Mr. Right All Along

by Jennifer Taylor

  No one should die as Scott had done because of a lack of equipment. No parents should have to go through the horror of losing a child as his parents had done. Ryan had set himself this task and he would carry it through to the bitter end, until he was too old to run another sponsored race or climb one more mountain. He didn’t have time for a relationship even if it were possible.

  He glanced at Eve and felt his heart contract in alarm. He knew what he had to do, so why did it suddenly seem more important that he help Eve, turn her back into the warm and caring woman she had been?

  CHAPTER TWO

  IT WAS GONE seven before Eve left the hospital. Daisy Martin’s parents had asked to speak to her and she had spent some time reassuring them. One of the worst things about sickle cell anaemia was that nobody could predict when a crisis would occur. It made it even more stressful for Daisy’s parents.

  Evening visiting was under way as she walked through the main doors. She was renting a flat close to the river and she decided to walk home rather than wait for the bus, which would be packed. It was a warm evening, the sun just sliding below the surrounding hills.

  Originally, Dalverston had been a sleepy little market town straddling the borders of Lancashire and Cumbria. Although it had expanded in the past thirty years, it had retained its charm and attracted many visitors. With Easter just a week away, there were a lot of tourists in the area and Eve had to wait until the lights changed before she could cross the road. She had always lived in the city before and had wondered if she would adapt to a more rural way of life but it had turned out better than she had expected. She felt safe here, safe and secure, and that was something she valued more than anything.

  She reached the footpath leading down to the river and decided to take a short cut. It was quicker this way and she wanted to get home as soon as possible. It had been a difficult day and it would be a relief to go in and shut the door on the world, although she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could forget what had happened. She had overreacted when Ryan had touched her and she knew that he must be wondering why she had behaved so oddly. Would he ask her or would he let it pass? It all depended how interested he was in her, she decided.

  The thought sent a shiver down her spine and she quickened her pace. She couldn’t bear the thought of Ryan finding out what had happened. She felt ashamed enough without people knowing how stupid she had been. She had allowed Damien Blackwell to rule her life because she’d thought he had loved her, but it hadn’t been love; it had been something far more destructive. It had taken her a while to realise it and when she had, she’d also realised that she could never trust her own judgement again. She had been taken in once and it could happen a second time.

  That bleak thought kept her company as she made her way along the path. It was so peaceful away from the traffic that she felt herself start to relax for the first time since her encounter with Ryan. She had overreacted and she really should apologise, but what could she say? That the thought of any man laying his hands on her filled her with horror? That would only give rise to more questions and that was the last thing she wanted. Something told her that she would find it harder to withhold the truth from Ryan than from anyone else.

  * * *

  Ryan felt too restless to spend the evening watching television. What had happened with Eve had continued to trouble him and he found that he couldn’t put it out of his mind. He was more convinced than ever that something awful had happened to her and the thought plagued him. Eve had been so sweet and funny and it wasn’t right that she should have suffered in any way. He wanted to offer her his support, although he guessed that she would reject it. Eve didn’t want anything from him, as she had made clear.

  In an effort to take his mind off the subject, he decided to go for a run. He was undertaking the Three Peaks Challenge to raise more funds in a few weeks’ time and he needed to step up his training. As soon as he got home, he changed into his running clothes and set off, taking the path that led along the riverbank. It was a mild evening, perfect for running, and he soon found himself unwinding. Maybe there was something he could do to help Eve, he mused. If he could just persuade her to trust him, it would be a start.

  He rounded a bend and came to an abrupt halt when he almost cannoned right into Eve. ‘Sorry!’ he exclaimed, reaching out to steady her when she staggered. His hands gripped her forearms and he felt to the very second when surprise turned to something else. He quickly released her, trying to clamp down on the anger that rose inside him. Nobody should feel this scared, and especially not Eve!

