Gypsy Beach

by Jillian Neal

  Ryan talked her out of a few pieces of furniture that he didn’t think would fit in the house or in her budget, and helped her negotiate for the ones that would. They found an old apron sink and a massive and ancient clawfoot tub that he assured her he could refinish and install for her. She was having a ball, and that was all that mattered.

  When she located rolls of vintage wallpaper for the kitchen her excitement was palpable. “You know, most of the time I strip wallpaper out, nowadays. You’re sure you want this hung?”

  “Are you kidding me? This is perfect! Can you really hang it for me?”

  Ryan scoffed. “Of course, and you’re right, it is perfect.”

  He kept running tallies of her purchases in his head and made certain that she was going to have enough left over, even if he had to cut his wages.

  They ate a late lunch at an eclectic burrito place that was outstanding, and talked endlessly about nothing of any real importance.

  By 4:00 they were standing in the entrance of the contractor appliance store.

  “Hey man, I thought they buried you back in Hotlanta, but I guess you did make it out alive?” James Ellington, as slimy a salesman as you could come by, sauntered over. Ryan rolled his eyes. No one that actually lived inside the city limits of Atlanta referred to it as ‘Hotlanta,’ and James was taking a very long visual inventory of Sienna.

  She shrank closer to Ryan when James arched his eyebrow in appreciation of her slender body. Grinding his teeth, Ryan narrowed his eyes in a predatory glare as he wrapped his arm around her waist. He certainly had no claim, but he wouldn’t stand by and let her be leered at. She wasn’t a piece of meat.

  “We’re working on her Inn out at Gypsy Beach. We’re going to look around.” The warning was clear in his tone. James needed to turn tail and run unless he’d like Ryan to work out just a few of his many, many aggravations using James as his punching bag.

  Holding up his hands in surrender, James nodded his defeat. “Go ahead, but do let me know if Ry can’t meet any of your needs, sweetheart.”

  Sienna gave him a dramatic eye roll. “I’m sure Ryan can take care of my needs.”

  Oh my dear God did I just say that out loud?! I did. I said that. Sienna fought not to whimper. Her eyes calculated the distance between herself and the exit doors, but she didn’t have a ride back to the Inn.

  Every cell in Ryan’s body reverberated with her vow. She hadn’t meant that the way it sounded, but if given half a chance he sure as hell would meet her needs, every last one of them.

  James was giving him a lascivious smirk, and Sienna was contemplating making an escape. He could tell.

  “Come on.” He guided her to the back of the warehouse where they could shove more of the sexual tension that had been playing out between them all day in one of the hundreds of refrigerators on display and try to somehow freeze away the blazing heat.

  Unfortunately, James wasn’t the only male in the store that took notice of Sienna’s beautiful little body or her revealing clothing. Ryan called himself an idiot of epic proportions. He’d brought her to a builder supply store. He would never quantify all contractors as complete pervs. He knew several that were honest, nice, decent guys that did outstanding work, but there were more than a few that had no issue visually stripping a woman and letting her know with their eyes and their repugnant whistling and comments exactly what they were thinking.

  Two young sub-contractors, no more than eighteen or nineteen, followed them around the store, leering at Sienna and mean-mugging Ryan. When one of them very conveniently dropped his hand to stroke his package through his jeans right in front of her and then shot her a cocky smirk, Ryan reached his limit.

  He stepped so close to the idiot in question that he could feel his hot breath as he stared him down. “Hey, numbnuts, why don’t you and your prepubescent friend over there go and fuck each other and leave her the hell alone!” He bared his teeth and his biceps flexed, ominously tightening the sleeves of the t-shirt he’d put on before they left.

  “Oh, yeah, and what are you gonna do if we don’t?”

  Ryan chuckled. Taking on two scrawny, porn-obsessed douchebags wouldn’t be difficult, but he had no intention of getting in a fight unless he had to. That wouldn’t help his custody case, he reminded himself, but there was no reason to let anyone else know about that. He waited a half-second until one of the storeowners passed by them.

