Unworthy Heart: The Donnellys, Book 1 (6 page)

Chapter Nine

At the end of the day, Ryan approached Maiya’s office. He lingered outside the closed door for a moment and listened for voices. Nothing but silence. Good, she was alone. He inhaled and rolled his head on his shoulders. When he heard and felt the loud pop of bones in his neck, he let out his breath.

Leaning toward the door a little closer, he listened again. This time, he heard her voice. After a soft knock on the door, he opened it. She was facing the window. A quick glance around showed there was no one else in the office with her. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

“No, Mom.” She ran her hand through her hair. “No, I’m not doing that. Please, stop asking.”

He cleared his throat, and she whipped around in the chair. He mouthed a “hello,” and shrugged one shoulder. He hadn’t meant to intrude.

She rolled her eyes. “I have to go. No. Yes. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She hung up the receiver and stared at the phone. “You ever notice how many buttons we have on these things? What’re they all for?” She shook her head, and then looked up at him.

“You okay, Maiya?”

“Yep, fine.” She nodded and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. The same mask she’d shown him yesterday in the conference room slid into place.

He sat in one of the two chairs positioned in front of the desk. “Okay.”

“Please, have a seat.” She snorted, folded her arms on the desk and leaned forward.

He smirked and leaned forward too. “Thanks, very kind of you to offer.”

Palpable tension bounced between them. He watched her face. The little quirk of her lips. The angle she held her head. Maiya fascinated him. They sized each other up, for how long he wasn’t sure. In truth it didn’t matter. He was too caught up with the wonder of what she might be thinking right then.

Without another thought, Ryan reached across the desk, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward him. He kissed her, open-mouthed, stroking over her lips with his tongue, granting her no mercy and no time to pull away.

She resisted, but then moaned and opened for him. His kiss swallowed the deep sound. Was that resignation he heard? He cupped Maiya’s cheek in his palm, stroked her satin skin with his thumb, and then moved his hand to bury his fingers in her thick, red hair. A zing of arousal shot down his spine and he caressed the soft strands between his fingers, massaging the back of her head.

She moaned again, this time sounding much like a plea for more. He took the cue and deepened the kiss. She tasted like coffee and…strawberries?
Yes!
Ryan nibbled at her bottom lip, and then sought her tongue again. When he pulled away, they were both breathless. He brushed his lips over hers once more, lingering for a bit, enjoying her sweetness, and realized he could kiss her forever. “Sorry, I just…needed that.”

She licked her lips. “Mmm.”

“So, dinner?”

“Mmhmm. Yes.”

He gave her a final quick kiss. “Good. Let’s go.” He stood.

“I have to shut down my computer.” Still in her seat, she looked up at him. “And I need to drop my car off at the hotel.”

Ryan gazed at her and his stomach knotted at the sight. Lips, swollen from his kisses, cheeks a little flushed. “You’re beautiful.”

She tilted her head to the side and her gaze softened, and so did his heart.

They were both quiet while they made their way down the elevator. When they got away from prying eyes, Ryan held her hand and walked her to her car in the parking garage. “See you at the hotel.”

“Okay.” She smiled and closed the door.

As he followed her rental car, anticipation of what the night would bring pumped through him. She parked in the hotel garage, and then emerged and slid into his front seat.

“No, you’re not driving.” He made a stern face, baiting her.

“I wasn’t even going to ask, stud.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, ho, ho, ho…you so were. You know you want to drive my car.”

She gave him a sideways glance, lips pursed, one perfect brow raised. “Awfully full of yourself. Might need to take you down a peg or ten.” Maiya crossed her arms as if deciding she’d be the perfect woman for the job.

He’d make a deal with the devil for the chance to see that. The woman was remarkable. She made him feel calm one minute, and then pricked his temper in the next—sometimes she left him with both emotions at the same time. Hot and cold. Push and pull. Ever the constant challenge. Running his hand over his mouth, he shook his head. The conflicting feelings confused him, and yet made perfect sense. “Would love to see you try.”

Maiya watched the passing scenery out of the side window while they drove onto the freeway. “So, where you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise.”

She shifted to face him and frowned. “I hate surprises.”

“Seriously?”

“No.” She laughed. Maiya
had
to mess with him. Just a little. Why on earth should this be easy for him?

He was taking her somewhere, Lord only knew where, and she was
excited. Beyond excited. However, she still needed to take off the edge of seriousness starting between them with a little bit of their familiar banter. Maybe she was addicted to the chaos. Could be why she’d always chased the bad boys.