  ‘I…I didn’t know you enjoyed running.’ Her voice was tight, hinting at the effort it cost her to speak at all, and he was overwhelmed with tenderness. Maybe she was scared but she was doing her best not to show it.

  ‘I’m not sure if I actually enjoy it but it’s a necessary evil,’ he replied lightly, grinning at her. ‘I’m supposed to be doing the Three Peaks Challenge soon and I need to get down to some serious training. I’d hate to think that I’ll be the one who has to drop out on the first leg!’

  She smiled back. ‘I doubt that will happen. You look pretty fit to me.’

  It was the sort of throwaway comment that anyone might have made; however, the fact that it was Eve who had made it did all sorts of things to his libido. Ryan cleared his throat, terrified that he would do the unforgivable and let her see the effect it was having on him. Eve hadn’t meant anything by it, he told himself sternly. And she certainly hadn’t meant to imply that she found him attractive!

  ‘I wish I shared your confidence.’ He managed to hold his smile but it was tough. Since he and Eve had met up again he had followed her lead and kept his distance. It was obviously what she wanted yet he couldn’t help wondering if he should have been more proactive. If he’d taken a different approach then maybe she would have found it easier to confide in him? The thought spurred him on even though the voice of reason was telling him to back off. He didn’t have time to worry about Eve when he had so much else on his agenda, reason insisted, but the advice fell on deaf ears.

  ‘I’ve become a real couch potato during the winter. I don’t think I’ve been out running more than a handful of times since Christmas, in fact. No way will I manage to climb the three highest mountains in Britain unless I put in some serious work.’

  ‘I see. Are you doing it as personal challenge or for charity?’ she queried, pushing back a strand of red-gold hair as the wind whipped it across her face.

  ‘Charity,’ Ryan replied thickly. He cleared his throat, doing his utmost to behave sensibly. He liked women and they liked him. He seemed to have a genuine rapport with the opposite sex, in fact, so that he had never really thought about all the nuances of a relationship. If he asked a woman out and she accepted—which she usually did—he simply got on with enjoying her company. If the relationship moved on to something more intimate, that was great. If it didn’t then he had made himself another friend.

  What he had never done was stand around dissecting his feelings, totting up how much of what he felt was based on sexual attraction. He always saw a woman as a whole person and yet here he was, awash with lust, because he couldn’t get past the thought of touching that silky strand of hair!

  ‘I’m raising money to put a couple of portable defibrillators into the local high school,’ he explained hastily. Thinking about Scott, and what he needed to do, always focused his mind, although it didn’t seem to be quite as effective as usual. He hurried on. ‘Once they’re sorted, I’ll make a start on the primary schools.’

  ‘I see.’ Eve frowned, an almost imperceptible puckering of her brow, and his libido took a giant leap and set off running again. ‘It’s a great idea, obviously, but what made you get involved in a project like that?’

  ‘My brother.’ Ryan swallowed but there didn’t seem to be even the tiniest drop of moisture in his mouth. He longed to continue, to bombard Eve—and himself—with facts so he could forget how much he would like to smooth away those t
iny frown lines, but it wasn’t possible.

  ‘He’s involved too, is he?’

  ‘In a way, yes.’

  ‘Funny, I never knew that you had a brother.’

  Her frown deepened, as well it might, Ryan realised bleakly. Although they had been good friends and swapped a lot of confidences, he had never told her about Scott. They had chatted about work, about their ambitions, about music they liked and films they had seen, but never about the one thing that had had the biggest influence on his life. Now he realised with a start that he hadn’t told her because he’d wanted their conversations to be a sort of haven. When he was with Eve, he could forget everything else. He wasn’t Scott’s brother or his parents’ sole remaining child: he was simply himself.

  * * *

  Eve had no idea what was going on inside Ryan’s head and she didn’t want to know either. Something warned her that it would be far too stressful. She summoned a smile, the sort of brightly meaningless smile she had spent ages practising in front of her bedroom mirror. After she had left Damien, she hadn’t smiled for months. There’d been nothing to smile about, but gradually she had realised that she had to play her part for other people’s benefit. They would only ask questions if she went around with a long face.

