Ryan_A Contemporary Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Don’t worry, Patricia. I’ll take care of it.”

  I walked into the office and over to my client. “I’m so sorry, Tom. I found myself in a rather unusual situation this morning.”

  “I would have appreciated a phone call so I wasn’t sitting here waiting for a half hour.”

  “I know, but I’ve misplaced my phone. I had to drop off my new stepson, who hates me, and I got stuck in the drop off line at school. Then when I tried to go around, the security guard took me into the principal’s office for a sit down meeting on the rules of drop off.”

  He snorted and shook his head. “The fucking drop off line. I hate that line. My wife makes me drop off my kids several times a week and every fucking time, I get stuck behind some old biddy that wants to gab about the weather with the crossing guard. Like none of the rest of us have anything to do.”

  I smiled in relief that he understood and wasn’t going to make a big deal about it. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one dealing with that shit. You’ll have to let me in on the inner workings of the school.”

  He smiled. “I didn’t realize you were married?”

  I held up my finger that now displayed a gold band. “As of this weekend.”

  His face showed a pained expression. “Just got married and the kid hates you? That’s rough.”

  “Better than being married for years and him hating me.”

  “True.”

  We got on with the meeting and I made it through most of my morning without any hiccups. Logan came walking into my office around lunch time and I dreaded talking to him.

  “So, what happened this morning? I would have covered for you, but I had other meetings.”

  “I got held up.” I wasn’t sure how to say, I got married this weekend and I have a kid now.

  “You don’t ever get held up. What’s really going on?”

  “Nothing. I just-”

  “What the fuck is that?” I looked up at him to see his eyes glued to my ring finger. Fuck. I’d forgotten all about that. I pulled my hand back quickly as if that would somehow make it disappear.

  “It’s-”

  “Nothing?”

  I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I married Cassandra this weekend.”

  He didn’t say anything for a minute and then he burst out laughing. “Weren’t you just telling Sean that he shouldn’t have married Lillian? Pussy whipped is what you called us, I believe.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Really? How is it then?”

  I got up and shut the office door to be sure no one overheard us. I was sweating now. People were starting to find out and it would be real all too soon. “Cassandra has a ten year old kid. The dad came back and wanted to fight for custody. He hasn’t even met the kid before. She was so scared and I wanted to help.”

  “So you married her? What does that solve?”

  “I have money. I can help her fight this guy in court. Besides, he’s married now and they live in some fancy house. Cassandra lives in a cramped apartment. She was worried that would look like she couldn’t provide as well.”

  “Still, it’s not likely the court would just hand over custody to him after all this time.”

  “No, but he was also in the military. She’s afraid that will work in his favor.”

  “In what way?”

  “He was off serving his country. He just got out and now he appreciates life more or some bullshit. He wants a second chance with his kid. The courts are changing in the father’s favor now. I could see how she was concerned.”

  “Still, you married her and now have a kid. That’s not something you take lightly. Where’d you get married?”

  “I flew them to Vegas.” I swallowed thickly and took a deep breath in to calm my racing pulse.

  “You flew both of them to Vegas? The kid was there?”

  “Yes.”

  “That must have put a damper on the wedding night.”

  I leaned over as the pressure began to build in my chest. I felt like I was having a heart attack or something. I took a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.

  “We didn’t have a wedding night. She slept in the kid’s room and I slept in the other room. Apparently, sex is off the table with this situation.”

  “You don’t even get sex? Dude. You are so fucked. Figuratively, of course.”

  I glared at him, but he just laughed. I got up and loosened my tie. It felt like it was choking me. My breaths were becoming more and more shallow. It was like I couldn’t fucking breathe anymore. I started pacing, but spots started to appear in front of me and I felt lightheaded. I looked up to see Logan looking at me like I had grown a second head. He was saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear him. The ground shifted and suddenly I was staring up at the ceiling. Logan started slapping my face and then disappeared. I just laid there staring at the ceiling as the black dots took up more and more of my vision.

  Logan rolled me over to my side and then pushed me up to my knees. He held a paper sack in front of me and was yelling at me. It finally occurred to me that he wanted me to breathe in the sack. I grabbed it as best I could and forced myself to breathe into the bag. Slowly, my breathing became easier and the pressure in my chest eased. I sat back on my ass and draped an arm over my knee. Not even a full day of being married and I was already having a panic attack.

  “Still think getting married was a good idea?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Cassandra

  “I’M SORRY THAT happened, Mr. Hayes. I realize that isn’t the way the school handles drop off and I will be sure he follows the rules in the future.”

  I hung up with the principal and rubbed my temples to ease the headache that was forming. Halfway through the day and already I was dealing with a multitude of problems. The latest being my husband throwing a temper tantrum at the school. I was really starting to question if this had been a good idea.

  My lunch break was coming up, so I decided to go over to Jackson Walker Construction and have a little chat with my husband. I tried to think the whole way there of the proper way to handle this situation. I didn’t think that yelling at him would help, and strangling him would only defeat the purpose of marrying him. The good thing was that James was on time to school and I had to remember that Ryan got him there safely and in one piece. It was the little things that counted.

