Release (16 page)

“Excuse me,
little miss goody two shoes, but when your personal life affects your work, I
will
be saying something.  And you can bet it won’t just be to you. 
Jeremy won’t always be able to save you.”

“Well, Jennifer,
I wish I could say it’s been fun.”  She looked at Paul, knowing her face
was flushed with anger.  “Paul, if you don’t mind, I need to run
upstairs.  There are a few more things I want to do before I leave.”

“Of course,”
Paul said with a triumphant look on his face. “I’ll join ya.  I need to
finish up, too.”

And with that,
they left Jennifer, plotting her next move.

…..

“That was spec
tac
ular! 
You’re my new hero,” Paul said as they made their way to the elevator.

Ryann sighed and
tried to calm her breathing.  The adrenaline from the altercation was
still pumping through her veins.  “I wasn’t going to say anything about
Jeremy.  For exactly the reasons that everyone would be thinking.”

“First of all,
honey, ya don’t owe me an explanation.  What ya do with your personal life
is your own business.  But if there
is
something going on with
Jeremy, then personally, I’m thrilled.  I adore the man.  I’ve known
him and his family for years, and he’s one of a kind.  Screw anyone who
talks about it!  Let ’em.  I got your back.”

Tears stung her
eyes, as they got on the elevator.  She reached out her hand to hold
his.  “Thank you,” she whispered.  “We really didn’t know about the
connections to the Institute when we first met, and the attraction was just...
there.  I’ll be honest, I do struggle a little bit with it.  I know how
it’ll look.”

“Yeah, but ya
know what?  Ya only live once, right?  Life is too short to pass up
on opportunities of the heart.”

Didn’t she know
it.

“Besides, if
Jeremy wants ya, he’s not gonna take no for an answer,” he said with a knowing
smile.

Ryann chuckled. 
“I guess you do know him well.”

“I’ve known him
and his mom for years.  And you heard MG mention before who his mom is?”

“Yeah, actually,
I’m a huge fan.  I went to her showing last Friday, and, um...that’s where
I met Jeremy actually.”  They got off of the elevator and headed toward
Paul’s office.

“Really?  I
was there!  How did I not see you?”

“I got there
late.  My car broke down on the way over.”

“Ah, that
explains it.  Pete and I left around nine,” he said as they entered his
office.

“I didn’t even
get there until close to 10:30.  Is Pete your partner?”

“Yup.  21
years and counting,” he said with a wistful smile.

“Wow!” she
smiled.  “Congratulations.  That’s definitely an
accomplishment.”  Then she paused and said with a raised eyebrow, “Peter
and Paul?”

“Hilarious,
right?” he chuckled.  “We always get a kick out of telling people our
names, especially when we’re talking to religious folk,” he said, putting his
fingers up to put quotes around the last two words.

“Not all
religious folk are like that,” she said.

He snorted. “I
don’t know which religious folk
you’re
talking to.”

“There are
actually quite a few religious people out there who think being gay is just
fine.  My Uncle Liam is gay.  He still lives in Scotland.  My
mom moved from there to New Jersey, and is a devout Christian.  A liberal
Christian, though.  Growing up, she took me to an Episcopalian church in
Morristown that was very open and affirming.”

“Huh,” he
mumbled thoughtfully.  “Who knew?”

They talked for
a little while longer about preparations for the next day, then said their
goodbyes because  Paul had to do some things down in the Admin
offices.  Knowing that Jennifer’s office was on the floor above hers, she
figured it was safe to go into the bathroom to get ready. 

She changed into
her strappy heels.  They were gold leather, with an ornate butterfly cut
out design in the leather on the top of the foot, and a strap around the
heel.  She removed her scarf and put on her long gold necklace, and took
the clip out of her hair.  She fluffed it and sprayed a little hairspray
on it, giving it a tousled, sexy look.  Then she touched up her make up,
took out her funky wrap that she found in a Village boutique years ago, and
gave herself one last look of approval.

Yeah.  She
looked good.  She headed back to the office, awaiting Jeremy’s text.

It came about 10
minutes later.

JM: 
I’m
ready for u, gorgeous.  Waiting in the lobby.

She smiled, and
texted back. 

RT: 
On
my way.

She took a deep
breath to calm her nerves, grabbed her bag, and headed down.

