were so sure of me you had a condom in your pocket?”
“Just a man with a dream.”
Ryan lifted her against him. Carrying her to the top of the bed, he sat her down and pulled the covers back then eased her under the sheets. He came down beside her and she watched as he sheathed himself.
“We’ll go slower next time, I promise. But right now I’ve got to have you.”
He entered her. When she tensed he stopped and eased away but returned and went deeper with each movement. Lucy spiraled higher, higher until there was nothing but bliss.
Ryan was but one thrust behind.
Could she be in love? Yes, she already was.
* * *
Lucy woke to the sun shining and sounds of a steady heartbeat beneath her ear as her cheek rested on Ryan’s chest. He lay on his back, one hand thrown across the huge bed and the other curling over her bare hip beneath the sheet. She wadded a corner of the material in her hand and pulled it up to cover her breasts.
He’d proved more than once during the night that he didn’t find her post-baby body less than fascinating. In fact, he’d taken time to express with words as well as actions that he appreciated her body and found her desirable. No dip or crevice had been overlooked. He’d spent an inordinate amount of time along the insides of her thighs. She warmed deep within from the memory.
From where her head rested in the arch of his shoulder, she watched as she skimmed her palm over the soft mat of hair covering the center of his chest, seeing the individual strands dance. Lifting her hand a fraction of an inch higher, she let her hand just tickle the ends of each curly hair. She found all of him irresistible. Too much so.
Was this the beginning of something truly wonderful or was she headed for heartache all over again? She wanted what Alexis had but could she trust herself enough to know if this was real? Could her heart stand devastation again?
She sighed heavily.
“Hey, what was that for? You could make a guy feel insecure, sounding like that.”
She placed her lips on his chest and turned to look up at him. “First thing in the morning and you’re already fishing for a compliment.”
“I don’t have to fish. I know how good I am by the way you put all those extra syllables in my name as you climax.”
She buried her face in his shoulder. A smile of pure satisfaction crossed her lips. The man knew how to make her feel wanted and special. She stroked his hair. “And I found out when that Irish in your speech makes an appearance.”
“Great.” He kissed the top of her head. “I have a ‘tell’?”
“Oh, I could tell all right.” She giggled as her hand traveled lower.
“Lucy.” That soft Irish burr became stronger, circling her name like a caress. “You want to hear more?”
“I think I just might.”
A long satisfying hour later, Ryan asked, “Is there anything special you’d like to do today? I have to check in at the hospital but I’m all yours after that.”
“I don’t know...”
“How about I make breakfast then take you to the St. Regis Hotel for afternoon tea.”
“You like tea? I think of you more of a baseball and hotdog guy.”
“I am, but the season hasn’t started yet. I’ve heard my sister talking about going to tea and how much she enjoyed it. I just thought you might like it as well.”
“So you like froufrou? Amazing.”
“Froufrou?” He curled up his nose.
“You know—tea, violin music, garden parties.”
“Hell, no!”
She laughed at the appalled look on his face.
“Really, tea at the St. Regis sounds wonderful. I’d just like to be dressed appropriately. So while you’re at the hospital I’ll go home and change.”
“Sounds good.”
* * *
Ryan dropped Lucy off at her place and went to the hospital to check on his patients. He stopped in his office long enough to make reservations at the St. Regis Hotel. He already missed Lucy and it had only been a few hours since he’d seen her. She had an effect on him like no other woman had ever had. Snatching his sports jacket off the coat rack in his office, he went out the door with a smile on his face. A decision about where their affair might go didn’t have to be made today. They’d just enjoy being together and see where that led.
He climbed the steps to Lucy’s apartment two at a time, unable to wait to kiss her again. He’d made fun of his brothers-in-law and rolled his eyes when they’d acted like this about his sisters. He hoped they never found out that he was walking around with a syrupy smile on his face. If they did, he’d pay for all the times he’d laughed at them.
At his knock on Lucy’s door, someone opened it. Was he at the correct door?
He’d expected a simple but elegantly dressed woman whose hair was in place and a shy smile of greeting. Maybe a slight blush from heated memories of their night together. Instead, the woman in front of him had hair that stood out in wild disarray around her face and shoulders as if she been tugging on it then running her fingers through it. Her mouth was pinched in a hard line and her eyes were red-rimmed. She wore baggy sweats and an old hoodie.
What had happened to the happy, smiling Lucy he’d left a few hours ago? She’d even volunteered a goodbye kiss without him asking. A delicious kiss at that.
“Lucy, honey, what’s happened?”
“They’re here in town!”
“Who?” Aliens, terrorists, the IRS? From the look of alarm in her eyes, he could only think the worst.
“Alexis, Sam and Emily.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Alexis. Your sister?” He made no effort to keep the astonishment out of his voice. Was that what this was all about?
She nodded.
“That’s great. I’d love to meet them.”
“It isn’t great,” she all but shouted before she turned to pace the room. Grasping her hair, she pulled it back and let it go to fall in wild array around her face again. The woman who kept tight control over her hair and didn’t raise her voice had made an abrupt change.
He stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind him. As she came by him the second time, he caught her hand and pulled her into a hug. She stood inflexible in his arms for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his waist. He held her. It wasn’t until her shoulders shook and spots on his chest felt damp through his shirt that he realized she was crying. “Honey, you’re not making sense. You’re
