All She Wants for Valentine’s Day:
A Contemporary Erotic Romance Story
By NATHAN STRATTON
Copyright 2013 Nathan Stratton. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of this work prohibited unless the author grants permission.
Art credit: Nathan Stratton, with license from www.depositphotos.com.
Approx. word count: 8,675
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All She Wants for Valentine’s Day
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Cupid, Kiss My…
Chapter 2: Miss May’s
Chapter 3: A Barroom Brawl
Chapter 4: Hot Bodies on a Cold Night
Chapter 5: All She Wants for Valentine’s Day
Chapter 1: Cupid, Kiss My…
It was 6:30pm on a chilly Tuesday night in February, just before Valentine’s Day. And as usual, Tanya was just getting out of the gym.
She’d been coming to the gym a lot lately, straight after work, for an hour a day. Work was so stressful; she needed some sort of release after eight hours of office hell. And let’s be honest, it’s not like Tanya had much else going on in the evenings these days.
Six months ago, she’d broken it off with her live-in boyfriend, Warren – or as she preferred to call him these days, “He-who-shall-not-be-named.” Things had been going sour between them for a long time, but she’d wanted so badly to make it work that she ignored the warning signs, and she’d really given it her best shot. That is, until the day she caught him cheating on her – in their house – with his old college flame. Enough was enough. She moved out the next day.
Tanya sighed, blowing her bangs up off of her forehead. She didn’t like to think of Warren, but it was hard not to remember the past, and to think about how different these past six months had been without him. She’d been so happy. Now, there was no one in the picture. And the prospect of heading home, once again, to her lonely studio apartment for another early night in front of the television – well, it wasn’t exactly thrilling.
Especially with Valentine’s Day coming up right around the corner, Tanya was really feeling the sting of loneliness. As much as she tried to hide it from herself, she knew that the gym was just a form of distraction so she wouldn’t have to reminisce about the past, lament her lonely present, or worry about the future. But it was hard right now, with all the Valentine’s-themed decorations assaulting her in every corner of the office, and on every other television commercial. It seemed like everywhere she looked, she saw hearts, flowers, Cupid and doilies. It was borderline inescapable.
“Cupid, kiss my ass,” she said, with a bitter laugh.
Lost in melancholy thoughts like these, Tanya wasn’t paying too much attention to her surroundings. Just as she was digging her keys out of her purse, the lights flashed on the car next to hers. She jumped, a bit startled, and her eyes shot up from her bag.
Standing not five feet away from her was the sexiest man she’d seen in her life. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with his sandy brown hair falling in wet curls around his head. He had that freshly-showered look to him, clean and masculine, with faint drops of water clinging to the outside of his tight white T-shirt. He carried a black gym bag in one arm, and a leather briefcase in the other: an odd combination, Tanya thought. And most surprisingly, he was grinning at her like they’d just shared a joke together, even though she’d never met him before. She wasn’t sure if it was because he’s surprised her or what, but she noticed her heartbeat had quickened suddenly, and she felt a bit flushed.
He stepped closer to her, smiling. “Did I scare you?” he asked.
“Uh, yup,” said Tanya. “You sure did.” She didn’t have time to think of a witty remark, so she decided to keep it simple. She figured honesty was the best policy.
He laughed, extending his hand. “Sorry about that. I’m Ryan.”
“Tanya,” she said, taking his hand lightly. After the startling jolt of the previous moment, she now felt totally at ease all of a sudden. Normally she got nervous and anxious around attractive men, but for some reason there was none of that feeling now.
She motioned to his T-shirt, which was so tight she could almost make out the faint lines of his muscles underneath it. “Aren’t you cold?”
He looked down at his shirt in surprise, as if he hadn’t thought about it before. “What, this?” he said. “Not really. Those showers are scalding. Look, I’m still giving off steam.” He held up his arm, and Tanya noted with surprise that, indeed, the heat from his body was sending off a bit of steam into the February cold.
Just then, Tanya’s brain decided to sabotage her chances with this guy. “I guess you must really have a hot body!” she blurted out without thinking. She instantly cringed at the corniness of her joke. Oh, my God, she groaned inwardly. Why do I always do that? She had a habit of always saying whatever came to her mind – and sometimes, that got her into trouble.
She turned bright red and tried to salvage the moment. “Wow, I cannot believe I just said that.”
For his part, Ryan just looked amused. “Me neither,” he said, laughing. “Did you come up with that one on the spot, or do you say that to all the guys?”
Tanya paused a moment, looking at him with a coy half-smile. She was still a little embarrassed, but she was mostly just relieved that he didn’t seem turned off by the corny joke. She decided to play along. “Only the ones who deserve it,” she replied flirtatiously.
