Companion piece to The Woman from the Girls. Enjoy.
89 Days
"It's too bad my father isn't more fond of you, Ry," Natalia says, eating a bite of her chicken.
"Hmm," Ryan mutters, rolling his eyes. "This is pleasant dinner conversation."
"Aww, he'll warm up to you sweetie, I promise."
The truth is, whether it be Ryan or another man, in her father's eyes, no man will ever be completely worthy of his daughter.
Natalia thinks that he should reevaluate that theory because Ryan is completely worthy of her.
Thoughts like that make her feel giddy and she blushes too often these days because she thinks about it often.
"Are you looking for the millionaire of your dreams?"
"No I'm good."
Oh, Natalia is more than good.
Ryan may not be a millionaire, not by any means, and neither is she, and she doesn't want to be some kept woman, either. Ryan is a thousand times more of a man than some of those millionaires paying to find love with a woman who is often too young and flighty instead of looking right in front of him; the woman that does his accounts, or the woman who takes his calls...
Ryan has enough respect for himself to know that he didn't have to pay money or look far, that he didn't have to settle for less, and she is thankful for that because in turn, he can respect her accomplishments, he can enjoy the maturity of being with her. Evenings in aren't a problem because there's plenty to do. They are both avid readers, they both love movies, they don't care that they show off their lame dance moves when they've played her Greatest Hits of the 80s CDs.
And to think, they've come to this point the old-fashioned way, tried and true.
One evening after work, Ryan just simply approached her, expressed his feelings and asked her out on a proper date. It was just the two of them, in the locker room at work. There was no money exchanged, there were no other women vying for his attention, there were no drinks or a matchmaker involved. Just deeper friendship and some gumption on his part, because their friendship means everything to him and he must have realized that if things didn't go the way he was hoping, their friendship would be on the line.
But things are good, and she's been more than happy to feed him because what the man was feeding himself was healthy, but mostly frozen or in plastic to-go containers, and they had no flavor, no personal touch. She knows she's spoiled him now, especially since he told her the first time she cooked him real food that not even his own mother cooked like Natalia did.
She is in trouble now.
"Mm," he says. "Have I told you lately that I love your cooking?"
How can she possibly get rid of him now, if she wanted to?
Not that she does.
"Um, almost every night that I do cook for you," she giggles.
"Do I really?"
"Yep."
"Oh. Well, I hope you never get tired of hearing it. Seriously, honey, either you were a chef in a previous life, or you should be in your next life."
"And who will you be in your next life to ensure that you enjoy my cooking in some way?"
He grins, shaking his head. "I don't know...your nervous, but very willing sous chef who worships the ground you walk on...secretly, of course."
"Would you make use of a matchmaker if I didn't notice you?"
"Absolutely not," he says. "Besides, no matchmaker could find a woman for me that could even match your mad skills in the kitchen, my dear. I know they don't screen for that."
Natalia laughs. "You may not be a millionaire, but you're sure as hell charming like one."
"Aw, I was hoping you'd say smooth like a millionaire."
"Now that, sweetie, would be something a matchmaker could help you with," she teases.
"Ouch," he laughs.
Natalia giggles.
"While we're on the subject of matchmakers," Ryan begins. "You know what I realized?"
"What?"
"Okay, you know how Tandy King had that policy?" He asks. "You know, no sex for the first ninety days of the relationship?"
"Yeah," she says, sipping at her wine. "What about it?"
"I realized that we've been dating exactly eighty nine days."
She looks at him doubtfully, a smile creeping across her face. "No way..."
"It's true," he says. "I looked at the calendar in the break room today, and I realized that we've been dating almost three months. Eighty nine days from the night of our first date. Tomorrow will be ninety days."
She raises an eyebrow at him. "What are you saying, Mr. Wolfe?"
"I'm not saying anything," he smiles. "I just...it was just an observation."
"Well, we are the last people on earth who should be following Tandy King's advice anyhow," she says.
"Why?"
"Sweetie, we investigated a murder that she orchestrated," she says.
"That doesn't mean her advice isn't legit."
