The Trouble with Sexy (5 page)

Gregg's expression was guarded. “The guy was all over you. I didn't like it.”

Her breath caught a little. “Why?”

Gregg gave a snort. “Because you told him to stop and he didn't. He needed to learn a little lesson in how to treat a lady.”

She stepped forward. “Is that it? You were just being the good guy?”

He shrugged. “That's me. Just another knight in shining armor.” He noticed her shivers and shook his head. “Why don't you go back inside and have fun? Enjoy your new look.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Really? You wouldn't mind?”

He gave a growl. “Of course not.”

“Hmmm. All right then. See you tomorrow.” She turned to walk away, heard him curse behind her and turned back, ready to unleash her temper about his mixed signals. But she never got a word out.

Suddenly, his rock hard arms were around her and his mouth had slammed down on hers. She reached up behind his neck and made a soft sound as his tongue swept out over her lips. She pressed herself against him as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, mating with hers. His fingers kneaded into the small of her back and she felt his hard length pressed against her abdomen. He pulled back a little, softening his kiss and nibbling at her full bottom lip. Her stomach felt like a thousand moths were flying around inside, and when his mouth slipped along her chin to kiss the pulse at her neck, she let her head fall to the side to give him better access.

A round of catcalls broke them apart, and Ryan wanted to cry out in protest when Gregg pulled away from her. She watched him take a deep, shaky breath, and her heart thumped when he whispered, “God, I've thought about doing that for over a year.”

Her chest rose and fell, desire still coursing through her body. “Then why didn't you?”

His small smile flashed in the dark. “I did. On New Year's.”

She shook her head. “But you turned away and kissed that other girl.”

He slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around her. “She pounced on me. By the time I got her off, you were gone.”

She swallowed hard. “Really?”

He stepped into her again. “Yeah really.”

She cuddled against his chest, listening to his heart slowing against her cheek. “But you never brought it up afterward.”

His deep chuckle vibrated against her cheek. “Neither did you.”

She leaned back, looking up into his handsome face. “But . . . I thought you liked Gracie.”

He smiled back at her. “Not as much as I wanted you to think.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Oh, so it was just some kind of ploy? To make me jealous?”

He shrugged. “Did it work?”

She shook her head and lied. “Not in the slightest.”

He grinned again, and slid his hands over her back. “Do you maybe want to take this someplace warmer?”

She swallowed hard. It was one thing to kiss him in a parking lot, with no way to go much further than that without being seen, but if she went back to his house, he would think that meant a green light for sex. Her fear of disappointing him weighed heavily in her mind and a knot formed in her stomach. “Actually, I'm a little tired. I'm going to go see if Gracie is ready to take off.”

He caught her as she started to pull away. “I can take you home.”

She swallowed hard. “Well, the thing is, we went shopping this afternoon and all my stuff is in her car. And my car's still in The Local Bean's parking lot, so . . .”

He smiled at her patiently. “Can't you get your stuff tomorrow?”

“I'd like to have them tonight and wash them.”

“Ryan, if you aren't interested and trying not to hurt my feelings—”

“No!” she blurted. “It's not that. I just don't want to move too fast.”

He touched her cheek gently and assured her, “I won't push you for anything you don't want.”

She went back into his arms and hugged him. “I know.”

He kissed her hair and they just stood there, wrapped up in each other's warmth. Ryan thought about how just a few hours ago he'd had a rough time telling her she was sexy, and tonight he'd invited her home. She was already regretting her train of thought when she said, “Gregg? If you'd been thinking about kissing me for over a year, why didn't you ever say anything? And don't say New Year's, because that doesn't count.”

She waited with bated breath for him to answer, and let it out slowly when he said, “Honestly, I just never got that vibe from you. That you were into me, I mean.”

She snapped her head up and stared at him in disbelief. “Are you crazy? I could barely form sentences around you for weeks after you hired me.”

He shrugged. “I just thought maybe you were shy.”

“I'm not that shy! You're just that intimidating.”

