room peering around at the floor as he rushes a hand through his hair causing it to stand on end for a moment before falling back down again. My eyes roam the smooth skin that ripples over his chest and stomach as my hands tingle with the memory of touching of him there.
“It’s got to be here somewhere,” he mutters.
I give myself a mental shake before I begin pulling the couch cushions up. “Got it,” I announce, holding up the familiar thick, silver timepiece filled with dials.
He smiles at me and rewards me with a breathtaking kiss. It has been an amazing evening and morning. Waking up in Ryan’s arms felt absolutely right. Everything about the way things have gone with him since Wes’ unexpected appearance has been exhilarating and just easy with no misunderstandings or reasons for insecurity. This is how it should be. But it almost didn’t happen, and I can’t stop thinking about that.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me anything.” Ryan is picking up the rest of his clothes which were discarded on the floor last night. He pulls his shirt on over his head, carelessly smoothes his hair back, and turns his attention to me. Suddenly, with those intelligent hazel eyes intent on mine, I develop stage fright.
“What is it?” he asks, my hesitation making him curious.
Just as I’m about to speak, I’m lifted off my feet. I feel Ryan turn with me in his arms and I land in his lap on the couch. The flimsy T-shirt I threw on this morning has made its way up to the top of my thighs. His warm hand rests on my bare leg, and he begins rubbing it gently, making small circles just above my knee. My brain is now too scrambled to form a coherent thought.
“This is my lucky couch.” Ryan smirks at me as he runs his other hand over the couch cushion.
I grin back at him. “I’m pretty fond of this couch myself.”
His hand moves from the cushion to my lower back. “Go on. Ask me.”
I take a breath and decide to tell him what’s on my mind. “If Wes hadn’t shown up here that night, would I have ever heard from you again?”
He eyes me silently, and I can see he’s processing my question. Then he leans his head back into the cushion. “I wanted to call you.”
After an extended silence, I prompt him. “But… ”
“But… ” he lifts his head and watches me as he continues. “I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me.”
I nod, remembering his words from the night he came to get Wes. “You thought I hated you.”
“Something like that.”
“So, I guess we owe Wes a lot.”
“You’re unhappy with my answer,” he states with a knowing frown.
I shrug. “I could have called you, too, and I didn’t.”
“But I’m the guy. So, I should have called you and taken my chances,” he says, voicing my exact thoughts.
“If you were really interested, you could have done that.” I cringe slightly, afraid I’ve pushed it too far.
“You think I wasn’t interested?”
I can read the surprise in his expression, and I feel the need to make him understand that I believe I’m at fault, too. “I just mean that you might not have been all that interested in the paranoid girl who was making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
His eyes crinkle at the edges as his smirk reappears. “I never thought of you as the paranoid girl.” He lightly runs the back of his fingers along my arm. “You have to understand what my life is like right now. Work is beyond crazy and it’s easy to just get lost in it. That’s what I do most of the time. When I told the guys at the office that I was leaving early because I had a date the first time we went out to dinner, you could have knocked them over with a feather. I never leave the office early, not for women, not for anything.”
“So there have been women?” I ask before I can think better of it.
He arches a brow at me.
“Of course there have been women,” I quickly add. When Wes showed up that night and assumed I was Ryan’s girlfriend, I figured he hadn’t seen Ryan date anyone other than me. But look at him. How could that be true?
An amused grin lights his face and only fades slightly before he answers. “Honestly, not lately and nothing serious. Nothing serious in a