SEVERAL SLICES OF PIZZA, a couple of beers, two handfuls of Jelly Bellys and some interesting conversation later, Ryan found himself wishing Fayrene hadn’t been quite so clear on the “I’m not sleeping with you” front. She was bright, funny and sexy. Under other circumstances, he would be making his move. Only this wasn’t that kind of situation. She’d asked him over to help her babysit a cat—not because she was interested in him. But a guy could dream.
They lingered at the small table by the kitchen. Misty had gone to sleep after her dinner and showed no signs of stirring or giving birth. If he had to guess, he would say she was done delivering. But admitting that meant telling Fayrene there was no reason for him to stay, and he didn’t want the evening to end just yet.
“My mom came here to go to school,” she was saying. “My dad had just been promoted to assistant manager of Ronan’s Lodge. It was a big deal. He was thinking of taking some business classes to help him get ahead. They met on campus.” She sighed. “It was love at first sight.”
He rested his elbows on the table and leaned toward her. “You’re remembering being told that story when you were a kid.”
She nodded. “They told it every year on their anniversary. How Mom was in a hurry and Dad wasn’t looking where he was going. They ran into each other, and her books went flying. By the time they’d picked them up, they knew.”
“So you believe in love at first sight?”
“No. I mean it happened to them, but I think love grows over time. You need shared interests and a similar belief system. You have to want the same things.”
He agreed with her, but he suspected she might read too much into him saying that. “So you don’t think opposites attract?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure it’s exciting and dramatic, but I don’t want drama in my life. I like things organized.”
“Like your plan.”
She nodded. Her hazel eyes darkened slightly, then she looked at him. “They died. My parents. They took their first trip alone when Ana Raquel and I were fourteen. Dellina, our older sister, was nearly seventeen.”
Ryan hadn’t expected her to say that. He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. It was so hard. We didn’t have any family in town, so we had to go live with our aunt in Arizona. She and my uncle were really nice, but everything was different. We lost our parents and our home and our friends in a single week. When Dellina turned eighteen, she took custody of us and moved us back here.”
“You and your sister are twins?”
Fayrene nodded. “Ana Raquel and I tried to be good for her. You know, not make any trouble. But we were teenaged girls. It didn’t always go well. Dellina hung in there. She got a job and was really careful with the life insurance money. We still had the house where we grew up.”
“Why don’t you live there now?”
“It’s a huge four-bedroom place with a big yard. We lease it out. Some of the rent money is put in a fund to cover maintenance, and we split the rest of it.” She gave him a faint smile. “During the lean months, it makes a difference.”
He released her hand because it seemed the polite thing to do, but what he really wanted was to walk around the table and draw her into his arms.
“Your sisters are still here in town?”
“Dellina is. Ana Raquel is a chef in San Francisco, but she comes home a lot. It’s nice when we’re together.” She shifted in her seat. “I admire Dellina for what she did. What she gave up. Ana Raquel went to culinary school in San Francisco, and I went to college in Santa Cruz. But she stayed here. She was our anchor. She worked jobs she didn’t like because the hours were good and she couldn’t risk not having a steady income. It’s only in the past couple of years that she’s felt comfortable enough to start her own business.”
He put the pieces together. “You think she was trapped.”
“Some.”
Because of circumstances, Dellina had been forced to grow up fast and take on more responsibility than was comfortable. Fayrene had learned from that. She didn’t want to risk her dreams to the unexpected.
“You think if you have a solid enough plan, you won’t be surprised.”
Her mouth twisted. “Is it that obvious?”
“It’s not a big leap. Don’t get me wrong. I understand what you’re doing, and I respect it. You’re strong and determined.”
* * *
FAYRENE WISHED THERE was a way to unwind the past few minutes of conversation. She hadn’t meant to share so much with Ryan. She’d barely known the guy twelve hours and already he knew more than most.
“It’s not that I don’t want a family,” she murmured. “I do, of course. Just not now.”
He leaned back in his chair. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he told her. “I’m the guy who swore he’d never marry before he turned forty.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
He shook his head. “Scout’s honor.”
“Ha. Like I know if you were a boy scout.”
“Don’t I look the part?”
He looked mostly sexy and earnest. A very appealing combination.
He stood. “Come on. Let’s check on our new mother.”
Fayrene followed him into the living room. Misty was still sleeping, her three tiny kittens curled up next to her.
“She looks good,” he said.
“Thanks to you.”
He flashed her a smile. “Misty did most of the hard work.”
They settled on the sofa to watch a movie. Fayrene was careful not to sit too close, even though she wanted to. She was confused by how comfortable she felt around Ryan. It was as if she’d known him for years. At the same time, she was on alert—her body poised to tingle at a moment’s notice. The juxtaposition confused her.
They argued playfully about which movie to watch. Her selection was mostly chick flicks. Finally they found a not-too-grisly action movie on pay-per-view and settled in.
She picked through the Jelly Bellys left in the bowl. They were her “thing,” as much for the childhood memories as for the sweetness without too many calories. She loved the taste and she could still fit into her clothes in the morning. Unfortunately, they weren’t quite enough to distract her from the hunky guy sitting next to her on the sofa.
Was it her or had it gotten hot in here?
When the movie was over, Ryan stood and stretched. She allowed herself an eye-candy moment of admiring his broad chest and narrow waist before reminding herself it was impolite to stare.
“Whoa, look at that,” he said when he’d lowered his arms to his sides. He moved to an old boom box she kept on the bottom shelf of her bookcase. Most people didn’t even notice it was there. He moved the dial back and forth until he managed to tune in one of the local stations.