"She had a man torn to shreds and eaten by an alligator over a a couple of bounced checks," she rationalizes. "And furthermore, that Nichols guy? He turned out to be a sex-slave holding pimp! A pimp that almost tried to kill you! I worry about you sometimes, you know. First you're almost gator bait, then you're water tortured in what was a very fabulous bathtub."
He smirks, furrowing his eyebrows. "So, you were worried about me, but you also took the time to notice that the tub I was about to die in was fabulous?"
"It had spa jets, massage settings, and built in warmers for aromatherapy oils and candles."
"What are you saying, Ms. Boa Vista?"
Natalia smiles coyly and raises her eyebrow at him as she gets up and begins clearing the table.
/\/\/\/\
Ryan steps out onto the back patio and he hands Natalia a cup of hot chocolate.
"Thank you," she says, shifting a bit on the lounge to allow him to sit behind her so that she is resting between his legs, her back against his chest. She chuckles when she sees the gigantic marshmallow floating in her mug. "Where'd you get these marshmallows? These are like...mutant marshmallows! You don't have any little ones?"
"I bought them because you wanted s'mores a couple weeks ago, and I was going to take you to go roast some, but we got busy. So, now they're in the hot chocolate. Drink up."
"Eat up, is more like it," she giggles, as she bundles into the blanket a little more.
Ryan's got a great view of the ocean, and the sound is lulling, powerful. She takes a bit of the humongous marshmallow before she takes a sip of her hot chocolate. It warms her all the way through because it is chilly out, and the feel of Ryan's arm around her feels amazing too, and she is warmed to her very soul. Never has she experienced such intimacy before, not even in the good days of her marriage. To her, being held used to mean giving up control, giving in to the demands of an increasingly possessive husband. Nick never did hold her right; the affection was absent from it, as well as the comfort. It was forced, it was him exercising power over her, having a grip on her like she was some kind of object rather than a person.
Other men that she's dated after Nick never did learn how to hold her, how to just...let her settle. It was always pushed on her, it was her responsibility to like it, to get used to it, she was the one that was obligated to allow whoever to hold her when he wanted, regardless of how she felt, regardless if she never felt right, or safe. Her mind was always in panic mode, always in get-away mode, because surely, he was going to change. He was going to turn on her. Suddenly, she wouldn't be beautiful enough, suddenly, he would say she wasn't skinny enough, that she didn't put out enough...it was going. To. Happen. At any moment. If she let him hold her, she wouldn't get away and she'd become a prisoner, again.
She admits that she did carry those fears into her relationship with Ryan, just when she thought she'd conquered that issue.
But, Ryan was unexpected.
She's acknowledged that lately, her feelings for Ryan have deepened tremendously because he's thrice saved her life. First, in the explosion, she'd been worried about him, and he was worried about her and he stayed with her and risked his life and Horatio's to rescue her. The second time, he forced her to stop denying that she'd suffered damage to her hearing from the explosion, and he alerted her when there was someone about to attack her. And this third time, exactly a few months ago, she was hypnotized and hallucinating, and he and Horatio found her wandering around in some warehouse and helped her snap out of it before she got into any real danger. He was there for her in the hospital long after everyone left, and then he drove her home, and he came in and stayed until she got settled in for bed. There was something different in his eyes that night, something indicating that he was with her for more reasons than just the fact he wanted to make sure that she wasn't having any after effects of the drug.
She came out in her robe, and she hadn't meant to be in her robe, but she was intending to take a shower, and she reminded herself that she should tell him that she's alright and that he should go home and get some rest.
Natalia knows that she put them both in an awkward position; it wasn't everyday that her coworker saw her in her robe. She was naked underneath to boot, and Ryan knew it, and she felt like crawling into a deep, dark hole, never to emerge again. She remembers watching as he flushed and averted his eyes. Yes, she wanted him, and she knew that he wanted her. Her body was screaming for his and it scared the hell out of her. He scratched his head and smiled nervously, then he exhaled and wished her goodnight before leaving. Well, bolting is a more appropriate description.
