Chapter 15
Emily drew circles on Ryan’s hard stomach, her brows pulled into a deep frown. The morning sun was only just creeping through the curtains. She should already be up. She needed to be on set at ten, and she had no idea what time it was.
But she couldn’t move. She felt nervous and scared, like any small movement would pop this perfect bubble they’d created the night before.
“I always loved it when you did that.”
Her fingers froze. It took her a few seconds, maybe longer, to look up. Then dark, devastatingly handsome eyes stared at her, the day-old stubble giving him an almost dangerous appearance.
And he was dangerous. In every way. But mostly to her heart.
“Did what?” she asked softly.
“Drew circles on my stomach to wake me up.”
Something flinched in her lower belly. No, actually, that wasn’t accurate. It was a huge, almost debilitating kick. “Ryan…what are we doing?”
“We’re lying in bed while you tempt me to roll you over and kiss you until you agree to a repeat of last night.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t distract me with humor.
” She sat up and grabbed the shirt from the floor beside the bed, then tugged it over her head.
One steadying breath, then she looked at him again.
“In two months, we’ll finish shooting and I’ll return to my apartment in California, and you’ll still be here. ”
Words sat on the tip of her tongue. Words about giving it all up for him. About moving here and living a simpler life. One that would feel so much more meaningful to her.
But something kept them inside. Maybe fear. Fear that what happened five years ago would happen again. That he’d take her decision from her and tell her he wasn’t letting her give up her career for him.
He sat up slowly, his gaze steady and deliberate. “Two months is a long time. We don’t need to figure it all out right now.”
Her heart dropped. His answer wasn’t wrong. It just hadn’t been what she wanted. There was no assurance, no promise that they’d make this work. That he wasn’t letting her go a second time.
She nodded, offering a small, practiced smile that only Emily Prior, Golden Globe award-winning actress, could pull off, and climbed out of bed.
She’d only gotten one step away from the bed before strong fingers wrapped around her wrist and tugged.
Emily cried out as she hit the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath her back, then Ryan was suddenly over her.
“You think I didn’t see through that smile?”
“Ryan—”
He kissed her neck, that day-old stubble running over her skin. “You can fool the rest of the world, Emily Prior, but I see you.”
I see you.
She closed her eyes, letting those words sit inside her.
He kissed her again, higher this time, grazing her jawline.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she pushed.
“Liar.”
“You know me so well? Tell me if this is fake.” She pulled him down and kissed him. Not gently. Her tongue pushed past his lips and curled against his.
He gripped her thigh, yanking it to the side before slipping between her legs.
Yes. She needed more. To hell with work and her future. This was the only place she cared to be.
His hand was skimming across her thigh, so close to her core, when he suddenly tensed. Not subtly. This was his entire body turning to stone in an instant.
“What—”
His hand covered her mouth, silencing her.
He turned his head, a deep crease forming between his brows. “Someone’s in the house.”
What?
Silently, he rolled away and grabbed a sweater from his dresser. “Put this on.”
She took it with shaking fingers and pulled it over her head.
He only yanked on jeans before opening the second drawer of his bedside table. But instead of reaching inside, he slipped his hand beneath it and pulled out a small gun.
Her mouth dried.
His gaze hit her, hard and intense, a completely different person from the man she’d been kissing just a moment ago. “Stay here.”
She nodded. Even though she didn’t want to be alone, and she certainly didn’t want him to go out there and face God knew who.
But she didn’t voice any of that. She watched him walk out of the bedroom and into the hall.
He was focused. Controlled. His gaze sweeping every corner, quick and calculating, as if nothing could escape him.
She only moved to the doorway when she heard his light footsteps on the stairs.
Who was in the house? Why were they in the house? For her? For Ryan? Were they armed?
She had so many questions.
Fear for Ryan had her stepping out of the room.
Before she could process what she was doing, she was at the top of the stairs, watching Ryan as he reached the first floor, weapon trained toward the living room.
He tensed. His features changed, his focus shifting to relief, and his gun instantly dropped to his side. “Nora! What the hell?”
Nora was here?
“Hey, big brother.” His sister suddenly came into view and threw her arms around Ryan’s shoulders.
He hugged her back, but he also looked frustrated. “You broke in?” he growled.
“No, I used the code for the lockbox on the side of the house. The code you gave me.”
“For emergencies.”
“Surprising my big brother felt like an emergency to me. A good one.” She inched back. “Were you still in bed? That’s not like you.”
A floorboard creaked beneath Emily’s foot.
Crap.
Both Ryan and Nora looked up.
Nora’s smile widened. “Not asleep. Got it.”
“So this is the famous Wandering Bloom I’ve heard so much about.” Nora looked around the café, from the flowers to the books to the cabinets filled with croissants and tarts. “It’s pretty. Maybe a bit more rustic than I pictured.”
“Rustic?”
“Yeah, the mismatched chairs, the wooden beams on the ceiling.”
Joe Ferris dipped his chin as he passed. “Ryan.”
“Who was that?” Nora whispered, once the door closed behind him.
“Joe Ferris, the town mayor.”
“I feel like you live in a Jane Austen novel.”
“You don’t read.”
“I do too, just not Jane Austen. I assume there’d be town mayors in her books though.”
“After the last few months this town has had, it’s more out of an Ann Radcliffe.”
She laughed. “Look at you, being a closet reader.”
He stopped at the counter.
Polly smiled at them. “Hey, Ryan. You have a new friend?”
“Polly, this is my sister, Nora. Nora, this is Polly Mack. She’s dating Joel.”
Nora grinned. “Hey. Ryan’s told me so much about you.”
“Really?” Polly looked at Ryan. “He’s told me nothing about you. Why didn’t you tell me or Joel that she was coming to town?”