“Great antique,” he said when he saw her.
“It was my dad’s. I know it’s huge and hideous, but it makes me think of him.”
He stood. “I like it.”
On the radio, a low, masculine voice spoke. “This is Gideon, and we’re going to play oldies tonight. Like we do every night. I thought I’d start with a song that reminds me of a beautiful woman from my past. To the smartest woman I ever met. And here it is, by the Drifters.”
Fayrene was trying to figure out which song he was going to play. While she’d never been a fan of the oldies, her dad had liked them. He complained he’d been born in the wrong decade. That he would have been happier in the fifties, with great music and muscle cars. Then her mom would tease him about how he would have been too old for her.
She felt her throat tighten as blurry memories tried to focus. But it had been too long, she thought sadly, and she couldn’t see much more than shadows. Before she had to start fighting tears, Ryan pulled her close and started to dance with her.
“Who’s Gideon?” he asked, moving in time with the beat. He held her just tight enough to make her want to snuggle closer and loose enough that she didn’t feel pressured.
“He’s new in town,” she said, aware the memories were fading and content to let them retreat for the night. “There are a lot of rumors about him. Everyone says he was in the military and did some really dangerous things.”
“I like his taste in music.”
Ryan’s shirt was soft under her fingers, his body warm. Being next to him made her forget everything else—her past, her plan. There was only the gentle sway of the dance, the rhythm of the song and an unexpected yearning.
His dark gaze settled on her face; then he lowered his head a few inches and lightly kissed her.
The brush of his mouth against hers was light as breath. He didn’t push, didn’t claim. He teased, then drew back and put his hand on the back of her head, so she rested her cheek on his shoulder.
Fayrene closed her eyes. Wanting spun through her, igniting nerves and making her long for more than the chaste kiss. But instead of reacting to that, she stayed where she was, enjoying the sense of being taken care of. Of being safe. Even if it was just for the night.
But when the song ended, Ryan drew back. He gave her a quick smile, murmured “good night” and was gone before she could figure out if she wanted him to stay or not. And wasn’t that just like a man?
CHAPTER FOUR
FAYRENE WAS PLEASANT, friendly and distant for the next three days. When she went out for sandwiches, she brought one back to Ryan. She warned him about the warring hair stylists in town when he asked where to get his hair cut, and she explained he would have to alternate his business between House of Bella and Chez Julia unless he wanted to start a boatload of trouble. Even so, she was careful not to spend more than a minute or two in conversation at any given time because it was both smarter and safer.
But on Friday morning she arrived at work to find Ryan being interrogated by two very determined older women. Eddie and Gladys—both long past the age of eligibility for Social Security—stood in his office.
“I heard you’re an engineer,” Eddie was saying. “I have a new all-in-one printer I need help with. You know, hooking it up to my Wi-Fi network. You could come over this afternoon.”
Ryan shifted on his feet, his expression both trapped and desperate. “I’m not a computer engineer, ma’am,” he told her. “I work with wind turbines.”
“Still, you’re young and, from what I can see, very strong. You should be able to figure it out.”
Gladys grinned. “Eddie keeps her place a little warm, so you might want to wear a T-shirt. A tight one. I really like the glasses. They’re kind of sexy.”
Ryan flushed. Fayrene was both impressed and shocked by the older ladies’ determination. She’d heard rumors about their tactics but had never seen them in action before.
She cleared her throat.
Eddie and Gladys both turned toward her. Eddie grinned. “Fayrene. There you are. Tell your friend here that he needs to come help me this afternoon.”
“No.”
Eddie’s smile faded. “Excuse me?”
“I said no. You need to leave Ryan alone. If you don’t, I’m telling Josh you’re bullying Ethan’s favorite engineer.”
Eddie’s expression fell. She’d worked for Josh for years and loved him like a son. She bossed him around, and he looked out for her. But he was also Ethan’s best friend and wouldn’t appreciate Eddie messing with work stuff.
“I wasn’t bullying him,” Eddie said, a whine in her voice.
“I can handle this,” Ryan added, apparently realizing he was getting protection from marauding near octogenarians.
Gladys tugged on her friend’s arm. “We’ll find someone else to help us. Maybe that nice young man on the radio. Gideon. I saw him at the gym the other day. He has a great butt.”
Eddie nodded. “I like a good butt just as much as a good chest.”
The two women left.
When the front door closed, Ryan shook his head. “That was the most surreal experience of my life. When they first came in, I told myself it was all a misunderstanding.”
Fayrene didn’t bother hiding her amusement. “Not if they were talking about seeing you naked and asking if you liked older women in a sexual way. They’re legendary. Mostly they’re harmless, but you have to be willing to stand up to them. I’m going to guess you weren’t raised to talk back to grandmother types.”
“It’s not a skill set I thought I was missing. Anything else I need to know about the town?”
“How much time do you have?”
Something flashed in his eyes. A flash of male admiration with a hint of stalking predator thrown in for fun. But as quickly as it had shown up, it was gone, leaving behind the mild-mannered Ryan she knew and liked.
Fayrene’s breath quickened a little. She’d been avoiding him for very sensible reasons. This proved that. Yet she also found herself wanting to throw caution to the wind and pick up where Eddie and Gladys had left off.
“Thanks for the rescue,” he said, moving back to his desk. “Your arrival was well timed. I’ll do my best to be more surly the next time I run into those two.”
He was backing off because she’d made it clear that was what she wanted. The downside of being sensible, she thought.
But after nearly a week with Ryan, she knew he was both sweet and funny. Polite, smart and possibly interested in her. Did it get better than that?
“You’re arguing with yourself about something,” he said.