Leave Me Breathless

‘I think Mum is in love with you.’

Ryan bursts into hysterical laughter, having to hold the counter to prop himself up. Glad he finds it funny. I roll my eyes, and he must notice that no one’s laughing with him, but rather scowling, and shuts up immediately, his laughter gone, worry replacing it. ‘You’re joking. Aren’t you?’

‘No!’ Alex yells. ‘Since you beat up Casper on the driveway, she won’t shut up talking about you.’

‘Beat up Casper?’ I ask. ‘Who’s Casper?’

‘Her husband,’ they say in unison.

‘And I didn’t beat him up. I simply had a word,’ Ryan says quickly, as if that explains everything. It doesn’t. Alex snorts, obviously agreeing with me.

‘Why’d you beat him up?’ I fire back, unable to stop myself.

‘Because he got physical with her when she tried to stop him leaving her. I stepped in. That’s all.’

‘Oh.’ So he saved her. Now she’s fallen in love with him. I can relate. ‘I’m sorry, Alex,’ I say sincerely, wishing there was something I could do.

‘It was inevitable, I suppose.’ She pushes her back off the door and wanders out after her mother. ‘Bloody parents,’ she mutters as she goes.

The door closes, and I peek across to Ryan. He still looks a little shell-shocked. ‘It’s gone nine o’clock,’ I say like a fool, at a loss. I want to know how he feels about this breaking news. I realize he’s stunned, but is he feeling anything else? Is he considering the potential of playing happy families? Is he wondering if that would be good for Alex? My face screws up. I should be happy for them, I guess. Why wouldn’t he choose a glamour-puss like Darcy Hampton over a messy, broken woman who nearly blew his head off last night?

‘Hannah?’ Ryan calls, and I look at him, quickly wiping away my disappointment. ‘No,’ he says simply. I deflate and don’t bother trying to hide it. That’s all he needs to say. ‘Not even if I didn’t have you.’

‘I feel bad,’ I admit, pointing to the door. ‘She’s gone all outdoorsy.’

He laughs and comes to me, taking me in his arms. ‘She’s gone crazy, that’s what she’s done. She doesn’t love me. She’s just looking for a rebound.’

‘Really? How do you know that?’

‘Because that’s exactly what she was looking for eleven years ago when she hunted me down in the pub.’

‘Oh,’ I breathe, and he hums and dips, sweeping me off my feet on a squeal. I grab onto his shoulders. ‘What are you doing?’ I laugh as he stalks through the shop to the stairs.

‘You owe me a shower and a cuddle in bed.’

‘But I have to open the shop!’

‘The shop’s open.’ He takes the stairs with me draped over his arms, unperturbed by my concern.

‘What if anyone comes in?’

‘Who comes in the shop besides me and Alex?’

‘Darcy a few times,’ I joke, making him snort a burst of laughter. I grin and kiss his cheek. He chose me.

‘Baby, I don’t think Darcy will be coming back to your shop anytime soon.’

‘She better. She owes me cash.’

He looks at me when we reach the top of the stairs. ‘What for?

‘I gave her some advice.’

His eyebrow quirks. ‘You did, huh?’

‘Yep.’ I raise my nose in the air, and Ryan takes the corner at the top into my apartment. ‘I told her to stay away from my man.’

‘Good advice.’ He launches me into the air and I land with a yelp on the bed. He’s on me a second later, blanketing me with his huge body. And he releases a long, deep, satisfied sigh. ‘Heaven.’

Curling myself around him, I silently agree. This has to be heaven, here in his arms. He doesn’t try to rip my clothes off. He doesn’t flex his groin into me. He doesn’t even try to kiss me. He just holds me, and it’s out-of-this-world blissful.

‘I have some friends visiting on Friday for the night,’ he says quietly. Friends? How strange I’ve never thought about Ryan’s friends. ‘We’re having a barbecue,’ he goes on. ‘A few drinks. That kind of thing. Will you come?’

He wants me to meet his friends? ‘Yes.’ One hundred percent, yes. I get an extra-tight squeeze and another contented sigh. I’m meeting his friends. His daughter knows about me. His daughter’s mother knows about me. Is all this too fast, though? ‘If you want me to,’ I add, searching for the reassurance I suddenly need.

Ryan lifts a little, looks at me, and rolls his eyes. ‘Shut up.’ He falls back down and chews at my neck, and I laugh, letting him roll us on the bed until I’m on top. He pushes me up until I’m straddling him, then takes my hands, lacing our fingers, and plays for a few moments. What’s he thinking? Or is that a monumentally stupid question? ‘I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere.’ He sets my palms down on his chest and pushes them into his pecs. I smile, unsure where he’s going with this. ‘When you’re ever scared in the future, I want you to think of me.’