Something Wild(28)

"1201 in Adam's Landing," he reminded her. "Sure you know how to get there?"

It was one of the poshest new developments on the river. "Absolutely."

"And, uh, try not to be intimidated by all the boxes sitting around."

"Maybe I'll start unpacking some," she said, then caught herself,  wondering if that was too personal an offer to make. "I mean, if you  don't mind. If you'd rather I didn't-"

He shook his head. "I don't mind at all. That would be great, in fact."

"You're sure you want me snooping through your things?"

"I've got nothing to hide. No velvet handcuffs or anything like that," he said with a wink.

Penny playfully punched him in the arm, then kissed him goodbye, all the  while thinking that despite her initial mortification, sharing  heart-shaped handcuffs with Ryan had turned out to be incredibly sexy.

* * *

"What a fabulous place," Penny told Ryan when he arrived at his condo an  hour later. She stood looking out the plate-glass window that covered  the front wall of the living room, the view of the river and the bridges  that crossed it almost as breathtaking as the one at the park.

"Thanks." He stepped up beside her for a moment, then turned to toss his  jacket over the back of a leather recliner before loosening his tie.  "It's pricy, but I like it. So, did you get any great decorating ideas?"

"Well, there's a little shop near my house with lots of candleholders  and mirrors that would fit great here. After we go through your boxes  and get things into place, maybe we can plan a small shopping  excursion."

"Sounds good."

"By the way, I started unpacking your dishes into the cabinets. If you don't like where I put things, we can rearrange them."

He smiled. "I'm sure I'll love it. I was avoiding that job because I couldn't decide where everything should go."

"Oh, and your answering machine is blinking."

Ryan spun toward it, then pressed the playback button. "Hey, Ryan, it's  your big brother. Just called to see how the new job is going. Mom said  you liked it, but that you're not eating right." The brother laughed  good-naturedly. "Give me a call sometime."

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "That's surprising. I hardly ever hear from Dan."

It made Penny recall the conversation they'd had about his family; she  thought he had his parents pegged all wrong. "Will Dan or your mom and  dad come visit? See your condo?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it. Dan and I aren't close, and Mom and Dad  are basically homebodies, not into long car trips or big cities. And  they'd probably find this place a little extravagant. They like simpler  things."

"So do I," she reminded him. "But this place is wonderful."

"Still, like I told you, my parents and I are worlds apart. They're in  the old world and I'm in the new. They have very old-fashioned values."

She flinched at the words, surprised at how hard the thought of being "old-fashioned" struck her.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Well, until a few weeks ago I guess I thought of myself as someone with old-fashioned values. But now … "

Ryan gave her a scolding smile, then pulled her down onto the dark,  leather sofa. "It's okay to be versatile, Penny. It's okay to have your  own ideas and feelings about things."

"But when I imagine the looks on my parents' faces if they could see what we've been … "

He tilted his head. "You're not supposed to imagine that, honey. Don't  go there. As long as the things you do feel right to you, then that's  right enough."

Penny considered what he'd said. She wasn't sure how she'd ended up on  this ride where one minute she was announcing how wanton and sexually  free she was and the next, recanting, worrying about it. She supposed it  was just a difficult transition for the ultimate good girl to make. Yet  Ryan was going through it with her. He had started exploring her  fantasies with her just as she'd dreamed, and now he was helping her get  her emotions in place, too.

"Maybe you'd do well to remember those words yourself, Mr. Pierce," she said, thinking of all he'd shared with her last night.                       
       
           



       

He gave her a knowing smile. "Okay, are we talking about my parents, or are we talking about me, you and Martin?"

"I don't know. Maybe all of it. Maybe we should all just be a little more trusting of our feelings sometimes."

"And not worry about who gets hurt or what anyone thinks of us?"

"I didn't say that. But I think there must be a happy medium, and the trick in life is finding it."

Ryan simply nodded, but where he and Penny were concerned, he didn't  know how they were going to reach any such ideal medium. He understood  how what she was saying applied to his relationship with his  parents-that if he liked his life and knew he'd done his best, that  should be enough. He also understood how it applied to her recent  self-discoveries-if she liked herself, that was all that mattered. But  when Martin entered the picture, things weren't nearly so cut-and-dried.

"Well," he said, having had enough of this inner contemplation, "as soon as I get changed, we can venture out to the store."

"I checked out your fridge and pantry," she told him as he got to his  feet. "You've got a lot of room, so we can stock up and you shouldn't  have to do this again for a while."

He grinned down at her. "I've said it before and I'll say it again-you're a woman after my own heart."

It was a revelation that was starting to trouble him, he realized as he  made his way to the bedroom. After waking up to her pretty eyes and  tousled hair this morning, he'd thought about her as he'd driven home to  shower, then all day at the office, too. He'd even found himself  popping into the lobby for no good reason around lunchtime, hoping to  catch her daily sandwich delivery, but he'd missed it.

And the sex. Every single time it blew his mind. He never got used to  the way it felt to be inside her, the way his soul ached when she moaned  for him. Even just kissing her made him feel like a lovesick teenager.

So much for settling down in Cincinnati, he thought, as he slid a  burgundy polo shirt over his head. But then, if not for the wild parts,  and if not for the risk factors, he supposed this could feel quite  settled. Once they got past the sexual frustration, everything with her  had come so easy-relaxing in the park together, eating together, talking  in bed, even telling her about his parents and Dan, and about losing  his job at ComData. Every time they were apart, Ryan found himself  thinking about her, looking forward to the moment they'd see each other  again.

And now they were going grocery shopping. It sounded ridiculously domestic, but he was looking forward to it.

Tucking his shirt into a pair of faded blue jeans, Ryan sighed, ran a  hand through his hair, then glanced at himself in the mirror.

You, he thought, had better get control of this situation. Soon. Before it all blows up in your face.

* * *

Ryan pushed the cart, which overflowed with everything from milk and  eggs to a variety of frozen foods. "Hey, look. Goetta," Penny said,  pointing to the sign on one of the refrigerated bins. "Want some?"

"Goetta? What is it?"

"Oh," Penny said, "I guess it's one of those regional foods. It's  …  um, kind of a sausagey, oatmealy sort of thing."

Ryan laughed. "No thanks." Penny had been a huge help to him so far and  made this task much more fun than it would have been otherwise, but  every now and then she tried to get him to buy something that just  wasn't on his personal menu.

She turned to face him from the other end of the stopped cart. "Are you sure? You can do a lot of good stuff with goetta."

"No goetta," he said with a decisive point of his finger. "I mean it. I  just don't think I'm a goetta guy." Prior to this, he'd also had to  convince her he wasn't a rice-cake or hummus guy.

Before she could protest further, he backed the cart away from her, then  swung it down the next aisle. Glass-fronted freezers filled with ice  cream spanned its length. "Now, this is more like it," he murmured,  studying his choices, then grabbing tubs of French vanilla,  cookies-n-cream, and double chocolate.

Penny leaned around to pat his stomach. "I can't believe you maintain this with these kinds of shopping habits."

"I won't be back for a while, remember? This is a stock-up trip."

"Ooh," she said then, stepping past, her focus having shifted to something behind him. "Hot fudge."

Ryan turned to find her examining a shelf of ice-cream condiments, and  he witnessed a familiar and all-too alluring look in her eyes before she  caught him watching, then lowered her gaze. Considering how well he was  beginning to know her in certain ways, he understood exactly what that  look meant. He arched one eyebrow and grinned.