Nerd Girl (31 page)

“Thanks. I bought it a few years ago. The view is what sold me. It’s not the most family-friendly home, though. I primarily bought it as in investment.”

His comment surprised me. So he wanted to have a family someday, huh? I knew I had plenty of time to ask him those questions later. It was too early in our relationship to discuss it now, even if he
was
the one that brought it up.

“Do you plan on selling it anytime soon?”

“Maybe in a few years. The market seems to be getting better. It’s fine for now.” He shrugged. “Would you like a tour?”

“Sure.”

He held out his hand and I took it, following him as he led me down to the basement. By the looks of it, the basement was the entertainment room. A large flat screen hung from the main wall with some expensive looking stereo equipment in the cabinet below it. There was an Xbox controller sitting off to the side and I noticed a few Halo game cases. What is it with men and video games? Twelve or thirty-seven, they all still loved playing them. A couple feet in front of the equipment sat a very comfortable looking old, worn, leather sofa. On the north side of the room, the sliding glass doors opened up to the patio with some light landscaping of potted plants and foliage. This was the deck I noticed outside above the garage.

“My dad would have a field day here,” I said, eyeing all the wiring which I was sure led to some surround sound speaker or something.

Ryan chuckled. “How was the brunch?”

“Good. I got the third degree about you, though.” I looked over at him and he raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure you did,” he said with a mischievous grin.

Through the glass of one of the built-in cabinets, a picture caught my eye. Looking closer, I saw that it was a young Ryan and another guy, both in graduation caps and gowns. They looked so young and carefree standing in front of a classic yellow Mustang. They each had an arm draped over the shoulder of a very young Catherine. Catherine looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. Even so young, she was beautiful beyond her years. She looked like the epitome of the high school homecoming queen. He wasn’t kidding when he said he had known her almost his whole life. The picture brought forth images of my own youth; football games on a Friday night, hanging out late on a waterfront dock, pondering the future.

“That was my friend, Daniel,” he said quietly. He didn’t mention anything about Catherine, so I didn’t either.

“You guys look so young here,” I said, stating the obvious. “Great car, by the way.”

“My dad would let me take it out every once in a while. He let me drive it to our graduation ceremony. It finally broke down when I was in college. My dad sold it to some guy who liked to work on restoring old cars. I was heartbroken.”

“High school graduation?” I asked confirming another obvious point.

“Yeah,” he confirmed quietly. His tone was slightly off, so I peered up at him. His face held a hint of sadness. “Daniel was Catherine’s older brother. He died not too long after that picture was taken.”

Surprised, I looked up at him. How tragic to have experienced the death of someone so close to him at such a young age. He continued to speak, looking at the picture and remembering the painful event from his past.

“We were in a boating accident together. They said he died instantly. I knew my life was never going to be the same again after that.”

Wow. I let that sink in for a moment and let out a deep breath. I felt an unexpected heaviness in my chest. Ryan wasn’t kidding when he said that he and Catherine had a long history together. They had lost the same person, someone they both had loved and grown up with. They had shared both the memories and the pain of their loss.

I didn’t know why this bothered me so much. This was all history and in the past, and Daniel’s memory wasn’t a threat to me. Was I jealous of Ryan and Catherine’s shared memory of him? I felt shameful for even thinking it. Catherine was his past and I was hopefully his future. I just needed to get over it.

“His loss must have been so hard for the both of you.” Why did I keep saying things that continued to state the obvious?

“Yeah, it was,” Ryan said quietly. He didn’t elaborate further, and I didn’t push. He placed a hand lightly on my lower back, turning me towards the stairs.

With that silent gesture, I knew that he didn’t want to continue that particular conversation. We headed back up the stairs, passing the main floor and continuing up to the top floor. There was a room on the north side that he had turned into an office. The open space in between his office and his bedroom looked like a den with bookshelves and comfortable reading chairs. I walked over to one of the shelves and eyed his book collection.

“What’s your favorite genre?” I asked as I perused all the different authors and books. I saw mysteries, courtroom drama fiction, books about war, and a lot of business nonfiction.

“I read a lot of industry books on technology trends.”

“For pleasure, I mean,” I said dryly while rolling my eyes at him.

He laughed at my response. “That is for pleasure.”

“Seriously?” I asked incredulously. “All you executive types seem to enjoy reading these things. They’re way too dry for me. That might explain, though, why people like me stay in IC roles, whereas people like you are overachievers, always trying to conquer the world.” I was being facetious, of course. IC stood for individual contributor in MS speak, as opposed to being in a management role like Ryan.

He smirked at me and took my hand to continue the tour. I peeked into his bedroom to see a king-sized bed with a contemporary wooden block head board. I wondered if I would be looking out to this view in the morning. A part of me was excitedly anticipating the possibilities of this evening and I looked at Ryan with one eyebrow raised and a sly suggestive grin. He chuckled and moved predatorily to my side.

“What are you doing to me?” he asked teasingly as he took my glass of wine and placed it on the dresser. He put his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face into my hair. “I can’t stop thinking about you, and when you look at me like that …” He growled and captured my lips in his.

At first it was soft and playful, but I soon felt our urgency and the kisses turned hot and breathless.
Gah!
This man could turn me on like a light switch. I went from zero to sixty in the blink of a flirtatious kiss. His kiss instantly made my blood boil and my veins hum with desire for him.

