Release (23 page)

JM:
 
Good.  I’m not letting u get out of it.  Sleep well this wk baby, b/c
u won’t be getting much when I get my hands on u again.  I have a busy day
tom, so I’ll text again before I go to bed.

She sighed again
and rested her face on her palm.

RT: 
Sweet
dreams.  :)

JM: 
Oh,
they definitely will be.  U have them too, then we’ll compare on
Sat.  XO

She flopped back
on the bed, and hugged herself.  She wasn’t ready to fall in love with
Jeremy McCallister.  But she was afraid she already had.

Thursday passed
quickly, and fortunately with no run ins with MG.  She made it home by
seven, having stopped at the local home improvement store on West 23rd Street
to pick up some paint for the living room.  She was hoping to get a start
on it after work on Friday.

She had a nice
long talk with her mom, catching up about the move and the Institute.  She
didn’t tell her about Jeremy yet.  She wanted to keep him all to herself
for a little while longer before she started sharing him.  Besides, her
mom would have 101 questions about him, especially since it was no secret that
this was the first man she had dated since losing Brent.

She was able to
get a lot of work done, and was getting ready for bed, wondering if and when
Jeremy would be in touch with her.  She decided to take the bull by the
horns and text him first.

RT:
 Hey. 
I’m heading to bed.  We’ll catch up tom, ok?  Hope u had a great
day. 

She hit ‘send’
and then looked back over her message, and wished she had said something more
sexy, or at least something a little more interesting.  She sighed. 
Well, it was too late now.

Her phone
pinged, and she looked to see a return text from Jeremy.

JM: 
I
can call u in 5.  Wait for me.

She felt
butterflies in her stomach while she waited for him to call.  Ah, the
memories of sitting on her bed waiting for a boy to call.  She shook her
head at how giddy she felt, reverting back to her teenage years.

‘I feel like
makin’ love...’

She jumped,
forgetting about his ring tone.  She giggled and answered her phone.

“Hello, Mr.
McCallister.”

“Hey you. 
I was hoping to call you earlier, but dinner with my clients is going later
than expected.”

“Oh.  Are
you still out with them?  You didn’t need to call!  We can talk
tomorrow...I just wanted you to know I was going to bed in case you texted
later and I didn’t respond.”

“Thanks.  I
wanted to hear your voice before you went to bed,” he said in a low voice.

“Well, now
you’ve heard it,” she said with a smile in her voice.  “Now get back to
your clients, Mr. McCallister so you can keep living the lifestyle to which
you’ve become accustomed,” she chuckled.

“I want you to
sleep naked tonight, Ryann,” he continued in his low sexy voice.  “I want
to picture you there on your bed ready and wet for me.  It’ll get me
through my dinner so much better.”

She blushed, and
laughed lightly.  “You’re impossible.  Get back to your clients.”

“Not before I
know you’re going to get naked for me,” he said huskily.  She could hear
the smile in his voice.

She sighed and
rolled her eyes.  “Fine, I’m taking off my nightie right now,” she said,
even though she hadn’t moved.

“I don’t believe
you.  Take it off, and lie down on the bed, Ryann.”

“Jeremy…” she
said with exasperation in her tone.

“Come on, baby,”
he cajoled.  “I’m not getting back to my clients until you do.”

She let out a
harsh exhalation of air, put down the phone and yanked off her nightie. 
She couldn’t believe she was doing this.  She picked up her phone
again.  “There.  It’s done.  Now go.  Pain in the ass,” she
mumbled.

He
chuckled.  “Lay down on that bed of yours, and think of me touching you,
baby.  Because that’s what I’ll be doing.  All through the rest of
this meeting, I’ll be thinking about that.  Nibbling on your nipples,
sucking on your pussy.  Oh, yeah.  I can’t wait to get you all to
myself this weekend,” he whispered.  “Don’t come tonight.  If you
need to touch yourself, give me a half hour.  I want to be on the phone
with you when you do,” he said, his breath coming out in huffs.

She
moaned.  “Jeremy, go.  I need to get some sleep.  You’re killing
me here,” she muttered.

“Only two more
days.  Can you wait for me?”

“Yes,” she
groaned.  “Now go.”

“Night,
baby.  Think of me.”

“How can I not?”
she muttered, exasperated.  “You made sure of that.”

“Yes, I did,” he
said.  She could hear his smugness.

