by Fox, Felicia
Walking back out, I hoped Ryan had left with the computer. He had. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was eleven o’clock and I was so ready for a nap. I think I had been ready for one for the last four years. I could very much go back in time and slap my adolescent self for not appreciating them when I had the chance.
The day was winding down and the work I could do, I did with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I hadn’t heard from I.T. so I figured I would go down to the third floor and check the progress. I wanted this resolved today. I was so damn flustered I hadn’t even asked how long this process would take.
Walking on to the third floor was almost like being in a new world. Instead of beautiful mahogany bookcases, stately leather, and fusty old people portraits, Ryan’s office was all seamless chrome lines and glass in the reception area.
The young man behind the counter had the most engaging smile and wore what was the typical uniform of the company. A black T-shirt with the company logo and jeans. “My name is Andrew. How may I help you, ma’am?”
“Hello, Andrew, my name is Carrie Lewis. Ryan Pelt is working on my computer for me and I wanted to know the status.” He looked at me in a familiar way when I said my name and his smile grew bigger. He must be an odd duck.
“Sure, let me give him a call.” He picked up the phone. “Ry, Carrie Lewis is here in the lobby wanting to know the status on her computer.” The young man looked like the cat who ate the canary. He was mischievous and a part of me thought Ryan totally deserved working with a hellion. “Yeah, sure, I’ll do that now,” he said and had begun to stand.
“If you would follow me, Mrs. Lewis?”
“It is Ms. Lewis, but feel free to call me Carrie. Please, lead the way.”
Walking down the hallway, I saw the funniest posters that were surprisingly matted and framed with care. It was an eclectic mix of action heroes and even a “hang in there” kitten picture. We made it to the door at the very end of the hall. On the paneled wood hung a sign that said: There are ten types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don’t. I guess I was one of the people who didn’t, but I knew for sure that I was going to google it as soon as I had a moment to myself.
Walking in was an overwhelming experience. There were wires and little screws and spare computer parts all over the place. Manuals that seemed to be opened to random sections or bookmarked with whatever was around were strewn haphazardly as well. With the clutter, you would think that it was a mess or at least some spoiled milk smell would permeate the air, but the space was saturated in his smell. That bright, clean scent. Like a cross between laundry soap and aftershave.
Ryan was at a standing desk, staring at a screen, typing away, and it looked like he was entering some kind of numbered digital key. He seemed absorbed in his task and hadn’t turned to acknowledge us.
“Ry, I am going to go back up front. Can you see Ms. Lewis back up after your conversation?” You could practically hear the air quotes around the word conversation and if he was alluding to anything other than work, then the little man was very mistaken.
“Yeah. Thank you, Andrew.”
“Hey, Ryan, would you happen to know how much longer? I was really hoping to have it before I left. No need to give Mr. and Mrs. Lewis a coronary about what almost happened. I also wanted to talk to you about having this billed directly to me.” The thought of what the total cost might be ratcheted up my anxiety by the power of ten.
“Reloading everything takes time. At least six more hours and since today is Friday, I wouldn’t be able to have it to you until the end of the day Monday, at the earliest.”
My heart started into a gallop and I could feel the need to breathe into a paper bag. Captain Anxiety and I ride again! In my panic, I decided to do something rash. Spend money I so did not have. “I will pay extra if I can get you to come in on Saturday. Please.”
He must have heard or seen the absolute desperation I had going on because he paused for a moment, as if wanting to soften the blow I knew was coming.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“What?”
“Do you have plans for tonight?”
“No?”
“Good. How do you feel about a seriously amazing burger?”
“I have many feelings about good food, but what does that have to do with this?”
“Go here,” he said handing me a slip of paper, “and pick up the order I am going to put in and meet me back here at six. You can keep me company while I try to finish this up. Sound like a good idea?”
“Yes, it sounds like the best plan I have heard all damn year,” my voice cracking with the abundance of gratitude overflowing in me.
Chapter 3
Then there were three
The restaurant Ryan sent me to was this rundown-looking little hole in the wall joint called Mom and Pops. They sold three items, burgers, fries, and soda. When I got there, the line was out the door by twenty people. Thankfully, there was a little window you could walk up to and receive phone orders.
Mom and Pops was only three blocks away, so I walked on over to grab the order. The sun was starting to go down, throwing warm beams of soft light off the glass, brass, and chrome of the buildings. Seattle will forever have the sense memory of warm, wet pavement and a kaleidoscope of different food scents, and the water coming off the bay.
When I reentered the building, I noticed Bethany was coming out and she had stopped mid-step when her eyes met mine. She seemed genuinely surprised to see me. I wondered why until she saw what was in my hands and just as suddenly her RBF was back into effect. I had no doubt this little incident would make its way into my mother or father’s ear.
I moved past her and headed up the stairs to Ryan’s office. There was a fluttering in my stomach as I thought about how almost like a date this was. Honestly, it would probably be the closest to a date I had had in about a year. Not that that was how Ryan was thinking of this.
