“I wouldn’t have said that.” His look was somber when he said, “I wouldn’t have said anything like that, sweetheart. I would have told you the truth, that you were special. That I’d never felt that way about anyone before.”
“I guess I was scared,” she said, swallowing the fear lodged in her throat. She’d never been one to talk about her feelings, but with this man they seemed to pour out against her will. “That’s why I went down to that bar. I couldn’t go back to my room. I needed a distraction and didn’t feel like gambling so I thought maybe I could catch sports highlights or whatever.”
“And you methiminstead.” He spit the words out, like it still angered him to think about it.
“We were just talking.” She placed her hand on his tense forearm. “Nothing would have happened.”
“Did he know that?”
That stranger had propositioned her, inviting her back to his room, but before she could tell him she was with someone Loran stormed the bar and made the announcement for her. “I would have told him if you’d given me the chance.”
He set his bottle down on a wood tray in the middle of the oversized leather ottoman before cupping his head in his hands. “I still can’t believe I reacted that way. I saw that asshole with his hand on your back while he leaned in to talk to you and I just saw red.”
“Why?”
“Because you weremine.” He let that declaration hang in the air before he added, “At least I wanted you to be. I was pissed off when I woke up and you were gone. I thought maybe you’d just gone back to your room to get some stuff, but when I went there and couldn’t find you, I kind of panicked. I thought you’d bailed on me, maybe headed to the airport.”
She could see the panic etched on his face even now, when he spoke about it. It was kind of sweet, his reaction to the thought of losing her. “But I didn’t intend to leave.”
“Yeah, but I saw you with that guy and my mind started racing. I imagined you going back to his room and—”
“No way would that have happened,” she whispered, covering his lips with one finger. “I came to Vegas for one reason. To be with you. No one else. Just you.”
“I’m sorry I was such an ass that night.”
She chuckled. “I wasn’t the one who lost his front tooth.”
He smirked. “Believe me, I paid the dude’s dental bill and then some. My lawyer told me to settle, so I did.”
“Sorry I cost you so much money,” she said, feeling a twinge of guilt.
Even though Loran had overreacted when he saw her with someone else, she suspected she might have felt the same way if she’d found him in the hotel bar chatting up a beautiful woman so soon after… they’d been together.
“You cost me a lot more than money,” he said, his voice husky. “You cost me sleepless nights. Hangovers. Broken crystal. A few games.”
“What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t get it together. Couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He hung his head. “So I drank too much. Couldn’t sleep. Busted up shit. Started fights. Pissed off my manager. Rode the bench ‘cause of my bad attitude.”
“I had no idea.” The team was usually tight-lipped when their starters sat out a game and managers typically chalked it up to a day of rest. Apparently in Loran’s case it had been a little more than that.
“Your brother didn’t tell you?”
“He mentioned you were having a hard time but I told him I didn’t want to talk about you.”
“Why wouldn’t you talk to me?” He glanced at her. “I get that you were pissed when it happened, but when you cooled off, why wouldn’t you give me a chance to apologize?”
“I had this boyfriend in college.” She’d never intended to tell anyone this story, but since it influenced what happened with Loran she thought he had a right to know. “It wasn’t serious, at least in my mind. But after a few months he got really jealous and possessive. He hated me talking to other guys. Threatened my friends, me, my family.” She shuddered. “It got ugly. I had to get a restraining order against him.”
“I had no idea. I’m sorry.”
“No one knows. Not even Grace or my brother.”
“Thanks for telling me.”
“It didn’t end there.” She could have ended the story there, but for reasons she couldn’t understand it was important to her that he knew her secret, perhaps so he could understand her better. “We were at the same bar one night. I left when I realized he was there, but not before he lifted my phone.”
“He stole your cell phone?”
