Love Unscripted (28 page)

“
So I have a question I’ve
been meaning to ask you,” I said as we took our second shower.

Ryan leaned into the stream of water, rinsing the soap off of his shoulders. “What, honey?”

“
How is it that you’ve been able to slip through my back door unnoticed by the paparazzi? I know they follow you everywhere, but somehow you’ve managed to hide from them.”

He smiled. “It’s complicated. Do you know what a shell game is?”

“
Yeah,” I said. “The coin or whatever is underneath one of three shells.”

“
Exactly!” he confirmed. “Most of the time I switch cars. Like last night - we got driven back to the hotel, but then I slipped into a different car in the private parking deck and we drove out the public exit.”

“
Clever!” I smiled and wrapped a towel around my body. “So, are the photographers going to follow the cast here today?”

“
Probably. Too many people are coming here,” he said while rubbing his towel over his hair. “Believe me, I thought about canceling this just to keep the extra attention away. But if the cast is coming here, we’ll just say that we had a private cast party in your facility.”

“
You know you won’t be able to leave with them tonight, right? It will be obvious if you’re not with them when they arrive but if you’re seen leaving...”

“
I know, I thought about that…
after
I got here last night. I’m sorry.”

“
Nothing to be sorry about. Oh, wait. Does that mean I have to sleep with you
again
tonight?” I gave him a teasing shove and ran for the bedroom.

“
I could make you suffer!” he yelled while chasing me. He caught me by the waist and swept me up in his arms. With a few quick movements he had me pinned to the bed.

“
Promise? Don’t toy with my emotions, Ryan Christensen!” I giggled.

He leaned down and kissed me passionately again.

“
Keep this up and we’ll never get dressed,” I murmured on his lips.

“
Sounds like a plan!” he chuckled, his eyes looking down at the new bulge pressing from behind his towel. “I’m quite sure I could toss you around this room for another hour or so.”

“
What time is it?” I asked. I couldn’t see the clock on the nightstand.

He had to crane his neck to see the time. “Almost eleven thirty.”

“
Hmm, it
is
awfully early.” I smiled and twined my fingers into his wet hair. “We have
several
hours to kill, actually.”

He flashed his sexy grin at me and then placed his lips back on mine.

Ryan wasn’t kidding when he said he could toss me around the bed for another hour. Our lovemaking this time had become even more adventurous as we learned each other’s bodies.

“
Holy shit,” he gasped, crashing into a heap next to me on the bed.

I was still trying to catch my breath.

“
I need… another shower… after that!” He breathed out a lung-full of air.

“
Me too.” I wiped some sweat off of my forehead. My body was tingling all over from the incredible ecstasy he just unleashed on me - again.

“
Put your hand on my chest,” he requested.

I had trouble with this simple request. My hand slapped down on his skin.

“
Ow!” he yelped.

“
Sorry, can’t feel my arms just yet!”

“
Feel that? You did that,” he panted.

“
What did I do?” I muttered. My heart was pounding just as fast as his was.

He rolled over on his side and pulled me closer. His eyes locked on mine.

“
You made my heart beat again,” he said with a glorious smile. His lips softly kissed my lips and I could feel all the passion that he meant to convey with each touch.

I gazed into his eyes and lightly brushed my fingertips across his face. Three little words flashed through my mind as I looked at him, but there was no way I’d say them out loud.

Ryan gathered my hand in his and folded my hand to his lips. I wondered if he had three little words in his mind too and if one day I might hear
him
say them out loud. At this moment it didn’t matter; the way he looked at me was good enough.

I pressed his hand above my breast. “You did the same for me.”

He kissed my fingertips and smiled.

“
Come on… let’s go get freshened up… again.”

He took me by the hand and pulled me up off the bed.

“
When do you have to be back on set?” I asked. I turned the tub water on and tested the temperature with my hand.

“
I have to be in makeup by seven. I have a fourteen hour day scheduled,” he muttered, placing our towels on the counter.

I wondered if I would drive him to our secret transfer place or if a driver would pick him up here in the morning. I’d save that question for later for I didn’t want to think at all about him leaving.

We climbed into the shower to wash again when Ryan’s expression turned serious.

“
Taryn, I want to be honest with you. There are some things you need to know before everyone shows up tonight.”

My heart thumped in my chest, guessing that his honestly would reveal bad news. His timing was perfect though – where could I go at this very moment? I was naked and standing in a stream of water.

I looked up into his eyes; if he’s going to tell me something horrible then he’d have to face me head on.

“
I just want you to know that there’s nothing going on between me and Suzanne, even though I spend a lot of time in
situations
with her where it seems like something could be going on.”

“
I don’t know what you mean,” I said as the water pelted me in the head.

“
She’s the lead in our movie, and I know you haven’t seen it, but there are a lot of scenes where I have to kiss her - but it’s just for the film. We have to be close, but I want you to know that I don’t have those kinds of feelings for her.” He stared at me intensely, monitoring my reaction.

I looked at him, confused. “What are you trying to say?”

“
I think of her like a sister - a sometimes annoying sister. I’m concerned she might say something tonight that’s out of line. And I just wanted you to know - from me - that there’s nothing there.”

“
Okay. So if she says something to me I should just ignore her?”

