They took a seat on an empty bench overlooking the river. He pulled one fork from the bag as Jane opened the container. The scent of warm apple and spices filled the air. He sank his fork into the flaky pastry and offered her the first bite, then found that he couldn’t help staring at her lips as they closed around the tines of the utensil.
She shut her eyes and groaned. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” She licked her lips, and Ryan could have sworn the temperature rose twenty degrees.
“You said the same thing about the empanadas,” he teased and offered her another forkful of the sinful strudel.
Jane slid her hand over her stomach. “I don’t think I can—”
“Eat another bite?” he interrupted with a smile. “I hope that’s not true. I’d love it if you would join me for dinner tonight, unless you’re getting sick of me?”
Jane laughed. “Hardly, but I have some work to do and I bet you’ve been ignoring your responsibilities at Vine.”
Responsibilities. Ryan pulled his phone from his pocket. “That reminds me. Gretchen has texted me about a hundred times.”
“See? You need to get back.”
He glanced at the most recent texts, and saw that there really were legitimate matters that needed his attention. Normally, he enjoyed the thousand little decisions that went into keeping Vine in top form. Today, however, he was genuinely torn. Capturing Jane’s gaze, he said, “How about this. I’ll drop you off at your hotel for a few hours, but only if you agree to meet me at Vine at eight o’clock. I’ll bet you’ll be hungry by then. Deal?”
“Deal,” Jane conceded, and Ryan felt a stab of pure relief. He had no intentions of saying good-bye to her anytime soon.
“There’s something else,” Ryan said. The idea had been swimming around in his head all day. “I want to officially cancel our date as far as The Cowboys is concerned. I’ll make sure your money is refunded.” He knew Camille would be furious, but he didn’t care.
Jane’s brows bunched together. “Why? I don’t understand.”
“I want to go on a real date with you. Not because you’re paying me but because we want to spend time together.”
“I’d really like that.”
Ryan couldn’t think of a better way of breaking free from Camille and The Cowboys for good.
Chapter Six
“Are you back in the saddle yet?” Charlotte’s voice sounded through the phone.
Jane poked the speaker button and towel dried her hair. “What, no ‘Hello, how’s your trip’?”
“Okay, girl. Hello. How’s your trip? Did you get laid?”
“No, but I saved some money. The arrangement has been canceled.”
“You didn’t! Why—”
“Hold on. Before you get all over my case, I spent last night and most of the morning and afternoon with the cowboy anyway. Well, he’s not exactly a cowboy anymore…” Jane gave Charlotte a recap of the past twenty-four hours.
“My little Janie is growing up. I’m proud of you!”
“Seriously, it’s no big deal.”
“I hate to tell you this—actually I love telling you this: It sounds like a very big deal. Enjoy your cowboy. I mean it. Enjoy him.”
Jane laughed. “I gotta go, Char.”
“Ride ’em, cowgirl.”
As Jane slipped on a pair of jeans and a white blouse, her thoughts drifted to Ryan. She felt as if she were in her own fairytale. But, like every other fairytale, hers would be over soon. Which was too bad. She could easily get used to a guy like him.
****
Snaking her way through the crowded walkways of the River Walk, Jane smiled when she spotted Vine’s brick-cover façade with traces of ivy crawling up the walls. Gretchen greeted her at the hostess stand and showed Jane to the reserved table for two at the back of the restaurant. A bottle of wine was already perched in an ice bucket, with two wine glasses beside it.
Gretchen pulled a corkscrew from her apron and started opening the wine. “Ryan will be out soon. He had to take care of a few things in the kitchen.” She drew the cork from the bottle and poured a glass for Jane.
“Thanks. Ryan tells me you’ve been with him since the restaurant opened.”
“Yup. Ry’s a great boss. Easy to work for. How long have you known each other?”
“We just met yesterday, actually,” Jane confessed.
“Really? You must’ve made quite an impression. He never takes time off like this.”
