I smiled at him; I was glad that he thought so too.
“You can really see the ocean from here,” he sighed loudly.
I turned the gas on underneath the grill and lit the pilot. The burners popped to life with fire.
“It’s not as cold as I thought it would be tonight,” I mentioned. “Do you think people might like to sit up here too? I could start a fire.”
“Yeah. I know I wouldn’t mind hanging out up here for a little.”
I pulled some wood out of the storage bin and stacked it in the fireplace. Ryan was standing at the edge of the deck with his fingers in his front pockets, looking out at the ocean and the setting sun. His face was beaming.
“I think this is my new favorite place in the world,” he declared. “I thought your stairwell was the gateway to peace. This is the peace!”
I stood next to him, enjoying the view of the colors over the ocean. I had seen the setting sun over the water a thousand times, but with Ryan standing next to me, it was like I was seeing it for the first time. Ryan slipped his hand out of his pocket and took my hand in his. He lifted my hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on my skin.
He leaned over to give me a kiss. Either he was a brilliant actor, or he was falling for me too. I hoped it was the latter.
I giggled lightly when he pulled my hand behind his back, causing me to get off balance and fall into him. He smiled at me and pressed his lips to mine. Ryan quickly let go of my hand and placed both of his hands on my neck – raising my face to his. His kiss was so passionate, I was totally lost in the feeling; so lost that I didn’t hear the roof door open.
I did, however, hear someone when they cleared their throat. Pete had escorted Cal and his wife to the roof. Suzanne and Francesca were directly behind them. The second we realized we weren’t alone, Ryan immediately let me go.
“My, aren’t you two cozy already,” Suzanne said in her British accent.
Ryan fired a dirty look in her direction. He ignored her and guided me over to Cal and his wife.
“Hey Cal!” Ryan shook his hand. “Taryn, I’d like to introduce you to Cal’s wife, Kelly. Kelly, this is Taryn - Taryn Mitchell. She is the owner of this beautiful establishment.”
I held out my hand to Kelly. I remembered seeing her many times on television, but she was even lovelier in person. She had straight blond hair, high cheekbones, and the type of smile that was infectious. I recalled she was only a year or two older than I was. We were about the same in height and close to the same size too.
“Hi Kelly, it’s very nice to meet you!”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Taryn!” She gave me a nice hug. “Oh wow! Cal, look at this view!” The sound of her voice was very familiar to me. I spent many years watching her show faithfully.
“Ryan and I were just appreciating the same thing before you arrived,” I said to her. I felt Ryan’s hand in the small of my back.
“This is magnificent, Taryn,” Cal agreed. I saw him look at Ryan and smile.
Kelly walked to the fireplace; I could see that she wanted a closer look. “Cal, this is what we should put in the corner of our patio. I want this!”
“It’s quite easy to build,” I explained. “I understand you have a young daughter? Something like this with the height would be safer for her. You can easily place a fire screen across the front.”
Kelly and I continued our discussion about the grill and bar area. She was very intrigued about the design.
“I actually sketched the design. I saw it in my head, the way I wanted it to be laid out, and then I had a local contractor build it all for me.”
“It’s beautiful! We’ll have to bring you to California and design one for us. We just built a new home in Malibu.”
It was very easy to talk to Kelly. She was very open and pleasant, and was the type of person I could see myself being good friends with.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Suzanne and Francesca slowly walking towards us. I didn’t want to be rude to the rest of our guests so I smiled in their general direction. Ryan and Cal were having a conversation about something that happened with one of the cameras on the set the other day, and I noticed that Ryan barely acknowledged the other girls’ presence.
I looked at the two actresses and gave them my best welcome smile.
“Hi!” I held out my hand to Suzanne. “I’m Taryn. Welcome to my home.” She barely took my fingers in hers and quickly shook my hand.
“I’m Suzanne,” she mumbled.
I got the distinct impression that I was supposed to acknowledge that she was famous and I was expected to already know who she was.
“It’s nice to meet you. And you must be Francesca,” I stated warmly, holding my hand out to her.
“Yes,” she said quickly, barely looking at me. Even though she only said one word I could still detect the French accent to her voice. She was as unpleasant to me as I had expected.
“I didn’t have an opportunity to meet you both when you were in my pub, but I’m glad that you came today.” There was no way I was going to be impolite, despite the less than warm reception I was getting in return.
I glanced over to Ryan, who gave me a smile and a nod. He was acknowledging my attempts at being cordial.
“Ladies, can I offer you a drink? We have a large variety of wines downstairs, or any other beverage you might prefer.” I was hoping they might follow me down to the bar. I did not want to be carrying drinks up and down the stairs all night.
Much to my dismay, Suzanne wrapped her coat across her chest and plopped her ass down in one of the chairs. “I’ll have a glass of white wine.”
Francesca sat down next to her. My wishes for them to return to the bar were in vain. While I was running downstairs I was going to make it worth the trip.
“Francesca, can I get you something to drink?” I asked nicely.
Before she responded, the rooftop door opened again and several new people joined us.
I recognized Shane Richards right away; he had come into the pub once before with Ryan and Cal. Next to him was a petite, twenty-something looking woman with short blond hair and another man who was lanky with too much gel in his brown hair.
Ryan came to my side and he was smiling at our new guests.
“Hey everyone!” the young woman said. “Hey Ryan!” She came right over to us.
I didn’t know who she was, but it didn’t matter. She was all aglow and looking like she wanted to have a good time, not like the other two who were glaring at me from their perches.