Directly behind Ryan, there was a gray leather lounge chair. I backed him up until his calves bumped it. His knees buckled backwards, forcing him to sit down while I continued to stand. His hand caressed the back of my knee and slowly moved upward inside my skirt to massage my ass, before moving back down to my thighs. His fingers slowly moved between my legs and I felt his thumb brush my sex over my panties. I let out a gasp, instantly damp.

This whole time, his gaze never left my eyes, making this moment between us even more erotic and sensual. His eyes were hooded and I was breathing heavily. He pulled my panties down and I stepped out of them. Even fully clothed and my skirt brushing my knees, I felt incredibly exposed and vulnerable to him. He returned his hands to their previous location, slowly massaging my most sensitive area with the pad of his thumb. A deep moan fell from my lips and he slid two fingers into me. I gasped and lifted one of my legs up onto the arm of the chair to give him better access, but also so I wouldn’t collapse as a result of the weakness I felt in my legs. The next thing I knew, my skirt was lifted up and his tongue on me, expertly licking and sucking me where I wanted it most. I could barely contain myself, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stand much longer. I grabbed his shoulders for more support as I felt myself climax. As I lost my mind through my orgasm, Ryan pulled me to him so that I straddled his lap and I collapsed on top of him.

I slowly came to my senses as Ryan was trying to unbutton his jeans. I lifted myself off a little so he could better access his button fly. I saw his excitement spring upward as soon as it was released from his boxers. I straddled him again, easing myself slowly down. I was already so sensitive and still reeling from the last minute; I was a bundle of loose mush in his arms. Sensing my weakened state, Ryan took over and expertly put his arm around my waist and helped me move up and down. It didn’t take long before I felt myself tighten again and I no longer needed his help to ride him. My own need for release propelled me forward. Another wave of pleasure soon overcame me and I had my second orgasm in less than five minutes.

I cried out again, my head falling backwards. “Oh, yes! Ryan!”

Ryan continued to pump me back up and down until I felt his whole body tense and stiffen. “Julia! I’m going to come! Fuck!” He climaxed hard, his body jerking and trembling deep into me. I held him tight as he rode it out; the look on his face was fantastic and I reveled in the pleasure he took from my body.

This must be a record for me. This made for five orgasms within twenty-four hours. And possibly the best sex I’d ever had. We collapsed onto each other and stayed in that position for several more minutes. When we could both breathe evenly again, I looked at him with a satisfied grin at the same time my stomach released an embarrassing growl.

Ryan chuckled and gave me the most endearing smile. “I better feed you,” he said, lifting me off of him and handing me my panties with a smirk.

Ryan was making me halibut with mango salsa, which sounded fancy but was surprisingly easy to make. I helped by chopping the mangoes and other salsa ingredients while he went out on the deck to grill the fish.

Midway through our dinner, Ryan got curious about my family’s reaction to my impromptu surprise wedding guest. “So, what sort of questions did everyone ask you at the brunch?”

“The usual. How we met, how long have we been dating, how is it that he’s still single?”

“Oh,” he said dryly, raising an eyebrow. “What did you say to that?”

“I lied, of course. Only Anna and Ethan know.”

“Hmm,” he mumbled.

His brow was furrowed and I could tell he wasn’t entirely comfortable with what I had just said, but what was I supposed to tell my parents? If I told them the truth, they would be warning me that this was happening too fast and I should be careful about trusting him, blah, blah, blah
… I just didn’t want to go there with them.

“Anna did ask me whether or not I still had a job.” I looked down at my food and shoved it around a little with my fork. “I wondered the same thing.”

Ryan shifted in his seat and then put his fork down. “We should talk about that.” He looked so serious all of a sudden.

“I have no idea what the HR policy is on something like this, if there even is a policy, but I’m sure Catherine doesn’t want to ever see me again.” I didn’t want to worry him by giving him any indication that this was bothering me so much, but I couldn’t help sounding so distressed.

“I took care of it,” he said matter-of-factly and then looked at me a little guiltily. “I hope you don’t mind.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, needing clarification. “What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath and then exhaled before continuing. “I asked Catherine for a favor. I asked her not to penalize you for something you didn’t know about.”

I looked at him blankly, waiting for more details. I was touched by the fact that the future of my career had been a concern for him too.

“She agreed to let you find another job. She won’t tell the team what happened. You guys
will
have to agree on what to say publicly.”

I looked at him with shock, blinking several times; I was completely stunned that he went out on a limb like that for me. “Catherine doesn’t owe me anything,” I protested. “I’m surprised that she cooperated with your request.”

“She might be scorned right now, but she’s not a mean or vindictive person,” Ryan said in her defense.

I nodded in acceptance and understanding. “Thank you, Ryan.” I could appreciate the favor that Catherine was doing for me. No, she wasn’t doing this for me; she was doing it for Ryan. I felt a wave of relief and gratitude to the both of them, mixed with guilt for the pain that she must be going through. I can’t say that I would have been as congenial if our positions had been reversed.

“I also spoke to Stephanie Wheeler,” he continued.

“You spoke to her?! What?” I asked with wide eyes. I was mortified. “What did she say?”

His expression was grim. “I had to. She was disappointed; with me, not you. We’ve worked together for a long time. We’ve been peers, as well as healthy adversaries, for a large part of both our careers at MS. I would even go as far as calling her a friend. She gave her two cents on the situation,” he rolled his eyes, “but she agrees this is the best thing for everyone involved. HR will be engaged here of course, since it’s an exception to the normal policy. Remember that technically, you did nothing wrong. You don’t report to me, so this shouldn’t impact your future career at MS. However, it
will
show that you’ve changed jobs for personal reasons, which will show as being approved by Stephanie.”