He leaned down and kissed her nose. “Flattery will get you everywhere, sweetheart.” He gave her another lingering kiss, and whispered, “You should probably go find Gracie before I change my mind about taking you home. I'll see you tomorrow.”

She felt bereft as she watched him get into his car and pull away, but didn't have the nerve to stop him. She wrapped her arms around herself and realized she was still wearing his jacket. Bringing the warm fabric up to her nose, she breathed him in with a smile, and with a lightened step went back inside to find Gracie.

Seven days until Valentine's Day . . .

“S
ERIOUSLY, WHY DIDN'T
you let him take you home? Gregg is a sexy beast.”

Ryan shook her head at her new friend's description. “It's hard to explain.”

Gracie raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Try me.”

Ryan hadn't slept well last night and needed coffee in a bad way when she left the house. She'd walked into The Local Bean early to grab some coffee before her first appointment, and saw Gracie sitting down with a pretty brunette Ryan recognized as Gracie's best friend Gemma Carlson, the object of Mike's unrequited love. Gemma was a single mother who'd had her son at nineteen, and although speculation ran like a mountain spring all over town, no one knew for sure who the father was. One rumor said he was a random guy she'd met on the Internet, and another said that Travis Bowers, country music's hottest bachelor, had done the deed and dumped her right after.

Despite what most of the older generation described as a major transgression, Gemma worked hard for her community and loved her son and her business, the little used bookstore next to the coffee shop, Chloe's Book Nook. Ryan felt instantly at ease with Gemma when Gracie had invited her to join them, until Gracie brought up the Gregg situation.

Ryan glanced at Gemma, who attempted a rescue. “Gracie, it's probably very personal. Ryan doesn't have to tell you just because you're nosy.”

Ryan shot Gemma a grateful smile, which Gracie waved off. “I hate to break it to you, but I'm your friend now. And I know you haven't had very many girlfriends so let me tell you the first rule of friendship.” She took a sip of her coffee, pausing for dramatic effect. “All girls are nosy. Eventually I will pry all secrets from you. It's futile to resist.”

Gemma laughed at her. “I still have some secrets you don't know about.”

Gracie narrowed her eyes at Gemma. “I'll deal with you later.” She turned her attention back to Ryan. “Seriously, it took a huge set of balls to ask me for help yesterday. I respect that. Maybe if you tell me why you're so freaked out by Gregg, I can help you.”

Ryan looked from Gemma's reassuring smile to Gracie's eager one. She thought about continuing to protest her right to privacy, but why bother? It didn't take a lifelong friendship to realize that Gracie would just pester her until she gave in and spilled her guts. “Okay, well I told you yesterday about how my last couple of relationships hadn't gone so well?” Gracie nodded, and Ryan continued, “Well, I think maybe I'm just not good in bed.”

Gracie shook her head and snorted. “You dated Doug Dooly. No one can enjoy sex with that selfish pig.”

Gemma grinned at her. “Didn't you go out with Doug?”

Gracie glared at her. “Yeah, when I was eighteen and crazy. No offense, you didn't know better when you went out with him. Doug has the sensitivity of a gnat and I'd be surprised if he cared about anything more than getting drunk and getting off.”

Gemma gasped. “Gracie!”

Gracie shrugged off Gemma's horror and Ryan hid a grin. Gracie was outrageous and said basically everything that came to her mind, but Ryan already adored her. Every misconception she'd had about the pretty blonde made her think that Gracie probably wasn't the first person she'd misjudged, if Ryan's ex-boyfriends were any indication.

“I'm just saying that all Doug cares about is Doug, and if I had to guess, I'd bet your other boyfriends were the same. I mean seriously, if you don't enjoy sex, how are you supposed to be good at it?”

Ryan thought about that for a minute and realized Gracie was right. Majority of the time, she didn't even orgasm during sex, she was so busy trying to make the guy she was with happy. In fact she never remembered having one orgasm with Doug, mainly because he was pretty quick on the draw. She bit her lip to hold back a laugh but Gracie caught her look. “Hey, what's the laugh about?”

Ryan shook her head. “Nothing, I was just thinking.”

