Casanova Cowboy (A Morgan Mallory Story) (28 page)

“Oh,” escaped from my lips as he p
ushed me against the back wall of the shower.

He kissed
me with a desire I hadn’t felt from him before, his tongue probing, exploring, wanting me to reciprocate. He pressed his pelvis into me, and I shivered again with anticipation. The shower spray was hitting his back and neck, spilling over between our bodies. His hands explored my body hungrily while he kissed me. He teased me so long I finally took his hand and put it between my legs, guiding his fingers into me.

“
Ryan,” I moaned.

He
pulled me into him harder, lifting me slightly so he could enter me. I held onto him tightly, feeling his muscles tighten as he thrust into me. Thrusting and pumping his cock into me, he made my knees weak. For a split second, I thought I might laugh—this was not a side of Ryan I knew. I had always seen a gentle, calmer side, and it made me lightheaded to experience this lustful side. Feeling that animal like appetite. As he increased his rhythm, all thoughts were driven from my head, and I moved with him. As our raspy breathing grew louder I could feel the wave coming from the inside out, and we both hit the peak at the same time.

“Ah,” I
cried out.

I felt him
ease from me as I slid down the wall slightly my legs shaking. I held onto his shoulders not trusting that I could stand on my own.

“Wow
,” I said softly. “Wow.”

He pulled back and looked
into my eyes. I stared into his blue eyes and saw the sparkle, saw the slight grin of utter fulfillment.

             
“Who was that guy?” I whispered, smiling.

             
He took one of my hands and kissed it.

             
“You asked for it, you got it. You think you know everything about me, but you don’t,” he said, giving me a cute grin.

             
“Wow,” I said again.

Chapter 34

Ryan and I spent New Year’s Day together, laughing, talking, and making love again and again. Ryan seemed happy and comfortable, as if he were pleased with his decision.

“Will you stay
tonight?” I asked after we’d dressed. “I’m sure I can scrounge up something for dinner. Probably not as good as yours last night, but I can find something. We can sit by my fire and talk, drink some wine…I promise it will be warmer.”

“That’s a given,” Ryan chuckled as I ran my hand down the front of his chest.

“There’s so much I don’t know about you, things I thought I knew, but am realizing I didn’t; like that little display of animal magnetism earlier in the shower.”

Ryan
smiled as he settled down into my living room couch.

“N
ow I really want to know you, everything about you,” I gushed.

He looked so relaxed in his jeans and a T-shirt, as he casually threw one arm up on the back of the couch. Angling himself towards me as I went to the kitchen he followed me with his eyes. Inside I was feeling waves of delight about
us
being together. I opened the refrigerator and bent down to see what I had to eat.

             
“Looks like spaghetti and a salad. Otherwise the limited choices are yogurt or vegetables, unless we want to go to the store,” I said looking over my shoulder.

             
“Do you have red wine?” he asked.

             
“I do as a matter of fact.”

             
“Spaghetti sounds perfect then.”

             
Ryan helped me make dinner, and again I felt feelings push forth that I didn’t think I had. True love feelings, like Ryan was it, that just maybe I’d finally found love. While we ate, we laughed about our history and where we were now. We discussed knowing too much about each other’s past and decided that the past had to be the past, especially where ex-loves and ex-lovers were concerned. No jealousy about the past.

“I think we
brought in the New Year right, don’t you?” I asked as he drove me back to my car the next morning.

“I do
,” he said turning and smiling at me.

The way he said “I do”
unsettled me,
was there a little hint of a question in his tone?
I suddenly felt pressure around my heart and realized now I was afraid, afraid he would get away from me and change his mind. I hated the doubt.

             
“When do I get to see you next?” I asked uncertainly.

             
I looked out my side window not wanting to appear too anxious, too insecure.

             
“You work tomorrow night, so how about I come by after work tonight?” he said.

             
“Will you?”

             
“Why not? We’ll go out. Do Mexican at that place by Von’s. How’s that sound?”

“It sounds wonderful
,” I said enthusiastically.

He
walked me to my car and opened the door for me.

“See you tonight
,” he said, bending down and kissing me after I got in the car.

I couldn’t get to my mom’s house fast enough; the excitement was exploding like fireworks inside me. The butterflies were recklessly doing cartwheels.

“Mom
,” I yelled, coming in the back door. “Mom.”

             
“In here,” she called.

             
I could tell she was in her room. Dad’s car was gone so I assumed he had gone to work.

             
“What are you doing here so early?” she asked, looking at my reflection in her mirror.

             
She’d obviously just showered and was putting on her makeup. The bathroom mirror was still partially fogged, and I could smell the Dove soap she used, a creamy sort of fresh smell. She watched me come closer in the mirror before she turned her head to look at me. By her serious expression I could tell she was worried about what I had to say. I smiled as I pumped my hands up and down, unable to contain my happiness.

             
“What is it?” she asked smiling. “What’s making you so happy?”

             
“Ryan,” I answered.

             
She put her eye pencil down and turned her entire body toward me. I could see her shoulders relax.

             
“Ryan? Like you and Ryan?” she asked.

             
I quickly nodded my head
yes
with a big grin
.