  ‘That’s good. It must be nice to share a common interest.’

  ‘It would be if Scott was around.’

  Ryan’s voice was so empty of emotion that it rang hollowly. Eve’s eyes flew to his face and her heart contracted when she saw the expression it held. Even though she really didn’t want to ask the question, she had no choice. She couldn’t ignore the pain in his eyes, couldn’t pretend she didn’t see it even though it was what she longed to do.

  ‘What do you mean? Why isn’t he around?’

  ‘My brother died when we were seventeen. We were twins—fraternal, not identical. Not that it makes any difference, of course.’

  ‘I had no idea…’ She stopped and he shrugged.

  ‘Why should you? I never told you about him so there’s no way you could have known.’

  ‘Why?’ The word slid out before she could stop it and she bit her lip. She was falling into the trap she’d wanted to avoid, asking questions, listening to answers, moving that bit closer to another human being. She needed to remain detached, indifferent, uninvolved but it wasn’t possible. Not with Ryan anyhow.

  ‘Why didn’t I tell you?’ He grimaced. ‘Oh, all sorts of reasons. Because I wanted to enjoy our conversations without having to think about what had happened. Because I didn’t want to be Scott’s brother, i.e. the twin who hadn’t died. Because, selfishly, I just wanted to be myself with all that did and didn’t entail.’

  His honesty affected her far more than it should have done. Eve felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. Reaching out, she went to touch his hand then stopped. Even though she longed to comfort him, she needed to maintain her distance.

  ‘It wasn’t selfish. It must have been…well, very hard for you.’

  ‘Not as hard as it was for Scott.’ His tone was wry but it didn’t conceal the pain he felt and her heart ached all the more.

  ‘I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to lose someone you love, but it wasn’t your fault, Ryan. You weren’t to blame in any way.’

  ‘I know that.’

  He shrugged, his shoulders rising and falling beneath the close-fitting black T-shirt he was wearing, and Eve’s heart performed another odd manoeuvre, one it hadn’t performed for many years. All of a sudden she was aware of him in a way that she hadn’t been since that night when he had kissed her under the mistletoe at the hospital Christmas party. It had started out as a joke. Egged on by their friends, Ryan had rolled his eyes and given in and kissed her. However, the moment his mouth had found hers, everything had changed.

  Eve could still recall her shock as wave after wave of sensation had poured through her. Although she’d been kissed before, she had never felt anything like it. Ryan’s lips had awoken feelings inside her that she’d never experienced before, made her feel hot and hungry, made her want more than just a kiss. When he had let her go, she’d felt dazed and disorientated, filled with wonder that a mere kiss could arouse such a response inside her. She’d half expected him to do it again, to kiss her in private this time without their friends cheering them on, but he hadn’t.

  If anything, he had become decidedly distant in the days following—taking his breaks separately from her, turning down invitations for them to have lunch together with the flimsiest of excuses. Eve had felt incredibly hurt at first until she’d realised that he was simply acting true to form. Ryan didn’t do relationships, didn’t do commitment, didn’t do anything that might encourage a woman to think he wanted her in his life long term. Maybe he was happy to have her as a friend but that was all.

  Now, however, Eve’s eyes widened, her pupils dilating as she found herself taking fresh stock of the crisp dark brown hair clipped close to his well-shaped head, the dark slash of his eyebrows framing equally dark eyes, the firm strength of his jaw. Her gaze swooped lower, running over the broad shoulders, a well-muscled chest, trim waist. He was wearing running shorts cut high at the sides and they made the most of his long legs, showing off well-developed thigh muscles and firm calves. He looked fit and healthy and so incredibly attractive, even to her jaundiced eyes, that she gulped.

