He sensed her reluctance, and an odd spark of panic lit in his gut. He didn’t want her to go. Weird, since they’d only met yesterday, but for some reason, he wanted her to stick around.
“Come on,” he urged. “It’ll be fun. We’ll order some pizza or Chinese food, spend the afternoon and night naked, and get to know each other.”
The corner of her lush mouth lifted. “That does sound pretty appealing.”
“It’ll be fun,” he reiterated.
Her smile widened. “How much fun?”
Grinning, Ryan placed his palm on her thigh and stroked gently. “A lot of fun.”
The shrill ringing of the phone woke Annabelle up at five in the morning. And it wouldn’t stop. It kept ringing and ringing and ringing, and next to her, Ryan made no move to pick it up. Groaning, she buried her head under the pillow, as Ryan shifted beside her, letting out a groan of his own.
“Who the fuck is that?” he mumbled.
“This isn’t fun,” Annabelle mumbled back. “You promised me a fun sleepover and then stuck me with a five o’clock wake-up call. I’m very unhappy at the moment.”
The phone mercilessly stopped ringing. For half a second.
Then it started right back up again.
Annabelle shot up into a sitting position. “If you don’t answer it, I will kill you.”
Groaning again, Ryan stuck out his arm and began rummaging around for the cordless phone. He finally got it off its cradle, jammed on the talk button and lifted it to his ear. “What?” he barked into the receiver.
Annabelle heard a male voice talking excitedly, but couldn’t make out any of the words. Ryan, however, was instantly awake. He sat up abruptly, a wide sleepy grin filling his face. “Seriously? Now?” He paused. “Okay. Yeah, definitely. We’re on our way.”
“We?” Annabelle burst out, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
Ryan ignored her. “Huh? No, that’s Annabelle…yeah, long story…she’s kind of strange but—”
“Kind of strange?” she yelled.
“—pretty cool,” Ryan finished. “Yeah…okay, see you in twenty. Tell her to hold it in until I get there because I totally want to see the head when it—hello?” He glanced at Annabelle. “Bastard hung up.”
Shoving the sheets off the bed, Ryan got up, suddenly as alert as a watchful guard dog. He moved around the bedroom, grabbing pieces of clothing, as Annabelle sat on the bed, shaking her head in confusion. “What on earth is happening?” she demanded.
“Shelby’s having her baby,” he said without breaking his stride.
“Who?” She went pale. “Don’t you dare tell me you got some girl pregnant.”
“She’s Garrett’s wife,” Ryan replied, sinking down on the edge of the bed so he could roll on a pair of socks. “Garrett’s on my SEAL team, I mentioned him yesterday, remember?”
She only sort of remembered. She was still having a tough time reconciling the fact that Ryan was a Navy SEAL. In between having super awesome sex, they’d spent all of yesterday talking about their lives, and when she asked him what he did for a living, she figured he’d say something like “pro surfer” or “personal trainer” or maybe “gigolo”. The Navy, she did not expect. Sure, he had the most extraordinary body ever, all toned and muscled and hard just about everywhere, but she couldn’t imagine him holding a gun, or creeping through the jungle, blowing things up, taking down terrorists…it was actually kind of hot when she thought about it. She’d never slept with GI Joe before.
“His wife is having their baby and Carson says it’ll be any minute now,” Ryan said, jarring her from her thoughts. “I’m gonna be an uncle, babe!”
Although she didn’t know Shelby or Garrett or Carson, Ryan’s enthusiasm was contagious. “God help that baby,” she said with a laugh.
He stood at the foot of the bed, shooting her an expectant look. “Well, come on, get up. We have to go to the hospital.”
Her enthusiasm faded. “Why? I don’t even know these people, Ryan. I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t be intruding.” He waved a dismissive hand. “They’ll all be happy to see you, especially Holly.”
“Who’s Holly?”
“I’ll tell you in the car. Now get up already.”
Annabelle slid out of bed, then paused, realizing she was totally naked. Almost immediately, Ryan’s eyes darkened to a midnight blue, and she could see the flicker of arousal in his gaze. Funny enough, she didn’t feel self-conscious. She never walked around naked in the condo she shared with Bryce. Neither did Bryce, for that matter. As their moving-in present, he’d bought them matching robes. To preserve her modesty, she’d thought, but that was before she’d discovered he was a prude.
“I need to go upstairs to Christina’s to get some clothes. I only have my bikini here,” she reminded him.
Ryan offered a wolfish grin. “Wear it to the hospital.”
“You wish,” she said with a snort.