Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ryan was not in the desert, and I would have realized she wouldn’t have had time to reach one in the time allotted via wheeled transport had I not been on the verge of manful terror.
Instead, it took Dex to remind me of that little logistical tidbit before he drove himself home, now sobered up after hours of dry business talk and copious amounts of water.
She was actually not all that far away. Not all that close either. I had to look up Bear Mountain Park on my GPS, and from Kensington Square to there would take about three hours if I did not get lost.
Tomorrow I had that meeting with Mrs. Donnelly first thing. Our many times rescheduled meeting.
But technically, she wasn’t my client anymore. So, Dex could handle her if need be. And I simply couldn’t care when I knew Ryan needed me.
Even if she couldn’t admit it.
Miss Moon:
DO NOT COME HERE. WE R ALL SET.
I’m coming, baby. You don’t have to be strong.
Miss Moon:
Be strong? It’s a flat. I’m not afrd of the dark & everyone is perfctly nice.
I was driving so I didn’t reply. A short time later, another text came through.
Miss Moon:
U called me baby.
Even in my darkened car, I flushed. I tossed my phone aside and ignored it. It also was not safe to text and drive.
Then she called me.
Reluctantly, I took the call through the in-dash system.
“Yeah?”
“You called me baby.”
“You misread. I typed bubby.”
“Preston, I’m serious. We’re fine. The flat isn’t even an issue anymore thanks to Brock. If you come here, my mom will give you half a dozen of her hook holders that didn’t sell and then what?”
I frowned. “Hook holders?”
“I mean, penis warmers.”
I started to laugh. “Baby, if my penis gets warmed any more, it will be a medical emergency. The humidity is insane. And yes, I did say baby, and you can just deal with it. It may be heat stroke.”
In the background, I heard a feminine voice say loudly, “Oh, penis warmers! Yes!”
Ryan sighed. “I need a vacation from my vacation.”
“You should have thought of that before you completed not even one full week of work. Wages of sin and all that.”
“A week was all I was scheduled for, if you recall. Because April is your actual assistant. I was just a fill-in.”
“I believe actually I filled, but you came through in the clutch admirably. Until you left without permission. Now let me alone so I can traverse these twisty as hell back roads in the dark and come rescue you.”
“Even though I expressly asked you not to?”
“Has anyone ridden to your rescue before, Ryan Genevieve Moon?”
“How do you know my real name?”
“A handy tool called the internet. I do like Goddess though.”
Rustling noises came over the line and then she was in a quieter environment. “I don’t want you to miss work for me. Honestly. We’re fine. A lot of the people here are senior citizens and empty nesters. Definitely not the rough crowd your way overactive imagination is picturing.”
“I’m not anymore.”
“No? You seemed rather…incensed. In full Esquire mode.”
“It’s a bad habit. I’m new to being a boyfriend and very not new to being a lawyer.”
She hissed out a breath. “I don’t do relationships.”
“Me either, since I’m still a recent virgin, apparently.”
“Wow. I did not guess that. Did you learn from YouTube?”
“Another sort of You video site, but close enough.” I squinted into the darkness at a huge, looming shape. “I think I just saw a damn moose.”
“What? No. Holy crap.”
“Or it was otherworldly. It scampered into the night. There is that road around here with the dead bride ghost. You’ve heard that tale? Anyway, we’ll have to look for it someday.” I didn’t shudder, but boy, it was close. “In the daylight.”
“Yeah, we’ll revisit that at another time. If you insist on coming—”
“I do.”
She sighed. “Then be careful, okay? No texting or phone calls. Those back roads have a lot of hairpin curves.”
“Then get off my phone.” I smiled. “Baby.”
She hung up.
I got lost. Three times.
By the last one, she was texting me. Dare I say frantically.
I wouldn’t say I grinned as the in-dash system read them to me but—
Okay, yes, I was.
Broadly.
Miss Moon:
PMS, u shouldn’t be reading these. But if you are, I just want to say that u’re a pain in the ass. But I like it. I like u.
Miss Moon:
I shouldn’t. We don’t fit. But we do. Y do we fit?
Miss Moon:
I’m sure u’re prob just trying to find u’re way in the dark. I’ve been lost on these roads too. But I have faith in u. That’s y I sent Grant to u. U won’t let him down.
Miss Moon:
Just like u won’t let me down. U damn idiot. I told u to stay home but u won’t listen.
Miss Moon:
U won’t stay in the spot I want to put u. Y won’t u, dammit?
Miss Moon:
TG u won’t. Bc I’m already getting used to it, u big dolt. Used 2 u. Even if it makes no sense.
