Love Unscripted (29 page)

“
So… how’s it going?” Marie grinned and raised her eyebrows. She noticed the way Ryan and I were beaming.

I glanced around to make sure we were alone before holding my hand up and spreading my five fingers out to her.

“
Five?” she whispered in amazement.

I smiled a devilish grin and nodded my head.

“
Did you take my advice and feed him well to keep his energy level up?”

“
Oh, he ate
very
well this morning – several times. Wait, did you mean feed him food?” I teased.

“
So what are you two ladies whispering about over here?” Ryan asked after he set another box on the table.

Marie and I looked at each other and just smiled; it was apparent on our faces that we were talking about - things.

Ryan wrapped his arms around my waist. “I guess our secret is out now?” he chuckled.

“
What secret?” Marie’s voice boomed. “It’s so obvious the way you two are glowing around each other. The only thing missing are the words ‘I had incredible sex’ written on your foreheads!” She motioned the words with her hand.

Ryan and I laughed as he squeezed me tighter. “It was beyond incredible,” he whispered in my ear and kissed me on the neck.

Pete walked into the bar with another box of food, noting Ryan’s hold on me. A not-so-nice word slipped from his lips.

Gary was right behind him, and when he saw us he started laughing.

“
Looks like you owe me some money,” Gary muttered.

“
Doesn’t mean anything,” Pete snapped. He looked over at Marie; she twitched her lips and nodded her head to confirm his suspicions.

“
Son-of-a… two more days… you couldn’t hold off for two more days?” Pete busted on us.

I glared over at Marie.

“
Don’t look at me! You know how competitive those two are. It wasn’t my idea!”

Ryan released me and turned to Pete. “You bastards betting on us?” he asked jokingly.

“
Yep!” Pete replied. “And you cost me twenty bucks, you prick!”

Ryan slipped his hand into his front pocket and peeled a twenty-dollar bill off of a small stack of cash.

“
Here you go, Gary. Pete’s loss was my gain.” He laughed. “It was worth every penny!”

Gary didn’t hesitate. He snatched the bill out of Ryan’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket. Marie teasingly nudged me.

“
You know Ryan, Gary is a Giants fan,” Pete baited him.

“
Oh really?” Ryan asked, looking over at Gary.

“
Ugh! Don’t tell me you’re a freaking Steelers fan too,” Gary groaned. “No wonder you and Taryn get along so well.”

“
What do you say to another bet?” Ryan’s eyes narrowed on Gary. “I got another twenty in my pocket that says the Giants are going to get their asses handed to them tonight.”

While the three of them discussed the terms of the wager, Tammy, Marie, and I finished setting up the buffet table.

“
He fits in perfectly!” Marie whispered in my ear. “Look at them! They’re like long-lost college buddies!”

“
I know!” I whispered back. The sight of the three of them getting along so well was heart-warming.

“
Ryan freakin’ Christensen!” Marie giggled as she gave me a shoulder hug. “So, tell me, is he packing or what?”

“
What do you think?” I murmured.

She breathed out a rough sigh.

“
Hey, no fantasizing about him,” I warned. “You have your own. That one’s mine. And try not to ask too many questions about their stupid movie, all right? They’re just regular people.”

Tammy set up an elaborate tiered cheese and veggie tray; she had hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, hot entrees to complement the steaks, shrimp and lobster bites, and several different little desserts and chocolate dipped what-nots.

I started to uncork a bottle of merlot while the guys discussed football trades and names of players. I never understood how men could remember all those details about sports but, yet, were incapable of remembering where they set their car keys or wallet.

Just like the other day when Ryan asked me where his messenger bag was. Did he really not remember where it was, or is there some primitive part of a man’s brain that starts to shut down whenever a woman comes into their lives?

Ryan was obviously hungry; he was popping food in his mouth between words. He had just shoved a big piece of cheese in his mouth when his cell phone rang. After a brief conversation, he met me at the bar.

“
Cal and his wife are on their way. They’re driving themselves. The rest of the group is coming separately; they were just picked up at the hotel. Cal told me that they are being followed by the paparazzi.” Ryan’s words sounded almost angry.

“
I have to go start the grill; do you want to come up with me?” I asked, hoping he would follow.

He just nodded at me.

On our way through my apartment, we grabbed our coats. I presumed it would be cold outside. He playfully goosed my rear end all the way up the steps to the roof. I was getting the hint that he liked my butt.

I opened the rooftop door and turned to look at his reaction. His eyes instantly widened as he stepped outside.

“
Oh my God, Taryn! This is incredible!”

I had a good portion of the roof transformed into a nice patio. There was a huge, raised composite deck with an outdoor stone bar with a granite top. I had designed a corner-raised fireplace at one end of the patio; the other end closest to the door contained the enormous stacked stone counter and stainless steel grill.

The entire patio area was covered by a wooden pergola roof; I had tried to train vines to grow up the pillars, but the October winds had dried up most of the leaves. Underneath the open lattice roof, I had attached tiny white lights to make the patio glow in the evening. Centered on the patio was a large teak table that seated twelve and directly above that, a wrought iron and glass candle chandelier. I turned the lights on for Ryan so he could see it sparkle in the setting sun.

“
This is… beautiful!” he proclaimed, appearing quite mesmerized by it all.

I smiled at him; I was glad that he thought so too.

“
You can really see the ocean from here,” he sighed loudly.

I turned the gas on underneath the grill and lit the pilot. The burners popped to life with fire.

“
It’s not as cold as I thought it would be tonight,” I mentioned. “Do you think people might like to sit up here too? I could start a fire.”

“
Yeah. I know I wouldn’t mind hanging out up here for a little.”

