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His eyes widened. They definitely hadn’t been thinking the same things.
“Yeah. So?”
“So, why aren’t you with this woman who taught you that?”
He clutched the back of his neck in a total non-Ryan show of nerves. “Total transparency?”
She nodded.
“She was never in love with me.”
Now it was Cassie’s turn to be shocked. “I find that hard to believe. I’ve never met a woman who wasn’t in love with you.”
Ryan rolled his whiskey eyes. “No. You mean you haven’t met a woman who didn’t want to fuck me.”
Her stomach lurched at his harsh assessment.
He held up his hands. “Not that I agree, but lust would be the more appropriate word choice for your statement.”
She shook her head. She’d watched women fall at Ryan’s feet her whole life. Over the past few years, she’d met women he dated. Ryan had more to him than his sex appeal and a good time. He told terrible jokes that always made her laugh. He cooked mouth-watering meals. He never mansplained. And he loved being a dad. These women had seen these attributes and been truly interested in him as a man, a partner. “No, I meant love.”
Those brown eyes narrowed on her now, appraising. He raised his chin. “What about you? You’ve never even beenhalfin love with me.”
She snickered. “What good would it do to be half in love with someone?”
Ryan’s gaze turned serious. Any sign of playfulness erased from his handsome face. The intensity of his focus set her nerves on fire.
Stepping closer, he reached out to toy with a loose strand of her hair. “With the way you love, Cass, being half loved by you would beat being completely loved by anyone else.”
His gaze lifted to hers. If she didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn he saw straight into the heart of her to where she held a truth she didn’t even voice to herself. For years now, she’d been more than half in love with Ryan McLeod. If she ever let go, she’d fall completely.
Chapter Eight
“Mommy. Mommy. Mommy.”
Cassie’s eyes popped open. Moments before, her dreams had taken her back to her parents’ boathouse. In it, she’d been straddling Ryan’s lap with only the moonlight casting shadows over their half-dressed bodies. Now, the morning sun bathed her bedroom in bright, blinding light. Groaning, she rolled over and buried her face in the bed’s spare pillow.
“Mommy, wake up.” Ellie landed on the bed beside her. “Daddy’s making breakfast. Do you want coffee or cap’chino?”
Instead of answering, Cassie groaned again, burrowing further beneath the linens.
“Coffee it is.”
Ryan.
Her entire body stiffened.Great. His deep voice brought her salacious dream crashing back with perfect clarity. Her body tingled in response.
Ellie’s little head tunneled under the pillow, her face appearing only inches from Cassie’s. “Are you okay?” Her daughter pressed her cool hand against her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Ryan’s voice grew closer accompanied by the sound of his bare feet crossing the wood floor of her bedroom.
The girl’s head disappeared. “Mommy doesn’t feel good.”
“You don’t feel well?” The pillow disappeared, leaving her completely exposed. Ryan’s hand hovered in the air above her, waiting to descend on her forehead the same way their daughter’s had.
“I’m fine.” She batted his hand away. Right now, with the memory of the pleasure his hands had brought her crowding her thoughts, she couldn’t allow him even the slightest touch.
He narrowed his whiskey eyes, and even though the clock had barely reached 8 AM, she craved a sip of the amber liquid.
