Page 32 of Kissing Kayley
In the play area, the man hoisted the woman into the air via ropes run through a ring hung from the beefy metal A-frame they were playing under. I raptly watched and, a few minutes later, realized I wanted to be her, only with Vic’s hands wrapping my body with rope.
That’s when an unexpected wave of fear slammed into me when my gaze fell on the other couple again.
“Let’s get back to the tour,” I muttered, already rising.
Vic grabbed my wrist once more, firmly, tugging me back down. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.
I couldn’t meet his gaze, at first. “Can we please move on?”
He studied me for a moment before nodding and standing with me, leading me to the space’s other entrance.
We stepped outside and found ourselves by the hallway leading to the indoor pool, gym, and indoor playground and arcade areas.
He led the way down the hall, stopping just outside the pool door before turning to me. “What happened?” he whispered. “Do we need to go back to our room and talk?”
I knew he wouldn’t move until I gave him an answer one way or the other.
“Just a bout of anxiety, okay?” That wasn’t exactly a lie. “We can talk about it later. Let’s keep going.”
Still, his gaze studied every inch of my face for a long time before he nodded. “Okay. Wewilltalk about it later, though.”
I hoped he didn’t hear my relieved sigh. “Yes, we can.Later. I just want to get the tour over with before we meet Derek.”
Thankfully, he believed me and we finally continued.
That anxiety was mine to unpack, not his.
I would give him access to those thoughts onmyterms, not his.
And that was another thing he’d have to learn to accept from me if we were to make this all work, that he couldn’t fix everything for me, and anything like that had to happen on my timeline, not his.
The Rawhide Ranch complex was massive. Once we’d finished our inside, and then outside tour, except for a trip over to the mine, it was still an hour before lunch. Vic went to the front desk and asked the woman working there if we could adjust our appointment to get it over with, and fortunately, Derek was free.
“Any questions so far?” Derek asked once we were seated in front of his desk.
Both men looked at me.
“It’s a lot to take in,” I admitted. “I definitely want to swim and hike and ride. I haven’t been riding in years.”
“But do you have anyquestions?” Derek repeated.
“I’m sure I will,” I said. “Frankly, I’m still stuffed from breakfast and might need a nap here shortly.”
He smiled. “We never let anyone leave hungry.”
“Ah, I see you’ve met my mother,” I teased.
Derek laughed while Vic slightly cocked his head at me.
“That was a joke,” I added, directed at Vic.
“We like to take care of people,” Derek continued. “As I told you last night, the safety, comfort, and privacy of the people here are my priority. So let’s get into this.”
We spent the better part of an hour mostly going over things I’m sure meant more to other visitors to the Ranch, especially first-time visitors, but weren’t truly applicable to us.
Still, I kept my mouth shut and listened and resisted the urge to speed this along.
Since we would not be interacting in intimate ways with anyone else during our stay, a lot of the ground rules and guided questions Derek covered were moot, although I found some of it educational and enlightening.
