He set me down to rest on one of the new stainless steel counters and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
“Oh God, I missed you,” he said while kissing me.
I giggled lightly. “I missed you too!”
He let me go long enough to hastily pull his jacket off.
“What do you think…of the kitchen?” I managed to mumble. His tongue was quite a distraction.
“Uhuh,” he muttered, kissing me harder. The kitchen was dark and his eyes were closed. “Looks… great.” His mouth locked tightly on mine.
“It’s good to be home,” he finally sighed, giving us both a moment to breathe again.
It didn’t take us long to grab his bags and make our way upstairs to the apartment.
“It’s been a long day,” Ryan said, yawning. “I haven’t been sleeping well at all,” he murmured on my neck. He pulled me tighter to his body and adjusted his head on his pillow. “I’ve discovered that I can’t sleep without you in my arms. I’ve been forced to hug a pillow every night,” he said sadly.
“It’s just not the same.”
“I know what you mean,” I whispered. “This bed is cold and empty without you in it.”
He kissed me softly.
“Oh sweetheart, I know it’s tough to be apart, but you know it’s not permanent. I’m going to try and come home as much as I can… it’s going to be hard though because we have a really tight shooting schedule. If you come down for a few days and I come home for a few days it won’t be so bad. The next couple of weeks will fly by.”
I sighed. Our relationship was like one giant hurdle after another, where crossing off each day on the calendar was the goal.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, kissing my nose.
I shrugged, not sure of how to answer him.
“Tar, Honey?” he whispered. “What’s on your mind?”
“We’re going to be like two ships passing in the night,” I muttered, knowing we would be apart more than together.
“Hey…” Ryan propped his body up on his elbow. “Don’t worry. I know this year will be rough, but everything is going to work out.”
“I just don’t want our life to fly by,” I whispered.
“Some days it will, and some days it won’t. We have to be thankful for what we have. Just think how all those families have to cope when one of their loved ones goes overseas for military duty. At least we get to see each other often and we can talk on the phone every day.”
Ryan crawled onto me, playfully biting me on the neck.
“You worry too much. Besides, I have it all figured out,” he murmured devilishly on my skin.
“Oh you do, do you?” I snickered. I rubbed my hands over his shoulders and down his back to massage his muscles.
“Mmmhmm,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. “We’re going to take it one day at a time - together.”
I was still kissing him when I blinked. Our thirty-six hours together flew by and was quickly coming to an end. Ryan had a Sunday night flight back to Miami.
“Hey Mike!” I hugged Ryan’s faithful bodyguard when he came to pick Ryan up for their trip to the airport. “You taking good care of my man down there?” I asked.
“You know me, Taryn. I carry a big stick!” Mike joked.
“Good! Keep all of those fans off of him!” I laughed.
“Fourteen days,” Ryan whispered in my ear. “Bring your swim suit, ‘cause I’m sneaking you off to the Keys for a day.”
I grinned at him. “I can’t wait! You have everything you need?”
“Yeah, I have enough clean clothes now to last me a while. Kiss me, we’ve got to go.” Ryan nuzzled me.
“Mike, don’t forget Ryan’s guitar.” I picked up the case. “Do you want me to carry it out to the car?”
“No. Just stay inside, Taryn. The paparazzi are out there,” Mike groaned.
“I love you, Honey.” Ryan kissed me. “I’ll call you tonight when I get to the hotel.”
The second the back door opened, cameras started to click. I saw Ryan quickly jump into the black sedan before our new steel door closed completely behind him.
The beginning of February brought bitter cold and a fine layer of snow and ice to Rhode Island. It also froze in place a few other annoyances –
several paparazzi still lingered behind.
I was cleaning up the bar Tuesday night when Cory pounded on the front door. I had closed early on account of the bad weather. Alcohol and freezing rain never mixed well.