She was hyper-aware of his intense masculinity as they worked together in the small space. He was tall and athletic and smelled like Wrigley’s gum and hot, sexy male. It only took about thirty-five minutes to unload the van with both of them working on it, and Callie spent most of the time appreciating the play of muscles on different parts of Ryan’s body as he worked. She was definitely going to need a cold shower when they got done here, and in more ways than one.
When they got the last box in place, she locked the door. “That’s it I guess,” she said with satisfaction.
She turned to face Ryan who was watching her with an indefinable look on his face.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. There was an odd moment of hesitation, and then he went back around and got in the driver’s seat.
****
After leaving the rental unit, they backtracked to her old apartment to get her car. She drove it while Ryan drove the truck back to the rental place, and after parking, he got in her car while she went inside. Ryan watched her walk across the parking lot, admiring the feminine swing of her hips.
Things were going to heat up a lot faster than he had thought if she kept watching him like she had at the storage place. It was an invitation, an unconscious one undoubtedly, but an invitation nonetheless, and he had felt a powerful urge to take her up on it. Only the fact that he didn’t want to rush things, maybe take a wrong step, had kept him from kissing her and just seeing what happened.
It was strange actually to think that his longest, most meaningful relationship with a woman had been with someone he had never so much as kissed. He studied her through the glass window of the storefront. She was talking animatedly to the guy behind the counter who didn’t look old enough to drive. He was laughing unrestrainedly at whatever she was saying, taking obvious delight in getting some attention from an attractive woman. He didn’t blame the kid for being excited.
He tried to think back and remember why he had never asked her out and decided it was a timing issue. When he had moved into the house next door to her, he was pretty sure she had a mad crush on Billy Jenkins. He had fallen for Sharon Leminsky soon after school started, who had been very well developed for a fourteen year old, and from then on he and Callie had been firmly fixed as friends. The times that they had been single at the same time had been few and far between.
He wasn’t single now, he reminded himself. If he decided to try and see what might happen with Callie, he would have to break off a relationship that had been going along fairly well, if not spectacularly. He was seriously considering it though.
He wasn’t sure why things were suddenly different between him and Callie, why what had seemed out of reach suddenly seemed possible. Actually he did know. She was different. She was radiating a subtle but very definite sexual tension around him. He just didn’t know why or what it meant. Maybe she was just sexually frustrated after a long dry spell after breaking it off with preppy boy, but he didn’t think so. If she was, maybe he could be the one to help her out, he thought wryly. Although if he did start something up with Callie, he didn’t think it could be casual. He cared for her too much for that. That’s why it was dangerous. He could get hurt. She could get hurt. Their friendship, which meant so much to him, could be a thing of the past. He wanted to see how their time went over the next few days and to make sure he wasn’t rushing into anything.
****
When Callie got back in the car, she smiled at Ryan who was looking through her CD’s. She was really glad that he had come along to help. Having an extra pair of hands and someone to keep her company had made unloading her stuff surprisingly painless, and she thought she was doing a decent good job of ignoring her constant state of arousal around him.
“Where to next?” she asked cheerfully. “Home, or do we need to make another stop?”
He had stopped flipping through the CD holder at the sleeve containing her Bon Jovi “Slippery When Wet” CD and had a particularly pained look on his face. “Grocery store, if you don’t mind,” he said. He shook his head mournfully before continuing flipping onward. “I need to pick up some things if I’m going to cook tonight.”
“Great,” Callie said, putting the car in gear. “I need to get some groceries myself.”
With the hard work done, and the worst of her problems taken care of for the moment, she felt unexpectedly chipper. She rolled down her window to let the soft spring air in. “Are you going to put something on or just sit there looking like you’ve been served liver and onions after ordering steak?” she asked him after a few more minutes of silence.
Ryan was a terrible music snob. He had promoted bands in his college days and acted like anything too mainstream was beneath him. He grinned then let out an exaggerated sigh. “The process of culling out the bearable from the unbearable cannot be rushed,” he stated with mock solemnity. He pulled out Nickelback and inserted it into the CD player.
“Good choice,” she said. “Wanted Dead or Alive” would have been better, but “Feeling Too Damn Good” also works.” Ryan shot her a look but didn’t respond to her barb.
“The thing about making love in the shower,” she said contemplatively when the song mentioned it, “is that you don’t have good footing and there is not much to hold onto.”
He considered this. “Well, if you didn’t date such weenies, they might be able to hold you up,” he teased.
“Daniel wasn’t a weenie!” she said indignantly, although she privately conceded that he hadn’t been muscular enough to pick her up and hold her for any length of time. She wasn’t overweight by any stretch, but she wasn’t about to become a runway model. Daniel, while moderately athletic, had not been particularly tall or muscular either.
At Ryan’s skeptical look she added, “Just because I couldn’t climb him like a tree doesn’t make him a weenie. He worked out three or four times a week.”
Ryan pursed his lips, clearly unconvinced. “Hey, this isn’t the “Dear Irma” column of Cosmo. I’m no expert, it’s just an observation,” he said.
