The Chandler Request 03 - Raffling Ryan by Kasey Michaels

Author:Kasey Michaels [Michaels, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-08-12T04:24:07.023000+00:00

Once again neck-deep in bubble bath, Janna thought back over the day she and Zachary and Ryan had spent at the Re-enactment.

It had been fun, of course, but Janna was accustomed to enjoying herself. She'd long ago decided that either she was a basically happy person or she was just easily amused. Either way, she expected to enjoy herself, and that, she'd also decided long ago, was usually half the battle.

But today had been somehow different. More charged with energy, energy she felt radiating toward her from Ryan. His hand in hers. His shoulder brushing against hers. Their easily matched, long strides as they seemed to move together with such an easy grace that anyone would think they'd been walking together for all of their lives.

He'd really enjoyed himself; she was also sure of that. He'd unbent quickly, forgetting that he was the big businessman out of his depth in a grassy field, surrounded by families and reenactors and watching where he stepped so he wouldn't bring home an unwanted souvenir deposited by one of the horses.

But the best, the very best, and the most puzzling, were the purchases Ryan made on the way back down the hill to the parking lot, as they'd stopped at one of the makeshift stands. There had been dozens and dozens of books about the Civil War, about the people, the battles, the politics. Janna had thought he might buy one, just for show, just to prove he was interested.

But he had fooled her. He'd bought three, and had told the bookseller that, no, he didn't need several of the others the man showed him—because he already had them in his personal library.

That shocked Janna. Yes, he had said American history was his hobby—but the books he'd bought, the ones he already owned, seemed to speak of more than just a "hobby."

The bookseller must have sensed the same thing, because he pulled a small, ragged book from under the counter and handed it to Ryan; the personal diary of a Union soldier, handwritten, and bought by the man at a recent auction.

Ryan had to have it, and didn't even haggle over price. He held the book, touched it lovingly, stroking the cover, carefully turning a few pages...his green eyes so warm with emotion, Janna had to look away as it was so intense.

Ryan's hadn't been the look of a collector, someone who wanted things just because those things were available, he had the cash to pay for them, and they showed him to be an intellectual or something icky like that.

Oh, no. This was more. Much more. Ryan looked as if he were holding history, and that he was nearly overwhelmed with the wonder of it.

What was a man like this doing running a clothing manufacturing plant?

Janna blew some bubbles off her hand, then grimaced. What was a woman like her doing designing web pages for sprocket manufacturers?

Did she and Ryan have anything in common? Hopes? Dreams?

Janna sighed. She'd like to believe they did.

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