“Are you telling my deepest and darkest secrets?”
Jane’s gaze moved to the owner of the deep voice that had suddenly spoken behind Gretchen. She realized her stomach must have missed hearing his voice for the couple of hours they were apart, because it did cartwheels as he spoke.
“Nope. Just some girl talk.” Gretchen winked at Jane and stepped aside so Ryan could take a seat.
“Girl talk, huh? I think there are some customers waiting to be seated,” Ryan said.
“I’m going. I’m going. Good to see you again, Jane.”
Jane waved good-bye to Gretchen and returned her gaze to Ryan, noticing the fine lines that creased his skin at the outer edges of his eyes. “You look tired.”
He poured a glass of wine for himself. “Nah, I’m fine. Just got off the phone with my sister. She’s having a big family party tomorrow, and she won’t let me out of it, no matter what excuse I throw at her. She’s relentless.”
“Not a fan of family parties?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I love my family, but they get to be a little much after a while. They go all out. Live music, a million kids, and what seems like ten generations of Rosaleses.”
“Sounds like fun,” Jane said, and meant it.
Ryan’s eyes brightened. “Come with me tomorrow.”
“What? No. I couldn’t impose on you and your family.”
“You’d be doing me a favor. Maya always complains how I never bring a date to these things. It would win me a reprieve from her constant nagging. Come with me. Please.”
She stared into his blue eyes and forgot every reason why she should say no. She forgot that she was getting far too attached to the man before her, this sexy man with eyes the color of a calm Caribbean ocean. She forgot her flight home in three days, and the fact that she’d never see him again. She even forgot why she was in San Antonio, repressing all thought of the meeting prep she was ignoring while spending her time with him.
“Sure,” she said. “I’d love to.”
****
The next morning, Jane woke early and hit one of the shops on the River Walk before Ryan picked her up. Besides the dress she’d worn the day before, she had packed nothing else suitable for a party. She opted for a gauzy pale-yellow skirt and a white tank top, with sand-colored sandals. It was a significant departure from her usual black and gray wardrobe, but it felt right for the occasion.
When she answered the knock at her door, there stood Ryan, holding a beautiful gardenia the exact shade of her skirt.
“I picked it on the way over. Thought it would look nice in your hair.” He tucked the stem behind her ear and grazed her cheek with his thumb. Her stomach fluttered from his touch.
“Beautiful,” he said. “Thanks again for doing this.”
Her gaze washed over his casual white button-down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to expose tanned and muscled arms. “Thanks for asking me.” She hooked her hand around his arm, feeling like a teenager on a first date.
They drove to a neighborhood similar to the one they’d toured the day before. He turned onto a car-lined street and parked.
The soft notes of guitar music filled the air as Ryan helped Jane from the car. Suddenly her heart began to hammer in her chest, and she froze. What was she getting herself into? She could’ve stayed safe in her comfort zone and spent the afternoon perfectly happily, curled up with a book beside the hotel pool. Instead, she had let herself be swayed by a sexy grin.
Ryan seemed to sense her hesitance. “Come on. They wo
n’t bite unless provoked. And don’t worry. If you’re not having fun in an hour, we’ll leave. That’s usually when my head starts to hurt anyway.” His expression became a little less carefree. “Oh, and my family doesn’t know what I used to do for a living.”
Jane tilted her head. “They don’t know about the cowboy thing?”
“The only person who knows is my brother-in-law, Joe.” Jane noticed the subtle clench of his jaw.
She raised her eyebrows. “What’s it worth to you? I see a year of empanadas and apple strudel in my future.”
His expression softened. “That could be arranged.”
Jane nudged him in the ribs. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“I’ll be eternally grateful. Ready to meet the crew?”
There was no graceful way to turn back, at that point. “Ready if you are.”
The music grew louder and louder as they walked toward the house on the corner. Instead of going up to the front door, Ryan guided her around to the backyard. “I like to sneak in through the back, to avoid any verbal attacks from the hens in the kitchen.”
