Valentine from a Soldier (3 page)

I grabbed my purse and opened it up, pulling out a twenty.

“No, I got it,”
Ryan
said, holding his hand up in protest.
  “I would’ve been lonely sitting here all by myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” he said easily.

“
If you insist,” I said with a shrug.  “Thanks.  M
aybe I’ll see you around,”
I continued
,
sliding off my barstool
.  “You know
,
if I can’t get a flight out of here soon.”  I was gazing directly into
Ryan
’s
eyes now, standing between my barstool and his, and I felt an unexpected feeling of sadness that I was about to walk away and probably wouldn’t ever see him again.
  Why couldn’t I meet a nice guy like this when I was
back
home in Chicago
?

“Hopefully so,” he said.  “Well, of course I don’t
want you to be stuck here,” he added
with a grin.  “But if you are, then hopefully we’ll run into each other again.”

I was about to say goodbye when a drunk guy bumped into me, pushing me
even
closer to
Ryan
. 
Ryan
reached out to steady me,
the touch of
his warm fingers
on my bare arm
burning into my skin.
  Our eyes locked for a moment at our sudden closeness before we were interrupted again.

“Can I buy you a dr
i
nk?” the newcomer slurred.

I turned slightly to face him, puzzled
as to
why he’d decided to approach me now. 
I was getting ready to leave and
was
obviously already having a conversation with someone else. 
“No,” I said, shaking
my head.

“Just one drink,” he
insisted
, reaching out like he was going to touch my hair.

I took a step back, ending up nestled between
Ryan
’s legs where he remained perched on the barstool.  His broad chest pressed up against my back, and I felt his muscular arms come protectively around me.  I felt safe with him and wondered if he noticed that I was shivering slightly, taken aback by the
drunk
guy’s attempt to touch me.  “She’s not interested,” he said in a deep, authoritative voice, holding up one hand to indicate the guy should back off.

“Sorry man, I didn’t realize you guys were together.”

Neither of us corrected him, and
Ryan
draped his leather jacket over me. 
“Come on,
” he said, resting his hands on my shoulders as he got to his feet.
He towered above me, able to rest his chin atop of my head if he wanted to. 
“I’ll walk you to your room.”

“Thanks,” I replied, warily
giving the
creepy guy
a once over before we walked away
. 
Ryan
kept one hand lightly on my shoulder as he let me lead the way out of the crowded bar, almost as if just to reassure me he was still there.  I hadn’t exactly planned to leave the bar with anyone, but
Ryan
was definitely the lesser of
the
two evils
. 
Although
I wasn’t
completely
sure
that I wanted him to know where my room was either.
 
The potential of s
pending time alone together outside of the crowded bar
and in my hotel room
sounded
enticing
, and somehow I sensed that it might lead to nothing but trouble. 
Trouble in the best sense of the word.

We walked into the elevator
,
and I pressed the button for my floor. 
Ryan
hovered
close to me but in more of a protective manner.  Not that it mattered because the creepy guy from the bar was long gone.
 
I was relieved to have him by my side though, still feeling slightly shaken up. 
We got off at my floor and
silently
walked down the hall to my
room
, Ryan slowing his long stride to match my pace.  I stopped
when we reached the door
.
  “So,” I said, turning to face him.

“So,” he echoed, seeming unsure himself.

I kept his jacket over my shoulders, making no move to take it off.  He stood gazing down at me, making no move to leave. 
Suddenly feeling bold, I met his blue eyes.  “I still haven’t eaten.  Want to order room service?”

“That sounds great,” he said.
  “I’m starving.”  He flashed me a quick grin, and for a moment he looked like he was hungry for much more than just a good meal.
  I knew nothing would happen between us unless I wanted it too
though
, and I slid my card into the door, gesturing for him to come inside.

Later that evening
,
I
playfully
tossed
a
french
fry at
Ryan
, laughing
a
s
he teased me. 
We’d been enjoying a leisurely dinner together, talking and joking around back in my hotel room. 
I didn’t want to wear my bachelorette party black dress all evening, so while Ryan
had
ordered us food, I’d gone into the bathroom and pulled on a stretchy camisole
,
loose open cardigan
,
and dark jeans.  The camisole dipped low and wasn’t any less revealing than the dress I had on earlier—just more comfortable.
  Ryan had
ordered a full spread from the room service menu
while I changed
: burgers, fries,
a cheese sampler platter,
s
lices
of cake,
chocolate-covered strawberries,
and a bottle of wine.  They’d wheeled it all in for us on a cart covered in white linens
and
set it up on the tiny table in my room.  We’d been having such a good time it felt like I was having dinner with a guy friend I had a huge crush on,
or maybe someone I’d been on a few dates with but not yet kissed,
not a handsome stranger I’d met only hours ago.  I mean how many times did you meet someone new and have instant rapport?  It just didn’t happen.