Gracie watched her for a minute, as if weighing whether to press for the joke. She must have decided to just let it go because she pointed her finger at Ryan. “You just need to relax and let nature take its course. I highly doubt Gregg's the type of guy to leave a girl hanging. He's one of the good ones.”

Ryan felt her stomach tighten with a little twist of jealousy. “Can I ask you something?”

Gracie smiled and volunteered, “No, I never slept with Gregg.”

Gemma rolled her eyes and Ryan blushed. “No, that's not it. Why did you blow Gregg off after your date?”

Gracie's smile dimmed a little and her eyes clouded. She sat back with a sigh and replied, “I just knew we weren't a good fit. I mean, Gregg is hot, don't get me wrong, but he needs someone like . . . well like you. I would have just run roughshod over him and ruined him for any other decent girls.”

Gemma smiled at Ryan and said, “What Gracie's trying to say is she's a little boy crazy. She tends to break nice guys' hearts to the point that all women become the evil enemy.”

Gracie glared at her. “Hey, I just haven't found the one yet, okay? And it's not like I sleep with all of them.”

Ryan grinned at Gemma and asked, “Have you ever seen
Oklahoma
?”

Gemma grinned back at Ryan, her eyes twinkling. “Yeah I've seen it.”

“What are you two babbling about?” Gracie glared between them, and both women burst out laughing.

Ryan tried to stop laughing and said, “You just remind me of Ado Annie.”

Gemma waited for Gracie to scowl or get angry, but was startled instead when Gracie started singing, “‘I only did the kind of things I orta, sorta . . .'”

Startled patrons and employees turned to stare at them, and the three of them burst into fresh peals of laughter.

R
YAN LOCKED UP
the studio and looked at the surrounding shops, scrunching her nose at the red hearts and cupids that decorated the store windows. She really didn't think Valentine's Day was a big deal. She'd never had a boyfriend on the actual day, unless you counted Troy Grover when she was in fifth grade and he gave her a Power Ranger's Valentine. Most of the time it was everything that happened before Valentine's Day that made her despise the overwhelming pressure the world of marketing drummed into her brain through every avenue of communication and visual stimulation. Watching all of the happy couples making gooey eyes at each other and the men rushing around to buy cards and bouquets last minute just added to the problem, and made her shake her head in disgust.

She reached her car and started to open the door. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped a foot in the air and turned to find Gregg smiling apologetically. “Sorry, didn't mean to startle you.”

She shook her head. “It's okay, I just didn't hear you.”

“Well I just wanted to catch you and see if maybe you'd like to have dinner tonight?”

Her face broke into a relieved smile. “I was afraid you were mad at me.”

He shook his head. “No, I understand why you didn't want to leave with me last night. I meant to call you earlier but got caught up with Sally Barrett wanting me to drive around with her and take pictures of some of her property listings. I'm okay with taking things slow.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “So what do you think?”

“I'd love to go to dinner with you.”

His face split into a gorgeous smile and he smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “I'll pick you up at seven-thirty?”

Her heart hammered at his touch. “Sure. That works.”

His hand dropped slowly and his eyes held the same heat they had the night before.

“All right, I'll see you then.”

Ryan watched him walk toward the Tahoe and couldn't stop the tingles radiating across her cheek from where his thumb had been.

G
REGG KNOCKED ON
her door at 7:27, a dozen red roses that Nancy at Hall's Market had wrapped up for him in his hand. He was dressed in a blue-collared shirt, khakis, and brown dress shoes. His jacket was brown corduroy with a thick, warm lining and he'd already messed up his hair by running his fingers through it nervously.

Ryan opened the door and Gregg sucked in his breath. The light from the living room illuminated her from behind, making her mane of red hair darker and her smile brighter. She wore a soft-looking cream sweater that fell off one shoulder, revealing rich pale skin down to the soft rise of one breast. A wide black belt was attached to her sweater, accenting the indent of her waist and the flare of her hips. Her legs were encased in tight boot-cut jeans, and short black boots gave her an extra two inches in height.