Now it was Ryan’s turn to pause. The expression on his face seemed to be saying, Who is this girl? He opened his mouth, but no words came out immediately. He seemed to be searching for the right comeback, but coming up empty.
“What’s a matter, hot stuff? Cat got your tongue?” teased Tanya. She didn’t know where this sudden boldness was coming from, but she definitely liked it. Normally she would never tease a guy like this after just meeting him, but somehow it felt natural with him.
Ryan burst out laughing. He had a really great smile, she noticed. “Alright, that’s it,” he said. “No woman talks to me like that and gets away with it. One more word out of you, and I’m going to have to take you out to dinner.”
Tanya cocked an eyebrow, folding her hands across her chest. “Oh, yeah?” she said. “What makes you think you can handle me?”
He took a step closer to her, so that their faces were just inches apart. The scent of his cologne filled her nose, and his hazel eyes held her own with an intensity she couldn’t escape from. His sudden closeness sent butterflies soaring through her stomach. They’d been joking around until this point, but suddenly all that light-hearted banter had disappeared in an instant.
“Trust me, I can handle you,” he said with a smile.
He held her gaze a second longer, just to further underscore the power of his words. When he stepped back from her again, it was as if she’d been released from a spell. She was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to react. Finally, she regained herself.
“Uh, s-sounds great then!” she said, her voice quavering the slightest bit. She started talking too fast, as she always did when she got nervous. “Why don’t I give you my number and we can, um, work something out? How about, uh, Thursday night maybe? Or, I don’t know…” She trailed off.
He looked at her in amusement, as if he clearly had something else in mind. “How about now?” he said.
She was sure her face went white at his words. Now!? her brain screamed. What are you, crazy?! I need to shower, change, do my makeup… her mind started coming up with a million excuses why tonight was a horrible night for a date. But fortunately for Tanya, when she opened her mouth to speak, none of those excuses came out.
“Sounds great,” she said with a grin.
“Excellent.” He opened the passenger door of his car, and when Tanya didn’t move for a second, he drummed his fingers on the top of it impatiently.
“…Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to get in?” he said.
“Oh! Right.” Tanya sprang into motion and climbed into the car. It wasn’t until she was already sitting that she looked up at him hesitantly. “Uh, wait… what about my car?” she asked. “We’re just going to leave it here?”
He chuckled. “We can figure it out later. The place we’re going fills up early, so we’d better get moving if we want to make it in time.” He closed her door and walked around the front of the car to his side, giving her a chance to get a close-up look at his toned, sexy body.
As he climbed into the car, she looked down at her clothes, then at his. “You know, we’re not exactly dressed for a fancy occasion,” she said.
He laughed again. “Just trust me.” He flashed her a knowing smile, then revved the ignition. And just like that, they were off – off to God knows where, Tanya thought with a smile. She had no idea what the night held in store for her, but she had a very good feeling about it. Ryan was gorgeous, and instinctively she knew she could trust him.
And most of all, after so many boring nights spent alone with her TV, there was something about him that just screamed excitement.
She had no idea how right she was…
Chapter 2: Miss May’s
As they drove down the highway, Tanya couldn’t resist sneaking small peeks at her traveling companion. He was even sexier than he’d appeared at first glance. She wasn’t normally into super-buff guys, but Ryan didn’t look like a meathead. He had big muscles, sure, but something about his swaggering, confident demeanor suited his broad body perfectly. His frame totally filled his seat, and as he turned the steering wheel, his biceps bulged under his short sleeves. I could get used to looking at that, Tanya thought to herself. She wasn’t a small girl, but next to him, she felt petite.
“So, where are we going?” she asked, more to break the ice than anything else. “I’m pretty hungry, by the way. I hope you’re taking me someplace good.”
“Well, you’re in luck,” he replied. “And that’s all I’m going to say about that.” He grinned as he spoke, causing the muscles in his neck to move. God, even his neck is buff, she thought.
“Come on,” she cajoled him, pushing him lightly on his shoulder – mostly just as an excuse to feel the rock-solid muscles under his shirt. “You have to at least give me a hint.”
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, clearly enjoying this. “Actually, I don’t.”
“Fiiiine,” said Tanya, and turned to look out the window. As they exited the freeway, she noticed that the street signs looked incredibly familiar. “Hey, I recognize this neighborhood!” she said. Just then, she suddenly realized where they were going, and she gasped in surprise. “Are we going to…”
“That’s right!” said Ryan, as they pulled into a parking lot under a big sign that said MISS MAY’S. “Best barbecue in town.”
