Gypsy Beach (9 page)

“Ryan! Oh, my gosh! Look!”

He barely managed to halt the truck before
Sienna was flinging open the door.

“Whoa, baby. Careful!” He tried to catch her
so she wouldn’t fall, and it slipped out without him intending to
say it.

“Come on!” She didn’t seem to care. She leapt
out onto the sidewalk and raced towards a sprawling sidewalk art
and antique show. Chuckling and shaking his head, he found a
parking place and located her quickly in the crowd.

He was astonished as he watched her work the
booths.

“Do you think you could make these into stair
spindly things?” She pointed to a pile of long iron pieces, some
old fireplace tools, and a few scrolling pieces just made for
design alone. “Wouldn’t it be cool if they were all different?” The
hope that played in the fire in her eyes set fierce determination
in his heart.

“Sure, I can do that. No problem. That would
look really cool.” Making her custom balusters for the long,
winding staircase wouldn’t be a problem. He was overwhelmed with
her creativity.

“Yay,” she threw her arms around his neck,
and he drank in her body. He couldn’t let her go. He wrapped her up
in his arms and let the warm tide wash through him. Her exuberant
hug brought life back to his weary veins. He inhaled deeply of that
heady summer scent of her. It cleansed the choking reality from his
lungs. Unable to stop himself, he squeezed her tighter, cradling
her head as she buried her face against his chest. Her body melted
into his embrace. A slight sigh of contentment made its way to his
ears through the crowd. For a brief moment, everything in his
entire world felt bearable, but she seemed to force herself to pull
away.

His eyes sought hers in frightened
desperation. He wasn’t certain which one of them had gone too far.
He braced for impact, but she gave him one of those broad, beaming
grins of complete acceptance instead. Finally allowing himself to
simply slip into a younger version of himself, if only for a few
hours, he took her hand. “Come on. I’ll help them to load the
pieces into the back of my truck.”

Ryan talked her out of a few pieces of
furniture that he didn’t think would fit in the house or in her
budget, and helped her negotiate for the ones that would. They
found an old apron sink and a massive and ancient clawfoot tub that
he assured her he could refinish and install for her. She was
having a ball, and that was all that mattered.

When she located rolls of vintage wallpaper
for the kitchen her excitement was palpable. “You know, most of the
time I strip wallpaper out, nowadays. You’re sure you want this
hung?”

“Are you kidding me? This is perfect! Can you
really hang it for me?”

Ryan scoffed. “Of course, and you’re right,
it is perfect.”

He kept running tallies of her purchases in
his head and made certain that she was going to have enough left
over, even if he had to cut his wages.

They ate a late lunch at an eclectic burrito
place that was outstanding, and talked endlessly about nothing of
any real importance.

By 4:00 they were standing in the entrance of
the contractor appliance store.

“Hey man, I thought they buried you back in
Hotlanta, but I guess you did make it out alive?” James Ellington,
as slimy a salesman as you could come by, sauntered over. Ryan
rolled his eyes. No one that actually lived inside the city limits
of Atlanta referred to it as ‘Hotlanta,’ and James was taking a
very long visual inventory of Sienna.

She shrank closer to Ryan when James arched
his eyebrow in appreciation of her slender body. Grinding his
teeth, Ryan narrowed his eyes in a predatory glare as he wrapped
his arm around her waist. He certainly had no claim, but he
wouldn’t stand by and let her be leered at. She wasn’t a piece of
meat.

“We’re working on her Inn out at Gypsy Beach.
We’re going to look around.” The warning was clear in his tone.
James needed to turn tail and run unless he’d like Ryan to work out
just a few of his many, many aggravations using James as his
punching bag.

Holding up his hands in surrender, James
nodded his defeat. “Go ahead, but do let me know if Ry can’t meet
any of your needs, sweetheart.”

Sienna gave him a dramatic eye roll. “I’m
sure Ryan can take care of my needs.”

Oh my dear God did I just say that out
loud?! I did. I said that.
Sienna fought not to whimper. Her
eyes calculated the distance between herself and the exit doors,
but she didn’t have a ride back to the Inn.

