“Oh,” I mumbled, lowering my gaze to his chest. His shirt was still partially unbuttoned, and he’d gotten rid of his tie.

“But first, we’re going to eat.” He brushed a soft, quick kiss over my lips before stepping back from between my legs. Ryan adjusted himself in his pants, grimacing as if he were in pain for a moment before turning so he could take the soup and pour it into the two bowls on the tray.

I watched him in silence as he finished putting our meal together. I didn’t want to open any presents. It wasn’t like I was scared of what he might have gotten me for either occasion. The present I’d bought him for Christmas was in my room at home, wrapped in shiny gold paper with a red ribbon. I’d considered packing it, but in the end, I hadn’t wanted to tempt myself with the possibility of seeing him under the ruse of giving him the gift.

Once everything was placed on the tray, Ryan lifted me off the island and set me on my feet with another soft kiss. “Lead the way, my heart,” he urged, picking up the tray.

In his bedroom, I grabbed the pillows off the bed and made us a comfortable place to sit in front of the bed before picking up the remote to the flat-screen mounted on the wall. Ryan set the tray on the floor then dropped down beside me, pulling me onto his lap and kissing me until I was dizzy from lack of oxygen.

When he lifted his head, we were both breathing heavily. “The soup should be cool enough now.”

I licked my kiss-swollen lips and looked down at his lap. How his hard-on hadn’t already split his pants leg open was a miracle all its own. “I’d rather eat something else.”

Groaning, he repositioned me on his legs. “Once you marry me, you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want.” He pressed his lips to my ear. “And so will I.”

26

Nova

The light filtering in through the drapes had my eyes snapping open. I didn’t even get to savor the happy glow of waking up in Ryan’s arms before reality slapped me in the face.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I was out of bed before my brain even fully comprehended where I was. All week, I’d been up and out the door before the sun was even fully up, on the go with Emmie and the rockers because most of the interviews took place at the ass-crack of dawn on talk radio. I couldn’t remember the itinerary for the day, but I knew there must have been something I was supposed to translate for Rossi that morning.

“Nova, get your ass back here,” Ryan commanded, blindly reaching for me.

“I can’t,” I called over my shoulder, dropping to my knees in front of the case Pietro had dropped off to me in the middle of the night. My phone was in there somewhere, but I hadn’t even bothered to look at it. My happiness at being with Ryan, knowing he loved me and wanted to be with me as I’d always fantasized about, was too much not to savor it and push all other thoughts from my mind.