“That would work.”
“What would?”
“Richard VanRyan. I’m not running for anything. I just wanted a damn sign. We could print them and put them everywhere.”
I started to snicker at her silliness. “Maybe I will. I need to come up with a better slogan, though.”
She giggled. “Richard VanRyan. Panty exploder.”
I had to turn my head into the pillow to stop the loud peals of laughter. Only Katy could make me laugh this way. She was the first and the only one to be able to do so.
“I don’t think that’s exactly PC.”
“You have something better?”
I thought about it, then grinned.
“Sure. Richard VanRyan—I’m kind of a big deal.”
It was her turn to be amused. “Whatever.” She rolled over, still laughing. “Such ego.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist, dragging her back to my chest. I nibbled on her earlobe. “But I am, Katy.” I thrust my hips into her, letting her feel how big a deal I was.
“Oh, go fuck yourself, VanRyan.”
I snickered at her favorite expression. “I would rather fuck you.” I lifted her leg over my hip, tilting forward, pushing against her warmth. “I think you would too.”
She pressed back with a groan.
“Fine, Mr. Big Deal. Make it worth my while.”
I bit down on her neck. “Oh, baby. Challenge accepted.”
I
woke up to an empty bed, the sheets still warm from Richard’s body heat. I rolled over into his spot, burrowing into his pillow. It smelled like him—warm, rich, and decadent. Citrus and ocean breezes mixed with a darker hint of musk. He always smelled wonderful. Even when I’d disliked him, he had smelled good.
I sat up, drew my legs up to my chest, and wrapped my arms around my knees. I glanced at the clock and grimaced. It was barely past seven, but I could smell coffee and knew without a doubt, Richard would be in the kitchen with the girls, giving Gracie cereal and feeding Heather a bottle as he sipped his coffee and listened to Gracie tell him everything he had missed.
I was never sure who missed whom more. Gracie was a daddy’s girl, and she had him wrapped around her little fingers. He had endless patience when it came to our girls. He never lost his temper, his voice always held such tenderness when he was with them, and his eyes glowed with his love. It was a far cry from the cold, uncaring man I had first known. Once he had opened himself up to love, allowed himself to feel it, he had transformed completely. When he had fallen in love with me, my entire life had changed. He became everything I could have imagined in a husband and partner, and now a father for our girls. His career had flourished, our married life was rich and full, and I was happier than I ever thought possible. I glanced at the picture that sat on my dresser. It was one Richard had taken of Penny and me.
Penny Johnson had rescued me from the streets and gave me everything I needed in life: a home, love, and stability. She became more than my caregiver—she became my friend, protector, teacher, and mother. Losing her to Alzheimer’s had been a crushing blow. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to cope if it hadn’t been for Richard.
In the photo, she was cupping my cheek and talking, her face alive and vibrant in one of her rare clear moments. I missed her every day, but I knew how thrilled she would be to know how happy I was with my life. She had adored Richard and helped make him the man he was today. With her, he found the ability to love another person—to open himself up to feelings he had long denied. It was her passing that brought us together in every sense of the word and helped get us to where we were now.
Thinking of her brought a tear to my eye, and suddenly I needed to see Richard. I pushed off the blankets, and rushed through my morning routine, hurrying down the steps toward the kitchen. I could hear Richard’s low laughter and Gracie’s voice chatting at him. Heather was gurgling, no doubt wrapped in Richard’s arms. He rarely let either of them out of his sight the first couple of days after he had been gone. I walked into the kitchen, smiling at the sight before me. They were all together at the table, bowls of cereal and oatmeal eaten, the banana peel still on the counter from Richard slicing it up on Gracie’s cereal.
They were both on his lap, his arms holding them close. Gracie was talking, Heather sleepy and content, safe and secure in his embrace. He lifted his hazel gaze to mine, the expression in his eyes tender and content.
“Hey, sweetheart. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Gracie slid from his knee and rushed toward me. In her hand was a new stuffed toy Richard had brought her. He always came home with a present for each of us. I held out my arms, scooping her up and raining kisses over her chubby cheeks, making her giggle. I walked to Richard and pressed a long kiss to Heather’s head. Richard’s head fell back on his shoulders.
“What about Daddy?” he asked. “Does he get a kiss too?”
I brushed a kiss to his mouth, whimpering when he caught my neck, pressing my face closer to his and deepening the kiss. He slid his tongue along mine, caressing the skin on my neck, his touch possessive and firm.
I stood slowly, our gazes locked. Gracie giggled.
“Daddy, you kissed Mommy.”
His gaze never left mine. “I did, baby girl. I like to kiss Mommy.”
“Me too?”