Walking into the office, I was taken aback by the young girl sitting at the reception desk. She couldn’t have been any older than seven. Her hair was a mass of messy chestnut waves. Her skin the same olive complexion of Ryan’s. Which I noticed because he was standing right beside her, bent over the desk. Her gangly limbs looked a little long and I knew she would probably grow tall.
Eerily, both looked up at me at the same time and I could absolutely see the resemblance. She was beautiful. With her hair falling wildly around her shoulders, she reminded me of a feral little pixie. Cute and petite with a hint of deviltry in the side smirk she was sporting.
“Hey, Carrie! This is my daughter Amelia. Amelia, this is Ms. Carrie.” I was in shock over his tone of voice with me. It was like honey— slow and sweet. Not the brash commentary I was used to hearing from him.
“Hi, Ms. Carrie. Are you the one who opened up a bad email on your computer? Did your Daddy not teach you about good mail and bad mail?” I could feel myself go tomato red at her question. I looked up to see Ryan biting his lip, which would have been the sexiest little action if not for the fact that he was doing it not to laugh.
“Thank you for grabbing dinner. Let’s go back to the break room and eat.”
“That’s okay! I can leave you guys to have your dinner and go back up to my office.”
“Don’t be silly! When Amelia’s sitter called to say she couldn’t keep her, I added on to the order.”
I had to admit after walking over with the food and smelling the delicious scent of grilled meat and greasy fries, I was ready to dig in and a little choked up at his thoughtfulness in including me.
Over dinner, we laughed and listened to Amelia tell us about her exciting adventures with the class turtle Harvey. When it came to kids, I felt so out of my depth, but Amelia was so endearing. From her put-upon little girl sigh to her exaggerated storytelling, I was at peace losing myself in her little girl voice. After a day of one thing after another going wrong, it seemed like the best medicine.
Soon after o
ur meal, we all walked back to Ryan’s office and I spent the next couple of hours watching as both father and daughter worked like the most adorable little team as they fixed my mess of a computer. It was dangerous to my libido, layering paternal over all his charm and bedroom eyes.
“Daddy, can I invite Ms. Carrie to join us on our Friday night date?” I was stunned that she asked him such a question and his response to it floored me into incomprehension.
“Sure, sweetheart.”
“Wanna come over and watch a movie with me and Daddy? He said the movies we watch are classics.”
“Oh, he does, does he? Well, what does he consider a classic?”
“Tonight, we are supposed to watch The Labyrinth.”
“That used to be my favorite movie when I was little. My brother, sister, and I would go to a video rental store and when our parents let us pick a movie, that was the only one we all could agree on. I am pretty sure we watched it for three months straight.”
“Video rental? What is that?” Oh man, not only do I now feel ancient, but I had to explain to this obviously tech-savvy little girl what a videotape was. I draw the line there, though. She wants to know how to play it, her dad would have to explain a VCR to her.
“Think of a DVD in the shape of a thick rectangle and inside is a very long strip of film that the movie was printed on.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“Ha! I’m sure it was.”
When I looked up at Ryan, he had this goofy little smile on his face and looked at me expectantly. I guess I hadn’t answered whether I was going to go or not.
After today, I should just go home and cuddle up to a squat glass of whiskey and one of the mystery novels hanging out on my nightstand. Against my better judgment, I looked at Amelia and saw such a look of hope that I would say yes that I couldn’t help but say it to her. So, I did.
“I would love to watch The Labyrinth with you and your dad.”
“Yay,” she shouted just as Ryan said, “And that is the last program to install. We can head out now and let this run. I can walk it up to you in the morning as soon as I get in on Monday.”
“Perfect!”
Came to find out, we parked in the same parking garage, so we walked down together and jumped into our separate vehicles. For some reason, I always thought of him as being someone who might drive a truck or some kind of muscle car. Instead, he drove a pretty standard sedan. Something that was more about safety and utility than vanity. Which was something I appreciated.
Turned out, Ryan and his daughter lived out in a suburb about twenty minutes out of Seattle. The neighborhood was quaint, well at least what I could see of it in the dark. His house was one story and walking in, I watched as everyone shucked off their shoes and I was so ready for that.
“Please, make yourself comfortable. I am going to make some popcorn,” Ryan said as he headed toward the kitchen.
Amelia took me by the hand and showed me where the bathroom was, but her objective was her bedroom. It was filled to the brim with all things in different shades of purple and I imagined Ryan reading to Amelia in this fluffy, ruffled, and lace bedroom and it made me grin.
“This is my favorite treasure!” She held up a photo. One of a much younger Ryan and a woman so radiant and so very pregnant. I assumed this was Amelia’s mom.
“This is our family photo. I am right here,” she said, pointing at the rounded belly of her mother. “She is in Heaven right now. She went there when I was so little that I don’t remember her, but Daddy tells me stories about how much she loved me.” Before I could respond, she jumped up and said she had to get her jammies on.
