Second Chance Temptation

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Chapter 11

  “This is stupid!” Cynthia snapped, as she twisted around to pull the zipper up on her dress. When the zipper was up, she straightened and looked at herself in the full length mirror. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she didn’t have any makeup on. Not that she was going to wear makeup tonight. It was just Ryan and he was right, there was no reason they couldn’t be friends.

  Ignoring the kiss this afternoon, a kiss that she’d just…accepted. Her lips hadn’t tingled after that brief kiss. Nope! Not even a little!

  “You are such a liar!” she told her reflection in the mirror.

  Grabbing her rarely used hair dryer, she flipped her hair over her head and dried her hair. When she was finished, she had a massive halo of golden hair. “That wasn’t what I’d intended,” she grumbled and started brushing, trying to calm her hair down so that it looked sleek and sophisticated. And not as if she’d been trying to look nice.

  But she had too much hair and she’d dried it upside down. At this point, there was no way she could tame it so she grabbed her curling wand and started to touch up the ends. Just a little, she told herself. Enough to make her hair look more casual. Because this was just a casual date with a casual friend.

  “I can do this,” she whispered to the silent apartment.

  Grabbing mascara, she swished the wand over her lashes, blinking as she accustomed her eyes to the added weight. “Might as well glam up,” she muttered, grabbing a touch of lipstick. “Yeah, you look silly.” Still, she grabbed the powder, dabbing a bit over her nose and chin. Since she’d done all of that, she might as well add a bit of color to her nervously pale cheeks. Grabbing the blush, she dabbed a touch to her cheekbones.

  Stepping back, she looked at herself in the mirror. “Will he think I’m trying too hard?”

  She twisted and turned, trying to analyze her figure in the mirror.

  “I’m trying too hard.”

  Her cell phone rang and she jumped at the sudden sound. Looking at the caller, she gasped and raced to answer it. “Eve?”

  “Hey lady! What’s up?” Eve’s curiosity nearly poured through the phone.

  “I need your help. Remember that guy I told you about a long time ago?”

  “Yeah, what’s his name? Ryan something?”

  “Yeah,” Cynthia replied, sitting down on her bed. “Well, he’s back.”

  “No way! When?”

  “Two days ago. He left the Navy and is going to work here near town.”

  “So, you’re going to be all over him and have lots of babies and enjoy wild, crazy, monkey sex with him, right? Is he as good looking as he was before? Oh no, is he married already?”

  “No to all of the above.”

  “He’s not good looking?”

  Cynthia put a hand to her forehead, trying to keep up with Eve. “Um…Yes. He’s good looking. Even better than he used to be. But…”

  “Then he’s married? Darn it! He was the one for you!”

  “No! No, he’s not the one for me.”

  “Of course he is,” she laughed. “You used to talk about him like he walked on water. And you’ve never gotten over him. Admit it.”

  Cynthia wasn’t admitting anything. “The thing is, he’s back and he asked me out for dinner tonight.” She started speaking quickly for two reasons. First, Ryan was due any moment and two, Eve would interrupt her again if she didn’t get everything out quickly. “And I feel silly because I put makeup on and a dress! I put on a dress! And now I feel ridiculous and silly and I don’t know what to wear instead and…”

  The doorbell rang at that moment and she stared at the door to her bedroom.

  “Is that him? Go answer the door! Call me when you come back tonight. I want to hear everything!” And with that, Eve ended the call, leaving Cynthia without answers.

  Standing up, she smoothed her dress down and started walking to the door. That’s when she realized she was still in her fluffy socks, the ones she wore whenever she wanted to be comfortable. But fluffy socks didn’t really go with the pretty, floral dress so she hurried back into her room, grabbing the matching shoes.

  The doorbell rang again and she called, “Just a minute!” as she stuffed her feet into the shoes. A quick glance in the mirror told her that she still looked silly, but she didn’t have a choice.

  As she hurried down the stairway, Cynthia muttered several different ideas on how she could get back at Eve for abandoning her in her time of need. As she stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath, she thought about Eve’s words. Was she still head over heels for Ryan? Had she never gotten over him?

  Unfortunately, Cynthia didn’t have an answer to either of those questions because Ryan turned, looking directly at her through the door’s window. The shock of his piercing blue eyes, the heat that was barely contained as his eyes moved down over her dress, the low cut of the neckline and then back up…it was as if a lightning bolt had struck her. The heat was instant and intense and she backed up slightly.

  “Open the door, Cynthia,” he ordered, his voice low and commanding.

  Every part of her body reacted to that voice, boiling with awareness and…need.

  Reaching out, she pulled the door open. It wasn’t locked. No one locked their doors here in Minneville. There was a flare of something other than heat for a moment, was it anger? Cynthia wasn’t sure but as soon as the door started to open, he pushed it the rest of the way, making room for his broad shoulders. She noticed that he almost had to duck as he stepped through the door because he was so tall, but she was more focused on his eyes. His blue eyes had always entranced her, even before they’d started dating in high school.

  “Why is this door not locked, Cyn?” he demanded, moving closer, crowding her in the narrow hallway.

