Ryan arrives while I am getting ready for dinner; he looks exhausted. Apparently, they had major trouble with a scene and had to do re-take after re-take. Not necessarily anyone’s fault, just not what the director envisioned for the scene. Finally, they decided they would just quit for the night and start over again on Monday. We have Sunday to ourselves, after we get through the evening.
Ryan grabs my hands to pull me into the bathroom so he can talk to me while he’s taking a shower.
“How was your shopping day with the girls?” he asks as he gets into the shower.
“It was fun. Boy, do they like to shop. I think we went into just about every store. I’ll show you what I bought later,” I reply.
“Ok. Are you still nervous about meeting mom and dad?”
“Yes. Of course, so please don’t make me any more worried.”
He sticks his hand out of the shower and splashes water on me.
“Hey!”
“Olivia, you have nothing to worry about. Trust me. They are going to love you.”
Ryan turns off the shower and gets ready. I go out to the sitting room to wait for him. I get lost in my thoughts, so when Ryan comes up behind me, I jump.
“Baby, are you ok? Don’t be nervous. They will love you.”
“Ok, if you say so,” I reply to him.
In the main living room, Ryan notices the flowers.
“Those are pretty. Get them while you were out today?” he asks.
“No. I thought you sent them. They were just outside the door this morning when I left to meet Sophia and Drey.”
“I didn’t send them. No card?”
“No. I wonder where they came from,” I mumbled. I’m no freaked out about the flowers and who sent them along with meeting Ryan’s parents. Ryan tells me not worry about it. How can I not? I mean, the last time I got flower from someone other than Ryan, it was from my stalker.
We leave to go to his parents. I am a jittery mess. My hands are clammy and my heart is racing. Ryan keeps squeezing my hand on the drive over, knowing that I am panicking. We pull up to the house, get out and walk up to the door. He reaches to open the door but stops. Ryan turns to me.
“You are going to be great.”
He gives me a melt-into-a-puddle kiss. Then Ryan opens the door and calls out our arrival as we walk in the house.
“Hello, Ryan,” his dad says coming to greet us with Ryan’s mom right behind him. They both give Ryan a hug.
Edward Paxton is exactly as I had pictured in my head. It is easy to see where they boys get their looks. Edward has the dark brown hair and blue eyes. Mary Paxton, on the other hand, is nothing like I had pictured. She is in her late fifties, has blonde hair that she keeps blonde. And she is just a bit on the chubby side, but not overweight. I don’t know why, but I had pictured her looking like a movie star and very intimidating. She isn’t intimidating, in fact she seems extremely friendly. I don’t know what Drey was talking about.
“Mom, Dad, this is my Olivia. Olivia, these are my parents, Mary and Edward Paxton.”
“Hi. It’s really nice to meet you,” I reply.
“Welcome Olivia,” Mary says as she grabs and squeezes both my hands.
“Nice to meet you,” Edward says, patting my shoulder. “Come in and make yourself comfortable. Would either of you like something to drink?”
“I’d really love some water,” I reply.
“I’ll get it,” Mary says. “Ryan, do you want anything?”
“No. Thanks, Mom,” Ryan replies.
Ryan leads me into the living room, which is quite comfortable. They have a matching brown leather couch and love seat. There is a huge entertainment center. A gorgeous grandfather clock sits against one wall; the tick, tick, tick of it is like music filling the room. Pictures of all three boys are everywhere.
Mary comes back with my water. Then the questions begin. It starts with the typical, What do you do? Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up? Then they become harder.
“So, Olivia, I had to find out about you by TV instead of my son telling me,” She says looking pointedly at Ryan. Ryan looks properly sheepish; I have to laugh at him.
“How many times must I say I’m sorry?” Ryan apologizes.
“Lots more times,” Mary looks pointedly at him. “So Olivia, how did you two meet? I know it was in Las Vegas but I never heard exactly how you met.”
Ryan just laughs and lets me tell the story.
“Oh, it’s so embarrassing. Well, I had stormed out of a store at the hotel where both of us were staying, not paying any attention to where I was going and ran right into Ryan, almost knocked him over. He was the perfect gentleman and made sure I was ok before he left.”
Mary smiles satisfactory at Ryan.
“Then the next morning, we were both on the elevator going down to the casino and then later that day, we literally ran into each other again out shopping. I figured three times of running into him meant something. Surprising myself, I asked Ryan to join me for lunch and to my astonishment he said yes.”
“Why wouldn’t I say yes?” Ryan asks, smiling and brings my hand up to his lips to kiss it.
I just look at him, smile and shake my head. I have explained this to him numerous times.
“And you were married before?” Edward asks.
“Dad,” Ryan objects.
“No, Ryan. It’s ok. Yes, I was married before. My ex and I were married for two years. During those two years, our relationship went downhill. I just wish I’d known how bad it was. I had thought our marriage started out good. And that something happened to make him change so much. He’d go out three or four nights a week, some of the time not coming home at all. You can imagine what went thru my mind. But I had no proof, just my suspicions.
