And it scared her, more than she wanted to admit. The thought that it might be love, so soon after meeting him, made her palms sweaty, made her pulse beat faster. That couldn’t possibly be what she was feeling already.
He eased between her legs and kissed her as he slid deep inside. And her heart turned over as she pulled him close, as she opened her mouth and body and mind and soul to him.
“Are you thinking?” he whispered in her ear.
“No. Definitely not.” His slow, gentle strokes brought a sigh from her lips. She lifted her hips to meet him, ran her hands down his back, loving the texture of his skin, wanting to memorize every curve of muscle, each and every play of bone.
He smiled against her ear. “Good. I want your mind completely empty when I tell you that I love you.”
Her whole body tightened. “Ryan—”
“I do,” he said softly, drawing slowly out, pressing back in again until she gasped. “I can’t pretend that I don’t. What I love about you is deep inside. It’s there whether you call yourself Annie or Kate. It’s there whether you remember me or not.”
“This is crazy,” she whispered.
A smile twisted his mouth, and he kissed her again. Drew out and back. “No. Crazy would be denying what’s real. I don’t expect you to say it back, not yet, at least. I just want you to know it’s there. That it’s always right there.”
She trailed her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, pulled him close. Kissed him again and again as they made love. The words hovered on her lips, but fear held her back. Fear of what would happen in the light of day. Fear of how he’d feel about her when he got to know her better. If she allowed herself to fall all the way in love with him, and he woke up one day realizing she was different from the woman he remembered, she wasn’t sure her heart could survive the loss.
And she couldn’t give him all of her until she knew for sure she was what he really wanted.
Tonight, though, she could pretend like tomorrow didn’t exist. She might not be able to say the words, but she could show him what she felt instead.
Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him deeply, then rolled him to his back. “Let me love you, Ryan.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I don’t want you going up there alone.” Mitch stood in Simone’s bedroom, watching her toss clothes into a suitcase. “Did you hear me?” he asked when she didn’t respond.
She patted his cheek as she brushed by and headed into her bathroom. “Careful, sweetheart, you’re starting to sound a lot like your domineering brother-in-law.”
Her insult barely registered. He followed, stood in the doorway while she moved around gathering her things. “I talked to Ryan earlier. He doesn’t think you should go up there alone, either.”
She dropped cosmetics into her travel bag, grabbed her favorite shampoo from the shower. “Please. Like I’m going to listen to two men? Mitch, I’m going to Seattle on business. Besides, no one will know I’m even there. In fact, I’ll be safer there than I am here. Shannon’s staying with my parents. Everything’s fine. And I haven’t even decided if it’s worth it to go up to Vancouver yet. I’ll wait and see what my PI finds.”
Yet. He’d heard that little addendum loud and clear. She was too independent. Too stubborn. It was one of the reasons he’d never been attracted to successful women. She’d been dodging him ever since their night together, and he’d worked so late last night that he hadn’t been able to come by and see her until this morning. He was supposed to hop a flight up to Queen Charlotte Sound today to get the project back on track, but now that he’d gotten a whiff of what she had planned, he couldn’t leave until he knew she’d be safe.
“I’d go with you if I could but I can’t. Damn, this is shitty timing.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, grabbing hairspray from a basket on the counter.
She was avoiding his eyes. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on here.
“I know what you’re doing, Simone. You don’t have to go up to Vancouver because of what happened between us.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She slipped a hairbrush in her bag, zipped it closed.