by Kelly Oram
He wrinkled his nose. “That’s debatable.”
“Plus, you’re, like, really sweaty, which, no offense, is super gross because I have this heightened sense of smell and—”
That cracked through Ryan’s focus. Giving up the fight, he interrupted me with a loud, overly dramatic sigh. “I know, I know. You have a major problem with post-workout stink.”
“Right. Exactly.” I thanked my lucky stars that the tension had been cut, because I’d been choking on it. “So why don’t you go shower and…” My voice trailed off. Visions of Ryan minus the Jockeys currently on his person, under a spray of hot, steamy water danced across my mind and I lost my train of thought.
Ryan chuckled, deep and throaty. “Would you like to join me?”
“No,” I snapped, more annoyed with my ridiculous weakness than his cocky attitude.
His laughter tipped the scales of my annoyance even more. I forced a roll of my eyes when what I really wanted to do was zap the smug smile off his face. I whirled around, prepared to stomp off to my room with so much attitude that my hair flew out behind me. I should have used superspeed.
Ryan grabbed my hand and gently jerked me back. “Jamie. Babe. Why are you fighting this so hard?” I scoffed at the word babe. Ryan smiled and tucked some of my hair behind my ear in response. “You fought me last time too, because you’re stubborn. But it’s a hopeless endeavor. You’ll give in to me eventually. You always do. So why not just save us both some time and give in now? Be my girlfriend.”
I was still reeling over that impossibly arrogant speech when his last words registered in my mind. “Be your girlfriend? Are you serious?”
Ryan tugged me close and slipped his arms low around my waist, pulling me against his nearly naked body. “Do I seem like I’m joking?”
No. He most definitely did not. His hands, gripping my hips, were tense as if he was consciously trying to keep them rooted in place and not let them wander elsewhere. His eyes burned with heat.
My heart rate spiked to dangerous levels. I felt panicked. “Ryan, that’s crazy.”
“Why?”
I wasn’t sure anymore. “It just is.”
“I’m not asking you to continue the relationship we used to have. Don’t think about the past. Don’t think about what we used to be. How do you feel right now?”
“I—” Nervous, fluttery, tingly, breathless, overwhelmed, excited…
When I didn’t respond, Ryan tried a different approach. “Do you at least like me more than Teddy?”
The question surprised me into responding without thinking. “That’s not fair. I can’t compare the two of you. I never liked him this way.”
“Ha!” Ryan shouted. He let go of me and backed up a step so that he could point an accusing finger at me. The lust he’d been struggling with moments ago was gone. Now he was nothing but excited and playful. “You like me!”
“What?”
“You said you never liked Teddy ‘this way.’ That means you like me differently than him, and you said you only like him as a friend. You like me as more than a friend.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait. I didn’t mean—I wasn’t saying—”
Ryan shook his head. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re in like with me. You just admitted it. You can’t take it back.”
I groaned. “Fine, but—”
“But nothing. You like me. I like you. So be my girlfriend.”
“I’ve only known you a couple days.”
“That’s plenty long enough to know that it’s right.”
He has a point. I was so surprised at my own thought that I nearly short-circuited the room. He had a point? Did I really believe that? Did I really think he was right for me after only knowing him a couple of days? Granted, I must have thought he was right for me once, enough to agree to marry him. And unlike when I used to think that about Teddy, I completely understood how I could have been engaged to Ryan. If I was being honest with myself, I’d already accepted our previous engagement and figured we’d end up there again eventually. But after two days?
“Jamie.” While I’d been mentally fighting with myself, Ryan had flipped back into his dangerous, irresistible mode. And he was holding me again. How the heck did I end up back in his arms? He ran his hands over my shoulders, and then placed my arms around his neck. He pulled me close, held me tight. “Doesn’t this feel right?”
It felt so right I couldn’t speak. My silence was answer enough for Ryan. He lowered his mouth to mine, nudging my lips with his, demanding that I open up for him and give him access to deepen the kiss. I was helpless against his advances; welcomed them.
