Read Online A Love Like This by Kahlen Aymes - Free Book Online Page B

tone.
“The settings at Gibraltar were amazing, but the photographer
wasn’t you. Satisfied?” I bit my lip and tried not to smile.
    “No! But that helped a little. What are you
doing here, anyway? Trouble in paradise?” Mike asked
sardonically.
    “No.” I shook my head and smiled brightly.
“No trouble at all. Bliss, just not enough time. It’s not bad
enough that Ryan lives at the hospital, but then I have this type
of shit to deal with! Any ideas on what caused it?”
    Mike’s brow dropped slightly as he
considered the question and he shook his head. “Ah… nothing. I
followed the logs. Who was in charge of them? Andrea?”
    I shoved my chair back from my desk and
picked up one of his photos. They really were incredible. Too bad
they couldn’t be used. “Not Andrea. I’d trust her with anything.
Look how well she did when I had the accident. Nothing went wrong
at all during those months, right?”
    “Nothing to this magnitude; but it wasn’t
perfect. I’m sure Meredith didn’t want to bog you down with the
details.”
    “Hmmm. I guess. I’ll let you know if it’s
Saturday or Sunday for the shoot. Thanks for coming in.”
    “Julia, it’s good to have you back.” His
eyes roamed over my body suggestively. “You look good.”
    “Happiness will do that for you!” I shot
back. “See you this weekend.”
    I decided that I might as well leave the
office, so after one last check-in with Andrea and I’d answered all
of the pressing emails, I was out the door. The wind was brisk as I
hailed a cab that would take me home, hoping that I’d find my
luggage waiting for me with the concierge.
    I pulled my phone out and looked at it
longingly. No word from my husband yet. He must be incredibly busy
or he would have called by now. Ugh.
    I watched the people rush over the
crosswalks in droves as the cab stopped at the light. The
buildings, cars and people melted into a blur as I lost myself in
my thoughts. I missed Ryan and ached to get my arms around him, to
feel his body cover mine. I closed my eyes and rested my head
against the back of the seat, silently wishing it was the middle of
the night and Ryan was finally joining me in our big bed. The hours
would drag until then.
    At home, I busied myself with calling my
parents and Ellie to check in. My parents still required I call at
the end of a journey to let them know I was safe and I wanted to
see how Ellie was doing. She seemed a little better, but rattled
about a new celebrity client. The woman was a big name, so she
should have been ecstatic, but her voice was decidedly flat. My
heart was still aching for her, but part of me wanted to yell at
her to get her head out of her ass.
    In my heart, I knew Harris was loyal to her. So why didn’t she?
    I’d just spent every non-working moment in
Spain trying to convince her. I felt bad for both of them, but they
were both so stubborn. There was a real chance that they would
break up for good if neither of them were willing to compromise.
The situation made me sad and long for Ryan’s arms around me. I
could think of nothing more important to me than him. Nothing I
wouldn’t sacrifice to be with him.
    I sighed as the doorbell rang. It was the
bellman with my luggage and I took it from him gratefully, then
went to my purse for a tip.
    “Thank you, Brian.” I smiled at the
teenager. He smiled shyly and nodded but didn’t say anything.
    I needed to unpack and do the laundry and
then make myself a light dinner. Alone. Again.
    The emptiness of the apartment screamed
Ryan’s absence like a banshee. Ryan left the bed unmade and after I
toted the bag in and dropped it on the floor, I fell upon it,
wrapping my arms around the pillow and filling my lungs with his
familiar scent. Yum.
    I was tired and I could fall asleep immersed
in the bed he’d vacated pretending he was with me, wound up with my
body. My eyes were heavy, as I rolled further into the pillows and
let them drift shut, my breathing getting deeper. It