Not that she was sure she wanted to talk to the moronic, standoffish, distant man who used a stupid excuse to run out of his apartment as quickly as he could. As if he could fool her with that bagels-and-coffee comment. After Clive she had a master’s degree in the subject of crap-men-say.
Merry spoke in her ear. “So...you and Ryan.”
“There is no me and Ryan,” Jaci retorted, her voice a low whisper.
Merry looked at Ryan and licked her lips. “He is a babe, I have to admit. Mum thinks you’re having a thing.”
“The supposed relationship between us has been wildly exaggerated.” Nobody could call a few hot nights a relationship, could they?
“Come on, tell me.” Meredith jammed an elbow in her ribs.
The elderly aunt on her other side nudged her in the ribs. “Shh! The reverend is trying to give his sermon!”
“And I’m trying not to fall asleep.” Merry yawned.
Ryan shifted his position and subtly turned so that he was practically facing her and she felt his eyes, like gentle fingers, trace her features, skim her cheekbones, her lower lips, down to her mouth. When his eyes dropped to look at her chest, her nipples responded by puckering against the fabric of her dress. The corners of Ryan’s mouth lifted in response and she flamed again. Traitorous body, she silently cursed, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes.
“Some of your attention should be on your brother,” Merry said out of the side of her mouth. “You know, the guy who is getting married to the girl in the white dress?”
“Can’t help it, he drives me batty,” Jaci replied, sotto voce. “He’s arrogant and annoying and...annoying. The situation between us is...complicated.”
“Complicated or not he is, holy bananas, so sexy.”
Priscilla, on the bench in front of them, spun around in her seat and sent them her evil-mother laser glare. Her purple fascinator bounced and she slapped a feather out of her eye. Her voice, slightly quieter than a foghorn, boomed through the church. “Will you two please be quiet or must I put you outside?”
If Jaci hadn’t been so embarrassed she might have been amused to see her ever-cool and unflappable world-class-journalist sister slide down in her seat and place her hand over her eyes.
Ten
The band was playing those long, slow songs that bands played for the diehard guests who couldn’t tear themselves away from the free booze or the dance floor or, as was Merry’s case, the company of a cousin of the bride. Her sister looked animated and excited, Jaci thought, watching them from her seat at a corner table, now deserted. She hoped that the man wasn’t married or gay or a jerk. Her sister deserved to have some fun, deserved a good man in her life. Always so serious and so driven, it would be good for her to have someone in her life who provided her with some balance. And some hot sex. You couldn’t go wrong with some hot sex.
Well, you could if you were on the precipice of falling in love with the man who, up to a couple of days ago, had provided you with some very excellent sex. Jaci closed her eyes and rested her temple against her fist. She couldn’t be that stupid to be falling in love with Ryan, could she? Maybe she was just confusing liking with love. Maybe she was confused because he made her feel so amazing in bed.
If so, why did she miss him so intensely when he wasn’t with her? Why did she think about him constantly? Why did she wish that she could provide him with the emotional support he gave to her by just standing at her side and breathing? Why did she want to make his life better, brighter, happier? She couldn’t blame that on sexual attraction or even on friendship.
Nope, she was on the verge of yanking her heart out and handing it over to him. And if she did that, she knew that if he refused to take it, which he would because Ryan didn’t do commitment in any shape or form, it would be forever mangled and never quite the same. She had to pull back, had to protect herself. Hadn’t her heart and her confidence and her psyche endured enough of a battering lately? Why would she want to torture herself some more?
A strong, tanned hand placed a cup full of hot coffee in front of her and she looked up into Ryan’s eyes. “You look like you need that,” he said, taking the chair next to her and flipping it so that he faced her, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
“Thanks. I thought you were avoiding me.”
“Trying to.” Ryan sent her a brooding look before looking at his watch. “I managed it for six hours but I’m caving.”