  She didn’t need this! She had allowed physical attraction to dictate her actions once before and look how it had ended, with her life in tatters and her spirit shattered. All she wanted now was to pick up the threads and weave them together, attempt to get back what she had lost and by doing so find herself. No matter how attractive Ryan was, she wasn’t going to get involved with him. Ever.

  ‘Good. I’m glad to hear it,’ she said in a cool little voice that was totally at odds with how she felt. She glanced deliberately at her watch and shrugged. ‘Is that the time? I’ll have to go.’

  ‘Me too.’ He treated her to one of his wonderfully warm smiles and Eve had to force herself not to respond. There was no point encouraging him, after all.

  ‘See you tomorrow,’ she called, hurrying away. She rounded a bend in the path and slowed, aware that her heart was racing. The one thing she had never allowed for was that she would be attracted to another man but there was no point denying it. She was attracted to Ryan and she had to keep well away from him…

  She groaned when it struck her how difficult it was going to be. Avoiding Ryan wasn’t possible when they had to work together but somehow she had to keep a rein on her feelings. The thing she mustn’t do was make another mistake.

  * * *

  Ryan did his best not to think about his encounter with Eve on the riverbank but failed. Miserably. As the week wended its way towards the weekend, he found himself returning to those minutes they had spent together far too often. Maybe Eve hadn’t said anything but he’d have needed to be deaf, dumb and blind not to have noticed her reaction. She had looked at him and he’d known that it had been a lightbulb moment for her the same as it had been for him. Because if Eve had suddenly realised he was a man, he had definitely realised that she was a woman. A very attractive woman too.

  Saturday rolled around and he thanked merciful heaven that he didn’t have to go into work. He had the weekend off, forty-eight hours completely Eve-free. If he didn’t manage to sort himself out then it wouldn’t be for want of trying, he decided as he slotted bread into the toaster for his breakfast.

  Once he’d eaten, he intended to go for a run and after that he’d do a few dozen laps of the local swimming pool. After that, maybe a little weight training would jolt his mind back into the sensible lane. If that didn’t work either he would think of something else, although it was doubtful if he’d be fit to undertake any more exercise. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Eve that he had let his training lapse of late…

  Eve.

  Eve.

  Red-gold hair.

  Grey-green eyes.

  Luscious cur
ves.

  Ryan cursed roundly as he exited the kitchen. Forget breakfast; he was going running now. And somewhere along the way he was going to outrun these thoughts that plagued him.

  He followed the same route he had taken that night too, working on the principle that lightning didn’t strike twice. It didn’t either because he had rounded the bend when he spotted Eve coming towards him. He slowed down, hurriedly debating his options. Should he turn around and head back the way he’d come or would that be too revealing? If he’d spotted Eve, she was bound to have seen him and he didn’t want her to think that he had a problem with her even if he did.

  One stride, two, and that was it; the decision was out of his hands. Ryan came to a halt, breathing far more heavily than the effort he’d expended warranted. It was just that seeing Eve made him feel breathless and giddy and all sorts of things he didn’t normally feel. He groaned under his breath. Hell and damnation. He had a really big problem, Houston!

  Eve came to a halt, her heart beating in rapid little jerks. She could lie to herself but what was the point? She had chosen to walk by the river because she had thought…hoped…that she might see Ryan here. That was the truth, although it wasn’t all of it. She wasn’t ready to work out why she’d wanted to see him when she had decided to keep well away from him. She would start with the easy bit and work up to the difficult bits later… Possibly.

  ‘We meet again.’ She gave a little laugh, wincing when she realised that it sounded like a rusty nail being scraped down a blackboard. Ryan was jogging on the spot, obviously keen to keep up the momentum, and she felt a spurt of irritation strike her. He could at least pretend to be pleased to see her, couldn’t he?

  ‘Looks like it.’ He grinned at her, his handsome face breaking into the same wonderfully warm smile he’d treated her to the other night, and Eve was instantly mollified and smiled back.