“The week before and while I was out in Las Vegas, I finally had my proof that he was cheating on me. I came back from Vegas early and kicked Craig out. While packing up his things, I found evidence that he was just pretending throughout our whole marriage. When he got back from Vegas, Craig finally admitted to me that there were three women he’d been with since we got married, one of them just a month after we were married. And he had been married before but never told me that information.”
“What a bastard,” Edward mumbles.
“I’m very sorry, Olivia. That’s a horrible situation for anyone to go through,” Mary says. “It must be hard for you to trust men after all that.”
“Yes, it is very difficult,” I say quietly, knowing full well that we are talking about Ryan.
“I’m proving to her every day what a real man is like,” Ryan interjects.
“Thank you for telling us,” Mary says. ’Is the divorce final? Are you completely rid of him?”
“Yes, Craig didn’t contest the divorce so it went quickly. I’ve been divorced for a couple months now.”
Ryan puts his arm around me and squeezes me. I smile at him.
“Do you have any siblings?” Edward asks.
“I don’t. I’m an only child.”
“So I bet you had a treat meeting Steven and Jake the other night, huh? They all tease each other mercilessly,” Edward says.
“It was very interesting seeing the three of them interact. Although Ryan said that night was very tame compared to what they’re like normally.”
“You guys behaved yourselves?” Mary asks, surprised.
I burst out laughing.
“Yes, we did. I told them they had to behave or I’d kick their butts. I didn’t want Olivia to get scared and run away,” Ryan says, laughing.
“Boys,” Mary says shaking her head. “Olivia, for your sanity, I hope you don’t have three boys so close in age. It was a pain raising them.” She sighs. “But there were lot of good times, too.”
“They fought all the time, got into everything. We had to make lots of trips to the hospital,” Edward explains.
“Remember when we were goofing around and I fell down the stairs and broke my ankle?” Ryan say
s. He turns to me to tell me the story. “Dad took me to the hospital to get a cast and Mom stayed home with Steven and Jake. An hour after I was at the hospital, Mom comes in with both Steven and Jake to get stitches. They’d gotten into a huge fight over who broke my ankle – both wanted to claim it. Mom and Dad were so pissed off.”
“Ok. I’m glad I didn’t have any brothers,” I say.
“No, even though we fought, it was great having older brothers to stick up for me. This kid, Donny Albright, used to pick on me every day in the fourth grade. Steven and Jake took care of the problem for me.”
“Ok. Enough of the troubles you boys got into growing up. You’re scaring poor Olivia. She’s not going to want any kids.”
We all laugh.
“Is everyone hungry? Dinner is ready. Let’s go eat,” Mary suggests.
I enjoy dinner immensely and have no trouble finding things to talk about. Mary is a wonderful cook. I eat way too much, but I can’t help myself, it is so delicious. We all help clean up the dishes after dinner and then Ryan tells them we have to leave. Both Mary and Edward give me hugs as we are getting ready to leave and make me promise to see them again sometime before I go back to the States.
“Thank you,” Ryan says as soon as we get in the car. He leans across the seat to give me a kiss. “They liked you a lot.”
“Really?” I breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“Oh yes. When they both give you hugs and make you promise to come see them again before you leave, they like you.”
“Good. I was hoping they liked me because I really liked them.”
“And you scored major points for helping with the dishes. Drey has never helped.”
“Well, why shouldn’t I help clean up. Your mom went through all the trouble to make the wonderful dinner. She shouldn’t have to clean it up, too.”
“I expect a call telling me how much they like you.”
“Yay!” I reply. “Now, can we go back and spend the rest of the night in bed?”
“Absolutely.”
We are both quiet on the drive back to the hotel. Ryan looks over at me.
“Thank you for being so wonderful with my parents.”
“You’re welcome, but I was just being myself.”
“I know. That’s what I’m thankful for. I love you, Olivia.”
“I love you, too, Ryan.”
When we get back to our suite, I go to get ready for bed. I put on one of my new sexy outfits I had gotten earlier. Butterflies are flittering around in my stomach, excited to see his reaction, as I walk out of the bathroom.
Ryan is sitting in a chair by the window looking out. He has taken off his shirt but his jeans are still on. He looks over at me when he hears the door open and I don’t say anything. His eyes darken, I can see his chest contracting, but he doesn’t say anything.
“If you don’t like it, I can put on something else” I finally say and point back to the bathroom.
“Don’t even think about moving except to come over here to me,” he replies.
I saunter over to him taking my time.
“So you do like it. I didn’t know since you didn’t say anything.”
“You little tease.” He grabs me as soon as I am close enough to him. Pulling me to him, I have to straddle his lap. “I think I’d better examine this new outfit.”
He runs his hand up my back, over my shoulder and captures my breast.
“It seems to fit good,” he mumbles.
He kisses my chest just below my chin and slowly runs a trail of kisses down to one breast, back up to my neck and then down to the other one.
“I do like this sexy outfit, very much, but I’m sure it was expensive. I’d better make sure nothing happens to it.”
