AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, it's me, Luna. I'm home.”
We pull apart and he looks me over with a spark in his eyes. “Look at you. You look amazing.”
I smile with awe. “You, too. How have you been?” It might be a silly question but I feel I should ask it.
He nods. “I'm glad to be home. My family is well and happy to have me back, too.”
“I bet they are.”
The brightness in his smile dims, reducing to a ghost on his lips, and I know what’s coming next. “Your father told me about what's going on with you. I mean your proposal.”
Proposal, is that what Dad really called it?
What happened was not a proposal. It felt like a hostile takeover. I don’t care if by thinking so I’m forgetting how beneficial it will be to marry Hunter Le Blanche. Truth is truth.
The proposal I dreamed of was nothing in comparison to that. But then nothing has worked out how I imagined it would.
The tension I felt previously returns, making my insides rigid.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a small still voice that sounds as fragile as the weakness in my heart.
“Don’t be. I wanted to call, but I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t congratulate you and that’s the only thing I should be saying. I feel like a fool for taking all this time to be with you. So I guess what’s happening serves me right.”
My God, he really does have feelings for me.
“Please don’t say that. It took me a while, too, to tell you how I felt.” The moment I say those words I remember what Emily said and I know I’m only saying these things to make him feel better.
Ryan had so much time to be with me but he chose to be with other people.
“I should have done something more than the nothing I did.” He balls a hand into a tight fist. “Now I’m being told that I need to understand that your life is changing and I can’t be a part of it.”
There’s only one person who could have told him that. “My father said that to you?”
“Yes. I understand the situation, and your father is right, but I don’t have to like it.” He looks around nervously and I can just imagine what Dad must have said to him. “He practically told me to keep my distance.”
That sounds like Dad, and I feel the same. I understand but I don’t have to like it. “Will I at least see you for any fundraising activities?”
“Yes, at least.” He smiles. “I’ve signed up for a few. Your dad has me doing some training upstate for the next few weeks, but I’ll stop by your office the first chance I get. Maybe we can catch up properly over coffee then.”
“That would be really great.”
A determined look suddenly enters his eyes and he intensifies his stare. “I haven’t given up, Luna.”
My eyes snap wide and I glare at him. “What? What do you mean?”
“I haven’t given up on you. On us.”
My mouth goes dry and all I can do is stare at him, disbelief seizing my soul as my mind slowly processes his meaning.
“But Ryan, my father?—”
“No. I mean it.” He nods firmly, stepping closer then touching my cheek.
The simple touch sparks a memory but… it’s not of him.
The memory is of nights ago with Hunter. I remember being so aroused just from that gentle touch, but at the time I thought it was Ryan who was touching me.
It was Hunter and this is Ryan now. He’s here, looking at me and touching me the way I’ve always wanted him to but I don’t feel anything close to the way I thought I’d feel.
