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“You think just one kiss is going to make a difference?”
He stopped and she did too. “I’m shocked that the tender-hearted, make-everyone-feel-better woman is really a skeptic at heart.”
“You can’t turn a cute phrase every time you don’t like the subject matter.”
He grinned. “I’m pretty sure I can.”
“I wished I could stay mad...” she muttered.
“I heard that.”
They fell into silence by mutual agreement as they walked. All the lights in Manhattan had been switched on. Lucy missed being able to see the stars in the sky but there was also something intriguing about living in a techno show. “I’m always amazed at all the lights and sounds here,” she breathed.
“Yeah, it’s pretty fascinating. And noisy. You should see the lights from my place. I think you’d be impressed.”
“You sure that isn’t some come-on line, like ‘Would you like to see my etchings?’”
His deep-throated laugh made her think of hot fudge over a brownie. Sinfully wonderful. He really had a magnificent, heartfelt laugh. She needed more laughter in her life. Ryan being the source both flabbergasted and unnerved her.
“Well, it could be but actually it’s the truth.”
They walked slowly down the street, occasionally dodging people. “So is that how the great Dr. O’Doherty lures women into his wolf’s lair, by saying come look at my view?”
“I don’t invite just anyone to my home.” His voice had turned serious.
“Really? Why?”
“Because I like my privacy.”
When the wind picked up and a light drizzle began to fall he said, “I’ll get us a cab.”
“No, I can get home from here. I’ll take the subway.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll ride with you.”
Lucy didn’t try to argue. She’d figured out it wasn’t worth the trouble. They found the subway entrance and used their passes to go through the turnstile. The station was crowded with the evening after-work foot traffic. As they waited, they were pushed closer and closer together.
Was everyone and everything conspiring to keep her shoved against Ryan? No matter where they went it seemed like his body was in contact with hers. She loved the warmth and security he provided but it was hard on her already edgy nerves. Maybe she should’ve agreed to the taxi. At least it would have allowed a foot of space between them.
When the train came, Ryan pulled her back against him, wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close as the car unloaded.
“Let’s go.” He nudged her forward as the last person stepped off the train. He moved her in and down the car to stand next to a pole. All the seats were taken. “You’re going to have to learn to be aggressive if you ride at this time of day,” he whispered next to her ear.
He made the words sound far more suggestive than they should have been. They had her thinking of firelight, him, the floor. She shook her head. That was no place for her mind to wander. She searched for a handhold on the bar to steady herself for when the train launched out of the station. None were available.
“Brace yourself against me,” Ryan said from behind her.
“I’ll manage.”
“Yes, and fall. Maybe hurt yourself or someone else.” He widened his stance and again wrapped his solid arm around her. “Remember I offered a taxi.”
“I think you’re just using this crowd as an excuse.”
“Excuse for what? To hold you? Come to think of it, it is working to my favor.”
“Ryan, don’t tease me. I don’t need this.”
She tried to pull away but he tightened his embrace fractionally before the beep sounded to notify everyone that the doors were closing.
“I’m not teasing. Give me a chance to make it up to you.”
She sure wanted to. Would he treat her just the same again? This time she was afraid she’d have more invested. It could hurt worse.
They rode in the same intimately close position until they reached her stop. Since when had a ride on a dirty, hot, packed subway car become sexually exciting? Even with a crowd of people around them her world had narrowed down to just Ryan and the effect he had on her body.
“Isn’t this your stop?” His breath brushed her ear.
“Uh?”
“You get off next.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Where has your mind been?” His chuckle was low and suggestive.
Darn the man. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. The cold damp of the outside was a blast to her hyper-sensitive system. A welcome relief from the heat. It woke her from the blissful Ryan-filled trance and jerked her back to reality. She stepped away from him, putting as much distance between them as she could. Her body had reached overload and she needed to regain her perspective. He didn’t leave her side or touch her as they walked the block to her apartment. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and faced him.
“Thanks for seeing me home, even if it wasn’t necessary.”
“My pleasure. I enjoyed it.” He had a wicked look in his eye.
“I’ll see you next week.”
“You’re not going to invite me up?”
“No.”
“That hurts.”
“I don’t know what’s going on here. What I do know is that you’re playing at something. After tonight at the bar, all the tongues will wag about us. I need as little emotional upheaval in my life as possible. I have no interest in becoming part of the O’Doherty harem.”
“The woman speaks her mind. For starters, I don’t have a harem. Nice idea, but I work too many hours to keep a group of women happy. Second, you’ve been doing too much thinking. Why don’t we just try being friends again? I don’t have to take calls tomorrow so how about I show you around New York? Is there any place that you’ve never been but would like to go?”
“I thought we were friends—”
He put up his hands as if to warn her off. “Okay, I’ll say it. I’m sorry. I messed up. Tomorrow will be no strings attached. No expectations, just two people enjoying a day off. How about that?”
She took so long to answer that his uncertainty that she would say yes started to show.
“Okay, then I’d like to see the Statue of Liberty.” When she’d visited New York as a child her parents had been planning to take her and Alexis out to see it, but instead they’d gotten into a huge fight and that part of the trip had been forgotten. It would be nice to see the statue and share it with someone instead of going by herself.
