Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2)(25)

The next morning, Ryan had plenty of ribbing at work. “Tsk, making out with the doc smack in the middle of the pharmacy,” Mardie, the saloon’s waitress, teased. “Don’t you have a better place to take her, Ry?”

He rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t like that. But at least it got the point across to a certain person.”

“The whole town’s talking about what you said to Carol Bingley. It’s about time someone reminded her about her manners,” Mardie said. “So are you dating the doc since the Bachelor Auction?”

“No, we’re just good friends. I don’t have time to date.”

“But if you did, would you date her?” the prep boy asked.

Ryan smiled. “That’s for me to know and everyone else to guess. You lot don’t give Reese a hard time about his love life, do you?”

“We wouldn’t dare,” Mardie said.

He laughed. “Maybe I should wave my kitchen knife about a bit more and look tough.”

Mardie laughed back. “Ry, a man who makes desserts that have women moaning in bliss isn’t a fighter, he’s a lover.”

Moaning in bliss.

He really wished Mardie hadn’t said that.

Because all he could think of after that was the way that Rachel had moaned in bliss when she’d fallen apart under his tongue. That tiny little cry. The way her eyes had gone wide when she’d come.

And he really, really wanted that to happen all over again.

So did she – or she wouldn’t have agreed to his suggestion about going to Bozeman for supplies.

It took a lot of effort – and a cut to his thumb – for Ryan to make himself concentrate on his job instead of thinking about Rachel, and he was glad that his shift was busy – even if he did have a stream of customers sending in orders “with a side of good manners”.

“This is getting old,” he grumbled when Mardie came in with the fifteenth such order.

“They’ll get bored soon enough,” Mardie said with a smile. “And they’re on your side, Ry. Someone needed to call Carol Bingley on her behavior.”

“I guess.”

All the same, Ryan was glad to escape from Grey’s at the end of his shift. He drove straight to Bozeman, parked outside the first supermarket he saw and bought condoms. It was a real relief that the girl on the checkout didn’t know him and wouldn’t be gossiping about him or Rachel. And then he drove back to Marietta to pick up his grandmother from day care.

How was this going to work out?

A lot depended on Rachel’s schedule. He knew she worked part time as a family doctor – and that everyone was expecting her to take on the practice full time when Dr. Majors retired later in the year – but not when her shifts were. If her free time was the same as his, it would be fine. If not… then he was going to have to put some of his principles aside and ask someone to sit with Gram for a few hours during the week. Though it felt utterly wrong to ask other people to shoulder his responsibilities just so he could warm Rachel’s bed.

He just hoped that this could be uncomplicated. For both of them.

He waited until his grandmother had gone to bed that evening before he texted Rachel. Hey, I’ve been to Bozeman.

Glad to hear it :) was the reply.

So she hadn’t changed her mind about them? It made him feel warm all over. I’ve been thinking about you all day. Time to bite the bullet. I’m free from five until six, Monday through Thursday. How does that fit with your hours?

I work ten till half-past four Monday through Friday.

Meaning they were both available during his one free hour from Monday to Thursday. So this was doable. Anticipation sizzled through him. I was thinking about where to meet. He had to be honest with her. Though it wouldn’t feel right, meeting at Gram’s place.

I live on my own, she pointed out, or is my apartment a problem?

No. It just feels a bit selfish, making you always be the host.

You’re not selfish, Ry.

That wasn’t what Lucille had said.

“You’re so selfish, Ryan. You’re putting other people’s needs before mine.”

Technically, that was true. Except how could he have deserted his grandmother when she needed him? And, if he had let his grandmother down, how would he have been able to live with that decision?

“I’ve spent months sorting everything out. Finding premises, interviewing staff. And now you’re leaving me in the lurch.”

“I’m just suggesting that we open the restaurant in Marietta rather than Bozeman.”

“They don’t give Michelin stars to restaurants in tiny country towns!” Lucille had stamped her foot.

“We don’t have to open the restaurant right now. We can wait a few more months. Gram isn’t going to be around forever.”

“She could go on until she’s ninety. And then where will we be? Stuck in a hick town.” She shook her head. “No way. We agreed. We’re opening a restaurant in Bozeman. We’ll be the first restaurant in Montana to get a Michelin star, and then we’ll expand into a chain. Right the way from LA to New York.”

Ryan was ambitious, but not if it came at the expense of his last remaining family. That was a price he absolutely wasn’t prepared to pay. So he didn’t mind putting his plans on hold for a while. Unfortunately, Lucille had minded hugely and she hadn’t been prepared to compromise.