A few days later, she thought things would be awkward, but they carried on, business as usual until the end of shift when Ryan came strolling into the locker room with her, hands in his pockets. She thanked him for driving her home, she hugged him, which he reciprocated. Just as she was about to pull away, he held gently onto her hand, and she looked at him. He told her that he had serious, more-than-friends feelings for her, that he felt it was only right to let her know because he sensed that she too has noticed the change between them emotionally.
"Yeah, I have," she said, her heart racing as his thumb affectionately caressed over her hand.
"I know that this might be something we need to talk about," he said, stepping a little closer to her. " So, Natalia, may I take you to dinner so that we can see if this is real?"
She nodded. "Okay."
He smiled. "Great. How about Friday night?"
"Yeah," she smiled softly. "Friday's good. Should I...dress up? Or is it right after work?"
"Definitely dress up," he grins and she raises her eyebrows at him. "And I...mean that in the nicest of ways. You-you always look nice and professional. I'm just saying the place where I want to take you is kind of formal, and you carry yourself so well-"
"Ryan, I get it," she chuckled. "Friday at what time?"
"Can I pick you up at seven thirty?"
"That's good."
"Okay," he said.
They hugged again, then he went on his way.
From their first date to now, things have been going well, she thinks. There have been little disagreements and tiffs in between, but Ryan is the more patient one.
The first time he held her had been a pivotal moment for them. He knew everything about her fears and misgivings, and he waited, and catalogued her every and reaction as he figured out when she was comfortable, when he was holding her just right, when the feeling of it was right. It took a couple of weeks, but then they finally got it right, and she sank into him with ease.
He's taken such great, painstaking care to be more to her, to support her on a different level, to show her that his feelings for her continue to increase daily, the more time he spends with her.
Natalia turns her head slightly, and she kisses Ryan softly.
"You're thinking about something," he says in a matter-of-fact tone as he kisses her hair.
She sighs. "I'm just...I like this. I'm happy, and I like being with you, Ryan."
"I like being with you," he says, then he chuckles.
"What is it?"
"It's been eighty nine days..." He marvels.
"When you put it that way, it seems like we've been together a long time...it's been a good eighty nine days, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, but..."
"But what?"
"It's an odd number."
She rolls her eyes. "You're so weird sometimes."
"I don't like odd numbers."
"Of course you don't," she chuckles. "In...four more hours, it'll be an even numbered day tomorrow. It'll be ninety days."
He sighs. "I feel like we should do something special tomorrow."
"You're not back on that whole policy thing, are you?"
"I'm just saying..."
"Well, I think the whole thing is based in sleaze, if you ask me."
"Why?"
"Because from what we've seen, the goal at the end of the ninety days is sex," she explains. "In a way, even though Tandy King wasn't running a brothel, what she does, or used to do, is still a form of prostitution. I mean, you have these men pay thousands of dollars for a room full of women who are willing and ready to follow his every command and whim because she wants a millionaire husband. She wants a certain lifestyle that waitressing tables isn't going to buy..."
"And who are we to judge?"
She sits up a bit and looks at him. "You're too gracious."
"Look, Natalia, it's not the service itself, it's the people who make it sleazy," he says. "I mean, it's been almost ninety days for us. Do you think I've only come this far with you for sex?"
"Of course not," she says indignantly. "No...you're different, Ryan. I'm just saying some men and women don't have the self control to last ninety days in a relationship, hell even less can last more than forty eight hours in a marriage for heaven's sake, and they give in, then the guy up and leaves or the girl. So he basically paid fifty five thousand dollars just for sex and heartbreak for one or the other or both. Pretty good scam on Tandy's part. That's why they went over to that bastard Nichols. They had to put in less work and money."
Ryan gently pulls her back into him, and she gives in and rests back against him.
"You're too hard on us guys," he grins as he kisses her temple. "Some of us have good hearts."
"Hmm, you are the exception," she says as she sets her mug aside then she turns so that she is lying along him. "You have a good heart, and a brilliant mind. You're considerate and patient and sweet. You're incredibly romantic, too."
"Romantic, huh?" He grins as he kisses her.
"Yeah," she smiles.
