by Ann, Natalie
“Seems to me you haven’t had a lot of things before,” he said, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. Then immediately regretted the words when he saw her smile fade. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out the way I meant. I’m not sure what it is about you that makes me trip up so much. I’m not usually like this with women.”
“No worries. Same here. I mean, you cause me to trip up, too. I’ve embarrassed myself more in front of you in the last few weeks than everyone else in my entire life. I’m still a few ahead of you, but you can catch up if you want.” Back to teasing; things were good.
“I look forward to it,” he said, then reached out and placed a kiss on her lips.
She looked startled, her eyes going wide. “What was that for?”
He sighed. He reminded himself, she still had so much to learn. “We’re dating, or will be soon. People who date kiss each other, touch each other, hold hands. You know, those types of things.”
“Sorry. It just took me by surprise. I’m not usually a touchy feely type of person,” she said, trying to cover up for her awkwardness over his casual display of affection.
“Well, I am, so you’ll have to get used to it.” He grabbed her hand and gave it a little reassuring squeeze. “Don’t be afraid to tell me if you’re uncomfortable. I don’t want you to feel that way. But I want you to be yourself, too.”
“I’ll tell you,” she promised. “I’m just not used to it. I might like it though.” She squeezed his hand right back, then let it drop carelessly to her side.
“Oh, I know you will.” He winked.
She blushed. “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”
He continued to smile, but didn’t respond.
“I may be slow, but I’m not stupid,” she called over her shoulder, his eyes going to the sway of her hips as she walked away.
***
They managed to work well together in the kitchen several hours later.
First they went to the store and picked up all the makings for a simple quick dish of spaghetti carbonara. Nothing fancy, but tasty just the same.
It turned out to be a good thing they worked well together, because when it was time to mix the ingredients, more than two hands had been helpful.
He stirred the cooked pancetta, hot spaghetti, eggs and seasonings in the large bowl expertly, while she grated the cheese over the top. She had prepared a salad, while he spread butter with a mixture of herbs on a large loaf of bread that had been baking in the oven.
In the end it was a great dinner they managed to prepare without getting in each other’s way. They worked as a unit, seemingly knowing the other’s moves without speaking.
“Thank you again for helping me put all my clothes away. Though I don’t appreciate the little joke you played.” She wrinkled her nose at him, then took a sip of wine.
When they had gotten back from the store she had remembered she had half her clothes in boxes and the other half lying on the spare bed. She had told him that leaving such a mess caused mild anxiety attacks. She hated to leave anything unfinished. He had gladly offered to help, handing her pieces as she meticulously organized the closet.
He had been impressed and only wished his own closet was half as organized as hers, especially since he was pretty anal about his clothing.
It also gave him a chance to see what her wardrobe looked like, which impressed him even more. She had plenty of short skirts and fitted dresses in there and he couldn’t wait to see them on her—and take them off her. Not yet though.
“What?” he asked innocently. “I was just letting you know there was a spider by you.” She didn’t need to know how much he enjoyed watching her jump up and down swatting it away. Since he wouldn’t be getting his hands on her anytime soon, watching her body in motion was almost as good. Almost. But not quite. She had one hell of a body, full of lush curves.
“Yeah, well, a real gentleman would have come forward and squashed it rather than just saying, ‘I think that spider might land on you if you don’t move.’ You didn’t even tell me which way to move.” She scowled at him.
He was wise enough to not respond and continued to eat, rolling more spaghetti on his fork.
“So tell me about the last several years of your life,” he said. “We’re supposed to be getting to know each other better. I think I know the basics. You went to a private all girls’ high school, then on to Harvard, where you graduated top of your class and received your MBA.” He picked up his glass and gestured toward her with it.
“How do you know that? About graduating top of my class?” she asked, taken back.
“How do you think? Our parents talk. I’m willing to bet my mother has made a few comments about Lucas and me over the years to your mother.”
“You would bet right Mr. Starting Quarterback for Duke,” she said, slyly.
He cleared his throat and looked away, slightly embarrassed.
“What? I heard that you were potentially going to get drafted in the NFL. Then decided to go on to Law School instead. What happened?” At his frown she added hastily, “You don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal.”
“No, not personal. Not really. I don’t think I would have been good enough for that level of sport. I know everyone said that I was, but of course they would. No one was going to tell me otherwise. They wanted to build me up to make the school look good. In the end I didn’t want to be a backup, and I’m sure that is what I would have been in the NFL. If I can’t be the best, or at least close to the best, then I would rather focus on something else. Something I know I can excel at.”
“Do you have to be the best in everything?”
“No. Not at all. But I have to know I’m good enough. I always give everything I do everything I’ve got. Otherwise, why bother? But I knew deep down it wasn’t for me. I really wasn’t good enough for that level.” He leaned back in the chair. “Yes, I could have been drafted, but who knows if or when I would have played. I didn’t want to have my body get so abused for nothing. And it would have been nothing in my eyes. You have to know if you are good enough or not. At the top of my game, I still wasn’t at that level.”
