He whistled under his breath, teasing her. “Fancy.”
Ryan headed out to the back patio, illuminated by solar lights all arranged at various heights on thin copper stands. She joined him as the flames flickered around the rocks in the bottom of the grill after he’d ignited it.
“Should we eat out here?” she asked as she placed the baking sheet she’d brought with her on the sideboard.
“Absolutely. May as well enjoy the weather before the humidity sets in. I’ve been spoiled with the dry heat in Arizona. This first summer back is going to be a real bitch. In a uniform, no less.”
“You look damn good in it, though.”
He chuckled as she lifted the tin foil from the sheet, with the two pinwheels arranged on top, and moved the fish to the grill.
After closing the lid, she said, “Those’ll need about twelve or thirteen minutes. They’re kind of thick.”
“I can set the table while you clean up.”
“Deal.” She gave him a flirtatious smile that made him groan.
Admittedly, it was hell keeping his hands off her. But he followed her back into the kitchen anyway, instead of pulling her into his arms, as he wanted to do.
They ate dinner under the stars, and he asked her what had inspired her to go into the lingerie business.
“I really wanted to be a designer,” she told him. “I can sketch decently enough, but I can’t sew worth a damn.”
“Can’t you hire someone to do that for you?”
“I suppose.” She took a sip from her wine glass, then said, “I still have all these ideas in my head. I don’t know. I can’t even really say what made me fall in love with lingerie to begin with, except that every time I’d wander through that section at the department store in Austin, I was always so taken by how delicate and pretty everything was. All the lace and the satin and the silk. It’s more than sexy. It’s luxurious and sensual and…beautiful, really.”
“And from what I’ve seen, you have exceptional taste.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I started saving up for inventory and rent when I was in high school, and of course, there was life insurance money from my mom’s death, but a lot of that went to my dad’s bills because his insurance policy was null and void since he committed suicide. I knew I wouldn’t be going to college, so I needed a career.”
“You’ve had some rough times,” he said as he covered her hand with his while it rested on the table. “I?
??m glad the career of your choice worked out for you.”
“This is more of a lifestyle than a job, which is why I love going to work every day and I don’t mind being in the boutique all week long. I just want to help women feel pretty and desirable.”
“And I’m sure the women in town appreciate you for it.”
With a frown, she said, “Most of the women. Some just think lingerie is evil. That it promotes promiscuity. As if being naked doesn’t have the same effect,” she scoffed. “If two people want to have sex, they’re going to do it regardless of whether or not one of them made a purchase at my store.”
“That is a true statement and I’m glad you’re standing your ground, sweetheart.”
They finished dinner and did the dishes. Then they took a stroll down to the lake and walked barefoot along the sandy edge. The near-full moon cast glittery rays over the placid water that lapped languidly against the shoreline. Ryan kept his eye out for anything suspicious, but this portion of the lake was all private property, with patches of dense forest here and there. It’d be difficult to get a car down this way without using Ginger or her neighbors’ driveways and side yards. He’d have seen tire tracks if this was where the robbers were hiding out.
It was past nine when they returned to the house, which they’d locked up and had left the lights on. Ryan checked around anyway before Ginger disappeared into the bedroom with her shopper’s bag, telling him to sit tight in the living room. He sipped his wine as he waited for her to come out, wondering what surprise she had up her sleeve this evening.
He hadn’t stopped into the drug store for condoms today. For one thing, he and Ginger already had the rumor mill churning. They’d burn it to the ground if someone started gossiping about him stocking up on prophylactics. In addition, he truly did intend to take things slow. He didn’t want to rush her into sex, despite the fact his body ached for her and his hands craved touching her.
She was something special and he planned to treat her as such. He respected and admired her forthrightness and her tenacity. She was grounded and good-natured, but also had an appealing sense of style and grace. A sweet disposition and a flirty sense of humor. No one in town, including his aunt and uncle, could taint his image of her.
Especially when she strolled into the living room wearing a short, red satin robe tied at the waist and a pair of matching slippers with a two-inch heel.
Ryan’s pulse instantly shot into the stratosphere as he took her in from head to toe. And back up. She’d loosely piled her long blonde curls on top of her head, leaving a few strands to frame her beautiful face, which was accented by just a hint of skillfully applied makeup. She’d removed the sultry crimson she typically wore on her lips and her mouth was bare and extremely kissable.
Joining him on the sofa, she said, “I forgot to ask what your favorite color is.”
His throat had practically closed up as his breath came in heavier pulls. “Red,” he told her in a strained voice as his cock sprang to life. “Definitely red, sweetheart.”