“
Just take it with a grain of salt. She might be cool, but I’m thinking she’s going to say something stupid. If she says anything to you, just tell me, okay?” he said as he rinsed his face under the water.

“
Okay, I will. Are you finished or do you need more time in here?” I was ready to turn the water off. I looked at him expecting an answer to my question but instead fear struck me in the chest; his face was still troubled.

“
There’s something else you need to know,” he continued. I felt the blood rush from my heart as he took a hold of my hands.

“
Francesca and I…” He looked down with guilt. The fear from not knowing what his confession would be knocked me for a loop. He looked me directly in the eyes when he spoke again. “It only happened once, and it was over a year ago.”

I reached behind my back and turned the water off. I had to get a bearing on the admission he just made to me. I pushed the curtain open and was just about to step out of the tub when he gently grabbed my arm.

“
Taryn, look at me. I swear it was only once… and after it happened I realized it was a big mistake. I want you to know that I don’t have any feelings for her.” His expression was sincere.

“
Does she have feelings for you?” I asked. Disappointment coated my whisper.

“
I don’t know. Sometimes she says things… I know I should have never crossed that line with her.” His hand lifted my chin so I’d look him in the eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if she has feelings for me or not because I don’t feel the same way. I never did. I never will.”

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel tightly around my body. I hoped the constriction of the towel could somehow keep my heart from cracking.

Ryan quickly wrapped a towel around his waist then grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him again.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you like this, but I wanted you to know – directly from me – what the truth is. I’m telling you all of this because I don’t want any secrets between us. She’s coming here tonight too and I don’t want our relationship to get...” He looked away to choose his words before looking back into my eyes.

“
Taryn, I’m…” he paused to breathe out a deep sigh. “I only want you - just you. But I can’t change the mistakes that I’ve made.”

I had to make an instant decision. I could let the jealousy consume me and be angry or I could thank my lucky stars that the man standing in front of me cared enough about me to tell me the truth.

I slowly reached my hand up to place it on his cheek. The water from his hair was dripping down his face. My heart skipped a beat from just touching him and I realized that my feelings for him were way too powerful to let his past change that. For the first time in my life the man who was holding my heart in his hand was honest with me. It took a lot of courage for him to tell me what he was feeling.

“
Thank you for being honest and for telling me.” I softly smiled. Relief coursed into my heart when he took my hand in his and pressed my palm to his lips.

“
Are you mad at me?” he asked carefully.

“
No, I’m not mad. I’m not happy with the news, but we both have pasts. It’s part of who we are. We’ve both made mistakes.”

He took my face in his hands, staring into my eyes; his thumbs gently stroked my cheeks before he leaned in to softly kiss my lips.

I wrapped my hands around his ribs as he kissed me passionately. There were no cameras, no directors, no witnesses - just Ryan and I and our raw, unscripted emotions.

“
We better get ready. We’re going to have guests soon,” I reminded him.

I started to comb my wet hair while doing everything possible to banish the visions of him and Francesca together.

As long as he was an actor, women would be coming at him from all angles and directions. But he was with
me
now, by his choice, and the feelings that he shared were real and as obvious as black and white, with no shades of gray.

Ryan slipped a new black T-shirt over his head; his jeans were hanging on his hips and the elastic waistband of his briefs was showing as he strung his leather belt through the loops.

I smiled, thinking that it took me three showers to get to this point of the day. My hair and makeup were finally done.

Oh my God he is hot! I really just want to lay naked in bed with him all day.

“
What?” he asked softly, noting my stare.

My eyes were still tracing the faint view of his exposed skin on his stomach.

“
Tell me what you’re thinking!” he urged. I thought about it for a moment, then decided to be blatantly honest.

“
I was just thinking about tearing your clothes off and crawling back under the covers.”

He charged over to where I stood and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the floor. His aggressive approach made me laugh.

“
I could rip your clothes off too, but actually you are looking so incredibly sexy dressed.” His eyes glanced down at my body.

I was in my favorite True Religion Jeans – the ones that had cute leather lacing up the front, with a black Tee and my black heeled boots.

“
I could go back to sleep though. You wore me out!” he snickered. “We’ll just have to kick everyone out early.”

I slipped my fingers into his hair and kissed him, appreciating that for this moment in time, he was mine… all mine.

It was almost three thirty in the afternoon when Pete called to let me know that he and Tammy were out in the alley, getting ready to unload the food.

“
Here Taryn, take this box,” Pete instructed. The back of Tammy’s van was loaded.

“
Something smells fantastic!” Ryan said, taking the box from my hands. “Where do you want me to put this?”

“
Just put everything on the counters for now. We need to set up tables,” I replied. I couldn’t help but smirk at Ryan. He was smiling at me too.

Ryan helped Pete set up a table for the food and then assisted in transferring all the food from the kitchen to the bar. It was apparent by the volume and variety of delectables that we were going to eat like kings and queens today.

Marie and Gary arrived soon after we started setting up. I had asked them to arrive early, for I wanted to make sure that my friends were safely inside before the cast arrived. My friends didn’t need to be photographed today.

Tammy had set out linens to cover the buffet tables and I was in the process of opening one of them up when Ryan walked past me. He pinched me quickly on the butt cheek when he thought no one was looking.