He really did want to play. But he knew in his heart it wasn’t for him. Being a lawyer, working beside his father, that had always been his dream. Football was just a period of time that made his college life more enjoyable.
“Besides, if it weren’t for football I would have never met my best friend. We met at a sorority party that his girlfriend at the time was part of, and I was dating another sorority sister. I would never tell Jack this, but he kind of scared me away from being a professional football player,” he said knowingly.
“How’s that?”
“Jack is an orthopedic surgeon. So let’s just say I saw some of the things he was studying and doing and it scared me. Scared me to think that could happen to my body. That I might never recover. He never knew I felt that way and I would never tell him either. There was no guarantee anything like that would happen to me, but I couldn’t get it out of my head either.”
“So tell me about Jack then?”
He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“Shouldn’t I know something about your best friend? Getting to know each other, right? Just sum him up in a few words then. Nothing major,” she added, challengingly.
He thought for a moment. A few words about Jack. “Big. Bigger than me.” Her snort of disbelief had him laughing. “It’s true. Two inches taller and easily thirty pounds heavier. And no, before you ask, he didn’t play football. He’s not very coordinated.”
Her lips twitched. “I always figured athletes stuck together.” She shook her head. “So big and uncoordinated. What else?”
“Brilliant,” he answered readily. “Loyal, shy and awkward. There, that should do it. Oh, and soft. He is a big softy, but very few people actually see it,” Ryan answered with warmth in his voice. “He’s getting married the first week of July, ceremony and reception at my house.”
&nb
sp; “Wow. I guess that’s friendship for you. No big wedding for him, I’m assuming?”
“No,” Ryan’s face turned somber. “This is his second marriage. His first wife, who was his girlfriend in college that I mentioned, she passed away a few years ago. Cancer.”
He didn’t want to remember that time in Jack’s life, because Jack was a different person now. A better person then he was in college. And Ryan always thought he was great even back then. He had Cori to thank for the change in Jack now.
“Anyway, you’ll meet him soon, I’m sure. Enough about me. Since we’re talking about best friends, tell me about yours?” he asked.
“Well, you already know. At least the embarrassing parts. Sophia was my neighbor in Manhattan and she took me under her wing.”
“And taught you how to flirt and ask men to sleep with you?”
“Ha, ha, not funny. But, hey, it did get us dating now, didn’t it?” she said, proudly.
She had a point. He mused for a minute, “Okay, enough about friends for now.” He realized they had been sitting at the table, their meal long since over with, along with two empty glasses of wine. “Why don’t I help you clean up here?” He stood up with his plate and glass and went to the kitchen.
Together in the quiet, they put her kitchen back to rights, both content to let the silence lapse between them.
Once they were done, she turned to him. “Now what?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now we go make out on the couch,” he offered.
“Really?” she asked cheerfully.
He hadn’t been serious, but he wasn’t going to say no now. “Sure, why not? Practice makes perfect, right? Not that you need much practice in that area. Pretty darn flawless if I do say so myself.” Now he was serious. Everything about her was just about perfect.
She led him back to the couch, where they sat down next to each other and she leaned into him. “Then I guess I can make the first move this time,” she informed him.
Placing her hand on his cheek, she caressed his whiskers. “I can’t see them, but I can feel them.” She continued to rub her hand up and down over the light blonde hairs. “Soft,” she murmured. “I expected it to be a bit rougher.”
“It can be rough. Just give it time,” he whispered back and lowered his mouth to hers. Soft at first, gently testing her again, letting her decide the pace.
And she did, keeping it slow and steady, but it didn’t take her long to deepen the kiss. Opening her mouth to taste more of him. He tasted the wine on her tongue, drank in her favor, while she consumed him.
He was having a hard time with his restraint. She wasn’t acting like a virgin right now. She was all but swallowing him whole and he was letting her, happy to just hang on for the ride.
Moving his hands to her hair, he held her head in place and took control of the kiss. He had to. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to hold back.
Pacing them, taking it back a bit, he placed his lips on the corner of her mouth, nipped her a few times, then moved his lips across her cheek, to her neck, up further to her ear, drawing her lobe into his mouth. “You taste so good, feel so good,” he whispered.
She was putty in his hands; he knew it. He could mold her the way he wanted, bend her to his will and she wouldn’t stop him.
With his mouth back on her neck, his hands moved to her waist, then under her shirt, over her flat stomach, up her ribs and cupped one soft breast in his hand.
It overfilled his hand with her softness. He loved how she felt. Real, nothing fake about her here. His fingertips grazed over her hardened nipple, her back arched, pressing into him more.
“Ryan,” she breathed out. “Now? Will you take me to bed now?”
He stilled, moved back, and dropped his hand. What was he doing? He told himself he wasn’t going to go that far this soon. He wasn’t going to rush. He wanted to do it right, and doing it on the first night wasn’t right. Not for him and absolutely not for her. “Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. Just give me a second,” he told her, then took a few deep breaths.