Ryan slides the strap off my right shoulder and lets it fall down my arm. He kisses my shoulder. He takes the left strap and brushes it off so it falls down my arm. Slowly the satin material slides down bearing my breasts to him. Ryan’s mouth captures my breast. Such a wonderful feeling his mouth is on me. I take a deep, shaky breath and slowly let it out. He moves over to my other breast to take it in his mouth. I can tell he is starting to get impatient. He picks me up and carries me to the bed. Setting me on the floor, the rest of my negligee falls to the floor. Ryan helps me onto the bed. He unbuttons his jeans and removes them. Then climbs on the bed and lays on top of me.
“You are so beautiful, Olivia. I am so lucky to have found you. You are exactly who I’ve been waiting for. Perfect for me.”
I am so moved that I can only shake my head.
“Yes, I am blessed. I love you so much,” he says as he enters me. He is so gentle and patience with me tonight. He stares into my eyes as we make love. I can’t look away from him. I am awed by him.
“Ryan, you amaze me. I love you.”
We take our time making love off and on most of the night.
The next morning, I wake before Ryan does. I roll over so I can look at him. I feel like I should be pinched to make sure I am not dreaming. Ryan Paxton wants me – wants to marry me and share his life with me. It is all surreal.
He starts to stir and finally opens his eyes. He grins and kisses my nose.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“How lucky I am that Ryan Paxton loves me and wants to marry me. I was thinking that I needed to be pinched to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
He moves his arm as if to give me a hug but he pinches my rib instead.
“Ow.”
“Just so you know that you’re awake. This is real. I love you and you’re not ever getting away from me.”
We lay in bed and talk for a while. Then we go to have brunch there at the hotel. Afterwards, Ryan takes me to a beautiful botanical garden. My favorite is a big glass and iron greenhouse and the rose garden that sits just behind that greenhouse. I can spend days here.
What a wonderful day to spend with Ryan. If only I knew what trouble was lurking in the days ahead.
Chapter 14
On Monday, I go to the set with Ryan just so I can be with him. I keep finding myself daydreaming about being married to him. He hasn’t asked me again and I haven’t said anything to him. I still am trying to work everything out in my head. Would I go with him everywhere he does? Would I feel comfortable enough to be away from him for so long if I don’t go with him? Maybe I could do a mixture of both and make it work out. I just don’t have the answers yet. Because Ryan worked a long day today and will have another long day tomorrow, we just spend a quiet evening in our suite.
Tuesday, I decide to wander around on my own and discover London. I have a nice time walking about street markets and wandering around in shops. Ryan calls me a couple times just to make sure I am doing ok and to make sure that I haven’t gotten lost. I smile to myself about his concern.
Mid-afternoon, I think I see the guy from the other day. But I can’t get a good look at him to be able to tell for sure. I am very careful to stay where it is crowded and have my cell in hand. Those damn, stubborn reporters. They need to go away. I don’t know how Ryan handles them all the time. I get too easily frustrated. After a little bit, I get that uneasy feeling again and decide I will be safer back to the hotel.
As I walk towards the hotel, I pass an alley. I speed up my pace, wanting to get back to the safety of the hotel. Suddenly I feel an arm come around me, pulling me back into the alley and something instantly covers my nose and mouth. I try to scream but it comes out muffled. Whatever covers my nose smells very sweet. I keep trying to fight back but the person is too strong. Everything starts getting quiet and I felt woozy. Then everything goes black.
Slowly I become aware of my surroundings. People are yelling right next to me. How many people are here? Why are they yelling? I want them to stop. My head hurts so much. I think it is about to explode. I try to lift my hands up to rub my head however I can’t lift them. I open my eyes but everything is blurry when I do. I close them again. My memory comes rushing back to me. Someone dragged me
into that alley and knocked me out. Where am I? And what is in my mouth – a gag? Crap!
I concentrate on my vision being clear when I open my eyes again. I slowly try once more. Thankfully no blurry vision this time. I look around as best I can for the other people and see that the yelling is actually coming from a TV. It is on exceedingly loud. I wonder why it must be so loud. I already have a gag in my mouth so I am not going to be able to scream. Trying to move my arms again, I realize that I am tied to the chair. Although I can’t see much, I don’t believe there is anyone else in the room with me.
I seem to be in a living room. I search for anything that can help me. The room is practically barren. Aside from my chair, there is folding chair across from me and a coffee table between the two, and of course the loud TV. No light is seeping in the windows that are covered with blankets. Maybe it is nighttime?
I jump as I hear a drawer open then slam shut and another one open from back behind me. My heart beats faster again. Oh, crap. There is someone else here. I try to calm down but then I hear movement again and am petrified that he or she will find out that I am awake.
From behind me, I hear footsteps come closer. I freeze. Goosebumps break out all over my body. The footsteps hesitate at the carpet of the living room and then continue even closer.
“You’re finally awake,” a man’s voice says, excitedly. He stays off to my side so I can’t see him yet. “You were out for a long time. Must have been the mixture of the chloroform and the drug,” he mumbles to himself.
He turns the TV volume down to a reasonable level. I try talking, but with the gag, I can’t get anything out.
“Sorry I had to tie you up and gag you,” he says as moves around to where I can finally see him.
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