Back to the Heart (10 page)

“Wow,” she giggled, avoiding his gaze shyly. “Just wow. I totally wasn’t expecting that.”

“What were you expecting?” he mused, pressing his forehead against her hair, biting his bottom lip and tasting her lingering sweetness there.

“I don’t know what I was expecting.” She pulled away to look at him. “You have been full of surprises, Mister Black.”

“And full of many still.” It wasn’t just a teasing joke. There was so much about him she didn’t know, so much he had yet to disclose. He just hoped it didn’t ruin the romance they had built together. Now wasn’t the right time. Not when he had just given her so much pleasure. He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the beautiful after-orgasm glow that surrounded her disappear with confusion.

“Is it safe to put my panties on yet?” Her cheeks brightened. It was obvious she wanted more, but it wasn’t a good idea. Not until she was certain that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“That’s up to you. I’m not sure how your mother would feel seeing you walk around naked, though.” He smirked. While neither of them wanted it to be over, their evening of passion had to end here. If Ryan pressed any further, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

“I guess that’s my answer then.” Her smile faded, and Ryan’s heart broke a little from her disappointment. He knew she wanted to touch him too, but if she did, it would be all over for him. His self-control only extended so far.

“I promise, we’ll play more later.” He leaned in to kiss her on the side of the head, but she turned her face to meet his lips, kissing him with a hunger that said she was far from done.

“It’s hard not to want more now,” she confessed.

“I know. But it’s important that you trust me completely before we do this. We’ll both feel better if we wait until I get back.”

“You’re amazing. You know that, right?” She grinned up at him. Ryan couldn’t find words for the compliment. But that didn’t seem to matter. Ana saved him from speaking by moving to dress herself. It pained him to watch her pale flesh get covered up one garment at a time, but it also helped to stifle the strong need coursing through him. “I guess I should go in now. Mom is probably wondering why we’ve spent so much time out here alone,” she said when she was finished dressing.

“I don’t think your mother is that nosy.”

“She is.” Ana’s eyes widened for effect. “She’s probably going to assume that you already had your way with me.”

“I’ve far from had my way with you.” He stood, rubbing her shoulders and gazing into her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes he could get lost in for hours.

“I guess this is good night then.”

“Good night, but not good-bye.” He caressed her cheek with his hand, running the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip before he leaned in for a chaste kiss.

“Good night, but definitely not good-bye.” She drew away from him, looking back over her shoulder as she walked toward the barn door. It pained him to watch her go, but he knew it was necessary. Now, he had work to do.

Ryan had two priorities, and though calling his lawyer and getting Ana’s defamation case started was more important, he couldn’t ignore the desire that was still raging through him. Thoughts of Ana lying on the bales of hay naked and ready for him drove him to the point of insanity. He found his way to the corner of the barn where his stuff was, put his back to the door, and drew his sex out of his jeans. The scent of Ana still lingered on his skin, the intoxicating taste of her clung to the back of his throat. Even though it felt inappropriate, he let his mind wander to how sweet her naked body would feel beneath his as he drove them both to the limits of their pleasure, how amazing it would feel to plummet over the edge together.

It wasn’t long before he was bracing himself against the wall and panting, his thoughts of sex slowly dissipating as his body was satiated—for now. It didn’t take much to get him riled up when it came to Ana. She was already engraved on his soul.

Having quelled his own need, Ryan focused on what was most important right now—showing Rick Fasken that he couldn’t screw with Ana. She had given Ryan permission to start on the case, and so he pulled out his cell phone and dialed up the best lawyer he had on his team.

“Mister Demars, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Elias Escobar, Ryan’s attorney, answered.

Ryan sat down on his sleeping bag and leaned back against the wall. “Hey, Elias. I have something I need you to start working on for a friend of mine. Her name is Ana White, and she was recently in the employment of a Mister Rick Fasken, who is also an attorney there in New York. She was working for his law firm, and he fired her for personal reasons. When she applied for other jobs, he was telling her potential employers she was on drugs, that she had bad attendance, and some other things that weren’t true. It should be an easy enough case. I’ll have Ana get with you on the places she applied, so that you can call to confirm the bad references he gave. And also, I’m assuming we can get ahold of the HR files to prove that she had good attendance.”

“Why did he really fire her?” Elias was all business, as usual.

“He got her pregnant. When she told him, he didn’t believe her. Thought she was trying to corner him into giving her money.”

“Ah. I see. The classic case of abuse of power.”

“Yeah.”

“Luckily, he took it a step further. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be anything she could do against him. New York is an at-will state, you know?”

“I do know.” Ryan nodded. How could he not know, having so many people under his employment?

“Was there any sexual harassment in the workplace to go along with this?”

Ryan shook his head. “From what I know, their relationship was mutual. You’ll have to speak to Ana more on it.”

“All right. Well, have her give me a call then, and we’ll discuss things.”

“Start digging now, all right? Anything you can to help her case.”

“Will do, Mister Demars.” Elias hesitated. “May I ask when you’re coming back? I know it’s none of my business.”

“The Nan Duskin acquisition is next Monday. I’ll be back for that, but I’m not staying long. I have more business to take care of here.” Was getting a girl to agree to marry him business?

“All right. Well, we’ve all been wondering about you here. It’s good to know you’re safe.”

“I appreciate your concern. I’m fine. Maybe we can go for drinks when I get back.” Ryan smiled.

“That would be nice. Well, don’t stay away too much longer. The press is still going wild, and I know your brother has a hard time dealing with it sometimes. Everyone is wondering what happened to the famous Brennan Demars.”