“Perfect. I love the old girl. How about we sleep in and I pick you up around eleven?” He made it sound like he was issuing an order in ICU. As if Lucy would dare defy one of his directives. “Wear your fun clothes and something warm. It’s cold on the ferry over to the island this time of year. See you tomorrow.” He turned and raised a hand for the taxi that was passing by.
Had she just been sucked into the vortex that was Ryan O’Doherty?
* * *
Ryan couldn’t remember looking forward to a day off more. At least, not since the time his father had surprised him with tickets to a Yankees game when he’d been a kid. It had been more than he could do to concentrate on his schoolwork that week, with thoughts of going to the big game. Thankfully he didn’t have a week to contemplate spending the day with Lucy.
He’d asked her to his house. He took his solitude seriously and didn’t share outside his family. He dated—after all he was a red-blooded man and had needs. He’d had his share of women but had never let them get too close. For some reason, Lucy had slipped under that barrier. He wanted her to see his place, wanted to share his home, his special view with her.
Most of his days off he spent with his sisters and their kids. In fact, they’d been shocked then pleased when he had told them he was taking Lucy out to the statue. There were far more questions than he was willing to answer about Lucy but they accepted for the time being what few he gave. He knew they weren’t done. They worried about him and he didn’t like that.
Ryan knocked on Lucy’s apartment door right at eleven. There was a scuffle of movement before she opened the door. “I’m not quite ready. I’ll only be a minute.”
“Mind if I come in?” he asked.
Lucy paused longer than he would’ve liked to give her answer.
“I guess.” She opened the door wider and he followed her into the small but neat apartment. The first thing that struck him was the lack of personal items. Even as a bachelor he had family pictures around his home. It was very telling. There was nothing there to indicate she had any family that she cared about, and he knew differently.
She wore jeans that fit her slim figure perfectly, not leaving a single curve untouched. Lean and fit, she looked lovely. He wished the bulky cream-colored sweater didn’t hide her luscious breasts. He had told her to dress warmly so he only had himself to blame. She’d pulled her hair up and through the back of a baseball hat and braided it. She looked like a woman-child instead of the competent, mature woman he knew her to be.
After slipping her arms in to a pea jacket and looping a bright pink scarf around her neck that hung below the hem of the coat, she said, “I’m ready.”
“Great. I think we’ve got a perfect day to visit. The sun’s shining and the wind isn’t up too high. We need to hustle to make the ferry. I managed to get us tickets on the one o’clock. We were lucky. They take reservations and there were only two left. Otherwise we might have had a long wait.”
At Battery Park, Ryan paid the cab driver and grabbed Lucy’s hand. “We better run for it.” He loped so she could keep up with his longer stride. As they raced across the park to where the ferry was docked, he glanced back to check on Lucy. Her bright smile and rosy face made him grin like a foolish kid. She looked happy.
“I’ve not run like that in a long time,” Lucy said, panting as they stood in line to go through security.
“Neither have I. It felt good.”
Lucy looked up at him. “It did, didn’t it?”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “We’ll run back after we see Liberty if you like.”
She grinned. “I think I’d be just as happy with a walk.”
He laughed.
They made it past security and Ryan fished their tickets out of his pocket as the powerful engines of the ferry started to boil.
“Where did you get those? Do you have an ‘in’ with the port authorities?”
He waved the papers in his hand. “The internet is a wonderful thing.”
They walked aboard and found a spot on top. Out in the open they could get a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the city, the bay and New Jersey.
“It’s amazing,” Lucy said as she stood beside him and looked towards the statue.
“I love this city.”
“You’ve never wanted to live anywhere else?” She looked at him as if his next words would be committed to memory.
“No. How about you? Anyplace special you’d like to live?’
“Not really. Other than my sister’s I’ve not had a place to call home in a long time.”
Her words drifted away on the wind as they crossed the harbor. He might have had it rough with his mother dying so young but his dad had always made sure that Ryan had a home. Just as he’d made sure his sisters had known they had one when his father had gotten sick. He didn’t know what he would do without his family...
Lucy shuddered. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She didn’t resist but relaxed against him. Ryan liked the feel of her next to him. “Having fun yet?” he asked as they closed in on Liberty Island.
“Yes. More than I thought I would.”
He studied her a moment. “What exactly does that mean? You didn’t think it would be fun to spend the day with me?”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“You could damage a man’s ego.”
“I think you have enough of one that it can take a hit.”
He squeezed her tighter in retaliation. When she giggled he let her go. “Did you really think you wouldn’t have a good time with me?”
“I’m not going to get the cold shoulder again after we share something personal, am I?”
“Funny, very funny. Coming from a woman I couldn’t get a smile out of a week ago.”
The ferry docked and they followed the other passengers down the gangplank. They spent the next two hours exploring the grounds of the statue and listening to a park ranger tell the history of the lady.
“Can we climb to the top?” Lucy asked.
“They’re doing repairs. I’m sorry, it’s closed. We’ll come back when it opens.”
“Oh, I had hoped to look out of her.”
She had the sweetest pout on her face. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, unable to resist her pucker.
Lucy put her hand to her lips. “Why did you do that?”
“Because you look so sad.”
“Oh.”
