Dare Me Forever (8 page)

“Amy, awfully sorry.”
He sat down next to me, close enough that our thighs touched. “Way
to kill the moment, I know. This project has been turning into a bit
of a mind fuck to tell you the truth. There are so many political
entities involved, and so much money at stake, people can’t seem to
keep their shit together.” He ran his hand though his rich dark
hair. “But I can’t do everything myself. It’s too big.” It
seemed like he was talking more to himself at that moment than to me.

I pulled him towards me
by his tie and kissed him again gently on the lips. “Of course you
can’t do it all yourself. You’re talking about miles of sea
line.” I gazed out at the ocean, and a sudden sadness washed over
me. I wanted Ryan’s investment to pan out, but the thought of
losing the shoreline I’d grown up with was hard to bear. My little
town would look so different, but wouldn’t it be worth it if it
helped the local economy like Ryan said? There were no easy answers.
Life was so much more complicated than I always wanted to be. I
sighed, turning back to Ryan. “Let’s go grab that beer you
promised me.”

He folded up the
blanket and threw the rest of the wine out as I straightened my shirt
and gathered my things. Ryan grabbed my hand to pull me up from the
sand. He didn’t let go as we started to walk back towards the town.
My hand felt good in his, fitting in like a puzzle piece, warm and
right. A tingling buzzed all the way up my arm, and as I gazed up at
him, it continued up to my heart. I’d never felt a wholeness like
this—and this was just from holding his hand. I couldn’t
understand it, but I stopped myself from thinking too much. It was an
almost magical feeling to walk alongside him. I’d never tell Jamie
or Cat--they’d probably cart me off to some funny farm.

But I swear I felt it.

We went to Tap House, a
new German beer garden, a block or so away from my shop. Ryan sat
down on the bar stool next to mine, and even though I wasn’t
usually into PDA, I leaned into him, pressing my body against the
warmth of his as we ordered.

I wasn’t a big beer
drinker, but Ryan promised me that he knew the best brands. After
everything that had gone right this evening, how could I doubt him?
The bartender slid the two pints across the bar, and Ryan caught them
easily without spilling a single drop. He raised his glass, his green
eyes glinting in that way I loved. “To new friends,” he said, his
voice a low purr.

I raised my glass to
his, gently butting the rims together. Cool beer trickled down my
glass, slipping in between my fingers. I smiled, glancing at Ryan out
of the corner of my eye, and licked the beer off, slowly and
deliberately, feeling a little thrill at the way he sat back in
obvious longing. I didn’t usually tease like this, but with Ryan it
was a thrill.

“To new friends,” I
said innocently, taking a sip of my beer. Ryan was right--it was much
better than any I’d had before, cool and delicious.

The waiter dropped a
plate of sausage in front of each of us, and we chatted as we ate—not
about our pasts, this time, but about light things: our favorite
places in the town, our favorite movies. The Tap House was nice, hip
but casual. I’d been meaning to go since it opened a few months
ago, but hadn’t had the chance.

As Ryan dropped his
shiny credit card on the counter—he had already bluntly refused to
let me pay—I glanced around the room, at many people my age,
enjoying themselves. I wondered how old Ryan was—definitely older
than me by at least five years. He had a certain maturity about him
that men my age didn’t yet have. At first I’d thought it was the
accent that made him seem older, but as I got to know him, I realized
that it wasn’t just that. There was a strength and integrity to him
that could have only developed with age.

Once Ryan signed his
name boldly across the check, he looked up at me and smiled as we
made eye contact. It was a face, a body, and a gaze that I could get
used to.

Amy

Cat called first thing
in the morning, bright and chipper as always. We’d planned to go on
an early morning hike, but 6 am was a
bit
earlier than I’d
anticipated. And I hadn’t realized I’d be up so late the night
before.

“I promise I’ll
bring you a coffee, Ames. You know I can’t sleep past 5. I waited
a
whole
hour to call. Aren’t I a great friend?” I could
practically hear her grin over the phone.

As much as I wanted to
be mad at her for waking me up, I just couldn’t be. It was
basically impossible to be more than slightly annoyed with Cat. She
was just one of those kind of people.