She sat there dazed, not understanding what just happened, he saw. He also saw how turned on she was, her nipples pushing through her shirt, the light flush across her face, her dilated eyes. “You didn’t get carried away. Isn’t this all part of it?” she asked.
“Yes. No. I mean yes, but not now. I’m not doing it this way. We’re dating. We are taking it slow. I want you to make sure it’s what you really want.” And he hated to admit he didn’t want to give her a reason to stop seeing him once she took care of her little problem.
“It is what I want,” she told him earnestly.
It was all he could do not to wince. “I get that, but be reasonable. Let’s take it slow. I don’t want regrets, from either of us. Doing this tonight, the first night, could lead to some. On both our parts.”
He stood up, looked down at her, her lips still swollen, her eyes still dark, filled with passion, all but pleading with him. It was the hardest thing he had done in a long time, but he knew he needed to leave. “It’s best if I go right now.”
She sighed, remorse filling her face. “You’re right. I hate to say it, but you are. I’ll walk you out.” She followed him to the door.
“Have a good night.” He leaned in to kiss her once more, meant to give her a brief peck on the lips, got carried away again and pulled back panting minutes later.
Somehow her arms were wrapped around his waist, so she continued to hold him while they both got their treacherous bodies under control. “Think of me tonight. I’ll be thinking of you,” she all but purred.
He grunted and pulled away, placed a quick kiss on her cheek and bolted out the door.
Flowers
Three days later Kaitlin’s cell phone rang, which was located in her purse, inside of her desk. Digging it out, she saw Ryan’s name appear on the screen. “Hello,” she said cheerfully.
“Hello to you,” he said. “You sound happy.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked back. When there was only silence on the other end, she asked, “How have you been?” She leaned back in her chair, the charts and graphs on her computer she was analyzing currently forgotten.
“Good. But I have to say you aren’t doing so well at this dating thing.”
She knew he was teasing her and knew why, but decided to let it play out. “How’s that?”
“Well, I expected to hear from you by now,” he explained.
She couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped. “Oh really. I would say I know exactly what I’m doing. Daughter Dating Tips 101—never seem too eager, make them come to you.”
It was probably a whole new experience for him, having to make the next move. But he did it, and she was glad she had waited. Because it was hard. She’d really wanted to call him on Sunday. And Monday and today. In the end she made the right decision.
“Seems to me you were pretty eager yourself on Saturday night,” he pointed out.
She laughed again. “Yes, but you put me in my place. So now, back to my mother’s advice. It worked. You wouldn’t want me to smother you, would you?” she said, having fun teasing him.
Besides, if he was going to make her wait for it, she was going to make him work for it. Thank you Sophia, Kaitlin thought, and was glad for some of the things she learned.
She seemed to have gotten the upper hand on him when there was only silence on the other end of the phone.
He cleared his throat. “Back to the dating thing. How about lunch?” he asked.
She was disappointed. She was having fun bantering with him, flirting back and forth. It seemed to come naturally with him for some reason. Which was odd; it never came off as naturally with anyone else she tried to flirt with over the years. It was always so hard and so much work to think of what to say and what to do. But not with Ryan. “Lunch sounds good. What day did you have in mind?”
“Today,” he said simply.
Looking at the clock, she realized it was almost noon. T
hat wasn’t much notice. She liked to plan for these things. “A little short of notice, don’t you think?” she asked.
“Spontaneity, and a little bit of mystery. Where’s your sense of adventure?” he asked, challenging her. “It’s only lunch, Kaitlin. It’s not like I’m asking you to take me back to your place.”
Thankfully he couldn’t see her blush, but if he did ask to go back to her place she wouldn’t say no. “Lunch sounds good,” she said. She didn’t want him to think she was a coward. “I can be flexible,” she said nonchalantly.
“I would love to see that,” he mumbled quietly.
“What was that? I didn’t hear what you said.” Unfortunately, she did hear it but wanted to see if he would repeat it. He didn’t.
Instead, chuckling, he said, “Nothing, just talking to myself. An hour good? For lunch?”
“That should work.”
“Want me to pick you up? Or meet somewhere?”
“Let’s meet. I’m not ready for this to be public yet,” she explained. “You’re too well-known in my office. It wouldn’t take long for my father to get wind of it.”
“I’m pretty well-known in Albany in general. And we will be eating in a public place. It’s a small town for the most part,” he warned her.
“True, but I’m not well-known. No one is going to think twice about you having lunch with a woman in public. Maybe they will think I’m a client or business associate.” She smiled. “I mean from what I’ve seen, I don’t quite fit into the mold of your normal dates.”
Most of the women he dated put on a show for him, she knew. She had done her research. Dressed it up, acted fake, and let everyone know they got what they worked for. Arm candy, they were referred to. Those were the exact words her brother Alec said a few years ago when Ryan’s name came up once.
“I doubt anyone will think that.”
She only hummed low in her throat, choosing not to believe him. “Tell me where you want to meet. I’m not as familiar with the area as you are.”