She rolled her
eyes again, horny and unsatisfied.  She refused to touch herself. 
She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.  Then a thought popped into
her head.  Two could play at this game.

“Jeremy?” she
said breathily.

“Yeah, baby.”

She continued in
her breathy voice.  “When you go back to the table, think of me too,
ok?  Think of me on my knees under the table, taking all of you into my
mouth, sucking and licking.  You taste so good, Jeremy,” she murmured in
her sexiest voice.

“
Ryann
,”
he hissed.  There was a long pause, as if he was trying to gain some
control.  “I swear when I see you on Saturday, I’m going to fuck your
brains out.  I’m not going easy on you, you sex kitten,” he growled.

She felt a
thrill go through her, and she laughed nervously.  “Promises,
promises.  Have a good rest of your meeting, Mr. McCallister.”  Then
she disconnected.

Her body was
humming.  She couldn’t believe the woman she was turning into. 
Almost immediately, a text came in.

JM: 
U
have no idea what I’m going to do to u.

She smiled and
felt a flutter course through her.  God.  She was so hot at the
moment, she needed to go get some water.   It was going to be a long
two days.

…..

Friday ran
smoothly, as she got to know her responsibilities and students more.  One
student in particular was a little flirty, but she remained professional and
continually deflected him.

As she was
cleaning up for the day, she was hanging out with Paul, and had a chance to
meet his partner, Pete, who was an adorable fun loving man, who had come by to
pick Paul up for dinner.  They were so cute together, like an old married
couple.  She and the guys all headed down in the elevator together, and
Ryann said goodbye as she headed into the Admin offices to drop off some
papers.

When she came
out, MG and Armand DiCarlo were standing near the entrance.  There was no
way to avoid Jennifer, so Ryann took a deep breath and walked toward the doors.

MG looked up,
and said, “Ryann, have you had a chance to meet Armand DiCarlo?”

Ryann plastered
on a professional smile and walked over.  “No.”  She put out her hand
in introduction.  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.  How are plans going
for the big event next week?”

He was very
handsome, and had a sexy Dracula thing going on.  Dressed in gray slacks,
and a silk black dress shirt, he wasn’t hiding his interest in looking her up
and down.  It was obvious he appreciated what he saw, because instead of
shaking her hand, he raised it to his lips, and kissed it.  Slowly. 
All while making eye contact with her.

“Beautifully,”
he murmured in his Italian accent.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ryann.”

She immediately
became flustered, and she could feel the blood heat her face.  Damn her
blushing!  She took her hand from his, and stepped back a bit.  She
smiled politely, trying to extricate herself from the conversation so she could
head home.

Before she could
say anything, Jennifer jumped in with, “There’s no need to wait on making your
move, Armand.  Ryann will be available for the taking very soon. 
Won’t you, Ryann?” she purred.

God, she tried
not to hate anyone, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself with this
woman.  She couldn’t believe how unprofessional she was!  In front of
a man who didn’t even know her.   Ryann was quickly trying to come up
with a response, but Armand beat her to it.

“It was good to
talk to you again, Jennifer,” he said smoothly.  “I’m sure I can handle my
amorous ambitions without your help,” he said dryly.

“Of course,” she
smirked.  “If you two will excuse me.”

Armand watched
her walk away with an annoyed look on his face, all while Ryann was trying to
figure out how to remove herself from the situation.

“You’ll have to
forgive Jennifer.  She can be somewhat catty at times.”

Ya think? Ryann
thought.

She wasn’t
interested in becoming his next amorous ambition, so she blurted out, “Well, it
was nice to meet you, Mr. DiCarlo.  I was just heading out.”

“Please,
Ryann.  Call me Armand,” he smiled intimately.

Oh, boy. 
If Paul hadn’t have already warned her, Ryann could have easily figured out
this guy’s number.  He was all sensual charm, and made it very easy to see
that he was interested.  Her “man” radar didn’t have to be working to
figure him out.

Geez.  She
hadn’t been picked up by a guy in years, and now in the last two weeks, there
had been Jeremy, a flirty student, and now Armand.  When it rained, it
poured.

She
nodded.  “Armand, then.  Like I said, I was just heading out…”

“It’s completely
inappropriate, I know, but I asked Jennifer to introduce me.  I noticed
you the other day when I was introduced to the faculty.”  Pause.  “I
make it a point to meet a beautiful woman who catches my eye,” he murmured with
a sexy smile.