Standing, he smirked and blew a raspberry on her cheek. “Yep. You too.”
He tucked Heather into her infant seat, making sure she was strapped in, then lifted Gracie from my arms. He grinned at me. “Daddy needs more coffee to keep up his kissing strength.”
I laughed. Richard could do anything—except cook. His coffee, no matter how often I showed him how to make it, was horrendous. His cooking skills were limited to cereal, pancakes, and toast. Our most used appliance was the Keurig machine. He would be lost without it since he needed caffeine as soon as he woke in the morning and he was always up before me.
I turned to start the coffee, and he tugged me back, kissing me one last time.
“Morning, Katy,” he murmured. “I love being home with you. I missed you.”
I cupped his cheek. “We love having you home. We missed you too.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You look sad.”
I lifted my shoulder. “Memories,” I confessed.
He knew on occasion that thinking of Penny made me sad. He always understood. With a gentle smile, he pressed a kiss to my forehead as he slipped a small box into my hand. “For you.”
I flipped open the lid, gasping in delight at the delicate pearl earrings resting against the dark velvet. Small pink, black, and cream beads hanging from white gold threads glinted in the light.
“They’re beautiful.”
“As are you.”
I turned and kissed him, our mouths moving together perfectly. “I love your presents, but I especially love that you’re home. That’s always the best gift.”
He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. “Thanks, sweetheart. Home is the best gift for me too.”
A
n hour later, he appeared, dressed in a dark-charcoal suit with a silver-gray tie. He tugged on the sleeves of his white shirt, the embossed RVR on his cuffs peeking out.
“I can’t get these damn cuff links on, Katy,” he grumbled. “This pair never seem to cooperate for me.”
I set down my coffee and slipped the heavy silver disks into the sleeves, fastening them. “There.”
He inspected his sleeves, pleased. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
“Will you be late tonight?”
He shook his head, smirking as he grabbed my coffee from the counter beside me and stole the last few mouthfuls.
“Damn it, you still make the best coffee.”
I rolled my eyes and waited.
“No, in fact, unless there’s some big emergency at the office, I thought I’d come home around three and start the weekend early. Maybe we can take the girls to the park and out for supper somewhere.”
“I’d like that.”
“Zandini’s?” he suggested. “We haven’t had pizza in a while, and Gracie loves it there.”
I chuckled. “So does Daddy.”He lifted one eyebrow in amusement and kissed me fast. “Yes, he does. I want to spend the weekend with my girls. I’ve missed you all too much.”I cupped his cheek. “A family weekend sounds perfect.”“Great. I looked at my calendar and next week is going to be crazy. Graham has me booked solid. You have a sitter for Thursday, right?”“Yes. The dinner?”He nodded, a grimace crossing his face. “Graham is certain we’re going to grab a few awards for the campaign for BAM. Otherwise, I’d skip it.”I studied him for a minute. “Why?” He usually enjoyed the dinners and spending the evening talking with his peers about marketing and strategies.“David will be there. From the rumors I’ve heard, things aren’t going well with his company. That will make him especially nasty. I don’t want him anywhere near you.”I stroked along his jawline, feeling the tension simply talking about David caused him. “He’s in the past, Richard. He can’t hurt us now.”He huffed out a long
The noise level was intense, the lights too bright, and the dinner, as usual, ho-hum. Looking at the two awards, however, sitting on the table and knowing it was my efforts that brought them to The Gavin Group was an incredible high. Graham had been lavish in his praise, accepting the awards and making sure the entire room knew who made them possible, even making me stand up and take a bow. Katy was so proud, she wept—silent drops of joy that told me how she was feeling. I kissed them away, then kissed her mouth.“Does this cinch the lucky part at the end?” I asked against the softness of her lips. I felt her wide smile.“Definitely.”“Win for me.”I waited in line at the bar, accepting congratulations. I ordered a round of drinks for the table and waited patiently for them to be ready, glad for a quiet moment to myself.“How does it feel?”I stiffened at the voice and turned my head slightly. David Anderson stood beside me. He looked older, the deep furrows on his forehead more pron
“Good for him.”There was a pause. Graham leaned back, now relaxed and confident. “We had a family meeting yesterday afternoon. We discussed Terence and the void that will be left with his departure. We’re going to change things up. Spread out his duties and make some adjustments. And we’re going to hire a new associate.”I was confused. Hiring a new associate wouldn’t really fill Terence’s spot. “Okay?”“We’d like it if you took him under your wing.”I was even more confused. “Sure, Graham, whatever you need.”“He’s a bit of a handful. Brad is Laura’s nephew—not long out of school. He interned with a place in Calgary but has decided to come back to BC. I know Laura and her sister have hoped he would end up here. Her sister lives an hour away, which means he’ll be close to her again. Frankly, I was never sure why he insisted on going elsewhere to work when he had the chance to be here, but he was always adamant on forging his own way.” He paused, rubbing his chin in amusement. “Lots o
