first time isn’t going to be over my desk any more than it was going to be on the floor of an elevator. You deserve better than that. When I take you, Darcy, it’s going to be in a bed, and it’s going to be all night.”
He was an idiot to start this here, but he wasn’t going to hide who he was, what he needed from her. He’d done that once before, shut down the part of him that needed control in the bedroom because Denise hadn’t liked it.
Denise had pretended to enjoy his dominance, his rough touch, when they were dating, but a year or so after Clint was born, they’d been in the middle of a huge fight when she’d told him the things he did in the bedroom scared her. He’d been so blindsided, so upset to think he’d hurt or frightened her that he’d closed that part of himself down completely, and the two of them had never done anything more adventurous than missionary after that until their sex life died a slow, painful death.
“Darcy, if any of what I just said scares you, you have to—”
“Scares me?” She pressed upwards, and he gave way, needing to see her expression when she answered. Her skirt fell back into place as she turned to face him.
“None of that scares me. It turns me on more than I can express. I want you to teach me…all of it. And I don’t want you to hold back because you’re afraid of scaring me. Promise me you won’t do that,” she demanded.
“I won’t do that.” He cupped her face and kissed her again. They broke apart, both startled when the phone on his desk rang. “Shit.” He looked at his watch. “I’m supposed to be in a meeting. I’m late. Again.”
“That’s okay. So…tomorrow?”
He nodded, trying not to acknowledge the fact tomorrow now felt like a lifetime away. “Tomorrow.”
She turned to leave, but before she reached the door, he gripped her upper arm, pulling her back toward him, giving her one more long, deep kiss, aware he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate in the upcoming meeting any better than he had in all the others since Halloween.
Because now he wasn’t merely longing for her.
He was making plans. Plans he couldn’t wait to carry out.
And for the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to the future.
Chapter Eight
“What are you doing here?” Darcy asked with a covert wink when Ryder followed Yvonne and Leo upstairs for Friendsgiving Saturday afternoon.
Darcy had been pretty proud of the secret trial-run dating idea. After Denise’s betrayal, Ryder had convinced himself he didn’t need or want another woman in his life, and she was determined to prove him wrong.
Yvonne grinned at Darcy. “Shocking, right? I invited Ryder to come along…like I allllways do,” she drawled. “And he actually said yes this time. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “Very funny, Vonnie. You know I don’t always say no. I came to your birthday party last year.”
“That was two years ago,” Yvonne corrected. “And that was the last time.”
Darcy laughed. “Well, the more the merrier because many hands make light work.”
“How many clichés can you squeeze into one sentence?” Ryder teased.
Yvonne grasped Leo’s hand and pulled him across the living room. “We’re on kitchen duty. I have three pies to make and Leo is my apple peeler.”
“Sunnie and Landon are already in there. And Ollie and Gavin are out running errands, so if you forgot anything, text them. Everyone else should be showing up soon,” Darcy explained. “Ryder, you’re with me. I need help setting up the tables.”
Ryder feigned a sigh like he was put out as he followed Darcy up a second set of stairs. As soon as they were out of sight of the others, he reached out and playfully smacked her butt. “I like your ass,” he murmured.
“Yours isn’t so bad, either. Looks hot in those jeans.” Darcy loved this newly discovered lighthearted side of Ryder. For years, she’d thought he was serious and stuffy. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“We have some folding tables up here in storage. We pull them down for the holidays and special occasions.”
“I’m surprised they ever get put away,” he teased.
She peered over her shoulder and grinned as they passed two bedrooms on their way to what was clearly a “junk” room. “Colm has a bedroom up here, and my brother Finn used