“Maybe, but you do have common sense, and that’s rare enough to keep you busy, right?” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “Common sense is damn sexy.”
Lindy squeezed the hand that fit so perfectly on her hip.
“You know, when I sat down across the desk from you that first day, I didn’t know what to expect.” He stopped and waited for her to turn to face him. “Never would have guessed how much I’d appreciate your advice and good opinion. Honestly, I sort of expected you to make my life difficult. You’re just…amazing.”
Lindy sighed. “Listen, Ryan…”
And then she stopped. Just hooked him and left him hanging like a bass out of water.
“Well, first, I know what you mean. When you sat down, I was pretty sure you would be as unpleasant as you were the first time around. And I wanted to get even. I really did.” She shivered in the cool breeze. Ryan cursed his missing jacket. Pulling the old school chivalrous move of offering her his jacket appealed to him.
“If you’d walked in the same guy I suffered in high school, everything would have gone a completely different direction. But you’re different. And I am too, even if I forget sometimes.”
“Like when you have some loser panting over you like a boy with his first crush about to embarrass himself? Yeah, I can see how that might throw you back to high school in a heartbeat.” He still couldn’t believe how close he’d been to losing control over a make out session on the couch. Clearly, he needed to get out more, but the only woman to interest him in taking the leap in years had already seen him at his almost worst.
Lindy cleared her throat. “Well, your high school experience and mine were pretty different. I had to wait until I was a freshman in college to find a boy willing to embarrass himself with me, but it still didn’t feel quite the same as last night.”
The old creeping guilt was inching up his spine again, but this time the exultation that she’d spent a lot less time with overanxious boys battled it. Dangerous, confusing mixture.
“It’s funny in a ‘not really funny at all’ way.” He stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. When she relaxed against him, some of this anxiety eased too. “I did all my exploring in high school. Once Anna and I started dating, that was it. She got pregnant. We got married. She died. It’s no wonder I suck at grown-up dating. Or that Maddie has to give me pointers.”
Lindy frowned. “I hadn’t thought much about it.” They walked slowly back to the truck. “That might mean…”
Ryan opened the door and waited for her to slide in before he trotted around the car and settled behind the steering wheel. As he backed out of the parking spot, he said, “What? What does it mean?”
Lindy blinked. “Well, how do you feel about dating a woman who’s more experienced than you are?” He braked abruptly. Lindy’s twitching lips showed her amusement at the situation.
“My number’s more than one, you know.” He frowned at her but couldn’t quite control the answering twitch of his own lips.
“It’s not a competition.” She patted his hand in consolation again and looked out the side window.
And he couldn’t help it. He laughed. He laughed hard enough to have to catch his breath and when she joined in, he thought it might be the best feeling he’d ever had with a woman, laughing like this. Then he remembered her kiss. Definitely second-best feeling with a woman but still pretty damn good.
Chapter Thirteen
When Ryan stopped in her driveway, Lindy had to stop the internal monologue that had been going on ever since she’d decided to go on this date. She was smart. This could end badly, and because of their connection through Maddie, that ending would be intense. And for what? So he made her feel beautiful. She snorted aloud.
“What’s that about?” Ryan had a small smile on his face. “Wasn’t something I said, so it must be the voices in your head. Did one of them say something silly?”
Lindy thumped her head against the headrest. “One of them wants to be ruthlessly logical. I can thank you for a lovely dinner and send you on your way.”
“I hope that’s the one you snorted at.” He leaned across the console. “Because I’m not ready to call it a night. I’m willing to overlook your sad lack of a coffee service if you’ll loan me your ‘World’s Best Teacher’ mug again.”
Lindy knew he was trying to keep things light and easy. She should let him.
But if he came inside, things would get so much more serious. Not because he was pushy or impatient, but because she was.
She wanted him. She’d felt the old crazy flutter when he’d walked in, the one that hit at seventeen as he strutted down the Lincoln High halls, even as she was unsure what his reaction would be when his eyes landed on her.
Taking a chance with him seemed dumb beyond normal understanding.
But lying awake and wishing for his kiss or more again didn’t strike her as a solid choice either.
So, here they were. He was watching her, waiting for her, zero pressure in his eyes but a sincere, warm smile on his mouth.
When she didn’t answer, the smile slipped, and a confused frown flickered across his face. “Or, I can go crash Maddie’s ‘copy’ session at my mother’s.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but he looked as unhappy as the suggestion that he’d leave made her.
No matter what happened in the past or what might go wrong in the future, Ryan wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to spend time with him. She hadn’t always felt that way about other guys, that they were happy to just be with her, spend time with her in whatever way they could, but she believed it with him.
And that was seductive. He was happy just to be with her. He respected her. He laughed at her jokes. He liked her. He wasn’t angling for something or checking his watch or weighing what she gave against some tally board that measured his returns. He was enjoying this moment with her.
Sitting here now, she couldn’t imagine this Ryan Myers hurting her on purpose.
He might destroy her accidentally, but she could trust him not to hurt her on purpose.
“Come inside.” When he raised his eyebrows, she nodded. “Yeah, come inside. I’ll find another ‘world’s greatest teacher’ mug. I have plenty.”