I gave him what he wanted and returned the kiss. At first it was tender. He held me gently, kissed me slowly. I savored every blissful feeling. Right. It was definitely right.
He claimed last night that he had no restraint, but I was the one who lost control first. I couldn’t help it. I’d been dreaming of a connection like this for six months, and though I couldn’t really explain it, Ryan felt familiar. The way my body responded to him, the way we fit so well together, kissed like we’d been doing it for years… It was as if I knew him. I couldn’t remember him, but I knew him on some deeper, instinctual level.
Realizing this, I let myself go. I relaxed completely. That’s when the warm, tingly energy that lived deep inside of me rose to the surface of my skin, setting me on fire. This had happened last night as well, and it was just as overwhelming the second time. The energy seemed to respond to me. It worked with me, for me, as if it knew what I wanted. And at the moment, Ryan was all that I wanted.
The energy pulled us together with this insane sort of magnetism, strengthening our connection and heightening our senses. I became so much more physically aware of everything. Every touch. Every sensation. The taste of him. The feel of his chest heaving against mine. The sound of his heart beating wildly. I knew from the way Ryan kissed me back that he was experiencing the same things as me.
Unable to stop myself, I unlocked my arms from behind his head and let my hands explore all the muscles I’d dreamed of feeling from the moment I first saw them. At my touch, Ryan sucked in a breath through his nose and released a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. His hands found their way beneath my shirt, eagerly exploring my stomach and the small of my back. When his fingers found my bra and he instinctively started to remove my shirt, I finally regained my senses and ripped myself away from him.
For a moment we just stood there, gasping for air. My eyes were wide. His were feverish. “Right,” he said. He took a deep breath and shook off a wave of chills. “Right. We’re not there anymore. Sorry. I know that; I just got a little carried away.”
And I didn’t?
After a couple of those funky yoga breaths he sometimes did—I was going to have to ask him about those—he smiled at me. “Okay.” He clapped his hands together. “I’m going to hit the showers, and then we’ll call Major Wilks and see if things are still on schedule. Think you’re ready to do this?”
After the roller coaster ride with Ryan this morning, a few reporters and some medical tests seemed easy. “I’m good.”
Ryan might have guessed my thoughts, because he gave me a smile that showed all his teeth. “Good.” He winked at me. “See you in a bit, Sunshine.”
. . . . .
Carter wasn’t kidding about my new celebrity status. The downstairs lobby of the hotel was a zoo. Major Wilks had called the local black and whites to help with crowd control. I heard the noise the moment I left my hotel room and focused my hearing on what was going on around me. Major Wilks had met Ryan and me at my hotel room door with Johnny G. Shortstop and Smut were waiting for us in the lobby.
As we made our way down to the chaos, I tugged at my outfit. I’d been trying to avoid my reflection all morning, but the mirrored walls in the elevator were throwing it in my face right before I had to be ambushed by dozens of reporters. Aside from the obnoxious green that was my natural hair, Major Wilks had advised me to not
cover up my bruises for the camera. My neck was ringed with dark purple marks from where Donovan’s superthug had strangled me. They looked worse now than they had the day I’d received them, since they’d had time to settle to the surface of my skin. They were hideous.
Admittedly, though, the blue contacts made a huge difference; they turned my eyes a beautiful bright green. Even if my hair now matched my eyes and I looked like an abuse victim, overall the package was a lot less startling without the yellow eyes branding me a true freak.
Ryan grabbed my hand when he noticed me fidgeting. “I love the dress,” he said, weaving our fingers together.
I glanced down at the sleeveless purple sundress and sandals I wore, feeling self-conscious. “It’s probably too early in spring to wear it, but it already feels like summer in the desert, and I didn’t think I’d be the paparazzi’s newest headline when I packed my bag. Plus, there’s not a lot I can wear that doesn’t clash with my hair.”
“You look hot, Jamie. Trust me.”
