Falling Into Love (Paradise Place Book 5)

by Natalie Ann

  “Don’t you get on web calls?”

  “I won’t as often and I’ll just put a nice shirt on for that. The leggings are staying. I’m a simple girl at the heart of things.”

  A lot like him. He wasn’t into fancy anything. Anyone who didn’t know him and saw him on the street knew he worked with his hands. They didn’t know he was part of a multi-million-dollar family business and he liked it that way.

  No one looking at Shannon would know her wealth. Hell, he had no clue what it could be. When she talked about being bought out, he knew it had to be millions. He wouldn’t ask. He didn’t want to know.

  “Simple works for me.”

  “Speaking of you. And me. How about us?” she said. “What do we have? Based on your description about a month ago, and more than a handful of dates...are we in a relationship? I guess I never asked if you were seeing someone else. I’m not. I feel bad I can barely find time to spend with you alone.”

  He hadn’t thought she was with anyone else. “No. Just you. I guess maybe it is a relationship.”

  “So then,” she said, “why are you being so gentlemanly?”

  He started to cough on the bite of his sandwich he’d just taken. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever used that word with him before. “Meaning?”

  “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

  Her face was flushing. “Yeah. I think I am.”

  “How come you haven’t made a move toward me?” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “More than kissing.”

  “We aren’t really alone often,” he said.

  “Yeah, that is what I thought,” she said, sighing. “And I won’t leave the kids overnight with Zoe. I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d want me to spend the night.”

  She started to fidget in her chair.

  Sure, he didn’t often spend the night with a woman. Normally he left or nudged them out of his house. But with Shannon he found he wouldn’t mind it. What a kick in the ass to know he couldn’t have it.

  “It seems to be a logistics problem for us at the moment. I’d like the whole night but understand we can’t get what we want. How about we order in dinner one night at my house?” he offered.

  “I think we can do that,” she said. “I promised the kids I’d take them apple picking next Saturday. They’ve never been. And Jeffrey’s birthday is coming up soon, but we were going to celebrate it on Sunday. I know he’d love you to be there if you want. I don’t want you to feel pressured over it though.”

  “I’d love to be there. How about dinner Friday night at my place? It gives you a few days to wrap your head around it.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For understanding that I probably need that.”

  “How was lunch?” Zoe asked when Ryan dropped her back at the house. “He didn’t want to come in? I kept the kids back here.”

  “He had some things to do.” She looked around and only saw Jeffrey. “Where’s Maddie?”

  “Sleeping on the couch.”

  “Oh.” She walked over and looked on the other side and saw her daughter out cold. “How long has she been down?”

  “About thirty minutes. I told Jeffrey he could go upstairs and play when you got home, but I don’t like having them separated for too long.”

  The two of them were in the kitchen now and she waved Jeffrey over. “You can go upstairs and play if you want. Thank you for being quiet and not asking as soon as I came in the door.”

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I was watching TV.”

  “You can finish if you want.”

  “No. I want to play with my cars. I’ll be quiet. I promise,” Jeffrey said and took off down the hall with the puppies chasing him and up the stairs.

  “Have the dogs been out lately? Jeffrey won’t pay attention to them and then they’ll go to the bathroom.”

  “I let them out right before Zoe fell asleep. I’ve got these things covered more than I thought,” Zoe said.

  “You’re doing a great job too. I can’t thank you enough. Not only for moving here and watching the kids, but allowing me time to have a personal life.”

  “And this is where we get some girl talk,” Zoe said. “It’s too early for wine for you. Sit and talk. I’ll make coffee for me and tea for you.”

  “That works,” she said, sitting. She’d never been much of a coffee drinker, but Zoe loved it. She found Ryan liked to drink it too and was glad she had the Keurig upstairs and the one downstairs for Zoe too.

  Once the mugs were in front of them, Zoe asked, “So what is going on with you and Ryan?”

  “I asked him what we had. If it was a relationship or not.”

  “Really?” Zoe asked, wrinkling her nose. “It’s been like a month. Have you done much more than kiss? If so, you aren’t acting any differently. I would have thought you’d share with me if you did.”

  “We haven’t, but we will this Friday if you’ll watch the kids for me for a few hours. We’re going to have dinner at his place. I’ll come back later. Maybe after the kids are in bed, but I’ll be home that night. I’d never stay the night.”

  “Yay you,” Zoe said and then covered her mouth when she realized she was being loud. “I’m so excited for you,” she whispered. “You’re going to get it before me here. That’s saying something.”

  “I’m sorry you don’t seem like you are getting that much time to go out with friends.”

  “I’m going out plenty,” Zoe said. “During the week I’ve met a few people out and you haven’t had plans every weekend. I just haven’t found anyone. But I’m having fun. I’m still meeting people too.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Her sister had been leaving around six or seven a few nights a week and Shannon never knew when she came home. Since she had her own entrance to the house and own security system, they were almost living separately but not really.

  “So, will you spend any time with Ryan this weekend other than Friday?”

