Finding Love

by Callie Stone

  Ryan grabs me tightly and picks me up off the ground, I reflexively wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. “I love you,” he says looking into my eyes before giving me a sweet kiss. “You make me the happiest man in the world, I’m so lucky you’ve agreed to be mine.” He sighs as he rubs his nose up and down mine. “I don’t know what I would have done if you said no, it would have crushed me completely. Ruined me forever. I don’t want to live without you, Addy, I can’t do it.”

  Bringing my hands up to rub his face I give him a small reassuring smile and say, “Sweetheart, there is no way you could get rid of me. You hold the key to my heart, completely, undeniably. You are the only one for me and no one can compare to you or the love I feel for you. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  Ryan captures my lips in a searing kiss. “God, you are the best,” he says after breaking the kiss. “I need you, before breakfast, I need to feel you against my body again, I need to be inside of you.”

  “Anytime,” I say breathlessly wanting him to know I will never deny him or myself for that matter, the pleasure of being joined together.

  Letting a mischievous grin slip he asks, “Well since this is our last night in the apartment, what room have we not done it in?”

  I look up at the ceiling as I think of all the places we’ve had sex and all the delicious ways he’s taken me. “The kitchen I believe,” I say with a little shrug.

  “Then the kitchen it is.” He starts to walk that way and I giggle. “And then when we get to the house, we have to start all over again there too, because I want every room to have a memory of us together, making love.”

  “Hmm that might be possible if you’re nice, or maybe a little naughty,” I say as I wink at him.

  “You want naughty?”

  “Yes, please!”

  “You got it, babe,” he says before setting me on the counter and ripping my clothes off.

  Will I ever get tired of this gorgeous man in front of me?

  Chapter Eighteen

  It takes a full day to pack up my place. The things we didn’t need at the house we agreed on donating. Ryan fills up his truck making a couple runs to his house while I continue to pack and now we are down to one last truckload. This will be the last time I’m in this apartment. We talked to the landlord earlier in the day and since I only had two months left on my lease, she agreed to let me go. She said she wanted to do some renovations before renting it out again, so I just helped her plan move up a couple months which seemed to make her happy. I look around shocked that we got everything packed and moved in one day. It took me forever to unpack everything when I moved in, but in one day with the help of Ryan we knocked it out quickly. Ryan comes in and grabs the last box, on his way out he stops and kisses me on the forehead. I love when he does that. It makes me feel loved, no one ever doing it before made it even more special. I follow behind him as he walks out and locks the door before pulling it shut. I release a sigh as I turn and follow him to the last truckload of my stuff unsure of where I’m even going to put all of it in his place. Getting in the truck we head out stopping at the office long enough to hand over the keys and then we are on our way to our new life. My new life. I hope it continues to be this smooth as the changes continue coming.

  Pulling into the driveway of his house I look around unable to believe it’s really happening. There is no turning back now. I slowly get out of the truck and grab a box out of the back to carry in. Walking in the door I go to the living room and place my box in with the others that we have stacked neatly against an empty wall and start to wonder about the house. This isn’t the first time I’ve been in here but it’s my new home so I’m taking more of it in than I did the first time.

  Two stories, living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs. Upstairs there are four bedrooms with another bathroom. Ryan uses one room as an office. Everything is done in neutrals.

  When you walk in the front door there is an entryway with the kitchen to your left and the stairs to your right. A few more steps and you’re in the living room.

  Walking up behind me, Ryan wraps his arms around my waist. “You can move anything you want, decorate it anyway that your heart desires. Believe me, I want you to. You won’t hurt my feelings or make me mad. I want you to feel like this is your home too, so if you want to toss everything and buy new that’s what we will do. You just tell me what you want.”

  I turn around and look at him like he’s crazy. “We don’t need to go to extremes here. Let’s take it one day at a time,” I say with a laugh.

  Ryan shrugs his shoulders. “I’m just letting you know I will do anything you want. This is our place now and I want you to feel comfortable here too.”

  “Thank you, baby, but let’s just wait and see what happens.”

  “Okay,” he says leaning down and giving me a quick kiss before letting go and heading out the front door again.

  I turn back around and study the living room. There really isn’t anything I’ve found that I would want to change here. We have almost the same taste in things, the living room with its neutral colors is exactly what I like. Gray is one of my favorite colors, this room will surely stay the way it is.

  Walking back in with another box Ryan asks, “Have you picked which room you want to start with tonight?”

  “Which room?” I ask unsure of what he’s talking about.

  Ryan’s eyes darken, his gaze getting heated. “Yeah, which room would you like to christen first? The bedroom has already been taken care of but then, you were not living here then so that will have to be done again.” He grins as he stalks closer to me. “So, Addy, which room would you like to start with?”

  What is up with him and this every room thing? I shake my head at him as I try to contain my smile. “You know you’re crazy, right?” I ask as my smile finally slips through. “Surprise me.”

  “Okay. That I can do,” he says leaning down and giving me a quick kiss. “But first I need to finish getting the stuff out of the truck.” He gives me a wink as he walks out again.