I snorted. As if I could trust his opinion on this subject. “You’re totally biased.”
“So what if I am? My opinion is the one that matters the most, and I say you look great.”
I didn’t know how he did it, but I was smiling when I entered the lobby. Flashes went off immediately, but they came from the front doors. The crowd had been kept out of the building.
Shortstop and Smut met me with professional greetings of “Good morning, Miss Baker” that had me snorting and rolling my eyes. “I like you guys much better when you’re being obnoxious.”
“Sorry, Miss Baker. It’s part of the job,” Smut said.
“But we promise we’ll revert back to immature obnoxious soldiers just as soon as your safety is no longer an issue,” Shortstop added with a wink.
We all laughed, and it was just what I needed to really relax. “So what’s the plan?”
Major Wilks let Johnny G explain. “It’s a two-block walk from here to the cancer center.”
“We’re walking? In that?” I glanced outside. If we walked, they would all follow us the entire way.
“Driving and losing your media entourage could leave us vulnerable to a supersoldier attack. Most likely Donovan will send his partner to the testing today to approach you privately, but there’s still the possibility he’s waiting for you to be alone and will try to kidnap you again.”
Sighing, I cursed Donovan. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
We headed for the doors when, suddenly, a girl jumped up off a couch in the lobby and ran at me. “Becky?” Ryan asked, just as the girl tackled me. “What are you doing here?”
“Jamie!” she squealed, throwing her arms around me. “I can’t believe it’s really you!” She squeezed me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
“Um…hi?”
She pulled back and swiped at the tears now streaming from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t remember me, but you’re my best friend in the whole world. We were roommates in college when you disappeared, and when Ryan got shot and you were kidnapped, I seriously freaked out.”
I was still staring at the girl when she turned and punched Ryan in the arm. “You found her, and you didn’t call me! I heard about it on the news, you jerk!”
She called him a jerk, but she didn’t sound that mad. And she was squeezing him in a hug as tight as the one she’d just assaulted me with. He hugged her back, grimacing. “Sorry. Things have been a little crazy.”
“I can imagine. That’s not an excuse, but I bet it’s been nuts.”
She let Ryan go and smiled at me again. When I forced a smile and an awkward wave, it set her tears off again. “He really found you,” she whispered. She stepped forward again, a little shier this time. “Hi. I’m Becky. Sorry about the attack. I promised myself I was going to stay in control, but then I saw you, and you’re really here, and I just can’t believe it.” She bit her lip and winced. “Sorry, can I just hug you again?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. I hugged her back this time, smiling a little. Her concern and excitement were touching.
“Beck, what are you doing here?” Ryan asked again.
“Are you kidding? My best friend is back from the dead and has amnesia. She needs me. When I saw that news report yesterday—and when you didn’t answer your phone”—She paused a moment to give Ryan a look that promised he was in big trouble—“I called your reporter friend to ask where you guys were.”
“And you just jumped on a plane?”
Becky shrugged. “Carter recognized my name. He knew I was Jamie’s best friend. He offered to fly me out here if I agreed to an interview. He came with me to the hotel.”
Sure enough Carter was there, smirking at me while some guy with a camera next to him was filming the entire scene. “Shameless!” I called to him. But I couldn’t keep a straight face.
Shaking my head, I thanked Becky for coming to see me and then glanced back at the ACEs. That one look was enough to get the ball rolling again, and I stepped outside into the waiting chaos with Ryan and Becky flanking me on either side.
The ACEs surrounded me as if they were some kind of secret service escort, which was ridiculous considering that if any of Donovan’s superthugs did show up, I’d be the one protecting them. As we made our way down the street the two blocks to the hospital, I tried to listen for anything suspicious, but the crowd was too loud. I couldn’t make sense of anything past the chaos of the reporters shouting questions at us.
I hoped Major Wilks was right about Donovan not wanting to blow his cover, because on top of the media our entourage had gathered a bit of a crowd wanting to see what was going on. I didn’t like it. Scanning the sea of onlookers, I frowned at Ryan. “There’re a lot of innocent people here who could get hurt if a fight breaks out.”