Miss Moon:
Dammit, Preston Michael Shaw, u better not be hurt! If you are, I will kick your ass so badly that u’ll be in traction.
Miss Moon:
After I kiss your smug, stubborn face off.
Miss Moon:
Ugh, I just need you to be okay. Please. You can call me baby if you want. You can call me anything.
I saw the signs for the fair first. It took inching around a few more curves past endless buses, vans, trucks, and other moving settlements that were temporarily in one place to get my bearings enough to figure out where I was.
Then I saw her.
She was standing off to the side of the road near the Airstream in the picture she’d sent. If I hadn’t seen her, I wouldn’t have recognized it because there were a few of them in various configurations.
But I could’ve recognized Ryan anywhere. Especially when she was one of the only people out milling about in this particular area, since it was after two am.
I’d gotten really lost those three times, and that was with GPS. Go down one wrong back road and you ended up in a whole other county.
And then if you just kept going, not being sure of the difference between south and not south in the dark in an unfamiliar area…
It was a problem.
She was gesturing wildly with her hands as she talked to a small blond woman. Was that her mother? She looked tiny. Ryan’s exact opposite.
Her mom. Christ. I couldn’t do the first meet and greet with the parental unit in the middle of the night. I wasn’t even wearing a suit.
Ryan had her armor, and I had mine.
I signaled and pulled over to the side of the road a bit back. It was probably mean I didn’t alert her to my arrival right away, but I was entitled after her unexpected disappearing act.
Her dark hair streamed behind her as she paced away then back a couple of times. Her mother stepped up to her and gripped her arms, saying something that made Ryan drop her head back to stare at the sky.
The brief glimpse of wet on her cheeks had me climbing out. Imagined or not, I wouldn’t make her hurt for even a minute more than necessary.
Never.
She turned to face me and her eyes went comically wide as she glimpsed me standing behind the open door of my borrowed SUV.
Then she started to run.
Stepping away from the truck, I caught her as she leaped into my arms, staggering under her weight as we collided into the side of the SUV.
“Shit, if we dent this thing—”
Her mouth was on mine before I could finish. Her tongue slid between my lips and my hands landed on her firm little ass to hold her tight to my instantly interested groin.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you.” Each word was punctuated with a kiss. “Didn’t even need to—dammit, your mouth.”
“Umph.” It was all I could manage as I fought to keep hold of her and simultaneously thrust upward into her soft, unfortunately covered cleft.
A throat was repeatedly cleared nearby.
Neither of us cared.
“So, you must be Preston.”
“I hear a voice,” I muttered as Ryan drew my lower lip between her teeth.
“Ignore her. She’ll go away.”
“I certainly will not. I want to get a good look at him when you get done mauling him.”
Ryan slid her mouth along my jaw, dropping kisses as she went. “It’s gonna be a while. Go find Brock.”
That brought a modicum of clarity to my feverish brain. I managed to ease back. “Brock?”
“Her boyfriend.” She rolled her eyes and huffed a breath in my face. “You can put me down now.”
“You’re the one who leaped at me. You should be impressed I caught you.”
She studied me for a long moment before framing my face in her hands. “I missed you.”
This time, I was the one who kissed her. She smelled like a bonfire and tasted like summer and marshmallows and something sweet like wine.
Home and adventure, all rolled into one.
More throat clearing.
I finally made myself extricate my lips from hers. It was exceedingly difficult.
The part of me notched so intimately between her thighs agreed.
We were both panting. And when I set her down and she tripped, she didn’t even swear at me.
Either she’d thought I’d hit a misfortunate moose somewhere and was in a pile of rubble or she was about to pass out from oxygen loss. She didn’t let me off that easy ever.
I rubbed my sweaty hand on my hip and shut the door of the SUV before I held out a hand to Mrs.—well, Rainbow. “Ma’am, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Preston Shaw.”
Ryan circled her arms around my waist from behind and put her chin on my shoulder. “PMS. It’s just easier.”
I gave her a look and she nuzzled my jaw.
“Call me Rainbow.” She pumped my hand. “Pleasure is all mine. Not every day I get to meet my little girl’s special guy.”
“I should hope not.”
Ryan pinched my butt. I didn’t mind, but I had to tug my jersey down in a futile attempt to hide my erection.
Who didn’t want to meet his girl’s mom when he had a hard-on?
“Unfortunately, I can’t say I’ve heard a lot about you.” She glanced pointedly at her daughter.
“I was getting there.”
“I did hear you were looking for intimate comfort for the winter months. It does get chilly in these parts, doesn’t it?” She fanned her face, stirring the tendrils of honey-colored hair clinging to her neck. “Not today though. I need a fan directed right between my legs.”
Dear God.