He should be in the middle of his morning training session at this time, but messaging him always calms me, even if I know he won’t be able to answer for a while.
Deep breath. I’ll deal with whatever happens. I can handle this. They’ll only take a small amount of blood from my finger and do an ultrasound, that’s all. Easy peasy.
My fingers still hover over the keyboard, and after an encouraging inhale, they move over the letters. How do you feel about getting together? Maybe I could fly out again next week after my other appointment? Let me know what you think. I know you’re crazy busy with your training, and I don’t want to mess with that. Another deep breath before I type the rest. But just to be clear, I want to see you. I miss you. It’s been too long.
Send. There. Done.
Hopefully it was the right thing to say.
If it wasn’t for my new job, I would have packed my ass on a plane two weeks ago already. But after landing the job, I had to go through several training sessions to get up to speed with everything. Now that I’m settled in, I can do the work in my own time, which gives my schedule more flexibility again.
“It definitely has been too long.”
The voice snaps through my thoughts. It’s deep and male and sounds like Ryan.
What on earth? I’ve officially lost my mind. Now I’m hallucinating because I miss him so much.
I pocket my phone and walk up the few steps to the building, slowly glancing up.
My mouth falls open the second I see the figure standing right next to the door.
Leaning against the wall is Ryan. Freaking Ryan.
He watches me and smirks. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“How?” That’s all I get out, still staring at him like he’s grown a third eye.
“I wanted to be here for the appointment. And I wanted to see you.”
“Why?” Apparently, I’ve lost my ability to speak more than one word at a time.
“Because I’ve missed you too. So much.”
That does it. I get over the shock and fling myself at him. He catches me and hauls me against his chest, one of his hands going to my lower back, the other one going to the back of my head, gripping my neck possessively. I love it. It’s absolutely perfect.
I breathe him in, feeling his heartbeat against my ear, and I can’t remember the last time I was this content. When I pull back to make sure it’s really him, he doesn’t waste a single second. His lips descend on mine, and all I can do is hold on, fisting his coat like I might float away without that anchor.
The kiss sends my heartbeat into overdrive, and all I can think about is that I want more of everything. His lips are demanding, his tongue ambitious, and I give back as good as he gives. We slow down after a few minutes, and he ends this kissing marathon with a gentle nudge to my nose, followed by drawing me to him once more to place a feather-soft kiss to my forehead.
I sigh. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
I squeeze my arms around his midsection, not wanting to let go. Ever.
“I didn’t want to miss it. And I couldn’t wait any longer to be with you.” He leans down and kisses to the top of my head.
A car honks in the street behind us, and it yanks me out of our moment.
“Oh my gosh, I jumped you in broad daylight for everyone to see.” I shake my head.
Ryan chuckles. “I don’t think I complained. You can jump me anytime you want. Actually, I insist.”
I smile at him, going up on my toes to get closer. “I might take you up on that.”
We share a quiet moment where we take each other in. I’m obsessed with him, but in a good way. He’s become such an important part of my life in the last few months. Seeing him now makes me wonder how I’ve made it this long without him.
After pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, he disentangles us and takes a breath. Inhaling and exhaling deeply.
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Well, if you still think so later, I have a hotel room not very far from here. We could do a whole replay of our first night together.”