Ryan
easily caught
the
french
fry
midair and raised his eyebrows. 
“Did you just throw a fry at me?”
he
asked in
mock
disbelief.

“You totally had it coming,” I said, not denying it in the slightest.

“You know I’m in the Special Forces, right?  I have all kinds of military training,” he teased.

“Oh, so they prepare you for
french-fry attacks
?  Food fights
with
28-year-old-women
?”

“Something
like
that,” he
replied
, his eyes not leaving my face.

The only kind of food fight I wanted to get into with
Ryan
involved him licking chocolate syrup off my body.  But since we didn’t have any, and I wouldn’t exactly have put up a fight if
we did
,
there was no sense
in
mentioning it to him
right
now
.

“You look cute when you’re trying to be mad at me,” he said.

“I’m not mad
at
you,” I
replied
with a laugh.

“Exactly.
  ‘Trying to be’ were the key words.”

I opened my mouth in protest but suddenly found myself
speechless for the first time all night
.

“Here,
have
one of these,” he said, passing the plate of chocolate-covered strawberries over to me.  I took a bite of one and felt his eyes on me, watching my every movement.  All of a sudden it felt like our playful evening had taken on a different tone.  I licked my lips and then brought a napkin to my mouth, not wanting chocolate
all over my face
or
to
have him think I was making a suggestive come-on.  I watched his gaze lower, taking in my cleavage, and
then his eyes hastily returned to mine, as if he didn’t want me to know where he’d just been looking
.

“You’re really pretty,” he said.  “I can see why that
drunk
guy was hitting on you at the bar.”

I found myself flushing as I gazed back at him. 
“Right, but you weren’t when you sat down beside me.”

“No, I just wanted to order a beer
,” he said with a grin.
 
“
But I’ll tell you what, meeting you was the best part of my day
.”

My heartbeat sped up as I looked at him.  Certainly he wasn’t just feeding me lines.  I mean he was already in my hotel room for God’s sake. 
“It was that bad
of a day
, huh?”
I joked, attempting to keep things light.

“As a matter of fact, it was kind of bad.  But even if it
had
been perfect, it still wouldn’t have topped this.”

I smiled
,
because even though I hated to admit it, I felt exactly the same way.

“I know you’re probably leaving tomorrow,
” he continued, “
but if you’re still here, what do you say we go sightseeing together?”

“So you want to make plans even though you know I’ll probably have to stand you up
?
”

“Life is short,” he said with a shrug.

“How about you call me in the morning,” I said, not willing to let this be our last conversation.  I couldn’t bear to
agree
to meet him somewhere tomorrow and then just never show.
 
I’d been trying to reschedule my flight all afternoon and probably would be long gone by whatever time we arranged to meet. 
If he called me tomorrow
morning
, I’d at least have a chance to say goodbye.

“I can do that,” he said, his voice low. 
He stood up
,
and I followed suit, suddenly feeling like the little table in my hotel room was a huge obstacle separating us.  He was so close yet so far away. 
Ryan
gestured for me to go ahead, and
I
slipped by him,
our
bodies barely brushing against one another
as I
walked
across the room
. 
I
could feel his eyes on
me
the entire way, and as
I
reached out to unlock
the door
, something inside
me
made me
turn back to him once more.

He walked over, his blue eyes piercing even in the dim light.  The five-o’clock shadow across his face made him sexy as hell,
and my eyes ran over his strong jaw and
chiseled face
before I once again met his gaze
.  Now on the pretense of him leaving, we were standing face-to-face in front of the door.  I could feel the warmth radiating off his body as he stood only inches away, and the electricity between us was palpable.  Slowly he leaned down, the air growing thicker.  I could hardly breathe as
his face hovered near mine
, and then he was kissing me at last.

His warm mouth and full lips were soft against my own
, h
is kiss somehow both gentle and hungry at the same time.  I raised
my
hands to his face, running them over the stubble
on his cheeks and strong jaw
,
holding
him to
m
e.  Stretching up on my tip-toes, I kissed him back, not wan
ting to let the moment between us
end. 
His gentle kiss gave way to something more, and soon his tongue was gently pushing inside
my
mouth. 
I
backed against the door as he stepped even closer, neither of
us
speaking a single word.  His mouth hot on
mine
,
I
was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else. 
Ryan
was supposed to be
leaving, but somehow none of that mattered when
he
was kissing me this way. 
His tongue thrust inside
my
mouth,
exploring,
and I
felt the stubble on his face rub roughly against
my
skin in his eagerness.  He planted heated kisses along
my
neck, causing
my
breathing to become shallow. 
I
tilted
my
head back, closing
my
eyes and gasping against the door, as an electric current shot straight through
me
.  He lowered his mouth to
my
chest, kissing the tops of
my
breasts as they rose and fell beneath his touch.  Finally he raised his mouth back to
mine
, and his full lips crushed against
m
y
own again and again.