  “I asked if he wanted to come to Jeffrey’s birthday dinner on Sunday. He said yes, he’d loved to. I’m lucky that he’s so good and accepting of the kids. I knew that someday I’d date again and it was a worry. Especially if it was with someone that didn’t have their own kids.”

  “Jeffrey really enjoys spending time with him.”

  “I worry that he might get too attached. That’s my biggest fear. I even told myself when I started to date again I wasn’t going to introduce any man to the kids until I knew it wasn’t just a passing thing. I already broke that one promise I made.”

  She’d been thinking about this a lot lately. But then she told herself she’d have to ride out the wave and hope she could shield her kids when the tide came in. They’d been through worse and were getting along now just fine.

  “You can’t control everything,” Zoe said. “No one thought you’d be a widow at twenty-seven years old. Or living in New York. Everything in your life is changing and it’s not a bad thing. Ryan can just be another change. A good one.”

  “I hope so. I’m so nervous. He’s so different than Tyler.”

  She’d never forget the first time she and Tyler had sex. They were seventeen and it was in her bedroom one day after school when they were alone.

  Tyler was almost more nervous than her. He was tender. He was gentle. He was caring and he was loving.

  It was sweet and beautiful and a memory she’d have the rest of her life.

  Most times their sex was like that. Always nice and always pleasurable, but never anything wild. It was almost like he was afraid to break her.

  She wasn’t a dainty flower and didn’t want to be treated as such, but how would she let a man know that?

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Zoe said. “Ryan is bigger, harder, stronger. Everything about him is different. The question is, how does he make you feel?”

  “Happy,” she said. “It’s the first word that comes to my mind. The second is
horny. I can’t stop staring at his arms. I never knew I had a bicep fetish.”

  “Then go and enjoy yourself Friday night. Don’t overthink it. Don’t stress, though I know you will. A new life, a new you. It doesn’t mean the old you has to go away though.”

  “When did you get to be so smart?” she asked her younger sister, standing up and giving her a hug. These were exactly the words she needed to hear.

  “I have a good role model in my older sister.”

  15

  A Big Step

  Shannon was trying not to stress. She’d been ramming all day hoping to get work done. The first week of school and she’d had forms to fill out and lunches to make. Stories to listen to about Jeffrey’s new friends.

  It was good and keeping her occupied for what was going to happen in a few hours.

  “Mommy,” Jeffrey said when he ran in the door. Zoe had left to pick him up while Maddie stayed with her. It seemed to work better until Jeffrey could spot the car and make his way to Zoe. Right now Zoe picking up Jeffrey saved her the hassle of buckling Maddie in and out. “School was so much fun today and I got to play wiffle ball in gym. And I caught a pop fly and no one else did.”

  “That’s great, honey. It sounds like you really like your new school.”

  “I do. I love it.”

  There was nothing better in her eyes right now. “Why don’t you go get a snack. I’ve got a little bit more work to do and then I’m done.”

  “Okay,” he said and took off toward the kitchen where she could hear Zoe and Maddie chatting. She had a handful more emails to deal with and then she was done for the weekend.

  When she finished with the last, another one popped up. She read the name Walt Carpenter and almost deleted it. It wasn’t an employee email. He was no longer an employee.

  But she couldn’t, it wasn’t in her nature. And shouldn’t she know what it said anyway?

  She opened it up. Hi, Shannon. How have you been? I know you moved. I’d seen the house was up for sale. You’re probably struggling with the loss of Tyler like me. The reminders of him. I’m trying to stay clean, but when I think of him and know he’s gone I just want to reach for the bottle. I was wondering if we could talk. Maybe just being able to talk to someone about him would help me.

  She wanted to delete it but didn’t. For now it was a Friday and Walt had no idea where she was or what she was doing with her life. She didn’t want to reply, but he knew where to hit her hard. Maybe she’d forward it to John. Yeah, that was the thing to do.

  When she was done, she shut her computer down and put work and everything else behind her. She was going to spend some time with her kids and then she was going to shower and make herself pretty because she had a hot date tonight.

  Before she was ready to leave, Zoe pulled her aside. “I put a few condoms in your purse. Can’t be too safe nowadays.”

  She felt her face flush wishing she’d thought of that. She was just assuming Ryan would take care of it, but she was still on the pill. “There won’t be any buns in the oven.”

  “That isn’t what I’m talking about. You’ve only been with one other person. He’d only been with you. You never had to worry about diseases.”

  “Zoe! I don’t want to talk about this now. I’m already nervous enough. I changed four times and it’s just dinner at his house.”

  “Please. It’s not just dinner. It’s more important what you have on under your clothes than the shorts and shirt you have on now. You’ve got sexy underwear on, right?”

  “Yes,” she said. She’d bought some this week. Though she was hardly a virgin and didn’t wear granny panties either, she still wanted something new for her first time with Ryan.

  “Good girl. Now go have fun and don’t worry about the kids. I’ve got a movie for us to watch and popcorn and candy.”