  She backed up, pressing her shoulders against the wall behind her as she tilted her head back, needing to see his eyes.

  “Because…there’s no reason to lock doors around here.”

  “Honey, you have cash in a safe! Lock the damn door!”

  She nodded, unwilling to argue about locking doors. The new credit card system she’d purchased had cut down dramatically on the amount of cash coming through, but he wouldn’t know that.

  “You’re wearing makeup,” he commented.

  Had his voice become deeper? How was that even possible?

  “Yes. I just…,” she trailed off as he leaned forward, his hands pressed against the wall on either side of her head.

  “You are beautiful, Cyn. Even more than in high school.” His eyes moved lower. “I like the dress. It looks good on you.”

  She smiled. Or she tried to smile. She pressed her hands against the wall as well, focusing very intently on not reaching out to touch him. Touching would be bad. Touching had always led to…more touching in the past. That had been fine in high school, but they were adults now. Touching would be dangerous.

  “Thank you. I wasn’t sure what to wear.”

  “A dress is perfect.” She could smell the minty freshness of his breath. He must have brushed his teeth right before coming to pick her up and that realization only increased the need burning in her belly. All of her girly parts were throbbing now, desperate for the release of her control. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to abandon all of her worries about…everything and simply revel in having Ryan touch her.

  So, she was startled when he pulled back. Grabbing her hand, he tugged her out the door. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Why?” she asked, struggling to keep up with him. She’d slipped on high heels and it was hard to walk in them. She was used to hiking boots or sneakers. She only wore heels for the rare special occasion. In Minneville, special occasions rarely required pretty shoes.

  He realized that he was walking too quickly and stopped, turning around. “I’m sorry, Cyn,” and he lifted her into his arms, depositing her into the passenger seat of his Jeep. “We can’t stay here.” With that, he closed the passenger door and walked around to t
he driver’s seat.

  Cynthia shivered, as much from excitement that she could arouse Ryan as from the chill of the late winter air. It was about twenty degrees outside now and her dress, while lovely, wasn’t particularly warm.

  He started up the Jeep, and glanced over at her legs. With a grumble, he pulled the material of her dress lower over her legs, then sighed before pulling out of the parking lot.

  “I made reservations at a small place over in Rock Ledge,” he announced. Rock Ledge was the next town over and was about the same size as Minneville. It had a few historic buildings, one of which had been converted into a pretty restaurant.

  “That sounds nice.”

  There was silence as he concentrated on the winding mountain road.

  “Talk to me, Cyn. Or I’m going to keep thinking about your legs.”

  She laughed and shifted. If the material of her dress slid away from her legs, well, the material had a mind of its own. She knew that he noticed as well because she was watching him watch her.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled and tugged the material back over her legs. “What do you want to talk about?’ she asked.

  “I cleared out most of the debris in my house this afternoon.”

  “Goodness, hiking in the morning and hard labor in the afternoon. You’ve been a busy boy.”

  He shrugged. “Physical training in the Navy was pretty intense. That’s probably the thing I miss the most.”

  She looked at his shoulders and sighed. “Yeah. I can see that.”

  He glanced at her and she lifted her eyes up to his. He pulled his eyes quickly back to the road, but the tension inside the Jeep escalated by about one hundred percent.

  “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled into the parking lot. “Thankfully,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

  When he pulled the door open, he looked at her with her arms wrapped around her waist and let out a slew of expletives. Taking his winter coat off, he wrapped it around her shoulders. “I didn’t let you grab your coat, did I?” he asked, smiling as he shook his head at himself.

  “You sort of hustled me out of the hallway, yes,” she teased.

  “Sorry about that.” When she stood up, he grabbed both sides of the massive coat, holding her still. “I’ll figure this friendship thing out. Don’t give up on me, Cyn.”

  Cynthia stared up at him, wondering what she should say. Casual. Friendship. That’s what they were striving for.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he growled, slamming the door closed behind her. As they walked through the parking lot to the restaurant, he kept his arm around her, holding her against his side.

  Exactly where she wanted to be, she thought. Yeah, this friendship thing wasn’t going to work.

  The restaurant was warm and cozy. Since the building used to be a home, there were fireplaces on both ends of the room with low ceilings and rough wooden floors. But the atmosphere was more upscale due to the white linen table clothes and the delicious smells.

  They were seated and handed menus. The restaurant was small with a smaller menu, but the chef changed up the offerings every few weeks and used local produce whenever possible. So the food was creative and delicious.

  Ryan ordered a bottle of wine and Cynthia relaxed now that they were around other people. Safety in numbers, she thought wryly.

  “Okay, so talk to me. Get my mind off of your dress and what may be under it.”

  Cynthia laughed, sipping her wine. “There’s a new comedy club in Denver,” she announced, picking a topic at random.

  “Yeah?” he downed his entire glass of ice water. “Have you been over to see any of the comedians?”

  “No. Not yet. I’ve just heard several of the customers talk about it.”

  He took her ice water and downed that as well. Cynthia couldn’t help feeling powerful when she noticed his eyes admiring the low cut of her dress again. Was she playing with fire? Probably. But tormenting Ryan had always been second nature to her.

