Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,82
this night. Isn’t it great?”
That pulled a wide smile, and Ryan’s heart sang.
“It really is.” Gabriella placed her hand on Ryan’s leg and gave it a squeeze. “Why is it that I can just breathe when I’m with you?”
Ryan chuckled. “Sometimes when I’m with you, I have the opposite problem. Not that I’m complaining.”
“No, I get that part, too.” Gabriella shook her head, as if searching for the words. “My world feels better with you in it. That’s the main idea. Problems roll off my back. I can just be.”
Ryan let the comment settle. She didn’t want to blow it by trying to say something as amazing back and failing, so she kept it simple. “Can our worlds go sit on my dock and talk about our days?”
“Only if there’s a little bit of smooching as the sun goes down.”
Ryan picked up Gabriella’s hand and kissed it. “Sundown kissing is a market that you have cornered.”
And as the day came to a close and the sun touched the waterline in the distance, Ryan wrapped both arms around Gabriella, who sat next to her on the dock, bare feet dangling.
“I love the sound of your heart beating,” Gabriella said and kissed the underside of Ryan’s jaw softly, absorbing the warmth from her body.
“It’s all for you.” Ryan meant every word. She’d never experienced any of these feelings before, but one definitely floated straight to the top. As she held this woman in her arms, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d fallen in love. Now, the question became, was she alone?
Chapter Sixteen
Thank God, Knead Me had a drive-through window. Gabriella had called in an order for a loaf of fresh focaccia bread that she planned to sample alongside an amazing batch of olive oil from Olive You, a specialty shop in the town square. She was essentially auditioning vendors and thrilled to see her local list coming together so nicely. She almost couldn’t wait to get home, put on her comfy clothes, and return a call to her sister Angie, who’d left a check-in message earlier that day.
“Thanks, Elise,” Gabriella said, taking a deep inhale of the brown bags as she placed them in the passenger seat next to her. Her car smelled heavenly and she planned to enjoy the next five and a half minutes, taking as many deep inhales as humanly possible.
Fifteen minutes later, with her glorious bread and olive oil snack by her side, her call with Angie was in full swing.
“How is it working with your ex, though?” Angie asked. “I always thought she was the one, you know?”
“I guess I did at one point, too. We’re great friends, and I mostly love working with her.”
“Mostly?” Angie asked. She heard the concern hit.
Gabriella didn’t know where to begin. She had every intention of being open and honest with her sisters about this new development in her life because thus far, they knew nothing. “The truth is I’m seeing someone who’s become pretty important to me.”
Her sister gasped. “Do the others know?”
Gabriella grinned, acknowledging the four-way sister competition that never really went away. “No. You’re the first I’ve told.” She could just see Angie gloating.
“I can’t believe you buried the lede. We’ve been on the phone ten minutes already. So it’s a triangle?”
Gabriella balked. “No. But Madison hasn’t been as go-with-the-flow as I would have imagined.”
“She’s still in love with you. I’m bettin’ on that,” Angie said matter-of-factly. “I’m telling you. She’s the one.”
The words alone made Gabriella go still. “No. No. It’s nothing like that. This is just Madison getting confused.”
“Huh.” Angie softened. “Well, who’s the new person?”
Gabriella did her best to be breezy and casually dipped a piece of bread in the oil. “Her name is Ryan, and she’s the contractor renovating the new restaurant.”
“Oh, as in she works with her hands,” Angie said knowingly. “I see now. She comes with tools.”
Gabriella nodded, even though Angie couldn’t see her. “And she makes furniture on her own time.”
Angie chuckled low. “But is she hot outside of the sexy job?”
Gabriella took her time before selecting a photo of Ryan on the porch in front of Tangled from the ever-growing collection on her phone. She wore jeans and her white Level Up Contracting shirt. The sun was shining, she had her hair down, and the dimples were both out. One of Gabriella’s favorite shots that she looked at before bed on the nights when they slept apart. She fired off the text to Angie and waited.