Jane laughed. “Sounds like you’ve been to a lot of these things.”
“Too many to count.”
“Uncle Ryan!” a high-pitched voice called from overhead.
Jane looked up to see a young girl with dark pigtails smiling down at them from a tree.
“Isabel! What are you doing up there?” Ryan asked, and held up his hands to her.
She jumped into his arms. “Waiting for you. Mama promised you’d be here.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Ryan said, lowering her to the ground.
“Who’s that?” Isabel asked, smiling as she pointed at Jane.
“This is my friend, Jane.”
Isabel’s brown eyes widened, and she opened her mouth, revealing a missing tooth. “You have a girlfriend?”
“Well, I didn’t say that exactly. But Jane is a girl, and she is my friend.”
Isabel giggled and skipped into the backyard, singing, “Uncle Ryan’s got a girlfriend.”
He smiled at Jane, looking only slightly abashed. “That was a preview of the Rosales family circus. Ready for the show?”
“Let’s do this,” Jane said, and stepped into the backyard.
Colorful lights were strung along the fence, and a band played in the middle of the yard. All around them were partygoers, old and young. Jane estimated that there were at least a hundred people gathered there. “All of these people are your relatives? How do you keep them straight?”
Ryan scanned the crowd. “Some of them are relatives, some are family friends, and I have absolutely no idea who the rest are. But there’s a familiar face,” Ryan said, and led Jane to where Pascal was manning one of the grills.
Before she had a chance to say hello, Jane felt a tug at her skirt, and looked down to see Isabel with a bunch of daisies in her hand, which looked to be freshly picked from the patch along the backyard’s fence. “These are for you, Miss Jane.”
Jane bent as Isabel passed her the handpicked bouquet. “Thank you so much! How sweet,” Jane said, and watched as two women approached Ryan.
“There you are, little brother! I almost began to think you weren’t coming. Look who’s back from graduate school? You remember Tilly.”
Jane stood holding the flowers. Her eyes landed on a beautiful young girl with long dark hair who was staring wide-eyed at Ryan.
“Sure. Of course I remember. Hey, Tilly. Welcome home,” Ryan said. He snaked a hand around Jane’s back. “And this is Jane Keegan.”
The woman Jane assumed was Ryan’s sister narrowed her eyes. “Ryan, you should’ve mentioned you were bringing company.” Her gaze moved to Jane. “He never brings anyone to these things. I’m Maya.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Jane turned her attention to Tilly, who looked as though someone had stolen her last lollipop. “What did you study in school?” she asked.
“Communications,” Tilly said with a pout.
“My good friend is an entertainment reporter in New York. Are you looking to go into broadcasting?”
“I-I don’t know,” she mumbled, and Jane wondered if Tilly had chosen the right field of study.
The four stood in awkward silence for a moment. Then Ryan cleared his throat and pointed to something across the yard. “I see you received the case of wine I sent over.”
Maya turned in the direction he was pointing, where a crowd stood around tables holding platters of food, and nodded. “The wine’s always a big hit.”
“Happy to oblige. And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get some. I told Jane all about it in the car, so I’d like her to have a taste. Can I get you two a glass?”
Maya and Tilly declined, and Ryan grabbed Jane’s hand, leading her firmly away from the two women. “That was awkward,” he muttered when they had made their escape.
Jane was beginning to love the feel of his hand in hers. “No big deal. I’m an unexpected visitor. This is Maya’s party. You really should have told her you were bringing a guest.” Summoning her courage, she asked, “Does your sister try to set you up often?”
“Every once in a while. But she usually warns me before doing something like that. And with Tilly Sena? I don’t understand what Maya’s thinking. I remember that girl running around with dolls and pigtails when I was in high school.”
“She’s very pretty.” Jane suddenly felt old and frumpy in her mid-calf-length skirt, compared to the woman whose skimpy sundress barely covered her perfect, can’t-be-a-day-over-twenty-five-year-old ass.