  “Hey, Mr. Whaley, sir, you know who sent Moe and Curly in here? They’re being extremely disrespectful to my client.”

  “Well, Ryan, it’s good to see you, son.” Mr. Whaley, a man Ryan had always admired for his work ethic and his wisdom, moved quickly towards them. “I believe these would be the new subs for Seaton Homes.” His kind grey eyes turned angry when he joined Ryan in front of the young men. “That’s correct isn’t it?”

  The one that hadn’t been quite as forward with Sienna nodded quickly.

  “Well, trust me, gentlemen, you will not come into my store and treat anyone disrespectfully, and I’ve been doing business with Abe Seaton longer than you’ve been alive. If you’d like to remain employed by him, then I strongly suggest you show some decorum. If you can’t do that, I’ll be happy to give Abe a call.”

  Ryan glanced Sienna’s way. She was cringing and again contemplating bolting out the door. Always prone to fly, another thing Ryan had admired in his youth, he stepped away from his intended target and moved back to her. To his delight she turned, and in a moment caught somewhere between absolute defeat and desperate hope she laid her head against his chest. He cradled her in his arms, letting her hide from the world.

  Dissatisfied with the boys’ responses, Mr. Whaley asked them to leave the store, which they did with haste, but to Ryan’s chagrin he approached them with a broad grin. “You know, Ryan, sometimes the first one isn’t always the right one. Divorce is tough, but it doesn’t have to be the end. Sometimes it’s a new beginning, a better beginning.”

  Sienna lifted her head and gave him a quizzical stare. Ryan managed a nod for Mr. Whaley and then took Sienna’s hand and guided her away.

  Adding that comment, her gaffe, and the leering men to the very long list of things they weren’t discussing, Ryan tried to get her to loosen up a little. She was embarrassed, and, from what he could tell, mad at herself. He was certain she wanted to ask about the divorce comment, but she said nothing. Her temper was rapidly approaching full-tilt, though, he could tell. Deciding to see if he could bring back her smile, he took her to the custom kitchen areas of the large store.

  “Oh, wow!” The six-burner double oven with the grill grates and griddle in the center, the most expensive in the Viking line, brought a hint of that twinkle back to her eyes.

  Pleased that she seemed to be willing to let their disastrous afternoon go, Ryan grinned. “I thought you’d like this.”

  “It’s amazing, but can I afford this?” She pointed to the sales slip giving the contractor’s cost and then the MSRP, which was several thousand dollars more expensive.

  “Tell you what, let’s get everything else done and make sure I don’t run into anything that might eat up more of your budget, and I’ll install this at cost. I’ll design the kitchen around it. I’ll build it in along the back wall so I can vent it pretty easily, but if we can’t get it by the time the season opens I’ll add in a single cabinet and standard stove that could be removed. After you get all the money you’re going to have earned by the end of summer, I’ll install this. You’ll have a stove for the season and then this fall, I’ll take the cabinet out and put this in. No problem.”

  Hoping for another one of those hugs, he was a little disappointed by the smile he was given instead. “Thanks for doing all this for me, and for saying that to those idiots. Guys are so gross.” She rubbed her hands over her face, trying to wipe away the past hour, he imagined. With an audible exhale, she lifted her eyes back to his. “And I swear I didn’t mean that the way it sounded when we were talking to that salesman. I’m s
orry. I always talk before I think.”

  “Hey.” Ryan brushed his right hand over her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. He needed to touch some small patch of her soft skin, but he lingered several seconds longer than the motion required. “Not all of us are gross, right? There just seems to be a large gathering of pervs here today. You have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s just forget most of this afternoon and get out of here.”

  She might want to forget what she said, but he never would. It meant far too much to him. Somewhere in the recesses of the last ten years, in all that he’d put her through, she still believed in him, and more importantly believed he could take care of her. He called himself a fool for fostering the hope, but God, he wanted to show her. He wanted to prove to her that he’d not only make her Inn what she wanted, but if she’d give him another chance, he’d take care of every need, wish, want, and desire she could ever have.