…..

When she got
there, she noticed Paul was talking to Jeremy.  The subject matter was
something serious, apparently, because Paul was animated, and Jeremy’s jaw was
tight.

She walked over,
and they stopped and turned toward her.

Jeremy’s
expression immediately changed.  His eyes became laser focused and he
smiled that lazy smile of his, and let his eyes examine her body from head to
toe, then back up again.  His eyes were glittering when he finally met her
gaze.  “You changed,” he purred appreciatively.

Paul let out a
whistle.  “You clean up good, kid,” he said with a wink. “Looks like ya
two are gonna paint the town red tonight.”

Jeremy continued
looking at Ryann and murmured, “Among other things.” 

Ryann wondered
what they had been talking about.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait
too long to find out.

“I was just
giving Jeremy a heads up about Jennifer’s comments earlier.  I thought it
was important he knew what she said to ya.”

Ryann
cringed.  “Paul, I wish you hadn’t said anything.”

“Listen,
honey.  As your mentor, I’m responsible for ya.  One of my jobs is to
make sure ya get everything ya need to make your time here a success so that ya
can be an official part of our instruction team after this process is
over.  It’s no secret amongst the faculty that Jennifer’s difficult. 
If she’s planning any kind of sabotage, I want certain people to know about
it.”

Ryann turned red
in the face, and said, “I’m sure it won’t go that far.  I can handle
her.  Really.”

“Oh trust me,
there’s no doubt in my mind that ya can handle her.  You’ve done it
beautifully already.  Two times on your first day, I might add.  It’s
the stuff that she might try to pull, that makes me pause.”

“
Two
times?  When was the other time?” Jeremy interjected.

Before Ryann
could respond, Paul jumped in.  “When she came in from lunch, Jennifer
stopped her in the lobby and gave her a hard time.”

“Really
guys.  It’s nothing.  Let’s just drop it, ok?”  She turned to
Jeremy.  “I absolutely do not want you involved, nor do I want any special
treatment, Jeremy.  I’m adamant about this.”  She looked at him with
a pointed look.  

Jeremy squeezed
her hand.  “Ryann, Paul would be reacting the same way if it was any other
intern, as well.  No one’s going to do anything unless Jennifer does
something inappropriate that wouldn’t be in keeping with the mission of the
Institute.  I know you’re more than capable of putting people in their
place when they need to be put there,” he said dryly.  “You’ve certainly
done it to me on more than one occasion.”

Ryann let out an
expulsion of air from her lungs, and put her hand up.  “Guys, seriously, I
appreciate your concern, but she isn’t the first snarky woman I’ve dealt with,
nor will she be the last.  So, thank you for being all cavemanish about
it, but everything is fine.”

Paul
chuckled.  “Well, I guess she told us,” he said to Jeremy with a
smile.  “I’m still watching your back, though.”

“Thank you,”
both Ryann and Jeremy said at the same time.  They looked at each other,
and laughed a little.

“Now, you two go
out and have fun.  Ryann, I’ll see ya tomorrow.  Eight o’clock.”

“You
betcha.  Thanks for everything, Paul.”  She winked at him, then
leaned over and gave him a hug.  He returned her squeeze, then stepped
back and said goodbye to Jeremy.

“Thanks for the
talk, Paul.  I always appreciate your insight.  It was good to catch
up.”  He put out his hand to shake the older man’s hand. 

“See ya,
guys.”  And with that, Paul was gone.

Jeremy turned to
her and grabbed her hand.  And if his expression could’ve gotten any
hungrier, it did at that moment.

“Cavemanish?” he
asked with a raised eyebrow.  “Is that even a word, Ms. Thornton?”

Ryann cleared
her throat.  “Much to your disappointment, I’m sure, I’m not that damsel
in distress you keep seeing me as.”

He leaned down
and whispered in her ear, “Do you know how fucking hot you are when you get all
teachery on me?”

Ryann cleared
her throat, and felt the sexual charge build with their banter.  
“Now who’s making up words?”

Still at her
ear, he said, “It makes me think of every teenage boy’s fantasy.  Those
boys you taught probably didn’t do their homework, just so you would give them
detention. That’s what
I
would’ve done if you were
my
teacher.”