I bet you do,
buddy.
  Although his smile didn’t have the same effect on her that
Jeremy’s did, a woman couldn’t help but be flattered when a gorgeous man who
looked like him paid her a compliment.

She cleared her
throat, “Well, thank you.”  She knew she sounded flustered.

“I would say I’m
sorry to hear about your divorce, but I’m not.”

Huh? 
“Divorce?” she frowned.

“Jennifer said
you would be ‘available’ soon.  I assumed that meant you were going
through a break up?”

Ryann gritted
her teeth, while smiling.  “I’m not getting a divorce.  I’m not
married.  That was just Jennifer’s way of making a joke.”

“Ah, I
misunderstood.  So,” he looked at her intensely, “you’re not seeing anyone
then?”  He took a step closer.

Shit.  How
was she supposed to respond to that?  She wasn’t sure how to characterize
her relationship with Jeremy.  She would hope that she could say they were
seeing each other, but they never really had that conversation.  She had a
sick feeling in her stomach.  Would Jeremy think they were exclusively
dating?  Or was he still playing the field while sleeping with her? 
She didn’t think he would do that.  At least, she hoped he wouldn’t.

She apparently
took too long to respond, because Armand broke through her thoughts and said
with an amused look on his face, “You’re not sure if you’re seeing anyone?”

She stuttered,
her face blushing, “I have a special friend who I spend time with.  So, as
much as I’m flattered by your attention, Armand…”

“Hmm.  So,
it’s a man who hasn’t necessarily put a label on your relationship,” he
interrupted.  He tsked, “He’s not a very smart man, then.”  He
remained where he stood, but managed to make his next comment sound like he was
whispering it in her ear.  “If I had you all to myself, I’d make sure
every man in the City knew who you belonged to.”

Even though his
words caused a flutter of butterflies in her stomach, she took a step back and
put up her hand.

“I would belong
to
me
, Armand.”  She looked him in the eye, so that he understood
she was no pushover.  “Again, I’m flattered, but you don’t even know
me.  And I’m perfectly content with my ‘special friend’, so –”

He reached his
hand out and stroked her elbow as if to soothe her.  “I’ve offended you,
and that’s the last thing I meant to do.  I would like very much to get to
know you
better
, if things don’t pan out with this friend of yours,” he
smiled intimately.  “But until then, I will be the perfect gentleman, and
try to convince you that there is one
other
man who would very much like
to be more than your ‘special friend.’”

He reached down
for her hand, and kissed it again, this time turning it and planting his warm,
soft lips on her palm.  He released her hand, and bowed slightly, then
turned and walked away.

…..   

Ryann returned
home, still flustered over the conversation with Jennifer, then with
Armand.  She wanted to tell Jeremy about it, but knew that he wouldn’t
take it well.  However, she did decide that they needed to discuss what
exactly their relationship was.  Perhaps it was naïve of her, but she
didn’t think it was unreasonable for her to make sure he knew she didn’t want
him to see other women while sleeping with her.  She felt sick
again.  Was he seeing other women right now?  On his trips?  He
was an extremely sexual man.  Would he be seeking out women while he was
away from her?

Her stomach
began to hurt.  Why hadn’t they discussed this?  She would end it if
he was seeing other women.  She couldn’t sleep with him if he was. 
Not only was it a deal breaker, but it would kill her to know that he didn’t
think she was enough for him.

She
sighed.  Now she was depressed.  She decided to start painting the
living room.  It would distract her, and keep her mind off of Jeremy.

After eating the
leftover Thai from the night before, she moved the few living room furniture
pieces to the middle of the room, and put a tarp over them, to finish prepping
the room for the paint.  She had chosen a deep wine color for the walls,
which was completely out of her comfort zone.  But this was a new chapter,
and she wanted to do things she had always wanted to try.  Her motto was,
it was just paint.  If she didn’t like it, she could always paint over it.

But somehow she
knew she would like her choice of paint color.  Everything else in the
room was light in color.  She had two big windows that let in natural
light, the floors were a light wood, her sofa and chairs were in the khaki
family, and her throw rug was a fuzzy off white.  She was planning on
making new curtains out of a new Kaffe Fassett fabric she bought online, that
had a light gold/khaki background with whimsical and quirky circles and polka
dots in reds, purples, oranges, golds, greens, and browns that would help
brighten up the room as well.