Tanya was shocked. Her eyes were gleaming with excitement, and she had a huge smile on her face. “I can’t believe it!” she said. “I love this place. When I was little, my dad used to take me here all the time. I haven’t been here in ages!”
Ryan turned off the car and turned to look at her. “Well then, I guess tonight’s your lucky night.” I guess so, thought Tanya, as she looked into his handsome face. He climbed out of the car, and in a flash had crossed over to open her door for her. He offered her his hand, which she accepted with an exaggerated graciousness.
“Why, thank you,” she said. “You know, you really don’t have to keep opening the doors for me. It’s nice and all, but I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.” He looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. He didn’t even have to say anything; just his look of pure befuddlement was enough to let her know that he was going to keep doing it, and that was that.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Never mind,” she said.
And when he offered her his arm, she found herself gladly accepting it. Such a gentleman, she thought, even as she relished the feeling of his skin against her own. Warren had never been much of the chivalrous type, and this royal treatment she was getting was unfamiliar and exciting. She felt giddy and nervous, like a high-schooler on prom night. For the first time in a while, she had no idea where the night would take her – and she loved it.
They walked in and found an empty booth. Ryan was right about how popular this place was. It was just after 7:30 p.m. now, and the restaurant was totally packed. Still, no sooner had they sat down than a waitress came over to greet them. “How are we going tonight?” she asked cheerfully.
Ryan looked at Tanya and smiled. “Spectacular,” he replied. Obviously he’d been here before; he didn’t even have to look at the menu to know what he wanted. “We’ll take the country ribs platter for two, please.” He looked over at Tanya again. “Is that all right with you?”
Tanya nodded in surprise. She couldn’t believe it. “That used to be my absolute favorite!”
“Coming right up,” said the waitress, and left as quickly as she’d arrived, leaving Tanya and Ryan alone together in the booth. As soon as she left, Tanya slapped her hand down on the table and stared right into Ryan’s eyes.
“All right, out with it,” she said. “Who put you up to this?”
“…What?” He seemed genuinely confused.
She shook her head, smiling. “Oh, no, no you don’t. This has to be a set-up. My friends must have schemed this up out of pity for me. Was it Jessica? Ashley? I’ll bet it was Ashley.”
Ryan rubbed the back of his neck slowly, a bemused half-smile on his face. “Sorry, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She paused to consider this. “Hmm. …You mean this isn’t a set-up?”
“Unfortunately not,” he laughed. “What makes you say that, anyway?”
“Well… this!” she cried, throwing her arms out and gesturing around them. “It’s all just too perfect! The restaurant is perfect, you’re perfect, you even know exactly what I wanted to order… come on!” she exclaimed, getting a bit frustrated. “This just has to be some kind of joke. A guy like you doesn’t just come up and hit on a girl like me.”
When she said that, his face darkened. “Don’t be ridiculous, Tanya,” he said adamantly. “I came up and talked to you because I saw something I liked – some spark in your eyes. You seemed so self-confident just a minute ago. What happened? Don’t you think you deserve to be happy?”
When he said that, Tanya fell silent. She looked down into her lap, suddenly feeling the need to bite back tears. She took a long moment to compose herself, and when she looked back up at Ryan, her eyes glistened with wetness.
“I…” she began, then trailed off. She swallowed hard and tried again. “I’m just not sure what to believe anymore.” The anger had left Ryan’s face, and he was looking at her now with compassion in his eyes. “I’ve been hurt pretty bad, Ryan,” she said. “I had my heart broken, just a few months ago. Ever since then, I’ve been a mess.” She couldn’t help but let a few tears fall now, despite her best effort to contain them. She felt a little embar
rassed for letting her emotions show so easily, but for some reason, she felt like she could be honest with Ryan.
He reached across the table and took her hand.
“I’ve been hurt too,” he said softly. “Believe me, I know how it feels to have your heart broken. But if you don’t open yourself up, who’s going to find you? Who’s going to see that light in your eyes, if it’s buried under so much darkness?”
“You saw it,” said Tanya, smiling through her tears. They locked eyes, and she swore she felt electric sparks passing between their bodies. The moment seemed to last forever. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time.
“All right, who wants some barbecue?!” cried the waitress, interrupting the moment. Ryan and Tanya both burst out laughing simultaneously. The waitress set down a huge, steaming platter of ribs between them and filled up their glasses with water. “Bon appétit!” she said, and hustled off.
All She Wants for Valentine's Day: A Contemporary Erotic Romance Story (All She Wants #3) Page 1