“Give me a half an
hour, and I’ll be ready,” I promised. “If you bring a blueberry
muffin with that coffee, I’ll forgive you for waking me in the
middle of a super hot dream.” I stretched my arm above my head and
yawned loudly into the phone.

“And who was the star
of said super hot dream?” Cat asked dramatically, but I wasn’t
going to answer her right away—at least not until I saw her in
person.

“Coffee, muffin,” I
muttered in my best Tarzan impression. I ended the call, and closed
my eyes. A few more minutes of relaxation before I started the day.
Ryan’s face floated to the edge of my mind, and I could see the way
he’d smiled at me as I’d walked toward him on the beach the night
before. I imagined him beside me in this bed, kissing my neck, making
his way down my body with his tongue. I imagined that extraordinary
look in his eye as he pushed himself into me. His chest hard, but
those eyes, tender. Like I was all he needed in the whole world.

I needed to stop
thinking about him 24/7. But I couldn’t get him off my mind. He was
an arrogant, business-obsessed Brit, but he was also an affectionate,
witty, complicated person—and more than anything I wanted to figure
out the puzzle of who and why he was who he was.

Maybe the hike with Cat
would give help give my thoughts a rest. We’d better make it a
really hard hike, so that I’d have to concentrate on my breathing,
and knock these somewhat obsessive, X-rated thoughts to the back of
my mind. I really couldn’t remember thinking of anyone this much,
without actually really knowing them. I’d only seen him three
times. But last night was making it impossible for me to push it from
my mind. I remembered feeling infatuated this way with Hunter, but I
had known him for years before we got together, and anyways, I’d
been a teenager.

I didn’t have any
excuses now. I was twenty-three, I hardly knew Ryan, and yet he was
invading every waking moment. I hated to admit to myself that he was
in my dreams too. And I certainly wasn’t going to dwell on the fact
that I was still wet from the dream, where he had made love to me
like no one else had before. Totally consuming me.

I heard the doorbell
ring twenty minutes later. I guess Cat couldn’t wait any longer. I
sighed as I opened the door, but the minute I saw the steaming coffee
and smelled the freshly baked goods, I couldn’t even tease her
about being early.

“Coffee Savior, I bow
down to you,” I announced thankfully. “I was out later than usual
with this new guy, Ryan. I want to tell you about him. I just need to
wake up first.” It was impossible not to be happy looking at Cat
with her pageboy haircut, bright yellow sports top and matching
yellow stretch pants. Throw in her neon green laces on her new Nike
grey kicks and it was undeniable--she looked like the sun on acid.
Thankfully, she was only 5 feet tall, so there wasn’t too much to
look at. I think otherwise I could have been blinded.

I slurped the coffee
and walked back inside. I already had on my black stretch pants and a
new blue tank with a sports bra sewed in, hugging my curves. I put my
coffee on the kitchen table, and ran into the bathroom. Pulling my
brown hair into a high ponytail, and smoothing down my bangs, I
looked into the mirror. I looked like one happy camper. I couldn’t
remember the last time I’d been so optimistic about life.

I grabbed my phone and
texted Hunter to come a little later to drop off his present. That
way we wouldn’t have to rush back from the hike. I’m sure he
wasn’t yet awake.

Slipping on my socks
and hooking my finger around the laces of my shoes, I carried them
and my coffee into Cat’s car. As I tied my laces into tight double
knots, we headed towards the hills, only twenty-five minutes away.
I’d still have time for a quick shower and change in order to open
the store on time. She put on one of our favorite pre work out songs,
Will I Am
, and we sang along with Nicki. Cat is all about
letting loose. She and Jamie have that in common. I’m glad that
they remind me to do it once in a while.

We pulled into the park
grounds and found a spot for the car. When I got out, I smelled that
minty eucalyptus scent that I love. The sun felt warm on my skin.

Cat had brought us each
a bottle of water, which I put on top of the car as I did a few
stretches. I was back at exercise with a vengeance and we were going
to rock this hike.

There were only a few
cars in the parking lot, as we’d come early enough to beat the
usual weekday hikers. We headed off into the woods, and before I
could even begin to obsess about Ryan, I challenged her.