“I don’t doubt it. Wait.” He held up a hand and watched her to make sure she was going to stay put. Then he slid out of the truck and hurried to open her door. “Good job.”
She couldn’t help the chuckle as she led him up the sidewalk and opened the door. “Am I a dog? Following orders? Where’s my treat?”
He looked stumped for a minute as he closed the door, but when she stepped up to wrap her arms around his neck, he smiled wickedly. “We could forget the coffee and just make out on the couch.” His arms made a warm band around her waist as he tugged her close enough to feel the imprint of his belt buckle on her stomach.
“Or we could skip the couch.”
His arms tightened around her as his whole body stiffened against her. “Are you saying what I think, Lindy? Because…” His eyes were dark and serious as they stood there. She couldn’t tell if he was shocked or whether he thought it was a good idea or a bad one.
“I want you. I don’t understand why I feel okay to admit that, but I want you. If you feel the same way, then we ought to seize the moment. You aren’t going to have many nights like th—” She gasped as he stepped back and started pulling her up the stairs. She wasn’t sure he’d find the bedroom, but she wasn’t going to stop him either. He was taking charge, and the sight of him leading the way, the muscles in his really nice ass working as he climbed the stairs, was a thing of beauty.
He was muttering as he opened the door to her guest room and then her office. When he finally found the right door, he flipped on the light and pulled her over to the bed. “You know, you’re the one with the worlds of experience here…” Then he stopped and shook his head like he didn’t want to think about that.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.” She
couldn’t contain the grin that spread across her face as he narrowed his eyes at her. Maybe her number was only four. But he didn’t need to know that. She’d rather he think she was Miss Worldly. Nothing could hurt a woman who knew her way around men.
He slid his hands down her thighs to slip under the hem of her dress. “Good to know.” Then he slowly trailed his hands upwards, hot skin raising goose bumps as he went and bunching up the thin dress until he reached her waist. He groaned as he looked down to see her red panties. “Shit.”
“Be strong.” Lindy smiled up into his grim face, happy at the physical evidence of his admiration. She hadn’t planned to get here tonight but she was ready, just in case.
He took a deep breath and then pulled her dress up over her head before he tossed it away. When she stood there in her bra and panties, he dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed like his legs were too weak to go on. He didn’t touch her. He didn’t speak. He just looked. And if she’d felt secure with him before, now she was powerful. She trailed one finger between her breasts and down her stomach to fidget with the waistband of her panties.
He said, “Guh.” And that was it. His eyes were locked on that one finger, and she wasn’t sure he was breathing.
Then, like he was coming out of a trance, he shook his head and pulled his sweater up over his head so quickly that his hair was a mess of static electricity. She ran her fingers through his curls before he bent to press a kiss against her stomach.
Then he tumbled her onto the bed and rolled on top of her to kiss her. She could feel his smile against her lips before his tongue teased her mouth open. Each brush of his tongue against hers turned the heat up a notch until she was ready for more. “You have too many clothes on. I’m not sure if you’ve forgotten, but that’s going to be a real problem in a minute.”
He sighed. “Whereas you are damn near perfect just like this.” As he eased back off the bed, he kissed a light trail from the sensitive skin behind her ear down her neck. With a quick flick that showed he hadn’t forgotten everything, he unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms. After he tossed it behind him, he straddled her stomach and settled his warm palms over her ribs.
Lindy covered his hands with hers as she stared up at him. Broad shoulders and a solid chest covered in light brown curls filled her vision, but she managed to drag her eyes up to see how he looked at her. When their eyes met, he didn’t make a joke. He didn’t turn away. Desire and admiration lit his eyes. She squeezed his hands and covered her breasts. “More.”
He nodded like he agreed it was time. Then one hand smoothed across her stomach to her hip as he settled his lips over her breast, teasing with warm breath and wet tongue, until she rocked against him. When he glanced up at her, his hair was wild and his eyes were hot. “More.”
“Patience. Surely I remember that part right. The longer you wait, the better it is.” He moved to one side and slipped his hand in her panties. She watched him watch her as his fingers circled and tightened the ache growing there. The muscles in his arm flexed with each mind-stealing brush. Her hips jerked in response. “Ryan…”
When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she ran her fingers through his wild curls and yanked his head down. With her mouth pressed against his, her cry of satisfaction was lost but his satisfied grunt was clear.
When the tension in her muscles disappeared, leaving her satisfied and limp, she eased back against the bed and watched him stand. He carefully eased his zipper down and then sighed with relief when he shoved his pants and boxers down.
Getting his shoes off should have made him look silly. Instead, he was hot. Dangerous. And smug.
He blew on his knuckles and then brushed them across his chest. “Still got it.”
As soon as she could, she leaned up on both elbows and watched him pull his phone out of his pocket, check it for emergency texts, and then set it on the nightstand.
“You know, we might have come up with some new things since the last time you did this.” Not that she would know, but it was fun to tease him.
