt. The way the sweet round flesh bobbed up and down as she searched made his mouth go dry.
“Here we go.” She stood up with a tall glass vase in her hands and went about cutting the stems and filling it with water. “So where are we going tonight?”
He cleared his throat again. “I was thinking Carolina’s, if you’re in the mood for Mexican.”
She shrugged, bringing all that creamy flesh higher. “Sure, that’s fine with me.” She finished arranging the flowers and with another wide smile said, “Just let me get my jacket.” She picked up the black trench coat and turned. “You ready?”
He moved past to open the door for her, and was awarded another flash of white teeth behind perfectly glossed lips as she moved toward him.
Confidence.
That’s what he saw shining in her eyes. Ryan had always been a bit like a scared mouse, but something inside her had blossomed with the new clothes and hair. She laughed and smiled more than he had ever seen before. She was still his funny friend Ryan, but she was so much more now. The awkward little duckling had transformed into a proud, beautiful swan. It wasn’t the clothes or the makeup that made her beautiful, though. It was the fact that wearing them had given her the little push she needed to come out of her shell.
Suddenly his graceful swan was pitching forward. He reached out to catch her, pulling her tight against his chest. “Are you okay?”
Her face was pressed against his chest and he couldn’t see her expression, just heard a muffled “Damnit.”
He reached down to lift her face up and noticed the red hue on her cheeks and the wet drops on her lashes. “What’s wrong?”
She took a breath and said, “I’m such a klutz.”
He chuckled, and the look she shot him was so pained it cut his mirth short. “Everybody trips. If I was wearing boots with heels like that, I’d have broken an ankle by now. It doesn’t make you a klutz. In fact, I was just thinking how graceful you were.”
She scoffed at him. “Yeah right.”
He squeezed her until she looked up at him. “Why don’t we just pretend it was a clever ploy on your part so that I’d be forced to hold you tight?”
Her mouth twitched. “That’s awfully chivalrous of you.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? My mama raised me right.”
She laughed and started to pull away. “Thanks. For catching me.”
“Any time.” He followed her out the door, and when they reached the porch he reached out and to
ok her hand. She looked up at him, and he simply said, “Just in case I need to catch you again, I have an advantage.”
DINNER WAS DELICIOUS and Ryan finally started to relax as she kept reminding herself that this was Gregg, the guy she had spent endless hours with at weddings and anniversary parties snapping pictures, laughing at and complimenting their photos in front of the computer. The guy who liked to eat peanut butter from the jar with a spoon when he missed breakfast, and who tapped a pen on the desk when he was concentrating. The guy who had taught her how to salsa in the studio when she told him she was a hopeless dancer, and after fifteen minutes of toe-stomping fun, he agreed with her. He was more than her boss, he was her friend.
They’d laughed all through dinner, and although the lacy underwear still bugged her and made her jump around in her seat, she started to understand what Gracie was saying. She felt good in the clothes she had on, and when she went to the bathroom to touch up, she looked at the smiling woman in the mirror and finally felt like she was who she was meant to be. She still had her faults and insecurities, but today when people passed her on the street, she hadn’t lowered her eyes to avoid the contact. And when Chase waved to her from inside his shop and gave her an appreciative glance, it had made her walk taller. She thought about Gracie and Gemma, with the easy way they laughed at her humor and accepted her, all because she had finally opened her mouth and asked for what she wanted. Maybe she wasn’t really that awkward but she’d never been able to grow into herself. She’d only ever been herself with one person in this sleepy little town, and that was Gregg.