They were a predictable kind of chaos though. With the familiar, she knew what to expect. They’d stay around for a short time and she’d have some fun. And then they’d go. Sometimes it stung, most times not. Ryan was a whole different bag of beans. Her attraction to him was so very unusual compared to the others, and she didn’t know how to navigate the unfamiliar terrain.

About thirty minutes later, they pulled into a parking lot and up to the valet attendants. The spotlighted sign above the building glowed with the word, “Elise.”

He opened his door and handed the keys to the attendant. “Have you been here before?”

“No.” She startled a bit when her door was opened, but then took the offered hand of another attendant.

Ryan came around the front of the car, placed his hand on the small of her back and led them to the door. “Good. A first for both of us then.”

The front door was solid dark wood, adorned with intricate carvings. Ryan held the door open and she stepped inside. She looked around in awe. The dark paneled walls of the hall were elegant, hosting black-and-white headshots of historical movie stars such as Grace Kelly, John Wayne and several others. “This is beautiful.”

“I agree.” He paused when she did to study a group photo of actors she didn’t recognize. “It’s supposed to have the best filet in town.”

“Oh, no, really? I’m a vegetarian.” She raised her brows.

He stopped and turned to her. “Are you kidding me?”

“Maybe.” She walked on ahead. He was damn fun to tease and too adorable.

He grunted and he caught her under the arm. “Woman.”

“You’re just too easy, Ryan.” She smirked, doing nothing to hide her pleasure at teasing him.

He swatted her ass, not hard, but enough to make her jump and squeal. “Quiet, woman. This is a classy joint. There’ll be no squealing.”

She rolled her eyes and snorted. Ryan circled her wrist in his palm and then wrapped her arm behind her back. Holding it tight with one hand, he kissed her. With her breasts pressed flush against his chest, Maiya melted. And her legs turned to jelly…right about the time the maître d’ cleared his throat.
Busted.
She couldn’t contain her giggles and her cheeks flushed hot. Such a strange reaction for her. She never got embarrassed. To this day, the only person who
could
embarrass Maiya was her mother.

His arm slid down around her waist, pinning her to his side. “Ah, yes. Excuse us. We have a reservation for two under Donnelly.”

A thousand tingles shot over her skin at the possessiveness of his touch, and she smiled. She couldn’t help it.

The restaurant housed a series of different rooms, all lined with elaborate décor and the sounds of classical piano echoed throughout the restaurant. She held Ryan’s hand and they followed the man in the penguin suit to their table. Her eyes widened when they entered their room. Dark, navy-blue carpet blanketed the floor and several small tables, covered in white linens, were set about in the sizeable space. The back wall housed an enormous mahogany wine rack filled with assorted bottles. The whole room gave off a refined and warm vibe. Gorgeous.

The maître d’ pulled out her chair for her. She sat and then he slid her seat in. “Thank you.”

“Your server will be Evelyn this evening. Enjoy your meal.” He placed a menu in front of each of them and disappeared from the table with an annoyed look.

“I don’t think he likes us.” She wrinkled her nose and draped the cloth napkin on her lap.

“Did you see his scowl?”

“Yep. It’s a rule in L.A. to have one of those, right?”

“You may be right. I forgot.” He slapped his forehead and sighed, and then mimicked the maître d’s expression.

Maiya laughed and opened the menu. Holy shit, this place was pricey! Forty bucks for the New York strip and fifty for the bacon-wrapped filet. Oh boy.
How much did he earn at the firm, anyway?
Probably more than her since he’d only been hired last year. If she changed companies she’d earn more money, but staying with Amaryllis was a better option for her. Also, a sad but true fact of industry and life, women still weren’t paid equal to men. “What looks good to you?” She sipped from the cool water glass.

“Aside from the filet, I heard the New York strip is phenomenal too.” He continued eyeing his menu.

“Does it include a salad?”

“I doubt it. These places are always a la carte.”

“Hmm. All righty then. They have garlic five-cheese mashed potatoes. Those look good. Ooh, and asparagus.” She continued to peruse the menu. When she looked up, he was staring at her. “What?”

“Just watching you.” He sipped his water. “I like the faces you make when you talk. It’s cute.”

Maiya cringed and shoved another wave of embarrassment away. What kind of faces did she make?

The waitress appeared in front of their table. Ryan ordered a bottle of Merlot. A few minutes later she returned with the bottle, opened it and poured a sample for Ryan to taste. He approved, and she poured them each a glass.

