A/N: I hate to leave people hanging, but this is the last chapter I'll be able to post for a while due to moving back to L.A. Hopefully, it won't take me too long to get back online and update. Thanks to all who've read up to this point and enjoyed the story.
Roger
CHAPTER 14
Calleigh awoke from her sleep. She wondered what time it was. Looking up, the clock said 6:14 a.m. She sat up and looked over at Ryan, still sleeping soundly next to her on the couch. She smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she was so happy to wake up next to somebody. "Ryan, wake up." She shook him gently, enough for him to awake. "Huh?" was his reply. "It's a quarter after 6," Calleigh ran her hand through his hair. "We need to get ready for work." "What?" Ryan sat up, slowly remembering that he was still at Calleigh's. He looked at Calleigh, quickly realizing that she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look." Ryan diverted his eyes and turned his head. Calleigh reached up and turned his face back towards her. "It's ok. I would have taken a look myself if you weren't still wearing your dress shirt and slacks." She pulled him closer and kissed him. Ryan wrapped his arms around her. He paused to speak. "I'm not going to have time to drive home and take a shower. Do you mind if I take one here?" "I don't mind at all," Calleigh answered, fighting the urge to ask if he wanted her to join him. "Do you have any spare clothes?" "Yeah. I keep a spare set of clothes in my duffel bag." Ryan said as he got up to put on his shoes. Calleigh stood up herself. "I'll go ahead and take my shower while you go and get your clothes." "Ok," was Ryan's answer. He left the apartment to get his clothes out of his car while Calleigh walked into the bathroom.
Calleigh turned on the water for the shower and removed her t-shirt and panties. Stepping into the blast of water, she started to think about her date with Ryan. She still couldn't get over the fact that he admitted his virginity. "I wonder if he'll let me be 'the one' to take it from him?" Calleigh paused in her thoughts. She couldn't believe what she just thought of. They haven't had sex yet, but she knew that their relationship would no doubt lead to it. She wanted so badly to sleep with Ryan, but now she was concerned. His first time would be with her. It did make her feel flattered in a way, but she remembered her first time and it was not memorable. Calleigh thought back to when her high school boyfriend came over when no one else was at home and she gave her virginity to him. The entire event lasted about a minute. After he was done, he got up and left. He left Calleigh there, alone on her bed in the dark, crying to herself. She felt like she was just used, which in a way she was. She shuddered at the memory. She knew that she wouldn't be the same way towards Ryan, but she wanted his first time to be special and worth remembering, at least Calleigh wanted it to. She didn't want to rush things with Ryan. She didn't want to hurt him and she herself didn't want to get hurt. The knock at her bathroom door interrupted her thoughts. "Cal?" Calleigh forgot how long she already was in the shower. "I'll be right out, Ryan." She yelled over the sound of the bathroom fan. She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and turned off the water. She got out and dried off. Calleigh realized that she left her robe in her bedroom; she would have to walk out wearing just a towel. "Nothing wrong with that," Calleigh thought as she slowly smiled. She opened the door to see Ryan standing there, holding his clean clothes. His mouth slightly dropped as he looked at Calleigh, holding a towel around her, her still wet hair hanging down onto her shoulders. "I got the water all nice and hot for you," Calleigh said in a sexy voice, intentionally turning on her drawl. Calleigh was going to tease him a little bit. She walked down the hallway, away from Ryan and towards her bedroom. Just as she got to her room, she turned around to face Ryan and purposely let go of her towel on one side, causing it to unravel, but was still covering her from the front. "There's a clean towel in there for you," she purred. As she closed the door, Ryan stepped into the bathroom and proceeded to take the coldest shower of his life.