             
“Oh, thank goodness,” she screamed loudly.

              She did a funny little jig around her dressing area like she was doing a victory dance. I couldn’t help but laugh.

             
“Finally,” she said, coming to hug me to her.

             
She held me tight rocking the two of us.

             
“Mom, stop it,” I said, giggling.

             
She pulled back to look at me and there were tears in her eyes. A lump rose in my throat and I swallowed hard to push down the emotion.

             
“What do you mean
stop it
? I am so excited. I’m thrilled,” she said, her voice rising again. “The two of you finally figured it out.”

             
“You would think it was you,” I said amazed at her reaction.

             
“It’s better than me,” she oozed as she wiped away a tear that had escaped. “We have to celebrate. I better have some champagne. I want to hear the whole thing, every minute.”

             
I felt like I had won a prize. The happy parent going off on a good thing accomplished. It felt almost dreamlike, as if I were on some game show.

“Finish your mak
eup and meet me out back. I’ll tell you the whole thing,” I said.

             
It was a gorgeous day, and although the air was cool, the sun was shining. I sat down at the table and stared into the still blue pool water.
I can’t wait to see Ryan tonight.
I went over the last twenty-four hours in my mind and how things had changed. How I had been reluctant to go at all and now we were a couple. I looked forward to what was to come. I heard the screen door open and watched Mom walk out with two champagne glasses and a bottle of Korbel.

             
“You’re not serious?” I laughed.

             
“The hell I’m not,” she said, setting everything down on the table.

             
“You’re crazy, Mom.”

             
Smiling she peeled the foil back and then undid the metal tie. She wiggled the cork slowly out of the bottle with a small popping sound. She picked up a glass and trickled the champagne down the side, preventing the bubbles from foaming as she filled the glass.

“Here you go,” she said happily
handing me a glass before she filled the other.

Sitting s
he reached out her glass to me and I touched my glass to hers with a clink.

“To you and
Ryan,” she said. “Now tell me everything.”

             
I did. I recounted everything from the minute I arrived at Ryan’s. She listened patiently without interrupting. She laughed when I told her about the sleeping bags, and then looked concerned when I told her I had insisted that he had to make a choice. I told her about our dinner and him spending the night.

“He’s coming over tonight too. We’re going to out to that cute Mexican place by Von’s,” I
flapped.

When I finally stopped talking
, she had lots of questions.

“Mom
, I haven’t been very successful at love, so don’t put too much on this. He said we’ll date, but what that means, we will have to see. This is new for both of us, so don’t go overboard with your expectations and don’t go digging with Ryan about his feelings. Leave it alone,” I said.

I stayed and took a nap
in the sun on one of the lounges by the pool before I headed home.

“I can’t wait to share this news with your dad,” Mom said
in the driveway.

Driving home
I wondered how Ryan was feeling at work, as it had been an emotional few days for him too. I stopped at the grocery store and bought some things to snack on before we went to dinner and then waited anxiously for his arrival. The phone rang and I looked at the clock.

“Hey
,” he said when I answered the phone.

It was a little after six.
I felt a tightening in my chest as my heart sank.

             
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked, with dismay.

             
“Of course I’m coming,” he said lightheartedly. “I had to drop another guy off at his house because his truck broke down. I’m just calling so you don’t worry.”

             
I wondered if my worry showed in my voice.
Did I sound needy?
I didn’t want to feel insecure about
us
, but it was there at the back of my brain nagging.

             
“How long?” I asked.

             
“I need to shower. About half hour,” he said.

             
“I’ll be here,” I said. “Still want to do Mexican?”

             
“Yes, I’m starving.”

             
When I hung up, I turned on the fireplace and dimmed the lights, then straightened the pillows on the couch again. I looked at my wilting Christmas tree, but even that couldn’t put a damper on my mood. I decided to start taking off the handmade ornaments to burn up time.
Maybe Ryan won’t mind helping me haul it out?
Park City flashed into my head, the year he’d helped me get a Christmas tree there. I could see us in the small yard at the grocery store, the trees dusted in snow.
Oh, Ryan why did it take me so long to figure love out?

I th
ought about how almost-giddy Mom had been. She loved Ryan, had from the minute she’d met him. Obviously she saw something back then that I hadn’t seen until recently. I loved him, I knew that now, and it scared the hell out of me. I knew that when I fell in love, I loved hard, I loved completely, and I expected the same in return. So far that hadn’t been the case in my relationships, and I wondered if Ryan could really be all-in.

When the do
orbell rang, I jumped up off the couch, filled with excitement. I had on jeans and a black sweater, cut low. A push-up bra provided lots of cleavage, and I knew he would like that. When I pulled open the door and saw him standing there, he took my breath away. His white cowboy-style shirt with stitching around the pockets had mother-of-pearl snaps, which gleamed in the sunlight. His jeans rode low but fitted, and he had his cowboy boots and cowboy hat on.

“I guess you’re lookin
g to get lucky tonight,” I said, smiling as I hugged the front door in relief.

             
“I figured you’d say that,” he laughed. “The boots give it away?”

             
“Well, yeah. I have your number, remember,” I teased.

             
He stepped inside and drew me to him.