She shook her
head and rolled her eyes.  “Are you ready?”

There was a
pause, then Jeremy gave her a heated look.  “Are
you
?”  She
could almost hear him holding his breath.

She gave him her
sexiest smile, then nodded slowly.

Jeremy let go of
his breath, and pulled her in for a short, hard kiss, right there in the
lobby.  He was looking like a bull who was about to charge.

“And don’t think
for one second that I didn’t see you wink at Paul before he left,” Jeremy
growled.  “Stop.  Winking.  At men.”

She
giggled.  “Yes, we all know that Paul is going to switch teams just
because I winked at him...and maybe I like winking at men,” she teased.

“Do you? 
You haven’t once winked at me.”

She still had
that sexy smile on her face, and gave him her best Marilyn Monroe wink.

“Let’s go,” he
said no longer smiling, and pulled her along behind him.   Moving his
hand to her back, he led her through the rest of the lobby to the outside
door. 

Just before he
opened the door, he dragged her to the corner next to a potted plant, and
plastered her to the wall.  Within a split second, he was devouring her
mouth, biting, sucking, licking.  She was in a fog of arousal again, and
began whimpering, while his hands rubbed up her arms to cup her face.  She
steadied herself by putting her hands on his forearms.

“Jeremy, someone
might see!” she whispered furiously, while he continued kissing her.

“You’re a
naughty girl, Ryann, do you know that?  Merciless tease, is what you are,”
he said in between kisses.  “You like teasing me?  Wearing your hair
down..and those sandals…God, woman.”  He continued kissing her.

Her brain still
in a fog, she began smiling, then giggling, in effect stopping his kisses.

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about.  And what is it with you and walls?”

“You know
exactly what I’m talking about.  I’ve been waiting for you for nearly four
days, and I’ve been counting the minutes until I’m going to be buried inside
you.”

She continued to
giggle.  “What minute are we up to now?”

“All I know is
that I need to make it through approximately 90 more, then I’m going to have
you in my bed, spread out like a feast for me to devour.  And I like you
against walls...trapped so you can’t escape,” punctuating his last statement
with a hip grind, nailing her to the wall.

She gasped, then
let out a breathy moan.  “Geez, Jeremy, someone could walk by.” 

“And your point
is?”

“Jeremy...” she
whispered, exasperated, her eyes darting around to make sure the security guard
couldn’t see them.

He pulled away,
ran his fingers through his hair, and mumbled, “Sorry.”  He shook his
head.  “What the hell are you doing to me?”

She looked up at
him with an innocent smile.  He growled, grabbed her hand, and dragged her
outside to the waiting car and driver at the curb.

The driver
opened the door, and said, “It’s good to see you again, ma’am.”

“You too,” she
smiled.  “What’s your name?”

“Manny, ma’am.”

“Please call me
Ryann.  And thank you for being so sweet the other night.”  She put
out her hand to shake his.  He seemed taken aback, but then shook it.

“It was my
pleasure, Ryann,” he said, his face breaking out into a grin.  “And It
will be my pleasure to drive you any time you need a ride.”

Jeremy watched,
amused.

Jeremy put out
his hand to direct Ryann into the car, but before she got in, she stopped and
smiled, saying, “Thank you for driving us tonight, Manny,” then punctuated it
with a wink, causing Manny to smile even wider, and look at Jeremy.

Jeremy cleared
his throat and gave a slight eye roll, and started gently shoving Ryann into
the backseat of the car.  “Stop.  Winking,” he said under his breath.

While getting in
the car, she said, as if speaking to a five year old, “People in the service industry
deserve -“

“I know,
sweetheart,” he said with a mildly exasperated tone.  She thought she
could hear Manny chuckling, and saying, “I
like
this one.”  Jeremy
mumbled a comment but she couldn’t make it out.

Jeremy came in
right behind her, forcing Ryann to move to the opposite side of the car. 
She noticed immediately that there was champagne waiting, and the privacy
screen was up.

Jeremy settled
in, practically in the middle of the bench seat, forcing her up against the
opposite car door, with him seated in very close proximity.  Her heart was
beating so fast, she thought it was going to pop out of her chest.  She
was witnessing Jeremy a little out of control, and she loved it.  She
couldn’t resist teasing him some more.