“The hotel I stayed in when I was out in L.A had a huge tiled shower. It even had a power console for all the features.” He motioned down the wall
with his hand. “I’ve never seen a shower so complicated. There were jets in the walls, removable shower wands, and a big shower head in the
center.”
“It probably had a steam setting too,” I added.
“So what do you think of that idea though?”
“Sounds expensive. I don’t think I could afford that,” I muttered, rubbing my hands across his soapy chest. “Besides, there’s not enough square
footage in this bathroom to hold that large of a shower.”
“I wish you would stop worrying about stuff like that.” His warm eyes glistened as he looked at me. “And I’m not talking about putting something
like that in this bathroom.”
His hand reached out and grabbed my butt, pulling me towards him. He slipped his fingers over my neck and placed a lingering, persuasive
kiss on my lips. I think I got the message he tried to convey, but I still was not going to make any assumptions.
“Do you have any idea how incredibly sexy you are?” he asked me. I groaned softly at his flattering remark.
“That’s funny… I was thinking the same exact thing about you.”
His lips frowned down and he rolled his eyes.
“See, you feel the same way about those kinds of compliments.” I poured shampoo in my hand.
“By the way, thank you for last night.” He smirked. “I guess I need to apologize for tearing your panties to shreds. I don’t know what came over
me.”
I smiled, remembering fondly his exuberance when he ripped the small seam on my sheer underwear and ran his palm up my spine to bend me
over the pool table.
“I’ll give you my card so you can replace them,” he murmured.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to do that; I have more. Don’t worry about it.” I was concentrating extra hard on not cutting my leg with the razor.
“Why are you so damn opposed to letting me buy you things?”
I shrugged, wishing he’d drop it.
“I’m not used to having someone want to buy me things, Ryan. I never really had that in other relationships. I always had to take care of myself.”
In actuality it was always me who was the one who gave things to the boy instead of the other way around. All of the boyfriends I had in the past
were barely getting by on their own let alone have enough money to buy gifts for me.
“Well, I’m not like that, Taryn!” I knew he was generous and meant well.
“Ryan, I have never been nor will I ever be the type of woman who expects things or takes advantage of people. If you want to buy me
something, I can’t stop you. But I don’t expect you to either. And I’m certainly not going to take your credit card and go on a shopping spree.”
“Then answer this; why did you pay Tammy and Pete for the catering? Do you think I’m the type of person who wants to take advantage of you?”
His tone was definitely leaning towards anger.
I was starting to wonder if this was our first argument… over money of all things. I found myself becoming frustrated with the whole topic.
“Maybe I want to take care of you just as much as you want to take care of me. Did you ever think of that? Why did you buy me diamond
earrings and a necklace? It’s the same question.”
I turned the water off and he handed a towel to me.
“I got you those things because I wanted to. I was in a jewelry store and you were the only person I was thinking of.” His tone was soft and quiet.
“And I paid Tammy because I wanted to treat you to a nice dinner party with all of our friends. You were the only person I was thinking about.”
“Then why won’t you accept the earrings, if it’s my way of taking care of you?”
“Because they were expensive and unnecessary. I told you, there’s only one gift I hope to have from you.” I placed my fingers on his chest. “And
if you’re unsure of what that is, it’s right underneath my hand.”
“You already have that,” he whispered.
“Then I have everything I need!” I rose up on my toes to kiss him.
I dried my hair in the bathroom and assumed he’d still be in the bedroom, but he wasn’t there. I found him in the kitchen; he was digging in the
refrigerator still wearing a towel.
“Are pants optional today?” I teased, wondering if he wanted to spend the day in bed again. I took two coffee cups out of the cabinet and
poured a cup for each of us.
He smiled innocently. “I’m actually out of clean clothes. Do you think I can use your washer?”
Ryan dumped his entire bag, minus his suit, into my washing machine. Typical guy - not bothering to separate whites and darks. I pulled
everything back out of the washer and made two piles.
“I wish I had the rest of my clothes from the hotel; that all needs to be washed too.”
“Can anyone pick it up for you?” I asked.
Three phone calls later, he made arrangements with Jason and the hotel to retrieve his things. Jason was going to deliver his bags, but not for a
couple of hours. I was looking forward to seeing Jason to thank him for cleaning up my parking space.
I went into the spare room to see if I could find something for him to wear; I knew I still had a few boxes of my dad’s clothing that I hadn’t gotten
around to taking to the Goodwill. Ryan followed me as I hunted.
“There’s some sweatpants in this box. Everything is clean.”
He checked the tag on a gray pair of sweat pants and slipped them on. My father was just a little bigger than Ryan, but not by much. I found
some cotton shirts in another box.
I tossed a black T-shirt to him.
“All this was your dad’s?”
I nodded and moved a box away from my collection of stained glass. I didn’t want the box to fall and break anything.
“This is as soft as that blue shirt you gave me. Fits too! Are you getting rid of all this stuff?”
“I was going to donate it. You’re welcome to take anything you want.”
“Are you sure? You don’t mind?”
“No, I don’t mind.” I smiled. Ryan’s presence made the loss of my father a lot more bearable.
“Cool! My clothes seem to keep disappearing from the hotel. I’m wondering if Jason is even going to find anything left to bring over here.”
I laughed. “I heard about that! Guess someone is selling your stuff on the Internet, eh?”
He smirked at me. “That’s why I don’t bother buying a lot of expensive stuff. Every time I stay at a hotel, my clothes go missing.”
He had made a small pile of clothing that he apparently wanted to have. I was slightly surprised that he wasn’t opposed to wearing hand-medowns.
Even though he was a famous celebrity, he certainly didn’t act like one. That was one more trait about him that I adored.
While he was still rummaging through the T-shirt box, I paged through one of my stained glass books. I thought since he invited me to his
mother’s birthday dinner that I might make her a gift. I didn’t want to go empty handed; I wasn’t raised that way.
“Does your mom like stained glass?” I found a nice picture frame that I could make for her.
“I guess.” He was still busy digging in another large box of stuff. “Cool! Thermal shirts. Taryn, this one still has tags on it.” He put it on his pile.
“Why do you ask?”
“I think I’m going to make her something for her birthday. Do you think she might like this?” I showed him the picture.
“That’s really nice. But you don’t have to do that. I already got her a present. It can be from both of us.” My heart skipped another beat when he
said the word ‘us’ again.
“Thanks, but that’s from you. I was thinking that I’d like to give her something personal from me.”
I selected a piece of textured, clear glass and held it up to the light.