Callie laughed. “Should I be scared or impressed that you know the name of a sex advice columnist for a woman’s magazine?” she asked.
“Good stuff in there,” he said unconcernedly. “Where else are you going to get tips on how to achieve multiple orgasms, let your partner know their bad breath is killing you, and find out the newest and latest positions?”
Callie snickered. She turned into the parking lot of the grocery store and parked the car in the nearest spot. Ryan looked around with interest. “You’re the only person I know who will park a hundred yards from the entrance to a store even though there are clearly many spots open that are closer.”
“For Pete’s sake,” Callie said with mild disgust as she got out of the car. “Who was just talking about weenies? I think you can walk an extra twenty-five feet without it killing you.”
“I can, of course, but the appropriate question is should I have to?” Ryan said judiciously.
He looked so cute sauntering along bitching about her parking choices that Callie felt her heart give a little skip, and reached over to give his arm an affectionate squeeze. He looked surprised, but then smiled and continued onward without comment.
They passed a woman headed to her car with her grocery cart, and Callie noticed that she was wasting no time checking Ryan out. She obviously liked what she saw and pushed her impressive breasts squeezed into a too small halter top out a little farther. Her gaze was a lot less warm and alluring when it fell on Callie, although the inspection she gave Callie was just as thorough as the one she had given Ryan. Callie returned the favor and thought that the woman needed to learn that clothes that fit right were more sexy than clothes that were a size too tight, whether the body underneath them was great or not.
They got past the woman and Ryan cut his eyes at her. “Did you just check her out?” Ryan asked.
“Yep,” she said unabashedly. “She was checking me out, so I retur
ned the favor.”
“That thing women do when they look each other over with eyes as cold as death freaks me out,” he said with a mock shudder. “That calculating look reminds me of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park.”
Callie suddenly cut her eyes from side to side in rapid motion and Ryan watched in growing alarm wondering what in God’s name she was doing when she screeched in a tone that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck and leaped at him with her index fingers curved like claws.
“Holy shit!!” he shrieked, batting her hands away from him. “What the hell are you doing?”
She laughed gleefully, pleased that she had actually scared him. “I was just showing you what it would be like if women really were velociraptors.”
He shook his head disbelievingly. “You’re not right in the head, do you know that? I mean has anyone ever told you that before?”
She pretended to think about it. “Uh yes, actually, they have.”
“Well you don’t need to sound so proud about it,” he said with disgust, his heart finally slowing to a normal pace.
“Oh, but I am proud of it. How boring to be well-adjusted and normal.”
Ryan couldn’t help but smile at the satisfaction in her voice. He looked at her face lit up with happiness and contentment and felt a stab of lust so strong it made his knees feel weak. He wanted her, badly. He wasn’t the type guy to cheat on a girlfriend and Callie wasn’t someone who would be willing to be the other woman, but Callie made thoughts of Misty fly right out of his head. Maybe that told him all he needed to know about the strength of his relationship with Misty, he thought wryly. It was going to be an interesting few days.
“Can we just go into the store and shop like normal people?” he asked pointedly.
“I can’t make any promises,” Callie said. “But if you will try, I mean really try to control yourself, maybe we can.”
He rolled his eyes as they entered the store. “I think I can find the necessary self-discipline,” he said dryly, as they each took a cart and headed into the store.
Chapter Two
By the time they got home and put away the food, Callie was exhausted. The stress of the apartment falling through combined with physical exertion and an afternoon of simmering sexual frustration had taken its toll. Fortunately, she had packed her big suitcase with everything she needed for several days. Her plan had been not have to unpack in a rush, but it had saved her from having to dig through boxes at the storage unit.
She took a quick shower in Ryan’s guest bathroom, which was reasonably clean if a little dusty from disuse. Though the dated pink tile and porcelain made her smile at its sheer girlishness, she wondered if Ryan’s bathroom was also done in such a pastel hue. When she tried to imagine him standing in the middle of all that pink, she wished she hadn’t. Maybe it was just her exhausted mind playing tricks on her, but she immediately conjured up an image of Ryan naked, heat in his eyes as he reached for her. In her fantasy at least, his intense masculinity was more than a match for a bathroom that looked like it had been doused in Pepto Bismol™.
Don’t think that way, she commanded herself firmly. She focused on gathering up her clothes and making her way down the hall to her bedroom. For a guy’s place, it wasn’t too bad. Only one corner was used for storage of miscellaneous sports equipment. The room was a decent size and freshly painted a pale blue. The furniture was hand-me-downs from his parents she’d guess, and consisted of a full size bed with a pretty old headboard of dark brown wood and a matching dresser. An ancient wingback chair with cream upholstery so faded that the floral pattern was barely visible, completed the furnishings. Maybe the chair was old, but it didn’t smell of dog, Callie thought with satisfaction and dumped her things onto its broad seat.
