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her ears, and was feeling lightheaded.
    Had she heard
correctly?  Was Jeremy taking over his mother’s spot on the board at the
Manhattan Institute for Art and Design?!  She was momentarily
stunned.  Discovering at that moment that he was potentially no longer
available to her, hurt her more than she would’ve thought. 
    The buzzing in
her ears got louder.  She had to get out of there.
    She took a shaky
inhale.  “I’m just going to get my coat and umbrella.”
    His eyes
narrowed, “I’ll only be a minute.”
    Ryann nearly
stumbled in her haste to get to the door.  She grabbed her coat and
umbrella, and ran outside desperate to find a cab, since she now had no time to
call for a car.  Thank God she hadn’t gotten into that limo with him, she
thought.
    She knew the
Board of Trustees had many responsibilities, but the one that had just given
her heart a jolt was the one where the trustees oversaw the personnel, and the
hiring of their instructors.  Given the fact that he would now be the new
Vice Chairperson, and she was interning to be an instructor there, the ethical
implications meant she could never have a relationship with him.  The
realization left her feeling a tangible loss she hadn’t felt in months.
    This was for
the best...this was for the best...this was for the best…. She continued
the mantra in her head.
    Having spent the
last hour or so in the presence of a frustrating, but beautiful man whose sole
purpose was to tell her how much he wanted her, made her crave that feeling of
desire once more.  She hadn’t been on the receiving end of that kind of
attention since Brent, and now that she had a taste of it again, she couldn’t
remember how she had survived without it.  
    Her eyes began
to burn with unshed tears, and she had to stave them off until she could catch
a taxi.  The keen loneliness enveloped her, and she knew that if she
didn’t get out of there in the next 10 seconds, she would be a sobbing mess.
    Just as she
hailed a cab, and had one foot inside the door, she heard a voice yelling
behind her from several feet away, “Ryann?  Ryann!”
    She quickly
stammered, “I’m sorry, Jeremy.  I need to go!”  With that, she
climbed into the car, slammed the door, and in a panic said, “Go!”
    As the cab
pulled out, she never looked back.  It was better this way.  He would
realize soon enough the reason why she left, and she was sure he would agree.
    After Ryann told
the driver her address, she slumped back into the seat with relief, a lone tear
tracking down her face.  She swiped it away furiously, annoyed with
herself.  All she wanted to do was shut off her brain and get into
bed.  She had a long day ahead of her with packing, picking up her car
from the service station, not to mention being ready for the movers coming Sunday
to take her to her new home in Chelsea.
    She needed her
energy, so she closed her eyes and tried not to think.  Or more
accurately, feel.  Quiet tears leaked from her eyes.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Thankfully, the commute getting home was quicker than
the one getting into the City.  She was pulling up to her house only 30
minutes later.  The taxi stopped in front of the FOR SALE sign on her
lawn.
    As Ryann was
digging through her purse to pay the fare, she heard a knock on the window.
    There, standing
in the rain, was Jeremy.
    He opened the
door and calmly offered his hand to help her out of the cab.
    “Jeremy…” she
stuttered, “what the hell are you doing here?!”
    She had to
clench her teeth to keep them from chattering.  Her body had a mind of its
own when it came to him, and as soon as she saw him outside the window, her
body went from tingling all over, to goose bumps, to a beautiful warmth that
seeped through to her bones.
    “I promised my
aunt I would get you home safely, and I’m a man of my word.  I’ll pay the
cab driver.”
    The butterflies
were going nuts in her stomach.  She had to admit, she was thrilled that
he followed her.