Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,52
morning, wondering what kind of day she had, and how her mother was doing. Okay, she also tried to imagine what Ryan was wearing that day. She could admit to being a hussy on occasion. She wasn’t dead.
“What have you been up to?” Gabriella asked, when Ryan stopped by for a to-go order of calamari later in the week.
“Well, to start, a lot of equipment delivery. And when I say a lot, I mean it. You guys have a complicated existence back in that kitchen. Then the dishwasher didn’t fit. My fault. So I had to rework some of the spacing, which maybe set us back forty-eight hours, unfortunately.”
“Ah, I see.” A pause. “I meant you.”
“Oh,” Ryan said, her mouth in the shape of the word. “I’ve been okay. Doing a lot of thinking. Some staring at walls.”
“I saw that you guys had another great run against the Prairie Dogs.”
“They did put up a scrappy fight, though.” The dimples appeared and all felt better.
“Well, they are prairie dogs. I wouldn’t mess with one.”
Ryan met her gaze. “Didn’t see you there.”
“I left after my game.”
Ryan nodded, seeming to absorb the step back Gabriella had taken. “Did I mention I’m an idiot and very sorry?”
“You’re not and you did. Well”—she held up her thumb and forefinger—“a little bit of an idiot.” Her heart loosened another notch, and she relished sharing space with Ryan again. It felt like a soft blanket and a really potent shot of whiskey all in the same stroke.
“The thing you said the other night, about watching 20/20?”
Gabriella frowned, vaguely remembering the reference.
“It stuck with me.”
“Big fan of the show? Amy Robach doesn’t mess around.”
Ryan swallowed. “No. I’ve only seen it a couple of times, but the idea of watching it with you, a quiet night, a good glass of wine”—she gestured to the vineyard behind them—“sounds better to me than just about anything else I can come up with.”
“Well, I’ll be sure to invite you over to my enthralling couchfest sometime.”
“This weekend?”
Gabriella paused. She’d not meant the invitation to be literal, but what was she supposed to say now? This was not at all part of her plan to take a step back from Ryan’s magnetic pull. “Um, maybe. Let me look at what I have going on.”
“Fair. I ambushed you.” Ryan smiled.
“I can handle it,” Gabriella said, brushing off the reflex of concern, and heading to the door. “In fact, definitely come.”
Easy. Done. Not a big deal in the scheme of life. This was the perfect opportunity to embrace a newfound dynamic between them. She was emotionally mature and grounded in what she wanted in life, so why the hell shouldn’t she hang with Ryan, whose number she now had? It had nothing to do with how much she’d missed even their short interactions over the past couple of days. She’d pop some popcorn, slather it with butter, and they could watch some edge-of-your-seat interviews with politicians or, if they got lucky, try and solve a cold-case murder. She was pretty sure it would turn out to be the ex-boyfriend, which put her way ahead of the game.
“Yeah?” Ryan said, looking surprised and relieved to have not crashed and burned. “Friday, then?”
“Um, okay. Yeah. We can relax after a killer workweek, have some snacks, and I know where there’s wine.”
“Bound to be around here somewhere.” Ryan was now a puppy with tons of energy. A really cute one, too. “What can I bring? Is there a protocol? I want to get this right.”
“Listen, don’t stress. Just bring yourself, and well, I don’t dress up, so…”
“Casual clothing it is. God, I’ll have to scour my closet,” Ryan said, furrowing her brow in mock sincerity.
She laughed. “Hey, you can’t make fun of my comfy couch night. That’s rule number one of comfy couch night.”
Ryan touched her chest. “And risk banishment? No way. I finally pulled the invite after a lot of missteps.”
“Good point.”
“And now I’m going to get out of here before I completely ruin this or you change your mind. My track record is not great.”
“Another valid point. You can bring one of your girlfriends if you want. I have extra popcorn.” She tossed Ryan a cheeky look.
She winced. “I deserved that but will politely decline. Lock up for me?”
Gabriella pulled the key from her pocket. “On it.” She watched Ryan walk toward then past her out of the restaurant, taking in the hint of vanilla that she now associated only with Ryan. She stood alone near the