Page 9 of Protecting Anna
To Anna’s delight, Ryan knew one of the owners at the iconic doughnut shop she had mentioned, who happened to be a regular at the pub. This let them bypass the crazy long lineup, that even on a cold morning snaked around the block. doughnuts and coffee in hand, they wandered down to the park that lined the Willamette river. As they passed under one of Portland’s many bridges, they paused in the Japanese Historical Plaza to look around. Ryan stopped another couple to ask them to take a picture of them. Anna was thrilled she would have a photo to remember this near perfect morning. With the river in the background, Anna stood in his arms relishing the feel of his strong embrace. Even after the photo was taken, she stayed there, tucked in close to his side.
As they continued to explore the city, Anna felt herself relaxing more and more, so when Ryan asked how she ended up in California, this time she found it easy to answer, even if she still kept things vague.
“In high school I discovered I enjoyed tutoring, so I decided to become a teacher. Early education seemed like a great fit because I love kids. I applied to a lot of schools and, on a whim, I applied to California State University. The joke between Aunt Theresa and I was that if I went to CSU, she would learn how to surf when she came to visit. Aunt Theresa was so thrilled when I received my acceptance letter, but I almost didn’t go. I was so sad about leaving her.” Anna’s voice trailed off as a wave of grief overcame her. “I left and I only came back to see her once. Then, I met Ti— my ex…” She stopped suddenly and pulled away, uncomfortable with how close she had come to revealing her past.
Ryan grabbed her arm and tugged her back to his side. She let him tip her chin up and lifted her gaze to meet his. His eyes were warm, but filled with concern. “Anna, I know something bad must have happened between you and your ex. You don’t have to tell me what, not unless you want to. Just please know I’m not going anywhere, and I swear I will never hurt you.”
Anna smiled softly, before settling back into his side. They walked in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. “So, what did you want to be when you grew up?”
Ryan was silent for a moment, and when she looked at him, Anna was surprised to see pain in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I guess I have some stuff that’s hard to talk about as well.” He glanced down at her, before smiling gently. “Let’s just say I had to give up my dreams. I’m happy now, but there’s a part of me that will always miss what could have been.”
Anna’s heart ached to hear the pain in his voice. She pulled him in for a close embrace, knowing that he didn’t need words of pity, just compassion and comfort.
“It sounds like we’ve both lost a piece of who we were.” Anna’s voice was quiet, thoughtful.
“Yeah,” Ryan said with a nervous hitch. “Maybe we can find ourselves again, together.”
Anna smiled, as she let the genuine emotion of his vulnerability wash over her.
“I’d like that.”
Chapter 6
After lunch and a quick visit to the Portland Art Gallery, they returned to Anna’s house, where they took Samson for a walk before she got changed for work. As they drove to the pub, Anna snuggled up against Ryan’s side, enjoying the comfortable silence between them. The energy in the truck hummed with a sexual chemistry that was barely held back, yet she felt no pressure from him. He had been the perfect gentleman all day, letting her take the lead in how close they were. Anna struggled to remember why she had been so worried about starting a new relationship so soon after leaving Tim. Being in Ryan’s arms, even in a casually affectionate embrace, felt so good it was all she could do to not let things progress. She longed to feel his lips on hers. Heated shivers went through her, straight to her core, when she let herself imagine what it would feel like to be intimate with Ryan. Would his respectful restraint disappear? Somehow, she knew he would be a considerate lover, but she also loved the thought of Ryan being a more dominant, erotically alpha partner in the bedroom.
They pulled into a parking space in the back of the pub, and reluctantly she slid out of the truck, immediately missing the closeness of Ryan’s body. She followed him to the back door that led into the hallway behind the bar that held the bathrooms, office, and kitchen where he paused, one hand on the door, turned to her and said, “I had a really great time today, Anna. Thanks for letting me spend the day with you, and, I guess this sounds weird but thank you for trusting me. It means something to me that you’re happy to be around me.” Ryan ducked his head, running his hand through his hair nervously, as if he were worried about her reaction to his sweet words.
Anxious to show him that he had nothing to be concerned about, Anna reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders, a smile on her face. “Today was wonderful, I wish it didn’t have to end.”
She lifted on to her toes, to press a kiss to his soft, inviting lips. It was an impulsive move and one she didn’t regret at all, until the sensual impact of Ryan’s gaze after that simple kiss hit her. The sweet chemistry that had been slowly simmering between them all day seemed to grow exponentially, burning in his eyes, and threatening to overwhelm Anna. She stepped back and tried to regain control of her emotions and the situation before it went too far.
“I need to get to work. My new boss is a total slave driver.” With what she hoped was a casual grin, Anna slipped past Ryan to go inside. She was both disappointed and relieved when he didn’t try to stop her, but his parting shot had her grinning.
“Yeah, he sounds like a total asshole. You go to work, I’ll set your boss straight… if, you’ll take your dinner break with me?”
“Deal… Boss.”
* * *
Ryan checked out front to make sure the new bartender was doing alright by himself, before heading into the back office to check in with Jake. So far, the new guy, Mark, had proven himself capable of handling the lunch time and afternoon crowds, but he still seemed to get overwhelmed by the frantic pace of the nighttime shift. Ryan hoped he would figure it out, he seemed like a solid dude, and had great references from the hotel bar he had worked at previously. The truth was, both Ryan and Jake could use the odd evening off. The Lucky Strike had been an instant success, for which they were grateful. But the non-stop pace of being open six days a week and drawing huge crowds—especially on the nights when Chase took the stage—was starting to get exhausting. Add in Jake’s new engagement to Callie and the friends had found themselves in serious need of some solid help running the pub, so that they were not having to do everything themselves.
Sure enough, Ryan found his best friend with his head down, focused on the papers spread across the desk. He sat down on the couch that lined one wall of the small office and waited for Jake to come up for air.
When Jake finished, he leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “Hey, man, we’re blowing past all of our targets for this month again. Shit, I love how successful we are, but, when I decided to open a pub, I never expected it would be so much goddamn work.”
Ryan laughed at Jake’s obviously sarcastic complaining. “Yeah, why the hell would it be hard work to open and run a kick-ass establishment. Serve drinks, smile, take their money. Easy.”
“Shut up, you know what I mean. How’s it going with the new staff out there?”
Jake’s question felt more weighted than it should have, since Anna was one of those new staff. Ryan knew his friend was curious about what was happening between him and Anna, but he was not sure if he was ready to share, even with Jake.
“Mark’s doing better behind the bar. He needs a few more night shifts with me before he will be ready to tackle it solo, and even then, I think I’ll start him out with weeknights when it’s a bit more chill. Chase’s shows still need two of us tending bar, but I think you and I can partner with him on those nights so at least we get a bit of a break.”
Jake stared at Ryan, refusing to let him get away without answering the question fully.