I used that announcement to high tail it to the living room and park myself on the sofa. I wanted a moment to absorb this new information. Their home was warm and inviting. Looking around, I was so happy to see that his home was in way better order than his office had been. Well. that was better to think about than the loss of his wife.
Chapter 4
AWKWARD in all caps. That’s me!
When we were settled in, about halfway through the movie, we were pushing ten o’clock and Amelia tapped out. She was asleep and tucked in under her father’s arm. Glancing at the two of them made my chest ache. I tried to remember a simpler time when I may have been cuddled up to my own dad that way and not one instance came to mind. My parents were reserved in their emotions, but I always had Cian and Cassandra. Cian was going to make a wonderful father when he and Aine decide to start a family.
In one fluid movement, Ryan stood up with Amelia cradled in his arms and I closed my eyes at the image of his biceps bulging enticingly. It brought back my earlier fantasy and I wanted to bang my head against the wall to wipe the tantalizing thoughts away. I stood, stretching my arms above my head and tried to mentally prepare to make my goodbyes. When I dropped my arms, Ryan stood at the opening of the hallway.
“Would you like to finish the movie and have a drink with me?”
“Oh! Um, yeah.”
“If you are up for it, of course.”
“I would love to stay and finish the movie with you. What do you have to drink?”
“I have a red around here somewhere and some whiskey.”
“The whiskey would be perfect.”
“How would you like it?”
“A couple of fingers, neat.”
“Coming right up.”
I felt a little awkward not knowing where to sit, so I just stayed where I had been all night. When he came back, he had two short, crystal tumblers in hand. Instead of sitting where he had been all night, he actually sat right next to me. All my nerves were stretched wire thin and I sipped my whiskey with gusto. The warmth settled in my stomach and seemed to radiate to my limbs, loosening me up. I think I had been waiting for that sip all week.
“I could be wrong, but I think you might have needed that drink.”
“You would be correct.”
“Is it because of today? Because, honestly, if you want to know a secret, you aren’t the only one that has happened to and in that office, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I smiled like a loon at that little golden nugget of information. “Well, that does make me feel better.”
For a moment, he looked a little dumbfounded and then, so very slowly, he leaned in toward me. I was so surprised by the action that I startled and sloshed a little of the whiskey on me and him.
“Oh no! I am so sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
I moved toward his kitchen and straight for his paper towels, dipping it under the running faucet he turned on. I was mortified when I realized I was wiping off his thigh. Man, could I make this any worse?
“Carrie. Look at me.” I didn’t want to, but steeled myself and looked up into his eyes.
This time, he gently cupped my face between his hands and bent to my face. Just before contact, I closed my eyes. The first brush of his lips was the lightest of contact. This graze of lips was like a question asked and I answered it by deepening it.
His hands moved from my face to grip the back of my hair with restrained strength. His lips parted my own and that first slip of his tongue against mine sent me reeling. He held me to him and the only breath I was able to get in was what he gave me.
I was growing weak-kneed when his hands roved down to my butt to squeeze and lift me. I automatically wrapped my legs around his slim waist. The skirt I was wearing left little barrier to guard against the hardening heat of him. It had been so long and the last and only guy I had ever been with did not feel like this against me.
I had one petrifying moment that I was going to be bad at this. I mentally slapped myself. I wouldn’t let the self-consciousness of my inexperience stop me from this moment. It was a thin line there for a moment, but when he began to grind against me, the only thoughts I could come up with were more, and please, and don’t stop. Although I couldn’t be sure, I had a feeling I had actually said all of that out loud.
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“I want you, Carrie. Say yes, please.”
He pulled back and gave me a breath to answer. There was so much need and fire banked in his eyes and never once in my life had any man ever looked at me with such fervor that the only answer I had in me was yes.
He carried me back toward the living room a laid me out on the sofa. He settled himself between my thighs and began his assault on my lips with his own. Our bodies undulated against one another, driving me insane. I was so close but needed so much more. I wanted to feel the hard thrust of him inside me.
I was so distracted by his kiss that I hadn’t even noticed that he had unbuttoned my blouse. When the cold air hit my heated skin, I shivered. He started to make his way down, his teeth scraping against the mounds of first my right and then my left breast. Through the sheer lace of my bra, my nipples beaded for his attention. The warmth of his mouth closing around the peak made my back arch.
I felt the tug of his mouth all the way through to the bundle of nerves in my clit. “Ryan, your mouth feels so good,” I moaned, long and throaty and he gave one of those sexy masculine chuckles of victory. He kept moving further down my body. My skirt was pushed up around my hips from my earlier undulations.
His dove gray eyes looked down at the tiny white triangle of lace like he was starved. Suddenly, his mouth was against my mound and I could feel the warm heat of his tongue put pressure against that tight little bundle of nerves. It was quite the dichotomy of sensations as wave after wave seemed to seize me out of nowhere.
My hands, of their own volition, locked around his head, trying to keep him there as I raised my hips to grind against his mouth. I could feel him groan into my pussy and I began to pant in earnest. “You taste so damn good, Carrie. Mmm. Baby. I want to be inside you. Will you let me?”