  The moment extended between them. Everything he just couldn’t seem to say evaporated in the persistent desire that emanated its need once again. Words weren’t needed, but maybe, just maybe, the fire in her eyes could be consumed with passion.

  Eleven

  Without thought or provocation, he breached the slight space between them. Their breaths mingled in an unspoken question. The tension crackled down Ryan’s spine. Both confusion and abandon fought for dominance in her eyes. That single, solitary thread of absolute control frayed. His hand traversed back to her upturned face. He caressed her cheek, and unable to halt his own fingers, they parted through her thick waves of hair.

  A slight shiver of anticipation worked through Sienna, and the frayed thread snapped completely. Her lips parted. Some question tried to take flight from her tongue, but it met an unrestrained groan from Ryan as he laid soft, languid, siege to her mouth.

  The potent memories danced on her tongue as he deepened the kiss and devoured the soft warmth of them together. The rediscovery, so much more than he’d ever been able to recall, the intoxication of her kiss, it all shot through him with a heated urgency to take more, to reclaim what he’d so stupidly allowed to slip through his fingers. The passion that flowed so readily between them muted every doubt he’d tried so hard to convince himself existed.

  Her tongue sought his in an undeniable invitation. She wanted more. Nothing would ever taste as good or be as fulfilling as Sienna wanting more of him.

  The world around them disappeared. All doubt and every worry of his soul vacated Ryan’s body as their lips mated and he attempted to kiss her so deeply he could erase the last ten years.

  A shaky whimper tumbled from Sienna’s throat. Alarm bells rang shrilly in her head. It took several long minutes for her to understand that it was Ryan’s powerful embrace that was keeping her upright because if left on her own, she would have melted into a very confused puddle on the smooth concrete floors of some massive building store that he’d brought her into.

  Nothing made sense. Nothing even mattered, except the fact that by some miracle or some magic, Ryan McNamara’s heavenly lips were priming her own with more than a note of possession.

  He was consumed with greed, and his tongue seemed to command that she comply. As there was nothing she wanted more, Sienna tried to quiet those stupid alarms and just allow herself to have this kiss. She could ask all of those questions later. Right now she simply needed more of him.

  Her hands braided in his thick brown hair. She turned her head, and he matched her cadence, taking her ever so softly again with his mouth. The sensations bombarded her with a sweet heaven she’d needed for so many nights. If she could just make all of the heartbreak disappear for a moment, she would be his again without question.

  God, he never wanted to stop kissing her. He just needed to keep consuming the drug she offered him that somehow made everything feel like maybe it would work out. Maybe he could have her again. Maybe he could somehow have Evie and Sienna. Maybe Sienna could learn to love Evie almost as much as he did.

  When drawing breath took precedence over extending the kiss, Ryan begrudgingly backed away. He brushed one more kiss over where her jawline met her neck and then forced himself to draw up to his full height. He had no idea what was coming next, but he knew that whatever he said in the next moment it would have a significant impact.

  Sienna stared up at him in dumbfounded confusion. Those huge soulful eyes barely blinked. Questions, so many questions, distressed the flecks of gold that framed the honey brown of her eyes just a few shades lighter than her hair.

  “Come on.” He took her hand. She willingly allowed him to lace their fingers together and to be led back out to his truck.

  They drove in silence, neither seeming to have any idea what to say, but desperation to know what that kiss had meant to her was making him crazy.

  “What are you thinking?” finally spilled from his mouth in urgency.

  “Are you divorced? I mean that guy said... You’re divorced, right?” Audible pain perforated the question, and it sliced through Ryan like daggers.

  Swallowing burning regret over his raw throat, he shook his head. Her eyes goggled in panic.

  “I’m getting divorced. I’m legally separated, but I swear, Sienna, that has nothing to do with why I kissed you. I’ve... I’ve wanted to kiss you like that every single day for the last ten years.”