Ryan took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’ll be okay, Jamie.”
When he took my hand, the reporters following us down the street went crazy and began shouting more questions at us about our relationship. I was about to tell them all where they could shove their questions when Becky said, “It’s so good to see you guys together again.”
I ripped my hand from Ryan’s. “We’re not—”
“And it’s especially good to see Ryan happy again.”
I couldn’t finish my sentence anymore.
Becky sighed. “A world where Ryan Miller isn’t smiling is just wrong.”
Ryan responded by smiling so wide my cheeks hurt just looking at him. The smile was goofy, but it was also one hundred percent real. He was literally so happy he couldn’t contain himself. As hard as I tried not to let him get to me, I couldn’t help laughing. Becky lost it, too. Ryan threw his arms around us both and tucked us each into his sides. “This is the life,” he teased, smiling for all the people with cameras. “My two favorite girls on my arms, laughing like old times.”
When he spoke to the media people, they went nuts again. I rolled my eyes at Ryan and got a grin for my effort. He loved the attention.
We stopped at a corner across the street from the hospital and had to wait for the traffic signal to change. When I hit the button for the crosswalk, Becky took my hand and frowned down at my bare fingers. “Where’s your ring?” she asked. “I’ve been dying to see it.”
For a moment I had no idea what she was talking about. “Ring?”
“Your engagement ring. You disappeared before I got the chance to see it.”
She gave me a sheepish shrug and bit her lip. The attempt to control her excitement was futile. Her eyes gave her away. I, on the other hand, cringed. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “You’ll have to ask Ryan. I gave it back to him the other day.”
My face heated up at the way Becky’s eyes widened. “You gave it back?”
Ryan chuckled and pulled me even tighter against his side. “It’s okay,” he promised, shooting Becky a wink. “I’ve got the ring tucked away someplace safe. I’ll have it back on her finger soon enough.”
The conversatio
n put the media in a frenzy again. A million questions were thrown at me.
“Your engagement’s off?”
“Are you broken up?”
“Why aren’t you dating?”
“Do you plan to stay friends?”
They all wanted an answer, but I didn’t know what to say. Why was I feeling guilty all of a sudden? The guilt pissed me off. I shouldn’t feel guilty. How did nobody understand that as charming as he might be, Ryan was a stranger? “Of course our engagement is off,” I snapped.
Laughing, Ryan squeezed me, as if to calm me down, and kissed my cheek. “Yes, the engagement is off,” he said to all the surprised reporters. He smirked at me and added, “Temporarily.”
The reporters were thrilled to have Ryan playing along. “Care to explain?” one of them asked.
I glared at the woman. “What’s there to explain? I have no memories of Ryan, fiancé or not. I don’t know him. He’s a stranger to me.”
Ryan shrugged. “Minor technicality.”
The reporter grinned at Ryan, but I backed away from him and scoffed. “Are you kidding me?”
Ryan’s grin doubled. “I never kid about our relationship, Jamie.”
He turned toward the camera and shook his head. “Don’t mind her. She’s always been a bit of a pessimist. But I’m confident. She may not know me anymore, but I know her. I know how to make her swoon. I made her fall in love with me once; I can do it again.”
He stepped close to me again and slid his arm around my waist, grinning for the cameras. “In fact, she’s already my girlfriend.” As my jaw dropped, he snatched my hand and kissed it. “We’re officially together again. Just not engaged…yet.”
It took all my effort not to fry him. I had to settle for ripping my hand away from his lips. “What are you talking about? We’re not a couple.”
“Babe.” Ryan shot me a wounded look. “What do you mean? Of course we are. I asked you to be my girlfriend this morning.”
“I didn’t say yes!”
“But you didn’t say no.”
I wanted to rip my hair out. He could be so infuriating. “You kissed me before I had the chance.”
