Free Unworthy Heart: The Donnellys, Book 1 by Dorothy F. Shaw Page B

now. Now, all she could think about was that she didn’t fit, and for the first time since she was a kid, she wanted to. More importantly, she wanted to fit with Ryan. Frustrated with herself, she pushed the thoughts away.
    “You ready?” Ryan held out his hand to her.
    Was she? Ready or not, this was happening. Time to step up to the plate or get off the field. Standing, she steadied herself, took a deep breath and placed her hand in his. “Yes.”
    Such a small answer to his small question. Both so much bigger than they appeared.
    When they got outside, the cool night air wrapped around her. He let go of her hand and motioned for the valet attendant. Maiya walked off to the side and lit a cigarette. The cool menthol smoke slid into her lungs, and she held it in for a second longer than normal. Her head buzzed and she exhaled, watching Ryan talk to the attendant. He wasn’t a prince coming to rescue her from some fire-breathing snaggle-toothed dragon, and this wasn’t a fairytale. It was just dinner.
    Two adults having dinner.
    Two adults about to have consensual sex.
    Nothing more, nothing less.
    It didn’t matter he’d taken her to one of the nicest places in L.A. It didn’t.
    Maiya needed to keep her heart locked up and emotions turned off. Safe. She needed to stay safe. But she had a feeling he’d already extricated her heart from its nest of safety. She may as well top off the night with some sweaty sex. Fuck it. An orgasm—or five—ought to send her spinning into oblivion.
    When the attendant pulled up with the car, Maiya put out her cigarette, popped a mint into her mouth and walked over to Ryan.
    His gaze was pinned to her. Her breath caught in her throat at the steadfast expression in his gaze. The breeze picked up and blew his tie to the side and he smoothed it down his chest in what seemed a practiced gesture.
    The wine made her movements slow and languid. The nicotine she’d inhaled raced through her blood in fierce competition with the alcohol, making her feel hyper-in-tune to all movement around her. All she focused on was him though. His sculpted face, his sparkling blue-gray eyes, his edible lips and his broad shoulders.
    “Your chariot awaits.” Ryan took her hand and helped her into the car. He leaned in when she was seated and placed a light kiss on her cheek. Coming around the car, he slid behind the wheel.
    She touched where his lips had been. “That was sweet.”
    “I can be…on occasion.”
    They made the drive in relative silence. Norah Jones’s “Come Away with Me” played soft and low from the radio, and she hummed along. He traced her fingers, drawing little circles on the back of her hand and then her palm.
    The lights of the city glittered in the not-too-far-away distance. Maiya kept her eyes on the passing scenery and her pulse beat a steady drum beneath his fingertips. The music wove its way in and around her and she let herself melt into the soft leather of the seat.
    Closing her eyes, she took it all in and let herself…feel.

Chapter Eleven
    Ryan glanced at Maiya and then made the turn into the parking garage of her hotel. She was humming, but she looked like she was sleeping. Her expression was soft, relaxed—sweet. He parked in a spot closest to the elevator, turned off the car and looked at her again.
    She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, and then met his gaze with a modest smile arching her lips.
    “You ready?”
    She nodded but said nothing more.
    Ryan kissed her fingers and then stepped from the car. He couldn’t shake the idea that this was far more than just sex. He wasn’t sure how to feel. Thinking about it scared him too much though, so he pushed the fear aside and opened her car door.
    He did things for Maiya he shouldn’t, yet he couldn’t stop himself. A deep motivation to take care of her, in a way he was sure no one else had, kept rising to the top and propelling him. Opening her car door, helping her in or out of the car, taking her