Or maybe it was just seeing Ronan’s arms outstretched, ready to pull me back to his chest if I fainted again, that calmed me completely.
He looked just as concerned, but also curious. “That’s a neat trick.”
I shrugged. “I prefer ice water.”
He cocked his head. “Ice helps your heart?”
I pulled my sheet, which had loosened a bit around my torso, a bit tighter. “Yes. Stimulates your vagus nerves and sort of shocks your heart back to a normal rate.”
Ronan watched carefully as I went back to the box breathing we’d done together before I passed out. In four. Hold seven. Out five. And again.
The breathing he’d guided me through.
Huh.
While I doubted Ronan Black also had Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (he would know things like vagal maneuvers if he did), clearly he made use of anti-anxiety breathing techniques for other reasons.
“What?” I asked finally.
He was outright staring now. “I—nothing. Well, not nothing.You’requite something.”
I frowned. “That’s not what you were thinking.”
“No, it’s not. I was thinking—well, actually, I was going to propose an idea—but it’s moot now.” He gestured vaguely at the pills still clutched in my hand.
For the first time since I’d walked out of the bedroom, he wasn’t looking at me like he was trying to figure out how to undress me again. It was a familiar shift. Every schoolyard friend, every boss or mentor, every romantic interest—they all looked at me differently once they realized my heart did funny things like speed up too quickly at inopportune moments.
I went from being the fun kid, the interesting girl, the competent woman to fragile Laney with the broken heart.
Maybe that was the real reason I’d been so willing to break all my rules last night. For the first time in a long time, Megan didn’t stop me, and it feltsogood to be normal. Even if it was just for one night.
Clearly, that had been a mistake. After all, I wasn’t normal at all.
I wasn’t sure why Ronan’s shift, however, bothered me so much. It should have been a relief. The woman who had attracted this beautiful man last night was carefree and didn’t come with a host of family woes and heart issues. His Ariadne was no less a myth than her namesake.
Now, my heart literally couldn’t take it any longer, and the reality check hurt even more than the lack of oxygen.
I stood. “I should probably get going.”
Ronan rose with me. “What? Are you sure you can?—”
“Yes,” I cut him off. “That’s what the pills are for. I’ll be fine.”
“Of course. Right. It’s only…does that…happen often?”
I couldn’t meet his gaze, unwilling to see the mild panic most people wore when they realized I could potentially die on them at any moment. Instead, I ignored the question completely. “Do you happen to know where my dress ended up?”
“Your—oh, right.” He seemed almost surprised to be reminded I was still just wearing a bedsheet. “Yeah, I think it’s over there in the corner.” He was clearly desperate forsomething to do and fetched it for me. “I, ah, think it might be torn a bit.”
I accepted the silk and surveyed the damage. He was right—one of the seams at the back was damaged. Last night, he’d obviously been in a hurry to get it off me.
Now he was probably just in a hurry to get rid of me.
“I’ll just…” I held up the dress.
Ronan nodded and gestured toward the bathroom. “Please. I’ll just be here contemplating the origins of the universe.”
A few minutes later, I reemerged from the bedroom with a clean face, fully dressed, and armed with a plan. I was going to leave as quickly as possible, but not without getting contact information from my “husband” (I had to imagine the air quotes or risk fainting again) to pass on to a lawyer.