Every cell in Ryan’s body reverberated with
her vow. She hadn’t meant that the way it sounded, but if given
half a chance he sure as hell would meet her needs, every last one
of them.

James was giving him a lascivious smirk, and
Sienna was contemplating making an escape. He could tell.

“Come on.” He guided her to the back of the
warehouse where they could shove more of the sexual tension that
had been playing out between them all day in one of the hundreds of
refrigerators on display and try to somehow freeze away the blazing
heat.

Unfortunately, James wasn’t the only male in
the store that took notice of Sienna’s beautiful little body or her
revealing clothing. Ryan called himself an idiot of epic
proportions. He’d brought her to a builder supply store. He would
never quantify all contractors as complete pervs. He knew several
that were honest, nice, decent guys that did outstanding work, but
there were more than a few that had no issue visually stripping a
woman and letting her know with their eyes and their repugnant
whistling and comments exactly what they were thinking.

Two young sub-contractors, no more than
eighteen or nineteen, followed them around the store, leering at
Sienna and mean-mugging Ryan. When one of them very conveniently
dropped his hand to stroke his package through his jeans right in
front of her and then shot her a cocky smirk, Ryan reached his
limit.

He stepped so close to the idiot in question
that he could feel his hot breath as he stared him down. “Hey,
numbnuts, why don’t you and your prepubescent friend over there go
and fuck each other and leave her the hell alone!” He bared his
teeth and his biceps flexed, ominously tightening the sleeves of
the t-shirt he’d put on before they left.

“Oh, yeah, and what are you gonna do if we
don’t?”

Ryan chuckled. Taking on two scrawny,
porn-obsessed douchebags wouldn’t be difficult, but he had no
intention of getting in a fight unless he had to. That wouldn’t
help his custody case, he reminded himself, but there was no reason
to let anyone else know about that. He waited a half-second until
one of the storeowners passed by them.

“Hey, Mr. Whaley, sir, you know who sent Moe
and Curly in here? They’re being extremely disrespectful to my
client.”

“Well, Ryan, it’s good to see you, son.” Mr.
Whaley, a man Ryan had always admired for his work ethic and his
wisdom, moved quickly towards them. “I believe these would be the
new subs for Seaton Homes.” His kind grey eyes turned angry when he
joined Ryan in front of the young men. “That’s correct isn’t
it?”

The one that hadn’t been quite as forward
with Sienna nodded quickly.

“Well, trust me, gentlemen, you will not come
into my store and treat anyone disrespectfully, and I’ve been doing
business with Abe Seaton longer than you’ve been alive. If you’d
like to remain employed by him, then I strongly suggest you show
some decorum. If you can’t do that, I’ll be happy to give Abe a
call.”

Ryan glanced Sienna’s way. She was cringing
and again contemplating bolting out the door. Always prone to fly,
another thing Ryan had admired in his youth, he stepped away from
his intended target and moved back to her. To his delight she
turned, and in a moment caught somewhere between absolute defeat
and desperate hope she laid her head against his chest. He cradled
her in his arms, letting her hide from the world.

Dissatisfied with the boys’ responses, Mr.
Whaley asked them to leave the store, which they did with haste,
but to Ryan’s chagrin he approached them with a broad grin. “You
know, Ryan, sometimes the first one isn’t always the right one.
Divorce is tough, but it doesn’t have to be the end. Sometimes it’s
a new beginning, a better beginning.”

Sienna lifted her head and gave him a
quizzical stare. Ryan managed a nod for Mr. Whaley and then took
Sienna’s hand and guided her away.

Adding that comment, her gaffe, and the
leering men to the very long list of things they weren’t
discussing, Ryan tried to get her to loosen up a little. She was
embarrassed, and, from what he could tell, mad at herself. He was
certain she wanted to ask about the divorce comment, but she said
nothing. Her temper was rapidly approaching full-tilt, though, he
could tell. Deciding to see if he could bring back her smile, he
took her to the custom kitchen areas of the large store.

“Oh, wow!” The six-burner double oven with
the grill grates and griddle in the center, the most expensive in
the Viking line, brought a hint of that twinkle back to her
eyes.

