Ryan nodded without looking up. “Sure.”
Silly question she thought to herself. Ryan never turned down free food. She was pretty sure he could have just eaten a ten-course meal and would still take whatever was offered just on the principle of it. She went into the kitchen and unwrapped the sandwich and put it on a plate for him. In a burst of goodwill, she also fixed him a coke on ice and threw a handful of chips on the plate. She took it out and set her offering on the end table beside him.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked in her best stewardess voice.
He looked over and his expression lightened. “Nice,” he said with appreciation and picked up the sandwich.
Callie sat down and watched a Discovery Channel program on bats that was Ryan’s viewing choice of the moment until a commercial break came on.
“I’ve got a date tonight,” she announced.
He looked surprised. “That was fast work. What’d you do, pick up the cashier at Lida’s?”
“No, but close. Josie set me up with some guy she knows from the homeless shelter.”
He looked disgusted. “You’re standing me up for the movies to go out with some loser not good enough for Josie to date herself?” he asked.
“That about sums it up,” Callie said levelly, feeling irritation rise at his bad mood but fighting it.
“Don’t do it,” he advised her bluntly. “The chances that he will be someone you could actually enjoy spending an evening with are infinitesimally small. Like winning the lottery small.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “Thank you, oh voice of doom,” she responded testily. “Blind dates are about the fun of meeting new people. I don’t expect him to be the white knight I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
“Don’t expect him to be showered, fluent in conversational English or capable of paying for dinner,” Ryan said snidely.
“Now you’re just being obnoxious,” Callie said indignantly. She sat up, her eyes snapping and her cheeks pink with indignation.
“Josie knows him from the homeless shelter because he volunteers there, not because he lives there. He can’t be that bad. And it’s all fine and good for you to turn up your nose at a blind date. You’ve got Misty, but you don’t have to give me a hard time for taking a chance that I might have a nice time meeting a new person.”
Ryan looked sheepish. “Alright, you’re right. I’m sorry. I do think it’s a bad idea, but only because I’ve known several friends who tried doing the blind date thing, and they had some pretty scary stories. It’s your decision though, and I wont say another word about it.” He wasn’t about to reveal the real reason he did not want her to go out on the date. He hated the idea of her with another man, but he had no right to tell her what to do, she didn’t belong to him. Not yet.
Callie sat back, slightly mollified. “Yes, it is my decision,” she said shortly.
“For the record,” Ryan added, “mine and Misty’s status as a couple is up in the air right now.”
Callie’s mouth dropped open. “Why?” she said, aghast. “What happened?”
Ryan shrugged. “I took her to brunch at the Riverside Grill this morning and after forty minutes of listening to her whine nonstop about an assortment of things bothering her, I got fed up and told her I couldn’t remember the last time she had asked me how my job or life was going.”
Callie nodded and interjected, “Okay, perfectly valid. What did she say?”
“I didn’t say it hatefully,” Ryan said defensively, “but she went off on me like a bomb. Said she didn’t need that kind of crap from me right now, that maybe she should start dating other people if she was so dependent on me for all her needs. Then she burst into tears and jumped up and left.”
“Oh, lord,” Callie said sympathetically. “Did you go after her?”
“No,” Ryan said with disgust. “I’ve done nothing but trail after her trying to make her feel better for weeks, and I’m sick of it. I’m just going to let it ride for a few days and see what happens.”
“I’m sorry,” Callie said sympathetically.
Privately she thought Misty sounded like a self-absorbed witch but she knew it was never easy when you were the one involved to be objective about what was going on.
“Thanks,” Ryan said. “I’m actually not all that upset. I can’t remember the last time we had a good, truly fun time together. I care about her, but maybe this is the time to have it out over a few things and see if it’s going to hold together or not.”
“Why don’t I reschedule my blind date,” Callie offered. “We’ll go out to dinner, my treat, then hit the movies. I’ll even let you pick the movie.” She paused for dramatic effect, “it can be whatever you want to see.”
Ryan smiled at her. “The ultimate sacrifice,” he said dryly. “You don’t have to do that though. Go on your date. Have fun, hopefully. I’m about to go meet Rick at the batting cages, then this evening there’s a couple basketball games I wouldn’t mind watching on TV.”
“Okay then, that sounds like a good plan, too,” Callie said, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed to not have an excuse to cancel her blind date.
“Well, I’m going to work out I guess,” she said. “Then pour over the apartment listings for an hour or two. I should have yesterday so I could go look at them today, but I just didn’t have it in me.”
Ryan unfolded himself from the sofa. “There’s no rush. I like the company,” he said easily.
“Yeah, when I’ve been here less than twenty-four hours, but let’s see how you’re feeling three weeks from now,” she responded tartly.
“Well, I can’t swear you’re not right,” he said thoughtfully, “but I’ve never gotten tired of your company before, and we’ve spent tons of time together so I doubt it.”
Callie felt a rush of affection toward him. “Thanks, I don’t get tired of your company either.”
“Of course not. It’s a rare woman who gets tired of me,” he said, puffing out his chest in mock egotism while winking at her with an exaggerated leer.