Maiya stayed silent and watched the whole scene. It was obvious Ryan was no stranger to finer things. He may not have been to this specific restaurant before, but he’d been to plenty just like it. A feeling of being out of place, inadequate even, settled like a hard knot in her stomach. Looking down, she smoothed the napkin on her lap.

“Have you decided on what you would like?” the waitress asked.

“Yes.” Ryan glanced at the menu. “We’ll both have the New York strip, medium, mashed potatoes and asparagus, as well.” He looked at Maiya and she nodded.

The waitress left with their menus tucked under her arm. Maiya tried to swallow the nerves rising up her throat. Her heel started its tap, tap, tapping again, and she pressed her free hand on her leg to stop its annoying twitch.

“You okay, Maiya?”

Gah! He asked her that a lot. What
was
her problem?
She looked up at him and took a sip of her wine, trying to clear away the gum gluing her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “Mmhmm” was all she managed to get out.

He reached across the table for her hand and she placed the one from her lap in his. He squeezed her fingers. “Your hands are shaking.”

Maiya cleared her throat. “I’m fine, honest.” She looked around. “I’m going to find the ladies room.”

“All right.”

She walked away in search of the bathroom. In this case, a safe place to call
last call
on the little insecurity party she was having.

Chapter Ten

Ryan sipped his wine while he waited for Maiya to return. She’d looked like she might be sick before she excused herself from the table. Her face had even gone pale, and the mask he’d gotten used to seeing looked more like a frightened child than the confident woman she’d shown him before.

Was he ever going to get it right with her? Christ, he hoped so. She was still in her work clothes, and he was too, yet she looked perfect to him. Her dark-gray, fitted skirt flared around her knees and her red blouse molded to her body in perfection. Ryan was damn sure the woman could make burlap look good.

He kept his eyes trained on the doorway, awaiting her appearance.

Then, she was there.

As she strutted toward him in her tall black pumps, his stomach launched into a series of somersaults and he had to swallow a couple of times. Everything slowed to a crawl around them, and all the background noise from the other customers, the staff and the piano playing, blended into a hum of white noise.

All he
wanted
to see, and hear, was her.

“Now it’s my turn to ask.” She took her seat. “Are you okay? You’re looking at me like I’m a present and you’re trying to figure out the best way to unwrap me.”

Ryan threw his head back and guffawed. Her comment was perfect, and enough to break the tension, and lead the way to idle conversation. She mentioned how nice the restaurant was, how good the wine tasted. He watched her mouth as she spoke, studied the shapes her lips made forming each syllable. He wanted to kiss her again.

Their meal appeared. The waitress poured each of them more wine before excusing herself.

“This looks delicious.” She cut into her steak, tasted a piece and closed her eyes.

Again, he watched her, mesmerized. “Is it good?” He raised his glass to his lips.

Still chewing, she opened her eyes slowly. “Mmhmm.”

The look in her eyes shot a hammer of lust straight between his legs. His prick swelled in his pants. Clenching his teeth, Ryan swallowed and stared at his dinner.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

His head snapped up to meet her gaze. “Yes. I—” He swallowed. “I just…I was waiting.”

“For what?” She scooped up a forkful of mashed potatoes and devoured them.

Christ, she made something as mundane as eating sexy. He shook himself, but his pants got tighter. He cut into his steak. “Nothing.”

“Good, huh?”

“Mmhmm.” He pressed his lips together and chewed. Much better. If he kept his mouth full, he didn’t have to talk. What he wanted to do instead was get them the hell out of there so he could taste every inch of her skin.

They ate in silence for a little while. It gave him the time he needed to calm his raging hard-on. But her eyes widened each time she took another taste of her meal, savoring each morsel. She looked sexy, and happy, and that made him happy. “So, tell me about your family.”

Maiya looked up and swallowed. “Um, what do you want to know?” She took a drink of her wine.

“Whatever you want to tell me.” He took a drink too. “Siblings?”

“I had an older brother.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and shifted in her seat.

“Had?”

“Yes. He died when I was ten.”

“I’m sorry.” He studied her eyes. Her pupils were larger than he’d seen them before.

“It was a long time ago.” She blinked a couple of times and then studied her plate, spreading her fork through the remains of mashed potatoes.

“You want to tell me about it?” He didn’t want to push her, but the words were out before he had a chance to stop them.

“Not really.” She shrugged and put her fork down. “Maybe some other time.”

“I’d like that.”

“What about you?”

“I come from one of those good Irish-Catholic families.” He glanced at his drink and then back to her. “Lots of siblings, lots of cousins, and everyone drinks too much.”

“Wow. I bet you got into a lot of trouble as a kid.” She traced the rim of her wine glass.