“Hey,” Ryan said, while his thumb traced the inside of her wrist, sending goosebumps up her arm. “She’s not even in your league.”
Jane offered him a grateful smile. “You always seem to know the perfect thing to say, even if you don’t mean it.”
Ryan pinned her with his stare and drew her close. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Ever. Now, how about that wine?”
****
Jane managed to have a great time at the party. The only one who kept her distance was Maya, yet Jane caught Maya staring at her more than once, as afternoon shaded into evening. Between Ryan being adorable, Uncle Pascal’s jokes, and the great food, Jane’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
When Jane finally did check her watch, she was shocked to see it was so late.
Taking her cue, Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You have an early meeting in the morning, as I recall. Let’s get out of here. We’ll sneak out the same way we came in,” he said, and guided Jane toward the side of the house.
“Uncle Ryan!” Isabel’s voice yelled from the window of the house as Jane and Ryan left the party.
“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep, Isabel?” Ryan’s voice was stern, but he was smiling as they moved closer to the window.
Isabel’s bottom lip shot out. “How can anybody sleep, with all this party stuff going on? I just wanted to tell you I had fun tonight, and I have a secret to tell you, but you have to come closer.”
Ryan walked even closer to the house. “What is it, little one?”
“I like Jane,” Isabel said in a whisper loud enough for Jane to hear.
“I do, too,” Ryan replied, mimicking the girl’s tone, which made her giggle. “Now go to sleep before your momma gets mad at both of us.”
Isabel nodded and waved at Jane before disappearing from the window.
Ryan strode back to Jane’s side. “I love that kid.”
“I can see why. She’s adorable.”
“Hard to believe she’s her mother’s daughter,” Ryan said with a chuckle.
“Well, they both love you fiercely. Don’t be so hard on Maya. She just wants what’s best for you.”
“Maya wants what she thinks is best for me. Did you have a good time despite her evil eye?” he asked.
“You caught that, too? I wasn’t sure whether it was just my imagination.”
“Unfortunately not. I plan to have a talk with her abo
ut it. But not tonight.” He pushed the button on his key fob, and the headlights provided a path to his car.
“Please don’t do that on my account. She’s your sister, and I’m just…” Her face flushed. Jane hoped it was dark enough to hide her embarrassment as they stepped to the passenger’s side. What the heck am I?
Ryan eased her body against his car. Warmth from the metal of the door seeped through her thin skirt, doing nothing to cool down her heated skin. “You’re sexy, intelligent, and a hell of a lot of fun, and it’s taking every ounce of self-control for me to not kiss you, right here and now,” he said, his voice low and silky.
The air slipped from Jane’s lungs. She searched his face, wondering if he meant the words as a joke. She tried to look away, but his body was so close to hers that he dominated her field of vision, from the white shirt stretched over his broad shoulder, with a smattering of dark hair peeking from his unbuttoned collar, to his stubbled jaw and his full lips.
God, those lips. She needed him to kiss her more than she needed to draw a fresh breath of air into her lungs. But what if she wasn’t good at it? She hadn’t kissed any man other than Nick in … how long? Almost twenty years?
“Querida.” He hooked his thumb under her chin, challenging her to meet his gaze.
“I love when you say that,” she whispered.
“Querida,” he repeated slower and trailed his fingers up her cheek and threaded them through her hair to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer.
She froze.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, capturing her stare.
“It’s just…” Truth seemed to be her only option. “This is embarrassing to admit, but I haven’t kissed anyone else in a very long time.”
“It’s just like riding a bicycle.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“And it’ll be easy for you to do, especially with those lips.” The palm of his free hand cupped her face, and he traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “Like I said, I’ve wanted to kiss you all night. Actually, all day and all night.”
Everything became dark as Ryan leaned in closer. His intoxicating scent overpowered Jane’s senses as his lips brushed hers, feather-soft, as if he was testing her. She opened her mouth just a little as a slow heat blanketed her body.
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