“Oh for Pete’s sakes,” Callie said with mild disgust, making him laugh.
“Have fun at the batting cages,” she said and headed down the hall to change into her workout clothes.
****
As Ryan waited in the driveway for Rick, he felt a little better after his talk with Callie, although he definitely wasn’t happy about her date tonight. It was crazy to be possessive when they hadn’t even gone on a first date yet, but that was definitely what he was feeling. Still, it was a blind date and the chances that it would be a great one were reasonably small. Maybe it would help him out, he thought hopefully. Despite the sexual tension between them, she obviously wasn’t hanging around waiting for him to ask her out. With a little luck the guy would be a complete disaster and Ryan would look like a good bet in comparison. It wasn’t likely though, not with the luck he’d had today.
The morning had been a disaster. He had been thinking about the possibility of calling things off with Misty, but the scene this morning was not how he would have liked for it to go down. Misty had been self-focused to the point of being inconsiderate lately, but a guilty little voice in his head kept repeating that he had used that as an excuse to cause a confrontation he knew would end up with her storming off. He’d have to take some time this afternoon and evening to think things through and decide exactly wanted he wanted to do and what the right way to handle it was. Rick pulled into the driveway and Ryan got into his truck, glad to stop thinking about everything for an hour or two and just go hit some baseballs.
****
Callie actually ended up not working out. After Ryan left, she decided she would clean the house for a couple of hours. Since he was being such a sweetheart about letting her stay with him, it seemed a nice way to show her appreciation. She started in the kitchen, really scrubbing down the counters, appliances and floor. Then moved to the living room to give it the same deep-cleaning before she finished up in her bath
room.
Ryan came in just as she was returning the cleaning supplies to the pantry. She was happy to see that he seemed in a much better mood than he had earlier.
“Is that cleaning supplies I smell?” he asked with interest.
“Yep, just helping you out a little.”
“And you think I’ll be tired of having you here after a measly three weeks,” he scoffed.
She smiled but didn’t respond, just moved to sit down in the chair as he went into the kitchen and got himself a drink. She was pretty sure she had a splinter just on the outside of her third toe, but she was having trouble folding her leg at an angle where she could both see it and reach it with a needle.
When Ryan came back in, she looked up and eyed him speculatively.
“How gross would it be for you to help me get this splinter out from between my toes?” she asked.
“Well, how clean are you feet?”
She grinned, amused at how his mind worked. “Very clean actually. I was standing in the shower when I scrubbed and rinsed it down not fifteen minutes ago.”
“That’s okay then,” he said, moving to put his drink down on the end table.
“How did you get a splinter between your toes?” he asked curiously.
“Never mind that,” she replied airily.
She’d actually gotten the splinter dancing around her bedroom to Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect,’ but Ryan didn’t need to know about that.
“Just help me out here. Six weeks of yoga classes notwithstanding, I can’t get my foot up at the necessary angle.”
He smirked as he straddled the ottoman and held out his hand for the needle. “I told you that yoga class was a complete waste of time.”
His smirk disappeared with a yelp when she suddenly made a stabbing motion at his hand with the needle.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she cooed insincerely. “Did I startle you?”
He snatched the needle from her hand. “That wasn’t funny, Callie.”
He grabbed her foot and hoisted it up to eye level causing her to fall back into the chair with a thump.
“Take it easy,” she protested. “No surgery should be performed on a roommate while there is anger in the heart.”
He smiled at the uneasiness in her tone.
“Now, what splinter technique do we favor,” he asked in a contemplative tone.
He was pulling her toes apart as he scrutinized the area she had indicated, and she felt a jolt of sexual awareness at the feel of his hands on her bare skin. His hands were warm, slightly rough and big enough that her foot felt completely enfolded.
“What do you mean?” she asked distractedly as he shifted her foot to his other hand.
This wasn’t good she thought. She’d been trying to force herself to appreciate Ryan from a purely aesthetic point of view, albeit with limited success. It definitely wasn’t platonic appreciation she was feeling right now as she took the opportunity to survey the way his t-shirt draped over his very male, deliciously muscular shoulders and chest. God, he was undeniably hot. She felt her own internal thermostat rise a few notches in response.
He dropped her foot back down to his lap, steadying it and pulling her toe to the side with one hand while he rolled the needle between the fingers of the other hand with studied deliberation.
“Well,” he said. “There are several approaches I could take. There’s the side angle attack, the teaser, the backend surprise and the ever popular stab and lever approach, the favorite of grandmothers everywhere and mine in particular.”
Callie snorted with laughter. “Just be gentle with me, whatever you do,” she admonished.
“Oh, I’m always gentle,” he stated and gave her a suggestive look before waiting a beat to add, “Unless it’s more effective not to be.”
His hand gently squeezed her foot and her breathing quickened at the images his teasing called to mind. She could feel a flush rising in her cheeks and tried to look nonchalant. God she’d like to be with a guy who knew how to mix gentleness with just the right amount of roughness. She met his eyes and found him watching her intently and knew he could see her response to his teasing.