Pleased that she seemed to be willing to let
their disastrous afternoon go, Ryan grinned. “I thought you’d like
this.”

“It’s amazing, but can I afford this?” She
pointed to the sales slip giving the contractor’s cost and then the
MSRP, which was several thousand dollars more expensive.

“Tell you what, let’s get everything else
done and make sure I don’t run into anything that might eat up more
of your budget, and I’ll install this at cost. I’ll design the
kitchen around it. I’ll build it in along the back wall so I can
vent it pretty easily, but if we can’t get it by the time the
season opens I’ll add in a single cabinet and standard stove that
could be removed. After you get all the money you’re going to have
earned by the end of summer, I’ll install this. You’ll have a stove
for the season and then this fall, I’ll take the cabinet out and
put this in. No problem.”

Hoping for another one of those hugs, he was
a little disappointed by the smile he was given instead. “Thanks
for doing all this for me, and for saying that to those idiots.
Guys are so gross.” She rubbed her hands over her face, trying to
wipe away the past hour, he imagined. With an audible exhale, she
lifted her eyes back to his. “And I swear I didn’t mean that the
way it sounded when we were talking to that salesman. I’m sorry. I
always talk before I think.”

“Hey.” Ryan brushed his right hand over her
cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. He needed to touch some
small patch of her soft skin, but he lingered several seconds
longer than the motion required. “Not all of us are gross, right?
There just seems to be a large gathering of pervs here today. You
have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s just forget most of this
afternoon and get out of here.”

She might want to forget what she said, but
he never would. It meant far too much to him. Somewhere in the
recesses of the last ten years, in all that he’d put her through,
she still believed in him, and more importantly believed he could
take care of her. He called himself a fool for fostering the hope,
but God, he wanted to show her. He wanted to prove to her that he’d
not only make her Inn what she wanted, but if she’d give him
another chance, he’d take care of every need, wish, want, and
desire she could ever have.

The moment extended between them. Everything
he just couldn’t seem to say evaporated in the persistent desire
that emanated its need once again. Words weren’t needed, but maybe,
just maybe, the fire in her eyes could be consumed with
passion.

Without thought or provocation, he breached
the slight space between them. Their breaths mingled in an unspoken
question. The tension crackled down Ryan’s spine. Both confusion
and abandon fought for dominance in her eyes. That single, solitary
thread of absolute control frayed. His hand traversed back to her
upturned face. He caressed her cheek, and unable to halt his own
fingers, they parted through her thick waves of hair.

A slight shiver of anticipation worked
through Sienna, and the frayed thread snapped completely. Her lips
parted. Some question tried to take flight from her tongue, but it
met an unrestrained groan from Ryan as he laid soft, languid, siege
to her mouth.

The potent memories danced on her tongue as
he deepened the kiss and devoured the soft warmth of them together.
The rediscovery, so much more than he’d ever been able to recall,
the intoxication of her kiss, it all shot through him with a heated
urgency to take more, to reclaim what he’d so stupidly allowed to
slip through his fingers. The passion that flowed so readily
between them muted every doubt he’d tried so hard to convince
himself existed.

Her tongue sought his in an undeniable
invitation. She wanted more. Nothing would ever taste as good or be
as fulfilling as Sienna wanting more of him.

The world around them disappeared. All doubt
and every worry of his soul vacated Ryan’s body as their lips mated
and he attempted to kiss her so deeply he could erase the last ten
years.

A shaky whimper tumbled from Sienna’s throat.
Alarm bells rang shrilly in her head. It took several long minutes
for her to understand that it was Ryan’s powerful embrace that was
keeping her upright because if left on her own, she would have
melted into a very confused puddle on the smooth concrete floors of
some massive building store that he’d brought her into.

Nothing made sense. Nothing even mattered,
except the fact that by some miracle or some magic, Ryan McNamara’s
heavenly lips were priming her own with more than a note of
possession.

He was consumed with greed, and his tongue
seemed to command that she comply. As there was nothing she wanted
more, Sienna tried to quiet those stupid alarms and just allow
herself to have this kiss. She could ask all of those questions
later. Right now she simply needed more of him.