He kisses her again, this time deeper, and he gently tangles his fingers into her hair as she presses herself against him as she tastes his tongue against hers. She gently sucks his bottom lip before she allows for exploration again. His other hand slips under the blanket and caresses over her hip, then her lower back. She wraps one arm around his neck, and the other caresses over his chest. She moans softly, and that sends a current of arousal through him, and he feels guilty, but he can't stop his body from reacting to her.
Her breasts are pressed against his chest, her body is stretched along his, their hips in close proximity.
They've kissed like this before, and he still can't control his body.
He gently breaks the kiss before he gets to the point of no return. Again.
Ryan doesn't want to embarrass himself, nor be in pain, so he's got to stop her before he finds himself having to talk himself down, pun completely intended.
"Honey...we should slow down," he says. "I mean...I like to kiss you..."
"I know, I understand," she says, nodding. "Yeah, we should slow down. I-I don't want you to be...pained."
He chuckles.
She sits up and pushes her hair behind her ears. Her eyes are glistening with tears and he caresses her cheeks.
"Honey, what's the matter?"
"I-I suppose the three month thing isn't all bad," she shrugs. "I-I know that you've had...issues with your anatomy because of me lately...and believe me, I sympathize with you because you make me feel the same way."
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"I'm fine," she smiles a bit. "It's just all so...casual, you know? I mean, from the way all those girls made it sound."
"Not all of them were in it for the good reasons."
"Yeah..." She pauses and looks at him. "Do you...want to have sex with me?"
Hell. Yes.
He furrows his eyebrows and pulls away from her slightly, clearing his throat.
"I-Is that a trick question?"
"It's a serious question that requires a serious answer," she says firmly.
Ryan rubs a hand over his face. "Yes, I do."
She laces her fingers with his. "Okay..."
He can see that she is discomforted, and he puts his hand on her cheek.
"Do you want that to happen soon?"
She sighs. "Well, all joking aside...it has been three months, and it's obvious from the way we've been spending time together and getting more comfortable with each other that...it's something that should happen...I mean, we make out a little too long and boom, hello Friend."
"So is that why you were dropping that hint about the tub?"
She chuckles a bit. "Maybe...so, you want it to happen? If so then we should-"
"Honey, I respect you and your body," he interrupts gently. "And I can tell in your eyes that you're not comfortable with us being together like that just yet."
"It's not that I'm not comfortable, it's just that...I know the pain of giving too much of myself, my body too early in a relationship only to just as quickly have my heart broken. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but...what we have together right now is good...great. No, incredible. It's incredible. Things tend to get complicated too fast when sex happens at the wrong moment. Believe me, I want to but...God, this is weird. This isn't...making things weird between us, is it?"
"No," He grins. "Why would it be weird?"
"Because we're adults and this conversation is so...juvenile."
"No, it's not juvenile. Look, 'Lia...like you said, what we have right now is amazing, and I like what we have too. I-I don't want to do anything to jeopardize this."
"Me neither, but...I feel like I'm not trusting you, and I know that you're...that we obviously have intense desires for each other. I'm not depriving you to make you miserable."
"I know," he says. "Y-you don't have to explain yourself to me, Natalia. Things are good right now, and if you feel like taking our relationship to the next level is going to make it anything to the contrary, then it's not the right time."
Despite the desire and passion he has for her, his curiosity about where this is leading is stronger.
"What do you want to do, Ry?" She asks, her voice quavering. "You have a choice too."
"I want to do this with you," he says. "I just want to be with you, honey. Unconditionally."
She smiles and she hugs him, and he lies back down against the lounge, and she settles against him again.
"You know what I want to do tomorrow?" She asks.
"What?"
Natalia hooks her arms around his neck. "Wake up in your arms."
Ryan grins, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Honey...didn't we just talk-"
"I mean literally," she explains. "We've never stayed overnight and just...slept. I like it when you hold me. You make me feel safe, and wanted. That's what I want to do tomorrow."
He grins. "Okay. We'll do that."
"Oh, and breakfast in bed would be nice..."
He laughs and kisses her temple. "Of course it would."
She giggles and rests her hands over his on her abdomen, and they both look out and watch the ocean meet the shore.