“Hell yeah. Gave our parents daily heart attacks. I’m surprised they survived raising all ten of us.”

“Holy shit. Ten?”

He raised his glass. “Aye. Six girls ’n four boys, lass.”

“Not bad, sir. Not bad a’tall.” She laughed. “I guess you were never bored.”

“Nope. Never a dull moment in my house growing up.” He sat back and smoothed his tie. “Never any privacy, either.”

She pouted and batted her long lashes. “Poor baby.”

“Teasing me?”

“It’s our deal.” She licked her lips. “A requirement, I think.”

“Well, in that case—” he leaned forward, “—bring it on.”

“You love it.” She swallowed the last of her wine.

“I’d never admit that.” He chuckled. “You want some dessert?”

She gazed at him over the top of her wine glass. “Yep, but not here.”

Looking over his shoulder, he signaled the waitress “Check please?”

Maiya sat back and giggled.

His mother didn’t raise no fool. Maiya decided what she wanted for dessert, and he planned to make sure she got it.

Maiya nibbled her thumbnail as Ryan paid. He’d grown up with nine siblings. Amazing. She bet they had family dinner each night at a dining room table inside a nice house. A real house, not one with wheels.

It made her think back to the
typical
label she’d given him. The comment, meant as a teasing joke, probably stung. She’d heard about how kids growing up in large families struggled to be individuals.

Hell, she’d grown up alone and struggled to find her own individuality. Half the time, she had no idea who she was or where she belonged. Mostly she’d tried to be invisible. Especially to her mother.

As she’d grown into a young woman, she was done being invisible, making a point to stand out—in fact, she’d made a hobby of it. At times, Maiya still didn’t know who she was deep inside.

She’d be hard-pressed to admit it, but how Ryan grew up sent little barbs of envy scraping through her veins. As a child, she’d spent many nights longing for his brand of
normal.
As an adult, she’d learned normal didn’t fit anyway.

Maiya was fine with being different. Or at least she had been until now. Now, all she could think about was that she didn’t fit, and for the first time since she was a kid, she wanted to. More importantly, she wanted to fit with Ryan. Frustrated with herself, she pushed the thoughts away.

“You ready?” Ryan held out his hand to her.

Was she? Ready or not, this was happening. Time to step up to the plate or get off the field. Standing, she steadied herself, took a deep breath and placed her hand in his. “Yes.”

Such a small answer to his small question. Both so much bigger than they appeared.

When they got outside, the cool night air wrapped around her. He let go of her hand and motioned for the valet attendant. Maiya walked off to the side and lit a cigarette. The cool menthol smoke slid into her lungs, and she held it in for a second longer than normal. Her head buzzed and she exhaled, watching Ryan talk to the attendant. He wasn’t a prince coming to rescue her from some fire-breathing snaggle-toothed dragon, and this wasn’t a fairytale. It was just dinner.

Two adults having dinner.

Two adults about to have consensual sex.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It didn’t matter he’d taken her to one of the nicest places in L.A. It didn’t.

Maiya needed to keep her heart locked up and emotions turned off. Safe. She needed to stay safe. But she had a feeling he’d already extricated her heart from its nest of safety. She may as well top off the night with some sweaty sex. Fuck it. An orgasm—or five—ought to send her spinning into oblivion.

When the attendant pulled up with the car, Maiya put out her cigarette, popped a mint into her mouth and walked over to Ryan.

His gaze was pinned to her. Her breath caught in her throat at the steadfast expression in his gaze. The breeze picked up and blew his tie to the side and he smoothed it down his chest in what seemed a practiced gesture.

The wine made her movements slow and languid. The nicotine she’d inhaled raced through her blood in fierce competition with the alcohol, making her feel hyper-in-tune to all movement around her. All she focused on was him though. His sculpted face, his sparkling blue-gray eyes, his edible lips and his broad shoulders.

“Your chariot awaits.” Ryan took her hand and helped her into the car. He leaned in when she was seated and placed a light kiss on her cheek. Coming around the car, he slid behind the wheel.

She touched where his lips had been. “That was sweet.”

“I can be…on occasion.”

They made the drive in relative silence. Norah Jones’s “Come Away with Me” played soft and low from the radio, and she hummed along. He traced her fingers, drawing little circles on the back of her hand and then her palm.

The lights of the city glittered in the not-too-far-away distance. Maiya kept her eyes on the passing scenery and her pulse beat a steady drum beneath his fingertips. The music wove its way in and around her and she let herself melt into the soft leather of the seat.

Closing her eyes, she took it all in and let herself…feel.