Ryan's Love - C.A. Harms Page 0,20
could see the pain in his eyes.
He cleared his throat. “So enough about me. What about you, Amber?”
I knew it was his way of getting away from the topic of his deceased wife. He wasn’t ready to share her with me yet, and I understood. Normally I don’t like talking about myself, but I could see he needed the distraction.
“Well, let me see.” I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and light shimmered out from behind the trees, highlighting the lake before us. “I’m from Chicago, always lived in the city.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “Yeah, I know, city girl gone country. It’s been an adjustment, let me tell ya.” I smiled when he grinned back at me. God, his smile made my heart race.
“I was engaged,” I went on. “We’d been together for four years, and I think he just asked me because he felt like it was necessary. I said yes because I felt like it was expected.” Admitting that only made me feel stupid.
“Things between us hadn’t been great for a while, and honestly we should have just admitted that and gone our separate ways, but we didn’t.” I just wanted this part of the conversation to be over, so I rushed through the rest, giving him only the necessary details. “In the end he cheated, and I walked away without looking back. There wasn’t really any pain from the breakup, just humiliation.”
“He was an idiot,” Ryan said, his eyes locked on mine.
“Thanks, but I think I was the idiot for not leaving a lot sooner. I hated my job, I hated my life, and I needed a change. I’m not really that close with my parents and I’m an only child, so I didn’t have family to hang around for. So when Bailey decided she needed something different too, we moved to Montana.” I tilted my head to the side and smiled at him. “So far I’m loving it here.”
He inched a little closer and brushed his fingertips over my hand that rested on the blanket beneath us. “I’m not happy about what you went through to get here, but I’m glad you chose Montana,” he confessed.
My heart beat faster, and my stomach raced with excitement. Being around Ryan made me feel incredibly free.
“Me too,” I whispered.
“I don’t know what I can offer you,” he confessed. “But I know I’m willing to see where this goes. It feels good being with you. It’s refreshing.”
I dipped my head and let out a slow, calming breath, trying to relax before I spoke in return. I wanted to tell him I felt the same way, but I refrained, fearful of scaring him away.
He placed his palm beneath my chin and lifted it until our eyes met once again. “I just need to tread lightly. I have to keep in mind this is an adjustment for Olivia too.” He skimmed a thumb over my lower lip, and chills broke out over my skin. “You willing to take things slow with me, Amber? See where it leads us?”
Oh God, yes, I screamed in my head. I would wait for this man without a doubt. “Yeah,” I replied.
“Good, because the idea of you dating Booker or any other guy in town makes my stomach turn.” He grinned as he leaned forward and placed the gentlest kiss at the corner of my mouth. It was entirely too short, but I knew it was a huge step for him. I would take what he was offering, because that small gesture meant more than anyone could imagine.
***
I was happily humming along to the beat of the music playing softly from the stereo.
“Somebody’s happy,” Bailey said as she entered the kitchen. I hadn’t been able to sleep. I woke up before five a.m., and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t relax enough to fall back to sleep. My night at the lake with Ryan gave my mind entirely too much to think about. So after crawling out of bed, I decided to bake some new additions for Monday’s rush.
“I take it last night went well?” she asked as she began filling the coffeepots with the premeasured filters.
“Yeah, it did,” I admitted.
I told Bailey how he took me to the lake, picnic and all. I shared with her how beautiful the scenery was and how it made me fall in love with Montana just a little more.
“That