“Cat, let’s race!”
I said, as I took off ahead of her down the path. I know it wasn’t
very sportsmanlike to use the element of surprise to my advance like
that, but what can I say? I liked winning.

I could feel my heart
rate start to climb, as Cat laughed behind me, catching up. “What
are we, five years old?”

We spurred each other
on. As one of us would slow down the other would speed up. Blood
pounded in my ears as the exhilaration of exercise and
competition—friendly though it was—kept me moving. I was
competitive enough, and so was Cat, so there was no way this race was
going to end soon. It was a pretty steep climb, and walking usually
took at least thirty minutes to reach the first plateau. We were
going so fast, we would make it in twenty at the most.

I could feel the sweat
dripping down my face, and was glad I’d put my hair up in a
ponytail. I tucked my bangs behind my ear, and swore that next time
I’d bring some kind of 80’s bandana to keep the hair out of my
eyes.

As we neared the top, I
saw another runner a few hundred feet in front of us. He looked
familiar, but I couldn’t quite make him out from this far away. It
wasn’t until Cat and I reached the top, both of us panting and
chugging our water that I saw who it was.

Ryan

Hiking in the mountains
near Escondido, a town that was near the new home I was building, I
wondered what Amy was doing at that moment. She was hot. She was
definitely different from the woman I usually dated. I couldn’t get
her off my mind, I didn’t have time for this kind of distraction
right now. Maybe I just needed to fuck her and get it out of my
system.

I wasn’t in the
market for a relationship. I was too busy at work. Something wasn’t
adding up about this new project. The budget was set, we’d hired
the contractors, but the funding from another project the Morgan’s
had finished prior to my taking over didn’t have the consistent
cash flow I’d been led to believe. I couldn’t put my finger on
it, but something wasn’t right.

I continued up the
mountain, accelerating my pace, enjoying the feeling of sweat on my
body, until I reached the peak of the hill. Pumping my arms, I began
drills, up and down the peak, until I hit thirty reps. I needed to
run, otherwise, I’d think about work until I was blue in the face.
I was sweating hard when I finished my last rep. Panting, I rewarded
myself with a long look out over the ocean, and the city below.

Besides the huge
project by the waterfront, I was thinking of buying out a lumber
company to have a good vertical business, keep everything under my
control. I’d have to check the budget first, of course, but long
term it could do the company good, make it the kind of business that
was impenetrable.

Maybe I’d ask Amy out
again, besides the fundraiser, take her to dinner and bring her back
to my place to see how hard I could make her come. I shook my
head—even my obsession with business couldn’t get my mind off
her.

I thought I heard my
name, and I turned around at the sound. I’d taken my shirt off and
was wiping my dripping face. It was Amy with another woman, both of
them guzzling water, their cheeks rosy from a run. I couldn’t help
the huge smile that I felt on my face as my eyes traveled over her
body. Her jogging shirt was outrageously flattering. Shite, I had it
bad for this girl. I felt like I had conjured her up and she’d
appeared.

“Hi.” She smiled
sweetly and then introduced her friend. She looked amazing, all
sweaty and flushed. I imagined what I could do to her to make her
look that way. I tried not to stare, but her large blue eyes were
mesmerizing, as was the cute way she kept moving her bangs away,
inadvertently getting her face muddy--well I couldn’t keep my
bloody eyes off of her.

What luck. Hot, smart,
active, and challenging. I hadn’t ever wanted someone like this.

Amy

I thought I had
succeeded keeping my mind off Ryan, pushing him out of my thoughts
for the past thirty minutes, but I swear when I saw him in front of
me, I was sure I was hallucinating. What was wrong me? But when I
heard Cat’s sharp intake of breath and whisper, “Who is that
awesome looking dude, who is smiling at you like his favorite flavor
of ice cream?” I knew it wasn’t my imagination.

Ryan was here and I was
a sweaty mess. Great. I tried to make myself more presentable, wiping
my face with the back of my hand.

He came towards us, as
we were almost at the top of the hill. I introduced the two of them.
Thankfully Cat didn’t say anything out of line. She’s been known
to embarrass the hell out of Jamie, but she was gentler with me. Ryan
leaned towards me and used his thumb to wipe my cheek.