  Turning around I think, this is my life now and glance down at my ring again. I am so happy and excited yet a little part of me is nervous and panicked about it all moving so fast. Will I ever get over that fear? Shaking my head, I decide to take a couple of bags up to the bedroom and start unpacking.

  Entering the room, I set the bags on the bed. I walk to the dresser across from the bed. There are eight drawers, four on each side. I start on the right and open the top drawer, empty. Huh. I go to the next and then the next checking all four and they are all empty. When I check the left side, they are all full of Ryan’s clothes. Just then I hear Ryan in the doorway. Glancing up I ask, “Have these drawers always been empty or were you just overeager to get me here?”

  “I emptied them about two weeks ago with the hopes that everything turned out like it has now. Presumptuous, yes indeed. I had no doubt that you would agree to be my wife.” He saunters over to me and wraps me in his arms. I lean my head back to look into his eyes. “And you kind of have to live with me to be my wife. No way in hell I’d marry you and put up with having separate places.” He laughs before giving me a quick kiss. “Check out the closet.”

  Raising an eyebrow at him I walk over to the closet and slowly open the door. It is a deep walk-in closet with enough room to hold another bed and dresser. I gasp as I step inside. There are places to hang your clothes and shelves for things you prefer to fold like sweaters or you can use the shelves for your shoes. I don’t have much of either so I’m sure they will just stay empty. At the end of the closet is a vanity with bright lighting for doing makeup or hair. I’ve never had a vanity before but used to always want one growing up. I do a slow turn and notice all of Ryan’s stuff to the left of the closet and the whole right side is empty. Shaking my head, I walk back out. “You are something else, you know that?”

  Giving me his megawatt smile that makes me sigh, he shrugs his shoulders. “Guilty as charged.” H
e laughs as I shake my head again.

  “I’m exhausted so I’m only going to unpack my clothes tonight, I need to make sure I have everything ready for work tomorrow.”

  Ryan’s smile slips a little.

  Oh no, what did I say that was wrong? “What?” I ask wanting to know now so I don’t dwell on it later.

  He sighs as he rubs his hand down his face. “I know I have thrown a lot on you lately and it’s because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Hell, I want to spend every waking minute with you.” He glances away as if considering his words wisely. “It’s just that you work a lot. You’re there six days a week practically open to close.”

  “Oh no. I am not, not quitting my job. I need my job. I don’t have money racked up in savings or own my own business. I am not going to quit and live off your income. That’s going too damn far, don’t you think? And we aren’t even married yet.” Anger surges through me. Unbelievable.

  “Just hear me out will you before you get all pissy. I would never expect you to stop working. All I’m asking is that you cut back a little. You don’t need to work that many days anymore.”

  “That I can think about,” I say, crossing my arms.

  “Or…” He looks around again like he’s worried to say what’s coming next. “Or you could quit...”

  I go to interrupt him, and he holds his hand up to stop my words. I huff, cross my arms tighter and stand back on one foot a second away from tapping my other. Is this what our first fight is going to be about? Correction, second fight.

  “You could quit and come work with me. Help me run the business. I really suck at the paperwork part. You could handle the orders and take payments. You can even cut yourself a paycheck if that would make you feel better, though you don’t need to because that business is going to be yours, too.”

  “No, it won’t. That is your business and just because we get married doesn’t mean it becomes mine.”

  “Oh, you are going to be part owner because I’m putting your name on it too as soon as we are married. I already have the paperwork started.”

  I stare at him in shock. Crazy ass! “I will think about your proposition, but I am not promising anything. I will let you know when and what I decide when I’m ready. No more talk about it until then.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he says with a grin on his face.

  I swear he believes he already won and he very well might have, but I still need time to think this through. The pros and cons of doing what he wants, before I say yes.

  I also need to think about the fact that I’m always saying yes to this man. It could get me in trouble one day. Of course, nothing he has asked so far has been anything I wanted to say no to, marriage, moving in together. But now there is a possibility I will say yes to running the business with him. What will be next? Shaking my head, I walk to my bags and start to pull things out to be put away. Ryan stays and helps place things in the drawers and even runs down to bring up the clothes that needed to get hung in the closet. We work swiftly, dancing around each other like we’ve lived together for years and know each other’s moves.

  Putting the last item in the drawer I tuck the bags away in the closet and then plop on the bed. I hear the doorbell ring just as I start to relax. Ryan jumps up and heads down the stairs. Seconds later he is back with bags in his hands.

  “I knew neither of us would want to cook so I ordered Chinese. Do you want to eat up here or downstairs?” He asks with a soft smile.

  “Up here is perfect if you don’t mind us eating in your bed.”

  “Our bed. And no, we don’t mind because we did it at the apartment a lot.” He winks at me as he crawls on the bed and sits next to me. We turn on some mindless TV and start to eat.

  The food is delicious and feeling famished I eat in record time. I didn’t realize I was so hungry until I smelled the food. Stuffing all the containers in the bag Ryan gets up with the bags in hand.

  “Get in your pajamas baby I’ll be right back,” he says as he leaves to throw the bags away.

