If I Need You (If You Come Back To Me 5) - Page 39

“Mari took care of some things, as well,” she reminded him, flipping on the light and leading him into the room.

“I know. We’re thankful to both of you. I’m glad Scott decided to make the

move with me. He’s too good of a pilot to lose. Besides, he’s as much of a workhorse as I am,” Ryan said distractedly, his gaze moving around the bedroom and finally landing on Faith.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” he said, sounding stunned.

“You...you like it, don’t you?” Faith asked, referring to the newly refurbished bedroom.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” he repeated, looking almost grim. He plopped his large duffel bag on the bed and came toward her. “You shouldn’t have, Faith,” he admonished, looking all around the room again and then back at her. “I would have been happy sleeping on the couch. You didn’t have to redecorate a whole room.”

“It’s just new bedding and curtains.”

“And new lamps, and rugs...and was that painting there before?” he asked, referring to the framed Lake Michigan landscape.

“No,” she admitted, feeling uncomfortable under his blazing stare.

He muttered something under his breath and stepped closer. Her breath stuck in her lungs when he took her into his arms, making the action seem as natural as climbing into the pilot’s seat of an F-16.

“You shouldn’t have spent all that time and money on me,” he said quietly, his voice resonating above her forehead. She looked up slowly. It overwhelmed her a little—a lot—to feel his rock-hard body next to hers, to see his bold-featured, much-missed visage so close. “I’ll pay you back for everything you purchased.”

“No, that’s not necessary. I wanted to make it a nice place for you,” she said, her voice just above a whisper, her eyes caught in his steady stare.

“I missed you while I was gone,” he said.

“I...I missed you, too,” she admitted shakily. She ducked her head when he lowered his. She was sorely tempted to lift it again, to accept his kiss—to glory in it. Because there was little doubt, given the glint in his eyes and the rigid expression of his features, kissing her had been precisely what Ryan was about to do. She couldn’t allow their arrangement to derail from her planned course within three minutes of his arrival at the house.

“Why don’t you get unpacked, and I’ll go and get us some lemonade in the kitchen,” Faith said, backing out of his arms. Her false cheeriness stood in stark contrast to Ryan’s slanted brows and slightly irritated expression.

He entered the kitchen several minutes later. She glanced sideways at him as he bent to greet an ecstatic Topsy and ruffle the puppy’s coat.

“Look at you. You’ve grown, haven’t you, little girl?” he murmured, grinning.

It was an unusually warm spring day and he wore a short-sleeved white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. The shirt displayed his muscular arms ideally. Faith paused in the action of garnishing their drinks with lime slices.

“I didn’t know you had a tattoo,” she said, eyeing the only partially revealed depiction of what appeared to be a bird with outstretched wings etched on steely biceps just beneath a white sleeve.

He stood, a darkly amused look on his face. “You haven’t given me the opportunity to show it to you yet.”

She blushed and busied herself putting away the ice-cube container. It was true what he’d said—they’d been so wild with lust on Christmas Eve, they hadn’t really had the opportunity for the niceties.

Like fully undressing, for instance.

What he’d said was also just a bit too intimate, given the comfortable, safe parameters she was trying to immediately establish in regard to their cohabitation.

“Ryan,” she began with forced calmness, handing him his lemonade, “if we’re going to make this work, we have to...respect each other’s boundaries.”

His dark brows lifted at her schoolmarm tone of voice. “I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. I was just stating the truth,” he said, taking a sip of lemonade. She couldn’t help but grin when he made a sound of appreciation, then swallowed the contents of the glass in three large swigs.

“Sorry,” he said a moment later. “I was helping Scott move around some of his furniture, and it’s hot out today. I was thirstier than I thought, and it tasted great.”

“It’s nice out in the shade on the back terrace. Do you want to sit out there?” Faith asked, holding up the pitcher to refill his glass. She was a little alarmed by his level of familiarity—not to mention the heat of his stare. She thought it would be advisable to take the opportunity to rehash the “rules” of their arrangement before things slipped into foolish chaos.

He agreed about going to the terrace, and the three of them—Topsy, Ryan and Faith—retired to the back terrace.

“Everything’s blooming,” Ryan said as he sat down in a deck chair and surveyed the backyard. “Including you.”

Faith paused in the action of settling in the chair next to him. Her glance dropped to her belly. It was definitely protruding a little next to the fabric of the cotton shorts she wore. She’d originally thought the embroidered peasant blouse she wore to be a modest, yet feminine choice for Ryan’s arrival. Suddenly she wondered if instead of looking prim, she didn’t more resemble the busty serving wench on the side of a beer bottle.

Tags: Beth Kery If You Come Back To Me Romance
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