I go to pull away, and he holds me tighter. "No, no. I'm smelling your hair."
I tilt my face up to his and smile. He leans down and softly brushes his lips over mine. Our eyes are locked as he pulls back a breath. The look in his eyes makes me wonder if he acted on impulse. It feels like he is trying to gauge my reaction. I want him to know how happy I am that he kissed me. I put my hands around his neck and pull his lips back to mine. This kiss is not delicate. It is not sweet. Ryan pushes me up against the wall. My hands knot in his hair. His hands pull my hips tightly to him. His lips move to my neck as he pulls one of my legs up to his waist.
I try to catch my breath but can’t as long as he is touching me, I gently push him back, and my eyes widen when I see the hunger in his. This is going to be interesting. I bite my lip and grab his hand, pulling him towards Kate. I don't trust myself alone with him right now. Kate is sitting on the lanai, knitting. I keep his hand in mine and pull him into the room with me.
When Kate looks up and sees we are holding hands, she mutters, "Took you two long enough," before going back to her knitting.
"Kate!"
"What? You should've heard him talk about you when you went back to Cleveland."
He does his best to not look embarrassed. "What can I say? I was enchanted from the moment I first met you."
"Really?"
"Really." He leans down, brushing his lips against my cheek.
Kate sets her knitting down beside her and stands to hug and kiss both of us. "I say this is a reason to celebrate. Ryan, go open a bottle of wine." Once he is out of the room, she turns to me. "Are you happy, dear?"
I blush and nod, asking her if she thinks it’s too fast.
"It only takes a moment, sweetheart, if it's the right person."
Ryan walks back out with three glasses. After handing one to Kate and to me, he stands next to me with his arm around my waist.
After taking a drink, I jump. "I forgot. Here, can you hold this?" I hand my glass to Ryan. "Nikita asked that I send her a picture of my scarf. I'll go grab it from my room. Will you take the picture?"
Ryan nods, setting both of our glasses down on the table behind him. I hurry back in, handing him my cell phone. I am wrapping the scarf around my neck when the phone buzzes in his hand. He passes it to me, and I check it. It’s a text from Jon. I miss you, is all it says. I close my eyes, and let my hand drop to my side.
"Grace, are you alright?"
I open my eyes and meet Ryan's concerned gaze. "It's nothing." I click to the camera feature of my phone and hand it back to him
Ryan snaps a couple of pictures of me and passes my phone back to me. After making sure I look okay in the pictures, I pick my favorite one and text it to Nikita. I turn off the screen and put it in my pocket as I move to stand beside Ryan.
"Thank you." He slides his arm back around my waist, giving me my glass of wine.
Kate goes into the kitchen to take a casserole out of the oven.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Ryan asks, turning to face me.
"I am. It was a text from Jon. I just didn’t expect to hear from him again."
"You don’t have to tell me."
"I know. I’m just nervous about liking you so soon after things ended with him."
"I don’t want to rush you."
"It's not that. I just worry that you'll think less of me."
"Impossible."
I give him a half smile. He's adorable, and the way he's looking at me makes me feel suddenly shy. It’s still hard for me to understand that he's interested in me. I lean against him, putting my head down. Ryan sets his wine glass down and slowly rubs his hands up and down my back. I feel myself relax into him, and he leans his cheek on the top of my head.