  I jump up and do as he said ready to be comfortable. I’m finished before he gets back and crawls into bed under the covers. His bed is so much more comfortable than mine. I sink in and release a sigh.

  Ryan enters the room and begins to strip out of his clothes down to his boxers. Crawling in the bed behind me he rolls me just enough to give me a sweet kiss before snuggling up behind me. “Just sleep, baby. It’s been a crazy two days and we both could just use some sleep.”

  “Thank you!” I say sleepily and snuggle back into him. “Good night, baby,” I manage before falling into a deep sleep dreaming of wedding dresses and little redheaded babies.

  I wake up the next morning feeling like I just had the best sleep of my life. I feel refreshed and ready to start the day. Ryan is still fast asleep behind me with arms and legs slung over me. That seems to be his favorite way to sleep, on top of me. I smile because I really wouldn’t have it any other way. Making slow small movements I wiggle my way out from underneath him successfully without waking him. I look down at him sleeping for a minute and feel my heart skip a beat at the thought of spending the rest of my life with this man. My stomach rumbles and I stop my gazing and head for the kitchen. I’m in the mood for bacon and eggs, or maybe pancakes. I don’t know if he has either, but I’ll find out soon enough. As slowly and quietly as I can, I make my way down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. Everything is new and state of the art and black. Black appliances and black granite countertops. The cabinets painted a light grey to give a little light to the kitchen. I couldn’t imagine them being painted black, too.

  Walking further into the kitchen I open the fridge door and peek inside. The whole thing is stocked top to bottom. Curious, I open the freezer next. The same thing. Huh, he’s never here why would he have all this food, I think as I move to the cabinets and find the same thing. Shaking my head at all the stuffed cabinets I dig through and find pancake mix. Perfect. I open a few more cabinets and drawers looking for a bowl and a whisk. It will take me some time to get used to the layout.

  I put all the ingredients in the bowl and start whisking it as I turn the stove on to heat up the pan. I place the first spoonful of batter into the pan and hear Ryan come down the stairs. He walks into the kitchen and goes straight to the coffee pot to make himself a cup. Yawning, he looks over at me and says, “Well you sure look well rested.” He grins at me as he kisses me on the forehead.

  “I slept very well, your bed is so comfortable I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud.”

  “Ours,” he grunts out.

  “Our what?” I ask paying attention to flipping the pancake.

  “Our bed. It’s not my bed it’s ours.”

  Oh god. I’m going to have to watch how I phrase things around him because he sure is taking the “our” thing seriously. Shaking my head, I focus on taking the pancake off the pan and placing more batter in the middle. “Yep,” I say nonchalantly.

  I hear another grunt behind me before I feel him look over my shoulder at the pancake in the pan. “Mmm, that looks so good.”

  “Yours will be done in a few more minutes. Get your coffee and sit at the breakfast bar.” I turn and flip the pancake. While the other side cooks I head to the fridge and grab the butter and syrup placing them on the breakfast bar. Turning to the other side of the kitchen I pull out forks and knives and place them next to the butter. “By the way, why do you have so much food when you were never here?” I ask curiously.

  “I went out shopping yesterday and stocked up on the things I knew you liked.”

  “What would you have done if I said no to your proposal or to moving in with you already?”

  “Well I guess I would have been heartbroken, but I would have had plenty of food to drown my sorrows in,” he says smiling brightly at me.

  I shake my head. This man of mine. I place the last pancake on his plate and set it in front of him as I begin to make more for me. He digs in and I stand b
ack watching, enjoying the way his lips move, and he chews and the way his throat looks when he swallows.

  Finishing my two pancakes I make my way over, place a kiss on Ryan’s cheek as I sit down. I slather butter on both pancakes before drenching them in syrup. Pancakes are possibly my favorite breakfast food. As I take my first bite I let out a moan.

  Ryan growls next to me. “Don’t start that or you won’t finish your breakfast,” he says grabbing the hand not holding my fork and placing it over his erection.

  I moan again but quickly hold up my hand. “I want some of that,” I say pointing to his boxers, “but I need to eat first. I am starving and if you try to take me away from my food right now I can’t promise I won’t cause bodily harm.” I look at him seriously and bust out laughing at the shocked look on his face. “Okay. I’m joking about the bodily harm but seriously don’t make me leave my food.” I have no clue why I’m starving, feeling like I haven’t eaten in days when I just had a large dinner last night. Maybe the activity of moving has burned too many calories and my body is screaming for nutrients. Shrugging my shoulders because I really don’t know or care at the moment, I dig back into my pancakes trying not to make any noises in fear that Ryan will make good on his promise and take my food away.

  After I take my last bite I look at my plate longingly wishing I had made myself a third one though I never finish two, this morning I could have eaten more. I rub my stomach and hum my happiness.

  Ryan sat next to me and watched the whole time I ate, smiling and sipping his coffee. It made me feel a little weird at first, but I quickly got over it.

  “Feel better now that your belly is full?” he asks sweetly.

  I stick my tongue out at him. “Actually, I still feel a little hungry. All that activity yesterday from packing and moving, mixed with a good night of sleep, I worked up an appetite.” I smile up at Ryan.