The two of them drove to work in their own vehicles. Arriving at headquarters first, Ryan parked his car, got out and waited for Calleigh. She pulled in a few minutes later. He walked over to her as she got out. "Hey, I never thanked you for letting me stay at your place last night." "It was my pleasure, Ryan. I didn't think you should have drove home. You didn't look too well." "Cal, I only had three glasses of wine." "Well, Ryan…when was the last time you actually drank anything stronger then beer?" Ryan was silent, trying to remember. Calleigh nodded her head. "That's what I thought." Calleigh grabbed Ryan's hand. "I enjoyed every moment having you over at my place." Ryan looked at Calleigh, then looked down. "I can't believe that I asked you to stay with me." "I don't." Calleigh answered. "Well," Ryan continued to look down. "I didn't want you to think I was trying to get you to sleep with me. You know, in that way." Calleigh smiled. That's what she loved about Ryan. He was honest with his emotions. He actually did care about how she felt. She didn't think she did anything last night that she didn't want to. "Ryan…not once did I think that you were trying to take advantage of me. I laid with you because I wanted to. I did like it when you put your arm around me and pulled me close to you." "I did that?" Ryan looked embarrassed. Calleigh noticed his expression. "Yes you did. And I enjoyed every minute of it." She lifted herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Ryan returned her kiss. "I can't believe what I'm seeing with my own two eyes." The two of them looked over to see Eric standing about 10 feet away, with a look of surprise on his face. "I'm starting to get tired of people catching us," Ryan muttered under his breath. Calleigh ignored him and focused on Eric. "Eric, keep your opinion to yourself." "Relax, Cal. I didn't say anything." Eric replied as he held his hands up to calm her. "I'm just surprised that the two of you finally followed though on your feelings for each other." Calleigh looked confused. "How did you know how I felt?" "Calleigh, please. For months I thought you had feelings for Wolfe. I would see the way you looked at him. Heck, you were almost hanging all over him Friday night. I knew you had something for him the way you acted. I just wasn't going to say anything until I saw it for myself." Eric looked at Ryan. "No wonder you weren't interested in me setting you up on any dates. I would see how you would look at her sometimes too, but I wasn't sure until Friday. Why do you think I made that comment about '1+1'?" Calleigh looked at Ryan. He didn't say a word but stared at Eric and nodded. Eric looked down at his watch. "Guys, I'd love to talk some more, but it's now 8:05 and I really don't want to hear it from H." Without any more words between the three of them, they all quietly walked inside, Calleigh holding Ryan's hand until they had to split up and go to their respective labs. "See you at lunchtime," Ryan said as he kissed Calleigh. "Can't wait, handsome." And with that, they both went on their separate ways.
Lunchtime came and Calleigh walked into Trace to see Ryan looking over some paperwork. "Care to have a pretty girl take you out for lunch?" Ryan smiled as he looked up at Calleigh. "Sure. Where do you have in mind?" "There's a nice deli around the corner. I thought that we could go there." Ryan got up and walked over to Calleigh. Kissing her, he replied, "How about a little snack first?" Calleigh snickered as she returned his kiss. "Let's get out of here." The two of them were sitting at the deli talking about the work they did that morning. "Thanks for the lunch, Cal." "My pleasure." Calleigh was about to put a major plan into motion. "Ryan?" "Yes?" Ryan answered as he wiped his mouth. "How would you like to come over to my place Friday night and I can make you an genuine southern dinner?" "A southern dinner?" Ryan leaned forward, intrigued at what Calleigh was getting at. "Yes, I would make us some chicken-fried steak with a side of cornbread, topped off with a special dessert." "A special dessert, huh?" Ryan was now fully curious. "What kind of dessert?" "You'll have to come over to find out. It's a secret." Calleigh gave Ryan a naughty grin. "Oh, I'll definitely be there," was Ryan's answer. Calleigh took a sip of her tea. Friday night was going to be the night. She truly loved him and she was going to show her love. If Ryan knew what she was getting at, he didn't let on. Calleigh still wondered if she was rushing into things. But she figured that they were two consenting adults who really loved each other and even more importantly, cared about each other. The touch of Ryan's hand stirred Calleigh from her thoughts. "Are you ok? You seem a little distant." "Oh, I'm just thinking about what I need to do for Friday night." Calleigh smiled at Ryan. Ryan reached over and gave her a kiss. "If you need me for anything on Friday, I'm more than happy to help out." "I'll need you to help me do something after dinner," Calleigh thought to herself. She looked at Ryan, who was waiting for an answer. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I have everything under control." She lifted her arm up and ran her fingers over the side of his head, tucking his hair behind his ear. Lunchtime was over and two of them picked up their trays to leave. As they went outside, Ryan wrapped his arm around Calleigh's waist and pulled her closer to him as they walked to her car. As they got near, he lowered his head and whispered into her ear. "I can't wait until Friday night." Calleigh lifted her head up to look at him. "Neither can I, handsome."
to be continued…