“Taryn, look at me. I swear it was only once… and after it happened I realized it was a big mistake. I want you to know that I don’t have any

feelings for her.” His expression was sincere.

“Does she have feelings for you?” I asked. Disappointment coated my whisper.

“I don’t know. Sometimes she says things… I know I should have never crossed that line with her.” His hand lifted my chin so I’d look him in the

eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if she has feelings for me or not because I don’t feel the same way. I never did. I never will.”

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel tightly around my body. I hoped the constriction of the towel could somehow keep my heart

from cracking.

Ryan quickly wrapped a towel around his waist then grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him again.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you like this, but I wanted you to know – directly from me – what the truth is. I’m telling you all of this because I

don’t want any secrets between us. She’s coming here tonight too and I don’t want our relationship to get...” He looked away to choose his words

before looking back into my eyes.

“Taryn, I’m…” he paused to breathe out a deep sigh. “I only want you - just you. But I can’t change the mistakes that I’ve made.”

I had to make an instant decision. I could let the jealousy consume me and be angry or I could thank my lucky stars that the man standing in front

of me cared enough about me to tell me the truth.

I slowly reached my hand up to place it on his cheek. The water from his hair was dripping down his face. My heart skipped a beat from just

touching him and I realized that my feelings for him were way too powerful to let his past change that. For the first time in my life the man who was

holding my heart in his hand was honest with me. It took a lot of courage for him to tell me what he was feeling.

“Thank you for being honest and for telling me.” I softly smiled. Relief coursed into my heart when he took my hand in his and pressed my palm

to his lips.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked carefully.

“No, I’m not mad. I’m not happy with the news, but we both have pasts. It’s part of who we are. We’ve both made mistakes.”

He took my face in his hands, staring into my eyes; his thumbs gently stroked my cheeks before he leaned in to softly kiss my lips.

I wrapped my hands around his ribs as he kissed me passionately. There were no cameras, no directors, no witnesses - just Ryan and I and our

raw, unscripted emotions.

“We better get ready. We’re going to have guests soon,” I reminded him.

I started to comb my wet hair while doing everything possible to banish the visions of him and Francesca together.

As long as he was an actor, women would be coming at him from all angles and directions. But he was with me now, by his choice, and the

feelings that he shared were real and as obvious as black and white, with no shades of gray.

Ryan slipped a new black T-shirt over his head; his jeans were hanging on his hips and the elastic waistband of his briefs was showing as he

strung his leather belt through the loops.

I smiled, thinking that it took me three showers to get to this point of the day. My hair and makeup were finally done.

Oh my God he is hot! I really just want to lay naked in bed with him all day.

“What?” he asked softly, noting my stare.

My eyes were still tracing the faint view of his exposed skin on his stomach.

“Tell me what you’re thinking!” he urged. I thought about it for a moment, then decided to be blatantly honest.

“I was just thinking about tearing your clothes off and crawling back under the covers.”

He charged over to where I stood and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the floor. His aggressive approach made me laugh.

“I could rip your clothes off too, but actually you are looking so incredibly sexy dressed.” His eyes glanced down at my body.

I was in my favorite True Religion Jeans – the ones that had cute leather lacing up the front, with a black Tee and my black heeled boots.

“I could go back to sleep though. You wore me out!” he snickered. “We’ll just have to kick everyone out early.”

I slipped my fingers into his hair and kissed him, appreciating that for this moment in time, he was mine… all mine.

It was almost three thirty in the afternoon when Pete called to let me know that he and Tammy were out in the alley, getting ready to unload the

food.

“Here Taryn, take this box,” Pete instructed. The back of Tammy’s van was loaded.

“Something smells fantastic!” Ryan said, taking the box from my hands. “Where do you want me to put this?”

“Just put everything on the counters for now. We need to set up tables,” I replied. I couldn’t help but smirk at Ryan. He was smiling at me too.

Ryan helped Pete set up a table for the food and then assisted in transferring all the food from the kitchen to the bar. It was apparent by the

volume and variety of delectables that we were going to eat like kings and queens today.

Marie and Gary arrived soon after we started setting up. I had asked them to arrive early, for I wanted to make sure that my friends were safely

inside before the cast arrived. My friends didn’t need to be photographed today.

Tammy had set out linens to cover the buffet tables and I was in the process of opening one of them up when Ryan walked past me. He pinched

me quickly on the butt cheek when he thought no one was looking.

“So… how’s it going?” Marie grinned and raised her eyebrows. She noticed the way Ryan and I were beaming.

I glanced around to make sure we were alone before holding my hand up and spreading my five fingers out to her.

“Five?” she whispered in amazement.

I smiled a devilish grin and nodded my head.

“Did you take my advice and feed him well to keep his energy level up?”

“Oh, he ate very well this morning – several times. Wait, did you mean feed him food?” I teased.

“So what are you two ladies whispering about over here?” Ryan asked after he set another box on the table.

Marie and I looked at each other and just smiled; it was apparent on our faces that we were talking about - things.

Ryan wrapped his arms around my waist. “I guess our secret is out now?” he chuckled.

“What secret?” Marie’s voice boomed. “It’s so obvious the way you two are glowing around each other. The only thing missing are the words ‘I

had incredible sex’ written on your foreheads!” She motioned the words with her hand.

Ryan and I laughed as he squeezed me tighter. “It was beyond incredible,” he whispered in my ear and kissed me on the neck.

Pete walked into the bar with another box of food, noting Ryan’s hold on me. A not-so-nice word slipped from his lips.

Gary was right behind him, and when he saw us he started laughing.

“Looks like you owe me some money,” Gary muttered.

“Doesn’t mean anything,” Pete snapped. He looked over at Marie; she twitched her lips and nodded her head to confirm his suspicions.

“Son-of-a… two more days… you couldn’t hold off for two more days?” Pete busted on us.

I glared over at Marie.

“Don’t look at me! You know how competitive those two are. It wasn’t my idea!”

Ryan released me and turned to Pete. “You bastards betting on us?” he asked jokingly.

“Yep!” Pete replied. “And you cost me twenty bucks, you prick!”

Ryan slipped his hand into his front pocket and peeled a twenty-dollar bill off of a small stack of cash.

“Here you go, Gary. Pete’s loss was my gain.” He laughed. “It was worth every penny!”

Gary didn’t hesitate. He snatched the bill out of Ryan’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket. Marie teasingly nudged me.

“You know Ryan, Gary is a Giants fan,” Pete baited him.