She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So much better now, here, with you.”
He kissed her cheek and slung the saddlebags over his shoulder, then led the way into the building. A young man about the same age as Ryan sat behind an old-fashioned wooden desk. He looked up with a smile as they entered.
“Ryan! Long time, man.” He came around and pulled Ryan in for a back-thumping hug.
“Durante. Good to see you, too.”
A year was too long. He usually made it a point to come down to Bisbee a few times a year to see Durante and his family. It was a nice break from Tucson, especially since this part of his family, his Nonna’s family, wasn’t nearly as self-important as his grandfather’s.
“Hi, I’m Durante, Ryan’s—what did we decide we were?”
“Second cousins, I think. I don’t know.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Elissa said, shaking his hand.
“Same. It’s not often Ryan introduces his girlfriends. Oof.” Durante rubbed the spot where Ryan had stuck his elbow in the idiot’s ribs. “Keep it up, asshole, and I won’t give you the keys to the jacuzzi suite.”
“The suite? Really?”
“All yours. It’s reserved for the weekend, but it’s yours for the next two nights. Breakfast is usually from seven to ten, but if you want something before or after, help yourself. You know where the kitchen is. Just clean up after yourself.”
“Awesome, man. Thanks.”
Durante handed over the key. “I’d say don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, but we both know that’s bad advice.”
Ryan laughed. It was true. As much as Ryan had seemed to find trouble on his own in their teens, Durante had trouble falling on him like rain without even having to look for it.
He grasped Elissa’s hand in his, cradling it as though he could crush the delicate bones under her skin. With him in the lead, they walked through the B and B and out into a courtyard. He led her past palms in pots and a tiled fountain burbling happily in the middle. On the far side of the courtyard was the other part of the house, white stucco with a terra-cotta tiled roof. Ryan unlocked the French doors with the key and held his breath.
forty-one
i don’t want to sleep
They stepped into a serene oasis. If Elissa had a dream bedroom, this would be it. The cool blue walls offset the dark wood ceiling and wrought-iron chandelier. White linens did the same for the heavy, four-poster bed. A small seating area tucked into the corner invited her to sit and relax. Since she was playing hooky, she slid off the borrowed jacket and did.
Ryan joined her, a wide grin on his handsome face. He dropped the saddlebags on the ground and met her gaze. Whatever he saw there made him take her hand.
“What we do here is entirely up to you. You can curl up for a nap, or raid the library and read a book, or we can explore Downtown Bisbee. We can just snuggle tonight, no pressure whatsoever.”
On the drive down, pressed against Ryan’s body in forced intimacy, she’d had time to think. To overthink.
What had she done? She’d messed up one hundred percent. She’d yelled at her sister, fought with her mother. Ditched work. Her heart raced, her stomach roiled, and all her plans for the future caught like a wildfire in the middle of June.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Ryan brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back. Their gazes met.
There, in the warm, comforting depths of his eyes, she found what she was looking for. Acceptance. Patience. Maybe even love, pure and unconditional. Ryan didn’t care if she’d messed up. If she didn’t have a job after today. If she yelled at the entire goddamned world. He was here with her now because she asked. Because she needed him.
Perhaps she should tell him how she felt. No, even better. She’d show him.
Elissa kicked off her shoes and rose out of her chair, the rug soft under her bare feet. She took two small steps to him and straddled him in his chair. It creaked under their combined weight. Framing his face in her hands, she bent down to kiss him, pressing her lips against his. It was a brief taste, but she wanted him to stop talking, stop being the good guy.
He moaned when she broke the kiss. Elissa leaned in and murmured in his ear.
“Are you saying sex is optional?”
“You’re killing me.” He leaned his head against the chair.
“I don’t want to nap.” She kissed his temple with a soft laugh. “I don’t want to read.” A kiss to his jaw. “I don’t want to explore the town.” A kiss on the corner of his mouth. “And I definitely do not want to ‘just snuggle.’”