He propped both hands on his hips and she had a hard time tearing her eyes away from his overwhelming and dangerous hotness. When she did, he rewarded her with a happy smile and then waved a condom at her. “Show me.”
***
Ryan watched Lindy scoot back on the bed and decided she didn’t seem quite as confident as she had. She quickly yanked the sheet up and tucked it under her arms, covering what were amazing breasts. That was a damn shame.
He was on the verge of losing his mind, and for the first time the whole evening, she was rattled. Maybe, now that her mind was clearing, she was starting to worry.
The whole thing about her experience…yeah, he was crazy curious about it but now was so not the time. Now was the time to make her forget there was ever anyone before him. When she nervously hunched her shoulders and asked, “Could you hit the lights?” he was convinced she was overstating her experience.
He reached over to turn on the bedside lamp and then flipped off the rest of the lights before he opened the condom and slid it on. As he crawled over to her, he said, “The thing is, I don’t have to be the first or the last, just the best.” When she rolled her eyes, he pressed his lips over hers in a hungry, hard invasion while he shoved the sheet down to wrap one hand around her breast. When he pulled back, she was panting and the worry was gone. “The second time. I can totally be the best the second time.” He shook his head. “This first time… Yeah, no guarantees.”
She arched up into his hand and wrapped her legs around his to tangle them tightly together. “I have faith in you. Don’t quit now.”
He exhaled slowly. The teasing glint in her eyes, the curve of her lips, the way her satiny skin slid against his with every move, and the wet heat pressed tight against his abdomen… It was too much. It had been too long. And she was too damn perfect in that moment. Everything was brand new and like coming home after being gone all at once.
She shifted her hips. He slid into her like they’d practiced this before. When they were as close as two people could be, he looked into her hazy eyes and felt the shift in his chest, like things would never be the same.
Then she ran her hands up his back, and the shiver that shook him made them both gasp. He wanted to take his time. But there was no way. At the first hard thrust, she sighed, “More.” And he was lost. His hips moved against hers. When he felt the end coming too fast and too out of control, he reached between them and added the hard friction where she needed it most. Then she was clutching him tight in a breathless gasp and every muscle in his body tightened with one last thrust before he collapsed against her.
When he was sure his muscles would hold him again, he eased back. Lindy stretched against him. Her hair was wild, her cheeks were flushed, and her bright eyes reflected satisfaction. If he’d thought she was cute or pretty in a wholesome way before, here in bed she was the kind of beautiful men would die for.
So much for playing the field or getting back in the game. Men who had thoughts like that… Yeah, they were too far gone to say good-bye.
Now then, keeping the emotion off his face was the goal. He pressed a quick kiss against her lips and then staggered into the bathroom. By the time he’d worked out how to be cool, she was sitting up, waiting for him, the sheet wrapped tightly around her.
Lindy was trying to be cool, calm and collected, too. He did notice she had no trouble with his nudity. She didn’t look away one second while he was watching her. He eased down next to her.
“You don’t have to stay.”
So, her first words were an invitation to get the hell out. He clutched his chest. “You know how to wound a guy.” He smoothed one wild curl behind her ear. “I did my job. Now I can go? Is that how it works these days? You kids.” He shook his head sadly.
She smoothed the sheet. “I just meant I understand if you need to go, just in case Maddie needs you or…you just need to go.”
Ryan reached over to pick up his ph
one. “Zero messages.” He put it back and tried to figure out what she was telling him. But he came up with nothing. This part he hadn’t missed. He wiggled under the blanket and crossed both arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. “Nah, you’re just going to have to explain it to me. I thought that was damn awesome.” He tilted his head to look at her. She was pinching pleats in the sheet and taking it very seriously.
“You can’t stay the night, right? And I just didn’t want you to feel like I needed to be…whatever. Cuddled. Or…I don’t know. It’s okay if you need to go, that’s all.”
Ryan wanted to sleep. That’s what he wanted. He didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want to have this conversation. He wanted to stretch out in this comfortable warm bed, pull her close, and sleep. But part of what she was saying was right. He just had no idea where it was coming from.
“Maddie might need me.” He watched her nod like of course she knew that all along. “But I’m not ready to go. I need to be cuddled.” She rolled her eyes and then snorted, but she eased down next to him and rested her chin on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“So, now, let’s talk.” He ran his hands over her back, enjoying the feel of her skin and the way she relaxed against him. “All this experience. That’s what you expect? I totally rock your world and then wave on my way out the door?”
She shrugged, and the ripple sent a few shocks to his system. “Pretty much. Four guys. One of them a fiancé. None of them were all that anxious to sleep over, and none of them had the reason you do to hit the road.”
Uneasy at how easily she let him off the hook, Ryan dragged his hands through his hair. Maddie was an easy excuse, but this time he didn’t want to use it. “But you wanted them to stay?” He tried not to imagine punching four fashion model lookalikes in the face.
She shifted again and he was starting to think he could sleep after the next time he rocked her world; it wasn’t going to be much longer now.
“A woman with an uppercut like yours ought to demand what she wants.” That was the Lindy he was falling for, the one who knew just how lucky any man would be to have her.
Least Likely to Fall in Love Page 15