His eyes dropped to her chest where her t-shirt in no way hid the sudden hardness of her nipples, and his gaze heated. For a second she thought he was going to say something. Carry the conversation away from innuendo into some delicious realm where he revealed his much vaunted bad boy sexuality to her in a way that would blow her mind. But his gaze dropped back to her foot, and he began gently using the needle to free the splinter. She swallowed down her disappointment and tried to think of something flip to say but couldn’t, and decided silence was the next best alternative.
After what seemed like eternity but was probably only a minute or two, he held out his hand. “Hand me the tweezers. I’ve nearly got it.”
She handed them over and he carefully pulled the splinter free.
“Got it!” he said with satisfaction.
“Great,” she said, and started to withdraw her foot.
His grip tightened. “Hold on just a second. Let me double check it.”
He leaned over and set the needle and tweezers on the end table between the chair and the sofa. Then lifted her foot back up to eye level where he inspected the tiny wound. His breath tickled the bottom of her foot.
“I think that’s got it,” he said.
She was expecting him to release her foot but his hand tightened and he leaned in and put his mouth directly over the spot. Arousal, pure and unadulterated, shot through Callie like a bolt of electricity at the feel of the warm moistness on her skin as he laved the spot with his tongue. She jolted involuntarily and then gasped as his mouth closed hotly around one of her toes. It should have been gross. She would have thought it would have been. It wasn’t. The wet, rhythmic suction combined with his hand kneading the arch of her foot was incredibly erotic.
He stopped and lifted his head, and she almost whimpered in protest. He grinned wickedly as he took in her flushed cheeks.
“You like that, don’t you?” he asked, his voice sexy and mischievous.
She nodded, not wanting to say or do anything that would distract him from whatever he was about to do next. His gaze moved down her body and she wished she were wearing something sexier than a t-shirt and a pair of black Lycra exercise shorts. He didn’t seem to mind though. His eyes rose back to hers and there was both challenge and seduction in the heated look he shot her.
“Why don’t you put your other leg over the arm of the chair,” he suggested.
Her heart rate, already going double time, speeded up another notch as she did as he said. The uncertainty of not knowing what he intended to do, sent excitement pumping through her. Still holding her foot in his hands, and her eyes with his own, he deliberately raised his own foot and set it directly in the vee of her crotch. She jumped instinctively but he simply settled his foot more firmly against her and bent back over her captured foot.
“Oh God,” she whimpered.
His foot began moving firmly but gently on her, massaging her clit in rhythm with the suction on her toes. His other hand slid up her calf to gently begin massaging further up her leg, she felt herself grow wet as her breathing deepened.
“Oh God,” she repeated in a quiet wail.
This couldn’t be happening. It was the middle of the afternoon. They were sitting in the living room. Her best friend was working her toward an orgasm in the most unexpected way imaginable. Her hips were moving against his foot and he subtly quickened the pace and the pressure. Although she had gotten herself off last night, it had been so long since she’d had a hunky guy do it for her and the orgasm built quickly.
She grasped at the arms of the chair, digging her fingers into the roughness of the frayed green fabric, and found herself gasping for breath as her muscles tightened. It felt so good. So unbelievably good. She stiffened then yelled, a hoarse cry she couldn’t control as the orgasm slammed through her. Her body twisted and arched with the poundin
g pleasure rolling through her and she gave herself up to it, gasping his name repeatedly without embarrassment. He was muttering encouragement, had stopped his work on her foot to watch the show but kept up the pressure on her clit, relentlessly wringing the last pulsing response from her. She finally went limp, her legs falling weakly together. Ryan stood up and was reaching for her when suddenly the doorbell rang. He froze.
“Who is it?” she whispered, feeling guilty and wonderfully satisfied all at the same time.
“It’s Rick,” he whispered back. “I invited him over to watch the game.”
Callie looked down at his hard-on that only a blind person could have missed. “Will he go away if you don’t answer?”
“Not when I invited him not thirty minutes ago and my car is out there. He’ll probably go around to the kitchen and let himself in any second now. He knows where the spare key is.”
She let out a huff of exasperation. “You’d better go to your room then. I’ll let him in and tell him you’re taking a shower.”
He blinked at her then shook his head, half smiling. “You’re one in a million, do you know that?” he asked in his normal voice.
She rolled her eyes. “The one in a million with a rare condition called idiotus frendica.”
The doorbell rang again and he headed to the bedroom as Callie got up and went to the door.
What Rick made out of her flushed cheeks and slightly rumpled hair, Callie couldn’t guess. She hoped he jumped to the obvious conclusion that she had been working out and not the unobvious, albeit correct one, that Ryan had just given her an orgasm to write home about.
She had met Rick before, and he seemed nice. He was a tall, thin guy with ultra short brown hair who had an athletic look without being very muscular. She found his easy, mildly flirtatious manner pleasant to be around. They chatted for a few minutes as he settled on the sofa before she excused herself and headed back toward her bedroom.
She was setting up the ironing board to iron something to wear that night when she heard Ryan enter the living room and greet Rick. Seconds later, he was poking his head inside her bedroom door.
Sudden Attraction Page 5
