“Wait, is your mom Grace Fletcher who owns Lotus Forrest Springs?”
Ronan froze. “You know her?”
I nodded. “Her retreat center is amazing. The hot springs, the vegetarian food. Not to mention she’s a legend in the community. I learned so much when I did a training there a few years ago. Are you going to visit her while you’re here?”
For the first time since I’d met him, Ronan looked genuinely uncomfortable. “I—no, I hadn’t planned on it.”
“Why not? The retreat center is only about three and a half hours from here. You should go see it—it’s really beautiful, and I bet she’d be thrilled to show you what she’s?—”
I was interrupted by a hard stamp of a kiss as the arm at my waist lifted me so my toes hovered just above the ground. It only lasted a few seconds, long enough for Ronan to suck my bottom lip hard enough to bite and touch his tongue to mine when my mouth opened beneath his.
When he set me back down, his arm stayed where they were, as if he knew I might need the help to remain standing, breathless as I was.
“What—what was that for?”
“For caring enough to try.” He was now staring at my mouth. “Not a lot of people do.”
I frowned. Didn’t he have a big family? He said his dad was a jerk, but he couldn’t hate all his siblings, could he? At least one of them had to care, too.
“But Laney?”
I blinked. “Huh? What?”
He took my chin and forced my gaze up so our eyes met. “You don’t need to bother, sweetheart. I’m not worth the trouble.”
“You know… I’m not sure I believe that.”
He was so handsome, impeccably groomed, expensively dressed. The kind of man I’d never encounter anywhere else. Men like this didn’t exist in Seattle, where most people thought clothes from REI were the height of fashion. They barely existed anywhere.
I thought back to the way he’d looked when I found him in the hotel room in nothing but his underwear and tousled hair. And then the way he’d looked when he took them off.
Okay, fine. I could admit it.
I wouldn’t mind a little more time with that guy.
Now, his curls tamed into glossy waves with a comb and product. My fingers tingled to mess them up again. We swayed to the music, and as I enjoyed the warmth of his big body through our clothes, I couldn’t help wondering how his shoulders would feel under my touch without the layers of wool and cotton.
Hmm. Maybe that had been half a glass of champagne too much.
“Don’t look now, but we have an audience.”
Ronan gave a nearly imperceptible nod to his left, where Derek was glowering at us over his drink. The tip of his nose was red, and his cheeks were flushed. How much had he had?
Who did he think he was to have any right to be angry at me?
He’d been the one who’d broken my heart in the worst way, at the very worst time. What he’d done to me was unforgivable. For him to have the nerve to act like a victim right now was just adding insult to injury.
“You’re pissed,” Ronan remarked.
“I’ll get past it.” I shrugged. “He’s an asshole.”
“An asshole who deserves a taste of his own medicine.” One of Ronan’s dark brows lifted sardonically. “Should we give it to him?”
“How’s that?”
“Like this.”
This time, when he kissed me, he didn’t stop. He slipped one of those broad hands around my neck and plundered.