Ana’s mind was spinning with what had taken place in the barn the night before. Ryan had broken her down to her very core, finding the part of her that had been tucked away, the part of her that needed to feel alive again. And even when she was acting on pure instinct, he had held steady, a rock in their tempest. How could she not admire him for being so strong, so responsible?

But now was the question of where they went from here. They would keep things rated PG until he returned from his trip. Then what? Would they date like normal people? Could she hope to have a life with him? Or would he stick around until he’d had enough of her and then float away on the wind?

The thought that she would have to see him for breakfast, and every meal after, made butterflies gather in Ana’s stomach. It was hard to sort out her thoughts and feelings when he was so close. But at the same time, she was glad for this time with him. Things would certainly be different when he was gone.

Ana took a deep breath as she finished fixing her hair into pigtails and prepared to go downstairs for breakfast. Today would be the first day of returning to life the way it had been before she’d left for New York. She had Celia’s duties to pick up now, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs and tending to the garden. These past five years had not prepared her for a life of physical labor, but she would adjust soon enough. After all, it wasn’t the first time.

Ana peeked around the corner of the dining room. Until today, Ryan had always beaten her to the table in the morning. But to her surprise, it was just her mother in the kitchen, frying potatoes on the stove.

“Morning,” Molly said over her shoulder as Ana walked to the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of milk.

“Morning,” she replied, feeling nervous.

While Ana knew her mother would be elated if she and Ryan did start dating, she wasn’t sure exactly how to bring it up. It was obvious the woman suspected something was going on between them. When Ana had come in from the barn last night, Molly had been sitting in the living room watching television. She’d looked up at Ana with a mischievous smirk and asked, “Have fun?” It had been all Ana could do to keep the heat of her embarrassment from burning her up.

Today, though, Molly seemed to be all out of suspicions. Her mind was likely on the day’s work. Life had been a lot more relaxed for her since Ryan had been around, but she still had things to attend to, such as milking the cows and feeding the few barnyard animals they kept mainly as pets now that Ana’s father had passed on.

“I’m surprised you’re up this early,” Molly commented as she used a spatula to transfer the potatoes onto a plate.

“I don’t have a choice. Got to start getting used to things around here again.” Ana stole a potato from the plate with a childish grin before grabbing the place settings and retreating to the dining room to help her mother set up for breakfast.

The minutes ticked by. Ryan seemed to be running late for breakfast, which only made things worse. Ana wasn’t sure how she should act around him now that so much had changed between them.

“Go ahead and eat before the food gets cold,” Molly told her, and Ana nodded and made herself a plate, trying to concentrate. It was hard when her mind was so stuck on Ryan Black.

She was just about to ask where he was when the front door opened and closed. Moments later, he rounded the corner with a smile on his face, walking straight over to her and kissing her on top of the head. Molly beamed at them as Ana’s cheeks flushed. With that one sweet action, he had made it clear that they had taken things beyond friendship. She just hoped her mother didn’t have anything snarky to say about it.

“Have a good sleep, Sunshine?” Molly asked instead.

“Not as good as usual,” he confessed.

“Just a lot on my mind.” Ryan grabbed his plate and filled it with eggs, potatoes, and two biscuits before sitting down next to Ana.

Ana’s blush deepened. Even though she had been waiting for him all morning, she suddenly felt speechless, like the words had dried up in her mouth. Thankfully, her mom was there to pick up the slack.

“What’s on your mind?”

Ryan cast a cautious glance at Ana before he spoke. “Ana has agreed to let me contact a lawyer friend of mine about starting a defamation lawsuit against the guy who fired her.”

“Oh? This is news to me.” Molly’s eyes fixed on Ana.

“It was my idea,” Ryan interceded. “We just talked about it last night, so it’s not like it was planned or anything. But anyway”—he turned his attention back to Ana—“I spoke to Elias last night—that’s the lawyer—and I gave him your information, or rather, told him what you told me. He wants you to give him a call. Here’s his number.” Ryan pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Ana.

She took it gingerly, gazing down at the card. “He’s in New York,” she noted.

“Yes. He said you’ll probably be able to settle things outside of court.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Molly stared across the table at them.

Even Ana wasn’t sure. She wanted the whole thing to be over, but Rick was making that nearly impossible by giving her bad job references, and it would be difficult to explain a five-year gap in employment. At her age, taking that long off work while not attending college just made her look lazy. If nothing else, the defamation lawsuit felt like a necessary evil.

“It’s better than allowing him to walk all over her and who knows how many other people. Besides, if she wins, and she will win, Ana will be able to recoup lost wages and moving costs. Plus, she’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that she didn’t just allow herself to be a victim.” Ryan was in business mode. In fact, Ana had never seen him so serious before. She liked what he was saying. Taking on Rick Fasken would make her feel empowered.

“But we can’t afford a lawyer.” Molly knitted her eyebrows together.

“Ryan is paying for it,” Ana piped in.

“You are? How?”

“I’m not as broke as I look,” he teased.

Ana could tell her mother didn’t believe Ryan, that she thought he was just getting Ana’s hopes up. But instead of arguing about it, she turned to Ana and said, “You call that lawyer and see what he has to say. Then you talk to me about it, you hear?” She pointed her fork at Ana. “I don’t want to be left in the dark about this.”

“You won’t be.” Ana shook her head with a smile.

“Good. I’m still not sure this is such a good idea. You’ve been under so much stress lately as it is. And you’re going to have to fly back to New York. That takes money too. Not to mention, you’ll have to see that asshole again.” The hatred for Rick Fasken was clear in her voice.