I pulled some wood out of the storage bin and stacked it in the fireplace. Ryan was standing at the edge of the deck with his fingers in his front pockets, looking out at the ocean and the setting sun. His face was beaming.

“
I think this is my new favorite place in the world,” he declared. “I thought your stairwell was the gateway to peace. This is the peace!”

I stood next to him, enjoying the view of the colors over the ocean. I had seen the setting sun over the water a thousand times, but with Ryan standing next to me, it was like I was seeing it for the first time. Ryan slipped his hand out of his pocket and took my hand in his. He lifted my hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on my skin.

He leaned over to give me a kiss. Either he was a brilliant actor, or he was falling for me too. I hoped it was the latter.

I giggled lightly when he pulled my hand behind his back, causing me to get off balance and fall into him. He smiled at me and pressed his lips to mine. Ryan quickly let go of my hand and placed both of his hands on my neck – raising my face to his. His kiss was so passionate, I was totally lost in the feeling; so lost that I didn’t hear the roof door open.

I did, however, hear someone when they cleared their throat. Pete had escorted Cal and his wife to the roof. Suzanne and Francesca were directly behind them. The second we realized we weren’t alone, Ryan immediately let me go.

“
My, aren’t you two cozy already,” Suzanne said in her British accent.

Ryan fired a dirty look in her direction. He ignored her and guided me over to Cal and his wife.

“
Hey Cal!” Ryan shook his hand. “Taryn, I’d like to introduce you to Cal’s wife, Kelly. Kelly, this is Taryn - Taryn Mitchell. She is the owner of this beautiful establishment.”

I held out my hand to Kelly. I remembered seeing her many times on television, but she was even lovelier in person. She had straight blond hair, high cheekbones, and the type of smile that was infectious. I recalled she was only a year or two older than I was. We were about the same in height and close to the same size too.

“
Hi Kelly, it’s very nice to meet you!”

“
It’s nice to meet you too, Taryn!” She gave me a nice hug. “Oh wow! Cal, look at this view!” The sound of her voice was very familiar to me. I spent many years watching her show faithfully.

“
Ryan and I were just appreciating the same thing before you arrived,” I said to her. I felt Ryan’s hand in the small of my back.

“
This is magnificent, Taryn,” Cal agreed. I saw him look at Ryan and smile.

Kelly walked to the fireplace; I could see that she wanted a closer look. “Cal, this is what we should put in the corner of our patio. I want this!”

“
It’s quite easy to build,” I explained. “I understand you have a young daughter? Something like this with the height would be safer for her. You can easily place a fire screen across the front.”

Kelly and I continued our discussion about the grill and bar area. She was very intrigued about the design.

“
I actually sketched the design. I saw it in my head, the way I wanted it to be laid out, and then I had a local contractor build it all for me.”

“
It’s beautiful! We’ll have to bring you to California and design one for us. We just built a new home in Malibu.”

It was very easy to talk to Kelly. She was very open and pleasant, and was the type of person I could see myself being good friends with.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Suzanne and Francesca slowly walking towards us. I didn’t want to be rude to the rest of our guests so I smiled in their general direction. Ryan and Cal were having a conversation about something that happened with one of the cameras on the set the other day, and I noticed that Ryan barely acknowledged the other girls’ presence.

I looked at the two actresses and gave them my best welcome smile.

“
Hi!” I held out my hand to Suzanne. “I’m Taryn. Welcome to my home.” She barely took my fingers in hers and quickly shook my hand.

“
I’m Suzanne,” she mumbled.

I got the distinct impression that I was supposed to acknowledge that she was famous and I was expected to already know who she was.

“
It’s nice to meet you. And you must be Francesca,” I stated warmly, holding my hand out to her.

“
Yes,” she said quickly, barely looking at me. Even though she only said one word I could still detect the French accent to her voice. She was as unpleasant to me as I had expected.

“
I didn’t have an opportunity to meet you both when you were in my pub, but I’m glad that you came today.” There was no way I was going to be impolite, despite the less than warm reception I was getting in return.

I glanced over to Ryan, who gave me a smile and a nod. He was acknowledging my attempts at being cordial.

“
Ladies, can I offer you a drink? We have a large variety of wines downstairs, or any other beverage you might prefer.” I was hoping they might follow me down to the bar. I did not want to be carrying drinks up and down the stairs all night.

Much to my dismay, Suzanne wrapped her coat across her chest and plopped her ass down in one of the chairs. “I’ll have a glass of white wine.”

Francesca sat down next to her. My wishes for them to return to the bar were in vain. While I was running downstairs I was going to make it worth the trip.

“
Francesca, can I get you something to drink?” I asked nicely.

Before she responded, the rooftop door opened again and several new people joined us.

I recognized Shane Richards right away; he had come into the pub once before with Ryan and Cal. Next to him was a petite, twenty-something looking woman with short blond hair and another man who was lanky with too much gel in his brown hair.

Ryan came to my side and he was smiling at our new guests.

“
Hey everyone!” the young woman said. “Hey Ryan!” She came right over to us.

I didn’t know who she was, but it didn’t matter. She was all aglow and looking like she wanted to have a good time, not like the other two who were glaring at me from their perches.

“
Taryn, this is Kathleen Jarrett. She plays my wicked little assistant in our film.” He smiled and gave her a teasing arm hug around her neck. “Kat, this is Taryn.”

“
Hey Taryn!” Kathleen greeted me. I held my hand out to her but instead she gave me a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“
It’s nice to meet you too!” I said while hugging her back. I was curious as to what she meant by ‘finally;’ I looked over at Ryan, slightly confused. He was just smiling.