  Sienna was fairly certain she could actually hear the high-pitched squeal of brakes as her entire body attempted to stop the insanity of their afternoon. What did he mean he wasn’t divorced? How could he have wanted to do that for ten years? If that’s what he’d wanted, she’d sat at her grandmother’s home and sobbed for weeks when he didn’t show up or even call. How could he have married someone else and there still be that level of passion for her, for them? Potent memories of that kiss worked up from her soul and threatened to shatter through all of the delicate sutures she’d applied to her heart when he’d broken it.

  It took her breath away, but he was still married, for all intents and purposes. She rubbed her hands over her face and then settled for shaking the tiny Himalayan crystal stone on her favorite necklace back and forth.

  What was she supposed to do now? Tears somehow seemed like a logical next step, but she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. She didn’t know what she wanted to do.

  Her body and her mind longed to just kiss him again. To sink into his body and let him take away every doubt about what had happened all of those years ago. She wanted to feel full of him, so full there was no room for any doubt, only room for Ryan. Her brain mocked that desire. He’d broken her heart. She could not sustain that level of pain ever again. She wanted to run away from even the memories of the agony. The bludgeoning of her heart until she was barely recognizable even to herself.

  “Sienna,” he breathed her name as he took the turn off to Gypsy Beach. His eyes were desperate and just as confused as she was certain hers must appear. “Please say something. I’m not sorry I kissed you, but if you’re regretting it, then I am sorry I did something you didn’t want.”

  She forced herself to consider her words for once in her life. “I’m not sorry you kissed me.” The truth was the only available answer. Her brain was far too busy chanting out warning blares to have come up with a lie.

  Ryan managed a nod, but elation seemed to ease the tense lines that had chiseled his face.

  The ability to consider her words before they leapt from her mouth was short lived it seemed. “So, uh, if we ever did more than kiss or... something... I would be the other woman? Ryan, I just can’t...” She shook her head, unable to formulate the words.

  “Sienna, it’s not like that, okay? I am legally separated. If I never see my ex again, it will be too soon, and, uh… I haven’t been married to her in the biblical sense, so to speak, in years, and I haven’t been with anyone else, either. Please don’t think that I would ever actually cheat on anyone. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. And I would never even consider getting into another relationship with
anyone but you.”

  Was he considering getting into a relationship with Sienna again? Ryan knew that he was. If after everything he’d been through, everything he was certain he must’ve put her through, if life somehow offered them a second chance, then he was taking it. He wasn’t an idiot; not anymore anyway.

  A relationship? With me? He just said those words. Emotions ripping through her like a maelstrom that splintered and blasted a boat awash at sea, Sienna needed something to hold onto. As if he’d somehow read her like an open book, Ryan grasped her hand again.

  “I know we need to talk. I know you have to be terrified, baby, but please, please just let me try to explain what happened.”

  Absolute panic pushed another rock-like enclosure over his throat in an effort to halt the story.

  Before Ryan could formulate where to begin, the truck was bouncing over the sandy grass that comprised the front lawn of The Inn.

  A paunch, older man with beady black eyes was pacing in the area that had, just hours before, comprised the front porch. He had a wad of paperwork shoved under his left arm and a pistol in a waist holster on his right.

  His pleas and his story would have to wait. The man stalked towards the truck.

  “You know this guy, Sienna?” The hair on the back of Ryan’s neck stood straight. His muscles tensed as if they were certain of an incoming assault. His eyes narrowed as the man approached the passenger side door.

  “No.” The terror in her voice had him moving. He was out of the truck and blocking Sienna from the man in a few quick steps.

  “Can I help you?” he bellowed.

  “Not you I come to see. Where’s Sienna Rose Cooper?” The man had a nasty sneer, and Ryan longed to sink his fists into the scowl on his face.

  Sienna stepped out of the truck. She stayed just behind Ryan’s left bicep. He offered her his hand.