  “Not too much candy,” she said, worrying she’d get a call for a bellyache.

  “I’ve got it covered. Go, have fun. Enjoy yourself and don’t worry about us. Don’t look at the clock. Nothing.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Zoe shook her head at her, but Shannon escaped out the side door with her purse on her shoulder after having kissed the kids and the puppies alike.

  Part of her wished the drive was more than two minutes long so she could calm down, but the other part of her knew that might make her more anxious.

  She parked in Ryan’s driveway, then went through the open garage door. She didn’t need to knock; he was standing there with the door open looking especially yummy in shorts and a T-shirt that fit his body so well. His feet were bare and she got a look at the size of them and was terrified she might have gulped.

  “Come on in,” he said.

  She put her purse on the counter. She wasn’t about to mention anything about the condoms. No need. If he didn’t have them, she would, but right now she wasn’t in that state of mind.

  “I’m nervous,” she blurted out.

  “I would have never guessed,” he said. “You’re clenching your fists. We don’t need to do this. You brought it up. No pressure.”

  “You don’t want to?” she asked.

  “Oh, I want to. I’ve wanted to for weeks. I’m just saying you brought the subject up. I’m trying to give you some space to come to terms with this. I understand it’s a big step for you.”

  “It shouldn’t be. I’m far from a virgin.”

  “Same here,” he said.

  “Are you humoring me?”

  “Just trying to relax you. I’m going to let you take the lead. You tell me what you want. We can order some dinner and have it delivered. We can sit on the couch and watch TV, we can talk. Your night, your call.”

  “I know what I want,” she said.

  “And what is that?”

  “You. I don’t even want to think about anything. I just want to do it, but my mind is taking control and making me second guess everything.”

  “I can wipe all the thoughts from your mind if you give me the go ahead,” he said, laughing.

  “Do it.” He laughed even harder. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine what is going through your head right now. I’m not trying to insult you.”

  “I know that,” he said, running his hand down the side of her face and kissing her softly. “I’m trying to just help calm you.”

  “Don’t be soft,” she said when he was done with a few kisses on her lips. “Not that I’m into anything rough. It’s just.”

  “It’s just you want to feel like a woman.”

  He got her. “Yes. I’m not fragile even if it comes across that way. I just want you to be who you are. I get the feeling you’re not this tender guy and you are doing it for me. Don’t. I want you to be you.”

  He held her stare, then said, “You asked for it.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant until he picked her up and put her over his shoulder. Not cradling her in his arms like she’d been before.

  No, she was like a sack of potatoes he flung on one side and then just started walking down the hall toward his room.

  She was hanging upside down and started to laugh. “I hope I don’t get a head rush. I think the dizziness is just the excitement.”

  “Even better,” he said, pushing his door open and marching the few steps to his king sized bed, then flopping her on it and coming down on top of her.

  His lips covered hers before she could make a sound and the kiss was deeper and harder than any of the other ones he’d given her.

  Her body was heating up and she was squirming under him to get as close as she could.

  This was what she wanted. What she needed.

  A big strong man on top of her kissing her like she was the only woman on the face of this earth.

  That didn’t mean he didn’t treasure what they were about to do, she thought.

  It just meant that she turned him on and that was exactly what she wanted to feel like she was doing.

  Her hands went under his shirt while she slipped her sandals off
her feet.

  “Oh, you’ve got a lot of muscles I want to see.”

  He inched back and pulled his shirt over his head for her. Her mouth opened and she stared.

  This was no gym body in front of her, but one that was built through hard and strenuous work.

  “Meet with your approval?”

  She nodded her head. “Your shorts next.”

  “Oh no. You need to catch up. Consider this Simon says. I get naked from the waist up, so do you.” She could handle that. She sat up on the bed and put her hands at the bottom of her shirt, but he brushed them aside and took care of that task for her. “This is nice,” he said, his finger tracing the edge of her pink lace bra.

  “It’s a matching set.”

  “I’ll get to the bottom soon enough.” His hands went to the hook in the back, releasing it, then pulling the straps off her shoulders.

  She felt the cool breeze of the artificial air hit her nipples, making them pucker up.

  His eyes shifted down, his mouth lowering and covering one. Her head fell back and a gasp escaped. She’d always had sensitive nipples and with his tongue darting around the pointy peak she was afraid she might come from that alone.

  Should she tell him? Give him a hint?

  She was too embarrassed to. She didn’t want him to stop but didn’t want this to end either.

  Her hands when to the button of his shorts and started to undo them. Maybe he’d get the hint that way.

  He shifted to the side and let her hands slide in to feel him while his mouth moved to the other nipple.

  “Oh boy,” she said, her palm sliding up the length of him. She could tell he was huge already. So hard. So sleek and smooth. “Simon says.”

  He stopped for a second, must have understood what she was saying, then put his mouth back on her nipple, but his hand went into her shorts.

  When his finger touched her swollen bud she all but shot off the bed. “You’re so wet.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s a good thing.”