  I had been to his office many times before, so I checked in with the receptionist and headed back to his office. When I got to his door, Ryan was sitting on the floor and Logan was leaning over him.

  “Is everything okay, Ryan?” I asked as I ran into his office. My mothering skills took over and I ran a hand over his forehead. He felt a little clammy, but not warm. I didn’t see any blood or any other injuries, so my heart calmed slightly. He stood quickly and stumbled a little, but quickly righted himself.

  “Everything’s fine. Good. Good. We’re all good.” He was rambling and his eyes looked shifty as if he was trying to hide something.

  “Why are you holding a paper bag? It looked like you were using it for breathing.”

  “Uh..Cece has panic attacks and she had a pretty bad one last night, so I was showing Logan how he could help her.” He was speaking very fast and stumbling over his words. He started pulling at his neckline and pushing his sleeves up his arms. His eyes were twitching faster with every word he said. “You know, make sure your clothes are loose around the neck, bend over and take deep breaths, breathe into a paper bag.” He held up the bag in front of me with a quick smile.

  “I didn’t know Cece had panic attacks. Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Logan interjected.

  “What did she have a panic attack about?”

  They answered at the same time, but completely different answers.

  “Archer choked on a chicken bone,” Ryan said.

  “Archer almost drowned in the tub,” Logan said.

  They looked at each other and I could swear they were having
some weird conversation.

  “Which is it? He choked on a chicken bone or he almost drowned in the tub?”

  They looked at each other again and then Logan glared at Ryan and responded. “Both. I was taking care of him and I gave him a piece of chicken to eat in the tub. So..” He cleared his throat and continued. “He almost choked on a chicken bone and then drowned in the tub.”

  “That’s..horrible.” Why did I feel like this was all one big lie? “Isn’t Archer only nine months old?”

  “Yeah.” Logan rubbed a hand over his jaw as if he was trying to figure out where I was taking this.

  “Isn’t that a little young to give a child a piece of chicken still on the bone? I mean, it’s been a while for me, obviously, but I don’t think pediatrician’s recommend giving children that young food with bones still attached.”

  Logan did his best to look dejected. “Yeah. Cece said that I’m not allowed to bathe him anymore. She’s really mad at me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Logan and pursed my lips, trying to get him to break. He just stared back at me, but I could see the little beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “I should go call her and see how the little guy is doing.”

  “Did you take him to the hospital last night?” I called to him as he walked toward the door.

  “No, I gave him the heimlich and the chicken bone popped right out.”

  Gotcha! “Really? I thought you were only supposed to slap a child on the back when something was stuck in his throat at that age?”

  “I..uh.. Yeah. That’s what I did.”

  He started rubbing his palms on his pants and I could see sweat beginning to form in the armpits of his shirt. I could see Ryan waving his arms at Logan, trying to communicate something, out of the corner of my eye. I pretended like I hadn’t seen and continued my interrogation of Logan.

  “So, tell me. How did he manage to almost drown in the tub while eating this piece of chicken?”

  Ryan was signaling a phone to Logan and then making the choking sign.

  “I stepped into the hall because I thought I heard the phone ring.” His eyes kept shifting back to Ryan and I saw him shoot daggers at him, though he was trying to hide it.

  “You left your child, that was holding a chicken bone, in the tub alone so you could get the phone?”

  “I thought it could be an emergency,” He said, wiping his forehead.

  “And Archer wouldn’t be sitting up that well in a tub of slippery water, so that was quite a risk to take.”

  Ryan mimicked swimming and I almost started laughing because he really thought that I couldn’t see him.

  “I was..swimming?” I quirked my eyebrow at him. “He was swimming?” Ryan continued to flash signs at Logan who was on the verge of losing it. “I was teaching him to swim!” Logan said triumphantly as he raised his fists over his head.

  “You were teaching him to swim in a tub while eating a piece of chicken?”

  Logan finally lost it and yelled at me. “Fine! I’m a horrible parent. Is that what you want to hear? I should never be around children ever again.”

  He stormed off to his office and I heard his door slam. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little before I turned back and looked at Ryan. He was looking at the floor and running the toe of his shoe over the same spot over and over.

  “So, I got an interesting call from the principal today. He said that you threw a temper tantrum at the drop off spot because the line was moving too slow?”

  “Yeah, uh, I was running late for a meeting and the guard lady was talking to one of the parents and wouldn’t let the other cars move.”

  “He said that you got out of the truck and made a scene.”

  “Look, I admit it wasn’t my finest moment, but I had to get to work.”

  “And did you get here on time?”

  He looked sheepishly at me. “No. I was a half hour late because I got sent to the principal’s office.”

  “Well, I’m sorry you were late because of me. I’ll make sure that in the future I’m able to drop him off at school.”

  Feeling like maybe I’d let him suffer enough, I gave an awkward wave goodbye and headed for the door, just then remembering that I didn’t know what our plans were for tonight. As I turned back, I caught him staring at my ass just before he quickly raised his eyes to meet mine. There was no shame there, only appreciation.

