Like That Endless Cambria Sky
Page 26
“I … Ryan … I should have talked to you. We should have …”
“Come here.”
She ran to him and he enfolded her against his warm, hard body. She didn’t belong in New York. She belonged here. Right here.
“I never said I’m sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “I never should have given that check to Bellini behind your back. Gen. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.” She pressed her cheek to his chest, feeling the rhythm of his breath, feeling his heartbeat. She pulled back a little and looked up at him. “I shouldn’t have shut you out. But, Ryan, I have to be able to do things on my own. My career … If I’m going to be successful, I have to do that alone. I can’t always be wondering if you somehow made it happen for me.”
“I know. I should have understood that about you. My mother did. She called me an idiot.”
Gen’s mouth quirked into a half smile. “Well, maybe you were. Just a little bit. But you were a very sweet idiot.”
“Well, that’s something.”
She looked into his face and saw something change there. Relief had turned into desire, and his mouth claimed hers in a kiss.
It started out soft, tentative, questioning whether this was okay, if they were okay. Then, having gotten his answer, he deepened the kiss until the heat of it spread through her, lighting her aflame.
She held him to her tightly, wanting him more than she wanted to take her next breath.
He pulled back from her a little and looked around him.
“We’ve never done it in the new barn,” he said.
“There are a couple of guys in there.”
“I’m their boss. I’ll tell them to get lost.”
“There are cows,” Gen said. “What about the cows?”
“They’re going to be scandalized,” Ryan said, grinning.
“I guess they’ll get over it,” she said.
He picked her up into his arms, and she let out a delighted shriek as he carried her into the barn.
Gen was in the gallery a couple of days later, feeling deliciously satisfied after spending the night with Ryan at her place, when her cell phone rang.
“Gen Porter.”
“This is Hillary Ramsey, David Walker’s assistant. Is this a good time?”
Gen sat up straighter in her chair. “Of course.”
“Mr. Walker received your proposal regarding his sponsorship of your artist’s residency program, and he asked me to set up a meeting with you to discuss it.”
“He did?” Gen realized she probably sounded shocked and stupid, but she needed a moment to absorb the information.
“Is next Tuesday satisfactory? Mr. Walker would like to come to Cambria and see the property where the artists reside.”
“I … That’s … Yes. Next Tuesday is great.”
They set up the meeting. Gen couldn’t wait to tell Ryan.
“I guess that means you’ll want to keep renting the guest cottage,” Ryan said, grinning, when she told him that evening at her place.
“Well, yes. If you didn’t have other plans for it.”
“I think we can work something out.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “No break on the rent, though. Since you want to do things on your own.”
“Of course.” She grinned and wiggled a little in his arms.
Ryan shook his head, a look of dismay on his features. “You know, you’ll probably have to come out to the ranch a lot, if you’re going to keep the residency program going.”
“I suppose.”
“It’d be a lot easier on you if you lived out there. Less wear and tear on your car.”
She felt a jolt of electricity through her veins, and her heart sped up.
“Ryan … That’s …” Then her excitement was tempered by the reality of the situation. “It’d be awkward, me living with you in your parents’ house.”
“Not if we were married.”
She pushed back from him, her mouth open in shock.
“Married?”
“Of course, we’ll want to build our own house eventually. We’d still be on the land with my folks, but we’d have some privacy.”
“Oh, my God, Ryan.”
“I don’t need an answer right now. Just think about it. And in the meantime, let’s, you know, practice a little. Doing stuff that married people do.”
He flopped down onto her bed, pulling her along with him, and she fell on top of him with a squeal.
“We might need a lot of practice,” she said.
“Well, we’d better get on it, then.”
So they did.
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my husband, John, and my daughters for their constant support. When I was busy writing, when I was worried about the details of publishing, when I talked on and on about plots and characters, they were endlessly patient. I love you guys.
I’d also like to thank the people of Cambria, who welcomed the first book in this series, Moonstone Beach, so warmly. I feel like an honorary Cambrian now, and I can’t think of a nicer thing to be.
About the Author
Linda Seed is a former journalist who lives in Murrieta, California, with her husband and three children. Linda is a freelance fiction editor who enjoys working with independent authors.