Her eyes widened as she picked up the box and opened the lid. She lifted her gaze to mine then back to the box. “Richard…”She removed the diamond and sapphire bracelet from the box, the gems glinting in the light. “It’s lovely!”I reached across the table and fastened the clasp around her wrist.“The blue reminded me of your eyes, Katy. I love how they look at me—the way they see me.” I held her hand, staring at the glittering jewels. “I wanted to give you something to mark today.”She blinked at the tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you, my darling. I will treasure it always.”I leaned close and kissed the tender, thin skin of her wrist. “I’ll treasure you.”Her gaze was luminous as she regarded me. “Take me home, Richard. I need to be alone with you.”“I got a room here, and I told Mrs. Thomas we’d be really late. She said she’d sleep in the guestroom.” I winked. “I want you loud tonight.”“Take me upstairs.”I signaled for the check.We barely made it into the room. Katy was all
RichardThe next morning, I was still high from the evening with my wife. We had slept for a while, then I had made love to her again before we drove home in the early hours of the morning, dawn beginning to break as we arrived home. We snuck into the house like a couple of kids worried about being caught breaking curfew by their parents, and we tiptoed upstairs. Our girls were sleeping, safe and sound, and Mrs. Thomas snored away in the guest room, the monitor beside her blinking and ready to alert her should the girls need her.I tucked Katy into our bed and went for a run. As I pounded the pavement through our quiet neighborhood, I contemplated my life over the past few years. How it had changed. How I had changed. Contentment and happiness were two emotions I never expected to find in this life. Love was another one.Katy gave them all to me.Her gentleness, the sweetness that resided in her soul, had transformed the terse, emotionless man I had been into a person I barely recogn
He swallowed, suddenly still in the chair. “Of course. I apologize.”“Better,” I acknowledged. “Now, I have work to do. Go find Graham or Laura, and they’ll direct you to HR. Get your paperwork done, and come back and see me—knock this time before you come in. We’ll talk about my expectations.”With another hair flip, he headed for the door.“One last thing,” I called.He turned.“Get a damn haircut.”He left, pulling the door shut behind him. I sat down, staring at the closed door. I was somewhat amused, a little annoyed, and mostly confused.What the hell was Graham thinking?It wasn’t long before I had my answer. Graham appeared, pausing in my doorway, lifting his hand to knock.“May I come in?” he asked, his eyes dancing.I waved my hand. “Funny.”He sat across from me, still grinning. His wife, Laura, followed him in as he sat down.I stood and greeted her, accepting her kiss on my cheek and smiling at her. You had to smile at Laura—it was impossible not to do so. She projected
He shifted. “I’m not used to that.”“Neither was I when I got here. This place, the people, are different.” I studied him. “Graham told me he offered you a job right out of school, but you refused. May I ask why?”He was quiet. “I thought Uncle—I mean Graham—was boring. That his company was old-fashioned and dull, which is why I went to Calgary and got on with a different firm. I wanted to make a mark. My mark.”“Graham is anything except dull. This company is one of the most respected marketing firms in the country—the world, in fact. Dull isn’t a word associated with The Gavin Group.” I indicated the walls and the awards sitting on my shelves. “Their track record speaks for itself.”He stared, not saying anything.“Never confuse integrity and class with being dull, Brad. Be proud to be part of this team. Use it and learn. This place will make you better.” I closed the files on my desk. “This is an opportunity to grow.”He stood, contemplative and silent. He took the files I held out
I indicated the awards on my shelves. “A lot of people think so. Including Graham. Show some respect.”“You show me some.”I was on my feet, yelling again. “I will when you do something to deserve it!”“He was out of line telling me what to do.”I threw my hands in the air. “You were out of line!” I shouted. “This is his product—his baby—and you tell him we know it better? You’re a moron!”“Well, you’re an asshole!”My door opened, and Graham strode in, upset.“I can hear the two of you all the way to the elevator. What the hell is going on?”“Why don’t you tell him, Brad?” I sat down, done with him. “Explain this to Uncle Gray.”Brad lifted one shoulder in a dismissive gesture. “A client didn’t like what I had to say.”I couldn’t stop the growl. “Because you talked down to him. You belittled a client!”Brad opened his mouth to speak, but Graham raised his hand. “I already had a call from Marcus Whitby. A very unhappy one. He told me to straighten out my staff and to call him when it