  Leaning forward, she talked about random things, that sensation of power increasing every time his gaze dropped below her face. She noticed that he didn’t drink his wine, but the waiter filled the glasses of water up several times. The meal was delicious and just as innovative as the reviews said.

  “I didn’t realize that this restaurant is one of Tony Itola’s,” she commented as the waiter cleared their dinner plates away. “That meal was just as amazing as the reviews implied.”

  “Yeah, my dad heard about this place a few years ago.”

  She smiled, thinking that he looked tense. “Doesn’t Itola live in Kentucky somewhere?”

  “I think so,” he muttered, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

  “NO! I’m paying for dinner tonight. You brought lunch and…”

  “Not happening, Cyn. Deal with it,” he told her flatly.

  She laughed. “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

  He lifted an eyebrow, nodding to the waiter who took his credit card. “As if you haven’t been all evening?”

  She blushed and leaned back in the chair. “Okay, maybe a little.”

  He was the one to lean forward this time. “Oh, more than a little, Cyn. You know what you’ve been doing and I always get payback.”

  Yeah, she knew it.

  The waiter was efficient and brought their check back quickly. Ryan signed the bill and stood up, taking her hand and leading her out. The hostess had his coat ready for him and he grabbed it, wrapping it around Cynthia’s shoulders, not giving her time to slide her arms through. He put a hand to the small of her back and led her out of the restaurant.

  “Ryan, I can’t walk that fast,” she told him, but couldn’t help smiling.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, but he didn’t slow down. Once again, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to his Jeep.

  “You’re going to hurt your back doing that,” she muttered as he set her down in the passenger seat.

  “Sure,” he rolled his eyes at her and shut the door.

  Ryan stepped into the Jeep, his eyes immediately drawn to her legs. Unfortunately, this time they were covered up. Taking a deep breath, he started up the engine and back out of the parking lot.

  “Talk to me, Cyn. Otherwise, I’m going to start thinking about…”

  “I need to refinish the wood floors at the bar,” she blurted, knowing exactly where his thoughts were heading. Because hers were going in the exact same direction

  Friends, she reminded herself. Casual friends.

  There was a long silence after her outburst but finally he responded. “Why do you need them refinished?”

  “I think the place would look nicer. The bar is stained from years of spills and muddy boots. But my mom and I sanded down and refinished the floors upstairs in our apartment. We rented one of those big sanders and wow,” she laughed, shaking her head at the memory, “that sucker was heavy. It took both of us to get that thing up the stairs, one step at a time. Then it took us almost all week to finish sanding those stairs.”

  “So you don’t want to get into that effort again.”

  She shrugged but he couldn’t see the gesture under his massive coat. “I don’t really want to, but I’m trying to make small improvements to update the look. The floors would be nice.”

  “I’ll help you with the floors.”

  Startled, she looked over at him. “You will?”

  “Sure,” he replied, turning into her parking lot and pulling up to the back door. “That’s what friends do. Besides, I’m going to recruit you to help me clean up and renovate my place. Seems only fair that I help you in return.”

  She laughed at that comment. “I suppose you’re right. What are you changing at that old cabin? From what I remember, it was pretty small. Just one bedroom, wasn’t it?”

  “There are two rooms that were probably used as bedrooms at some point, but I think Old Henry used one of them for storage. That was the worst room to clean up. There was a lot of junk l
eft in there. But the cabin is structurally strong. Stronger than what most people have today. Henley built that place with his bare hands and he did a great job. The corners are mitered better than anything I’ve ever seen. The glass in the windows is gone, but glass panes are easily replaced. The stone fireplace is in a central location so it heats the area better than one might think.”

  They were at her place now and she had no excuse to linger. Her eyes dropped to his lips and she wondered if he was going to kiss her.

  When he finally turned to face her, she held her breath, startled by the intensity in his eyes. “Come hiking with me tomorrow.”

  She should say no. They’d spent the whole day together and the tension between them burned. But instead of the no, or offering a reason why she shouldn’t go, she heard herself whisper, “Okay,” and then smiled tentatively. “I’d better get inside,” and she pulled the coat off.

  “Keep it. I don’t want you walking through the cold. Just…”

  Cynthia laughed softly. “Ryan, the door is ten feet away. I guarantee that I won’t freeze to death before I get inside. Besides, you’re heading to a cabin with no windows and no heat. You need your coat.”

  Before he could argue, she slipped out of the Jeep and ran inside. Turning around, she made a big show of locking the door, watching him the whole time. For a pregnant moment, they stared at each other through the glass. Although, what she waited for, Cynthia wasn’t entirely sure. Finally, she turned and headed up stairs.

  Chapter 12

  Ryan woke with a start, jackknifing up as he looked around, assessing the situation. About ten degrees. Sleeping bag was still around him and he was on the hard floor. Not great, but overall, he’d slept in worse situations.

  And Cynthia wasn’t with him.

  “Damn!”

  The hardest part of the night hadn’t been the cold, which the sleeping bag had kept at bay, or the hard floor. It was the dreams of Cynthia. Her legs kept flashing through his mind. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up, his body hard and aching, ready to pull her into his arms so he could make love to her.