She debated briefly drying her hair and heading out for a movie or the coffee house to give Ryan the house to himself this evening. Then decided she had time to sleep for forty minutes before taming her hair and putting that plan in action. She was so tired she did not think she could stand going anywhere at this second. She set her phone clock and climbed into the bed, nearly moaning aloud at how good it felt to lay down, and was out like a light.
****
When she woke, she knew immediately it was later than she’d planned to sleep. A lot later. She got up and checked her phone, grimacing at the 8:03 time display. Great, now her hair would be completely dry and sticking straight out. Misty was certainly here already, and in fact she could hear the murmur of conversation from the living room.
She went to the mirror on the dresser and checked her hair. Yep. Complete chaos and not the kind that could be tamed with mousse and hairspray. She got her towel and headed down the hall to jump through the shower again. Standing outside the bathroom she could hear Misty and Ryan talking and was unable to resist eavesdropping as the strident tone of Misty’s voice caught her attention.
“So Sharon found a fax I’d accidentally left on the machine and had a tantrum because I had dared to use office equipment for my own personal client.” Misty was saying.
Callie remembered Ryan had mentioned that Misty was an interior decorator trying to transition from another woman’s shop to being in business for herself. Ryan’s reply was just a muffled murmur, but whatever he said must not have sat well because Misty’s voice got louder and sharper. “A fax costs about two cents, Ryan. Do you know the kind of hours I have worked for that woman? My effective hourly rate is below minimum wage!”
Callie rolled her eyes. What kind of an idiot really thought her employer shouldn’t be pissed off to discover she was using office equipment to establish her competing business? Not my place to judge, she reminded herself and went into the bathroom.
****
Callie had thought she would still head over to the coffee shop to give the two lovebirds some time alone at the house, but when she had blown her hair dry and dressed, she couldn’t hear Ryan and Misty talking anymore. She eased down the hall and peeked around the doorframe, really hoping she was not about to catch Ryan and Misty making out or worse in the living room. Fortunately, all she saw was Ryan clearing dishes off the table in the next room.
He was frowning as he turned and started into the kitchen. She followed behind him.
“Wow, she must be good in bed,” Callie commented.
Ryan started at her voice, nearly dropping a plate. “Jesus Callie! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, rescuing the plate and putting it into the sink. “I guess you’re not used to having someone else here.”
“No,” he agreed. “And you’ve been so quiet this evening I kind of forgot you were here. And to answer your question, she is, but I don’t know why you’d say that.”
Callie smiled with genuine humor as she sat down at the table. “She just came in, dumped all her cares and worries on you for the better part of two hours, ate the meal you cooked and served her, and then left without even so much as putting her plate in the sink. She’s obviously beautiful but to get this kind of treatment there must be some serious payback going on somewhere.”
Ryan gave a huff of exasperation. “It’s not about payback for God’s sake. I enjoy treating a woman the way she deserves to be treated.”
Callie felt a momentary bitterness that she readily identified as sour grapes. Had any guy she had ever been with had that kind of mentality about her? No, or at least not that she could tell from his behavior. She usually took on the caregiver role, and she didn’t mind it. But, she thought wistfully, it would be nice just once to be with a guy who was willing to really lavish her with care and attention.
Ryan picked up the rest of the plates on the table and set them in the sink with enough force that Callie’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t realized she had pissed him off.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to insult you or her. It was meant to be a semi-funny observation.”
He shrugged and started washing the dishes. In penance, Calli
e got up and went to help, picking up a dishtowel so that she could dry. This wasn’t good. She hadn’t meant to upset him. She was thinking about what else she could say to make it right when he muttered something.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t hear you over the water.”
He turned off the water and handed her another plate. “I said that it’s pissing me off.”
When Callie shot him an inquisitive look, he elaborated. “I was really starting to think Misty could be someone I could get serious about. Finally make a commitment and all that, but lately I feel like everything is about her. She’s turning into a big gaping maw of need, and it’s starting to feel like a full time job.”
Callie nodded sympathetically. “Yeah, I’m definitely sensing that dynamic just from the little I’ve seen of you two together. Maybe you should just tell her that. She probably has no idea she’s doing it, she’s just loving how well you take care of her.”
He shrugged again. “Want to catch a movie tomorrow?” he asked, and Callie had to laugh. He grinned sheepishly, acknowledging the quick change of subject, but Callie just said sure, and they went back to finishing the dishes.
“What were you doing all that time?” he asked.
“I took a short nap that turned into a long one,” Callie explained ruefully. “I was going to go to a movie and entertain myself away from the house so you guys could be alone, but so much for that.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Ryan said firmly. “You’re my guest.”
“I just hope my being here is not going to crowd you guys,” she said.
Ryan shook his head. “It won’t. She actually doesn't come over here all that often and almost never spends the night.”
Callie gave him a surprised look, and he answered her unspoken question.
“We're getting in plenty of action, it's just that we're always at her place.” He thought about it for a second. “It's kind of a drag actually because she doesn't have a very good TV, and parking is tight outside her duplex.”
Sudden Attraction Page 2