“I’d have to have known to tell people.”
Nora lifted a shoulder. “It was a nice surprise for my brother.”
“Lucky the guys love surprises,” Polly said sarcastically. “How long are you here for?”
“I’m not sure. Tell me you make a good double shot vanilla latte and it may be for a while.”
“I don’t like to brag, but it’s the best in Deep River. Possibly the best in the state.”
Nora grinned. “I’ll set up camp.”
“I’ll have an Americano,” Ryan said, before handing over cash.
“She seems nice,” Nora said, when they sat at a table near the window.
Ryan gave her a look. “What are you doing here, Nora?”
“I told you the school was making budget cuts. I got the ax. Where else was I supposed to go?”
“They just let you go?”
“From what I was told, they couldn't wait until the end of the year. They were facing financial pressure and needed to make staffing changes immediately.” She frowned, emotion cutting across her features. Including some sadness. “I barely got to say goodbye to the kids.”
He noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Her slightly hollowed cheeks. Had she lost weight? “And how are you?”
There was the tiniest flare of…something in his sister’s eyes.
Most would have missed it. He didn’t. He clocked everything about her.
He also knew she didn’t sleep well. Never had.
While he’d been able to process and let go of the shitstorm that’d been their upbringing, Nora had always kept it inside her.
“I’m fine.” She ran her finger along the edge of the table. “I’ll find a new job and somewhere to live—”
“Somewhere to live?” Polly interrupted as she set two mugs on the table. “I have a place.”
Ryan shook his head. “No. Thank you, Polly, but Nora, you’re staying with me.” He needed her close so he could make sure she was okay. She clearly wasn’t resting or eating enough.
Nora laughed. “I am not staying with you. Emi was wearing nothing but your sweater this morning.”
“What?” Polly gasped.
Great. Now word was going to spread like wildfire.
Nora cringed. “Sorry. I thought people knew.” She looked at Polly. “You kind of knew though, right?”
“Oh, we absolutely knew.”
Nora laughed, and as the two women chatted, Ryan took out his phone and sent a text.
Ryan: You get to set okay?
They’d changed the random number her mom had put into Emily’s contacts back to Ryan’s real one, and she’d unblocked it.
Emily: I did. I haven’t seen my mother yet, but I will.
Ryan: She’ll probably pretend like nothing happened.
Emily: Well, the woman does like to live in a perpetual state of illusion.
Ryan: Is Ethan there?
Emily: He is. Much to Roscoe’s dismay. You’d think the guy would have gotten used to your team by now.
Ryan: And how are you?
This time, there was a small pause between responses. The three dots came up, then disappeared, before her text finally came through.
Emily: I’m trying not to overthink things.
Ryan: Me too.
Emily: So not just me then?
Ryan: Not just you.
“Are you messaging Emi?”
Ryan looked up to see Polly had returned to the counter while his sister stared at him, a grin on her face.
He locked his phone. “Yeah.”
“Tell me about her.” Nora wrapped her hands around her mug and leaned forward like she was waiting for a big story.
“There’s not much to tell.”
She scoffed. “Oh yes, the greatest love of your life returns after a five-year absence, I walk into your home to find her in your sweater, and there’s not much to tell. That’s credible.”
“I am not talking about my sex life with you.”
“Why not? I’ll tell you about mine. There’s been no one for just over twelve months, and I’ve felt every second of those months. It’s very disappointing.”
“Nora.”
“What? Open communication is important. And as your sister, it’s my duty to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for another heartbreak.”
“I am.” Fuck, his heart was going to break so hard.
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because her life isn’t here.”
“Fuck that.”
“Nora—”
“She’s an actress, Ryan, not a foreign service operative relocating to a different country. She goes and does a job for a few months, then comes home. That home could be here.”
“She hasn’t said she wants that. Maybe this town is too small for her.”
“Maybe you should let her tell you that before you assume.” She leaned forward. “Don’t be an idiot and decide for her again. This time isn’t like last. She wouldn’t be giving up any roles to wait for you to get home from a mission.”
He swallowed, lifting his coffee but not drinking any before setting it down again. “It was one night.”
“It was the first night.” Nora looked at him with a familiar “I know best” expression that only she could pull off. “Come on, Ryan. When have you ever been someone who doesn’t fight for what he wants?”
“I don’t want her to make any sacrifices for me.”
“Wrong answer.”
“What?”
“Wrong answer. You should want her to do whatever the hell she decides. Because it’s her life.”
He leaned back in his seat. “You tell your students that their decisions are wrong too?”
“No. I gently guide them toward the realization on their own. But you’re my brother, so you get tough love.”
He shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face because…shit. He’d missed her.
She glanced toward the door. “Uh…another reason to come here. All the eye candy.”
Ryan followed her gaze to see Zac stepping into Bloom. “You calling my teammate eye candy?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought the same thing.”
He laughed. Because he’d never had a thought even close to that.
Zac frowned as he approached the table. “Nora?”
“Unless I’m a doppelganger.” She rose and hugged him. The two had met a handful of times over the years and always got along well.
As they spoke, Ryan’s phone vibrated. He lifted it, thinking it was Emily. It wasn’t.
Melanie: I need to talk to you.
He scoffed. If the woman thought he’d listen to a word she said—again—she was wrong.
He was about to lock the screen when the phone rang.
He canceled the call and sent a text.
Ryan: I have nothing to say to you, Melanie.
Melanie: Is this a game to you? This is Emily’s life and you’re ruining it.
He switched off his phone, not needing to read whatever crap she spewed next. This was his life and Emily’s. Melanie had no part in either.
Nora was right. It was different this time. Emily wasn’t giving up anything. Maybe they could make it work. Maybe they could have everything he thought they’d lost forever.