  “We haven’t discussed how we’re going to handle the move yet. Should James and I stay at our apartment for the rest of the week?”

  He frowned. “I don’t think that would look very good. I can get off early today and help you pack. What time will you be done today?”

  “I have to pick up James at three-thirty. Should we meet at my apartment at 4:15?”

  “Sure. Do you need me to bring boxes or anything?”

  “I think we can just pack a few bags until the weekend.”

  He nodded and I gave a slight smile before leaving. This whole thing was just weird. We certainly weren’t acting like a married couple and anyone with eyes would catch on to our ruse soon enough if we didn’t get out of this funk. I made up my mind to talk with him about it later tonight. What was the point in having a fake marriage to keep custody of my son if I lost him anyway because it didn’t look real?

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Just pack a bag with clothes for the rest of the week, James.”

  “I don’t see why I have to pack anything. Why do we have to live with him? It’s not like he’s my real dad or anything.”

  “He’s your step-father now, so you’ll treat him with respect,” I said as we walked into the apartment.

  “He doesn’t even like me. I don’t think he even knows my name. He calls me ‘the kid’.”

  “Look, Ryan is new to this whole parenting thing, so we have to give him a little leeway and allow him to figure it all out.”

  “So, I should give him pointers?”

  “Definitely. Just tell him what you need like you do with me.”

  “I can do that.”

  I swore I saw a glint of evil cross my son’s face, but I chose to ignore it. He wouldn’t do anything too bad, right? I went to my room and pulled out some bags to start putting stuff in. By the time I was done with my clothes, I had four large bags packed. I still had to pack shoes and my bathroom stuff. Pulling out my large suitcase, I packed as many shoes as I could fit in one side and then went to my bathroom and started packing that stuff. By the time Ryan showed up, I had all my bags sitting by the front door, along with James’s bags.

  “Hey, little man. How was school today?”

  James glared at Ryan and Ryan looked to me for help. I shrugged and went around collecting anything else I might need before the weekend.

  “Fine,” James replied.

  “I was thinking we’d just get a pizza for dinner tonight since we’re moving stuff tonight. How’s that sound?”

  “That’s fine, but I’ll also need cheesy bread and wings.”

  I smirked at his attempt to pull one over on Ryan, but Ryan didn’t seem fazed at all.

  “And dessert too. I hear the chocolate lava cakes are awesome.”

  Of course men bonded over food. Why would my son be any different?

  “What do you like on your pizza?” Ryan asked.

  “Everything, but Mom only likes pepperoni, onion, and black olives.”

  “Well, I guess there’s only one solution then.” James hung his head in disappointment. No doubt Ryan would suggest we just get what I liked, which I really appreciated. “We’re just going to have to get two pizzas.”

  James whipped his head up and gave a big smile to Ryan. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I can put away a whole pizza by myself, so I don’t think it would be smart to get just one anyway.”

  Ryan held out his fist and they did some kind of bump and then explosion. I rolled my eyes at their weird form of male bonding and continued to pack. Then I realized that I had no idea where Ryan lived. We had never b
een to his house.

  “Ryan, I don’t even know where you live.”

  “Just outside of town. I have a few acres with a log cabin at the back of the property.”

  “Oh. I guess I didn’t figure you for a log cabin kind of guy. Are you sure there’s enough space?”

  “I think we’ll manage,” he chuckled.

  I didn’t know why that was funny. I wasn’t sure he had any idea how much space a child could take up, or a woman for that matter. When we packed this weekend, he’d see exactly how intrusive we were going to be.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “You said cabin. This is not a cabin.”

  “Yes it is,” Ryan said as he raised his eyebrow at me.

  “No. A cabin is small and fits two people. This is a log mansion.”

  I stared out the window at the monstrosity in front of us. It was gorgeous, but definitely not a cabin. It looked like there were three stories and the second story had a wrap around porch. The roof was some kind of green metal that wasn’t the most attractive, but seeing as how Ryan was in construction, there must have been some reason he chose that.

  “No, it’s not. It just looks big.”

  “Really? Because it looks like you could fit five families in there.”

  He gave me a strange look. “Not even close. Our bedroom is on the second floor, which is the main level of the house. There are two bedrooms upstairs and three downstairs. You can choose any of them for James.”

  “I think I would prefer him to be upstairs. I don’t like the idea of him being on the lower level alone.”

  “Whatever you want is fine.”

  He parked the truck and we all got out and grabbed a few bags. James was staring in awe at the house and all the outdoor space.

  “What do you think, bud?” Ryan asked.

  James closed his gaping mouth and shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess.”

  Ryan shook his head in amusement and we all walked toward the back door. When Ryan opened it and stepped aside for us to enter, I felt like I’d entered another world. The foyer was easily the size of my living room and kitchen. Off to the right was the kitchen and off to the left was a staircase and then double doors beyond that. The most remarkable thing I saw was the view straight ahead. The living room was right in front with large windows that went all the way up to the third floor. There was a huge stone fireplace and leather sectionals placed around the large living room, along with some armchairs.