Grace scowled at him as she twisted her hair into a top knot and secured it. “Huh, never pegged you for a quitter. But if you’re ready to quit on my girl already you clearly don’t deserve her. She needs a man who’s willing to fight for her.”
Loran’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious. All I’ve been doing for the past fourteen months is trying to win that girl over.”
“Yet she’s been living here for three months and you didn’t get any alone time with her until someone else arranged it. Doesn’t sound to me like a man who's motivated.” She slipped her arm through her husband’s. “What about you, E?”
Ethan tipped his beer back with his free hand before he said, “If that were you and me I’d have been beating your door down, demanding you listen.”
Grace’s gaze drifted to the dance floor. “And you sure as hell wouldn’t sit back watching me dance with another guy.”
Ethan chuckled. “Yeah, that definitely wouldn’t happen.”
Loran got the message. They were trying to light a fire under him. And it was working. “Message received, guys. You can stop now.”
Getting across the crowded bar wasn’t easy with baseball fans stopping him for selfies every few seconds, but he was happy to oblige. Their fans were the reason he loved going to the ballpark every day, because he knew they were as invested in every game as he was.
Bella gave him a warning look before he tapped her date on the shoulder, but Loran ignored it. Grace and Ethan were right. It was time for him to be more aggressive and let this guy know he was in for a fight if he thought Bella would be going home with him tonight.
“Mind if I cut in?” It wasn’t a question and they both knew it. He was cutting in whether this guy liked it or not.
“Uh, sure.” He took a step back. “I guess I should head out, Bella. Early morning and all.”
“Sure, no problem.” She smiled. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Loran watched him walk away until Bella grabbed him and pulled him in. “I thought you wanted to dance.”
“I can’t believe that guy just left you here. With me.” He wrapped his arms around her… for the first time in fourteen long months and it felt incredible. “He must be stupider than he looks.”
“He’s not stupid,” she said, raising her chin defiantly. “In fact, he’s very smart. He’s in line for a big promotion at work and—”
“Don’t care.” He grazed her lips with his, startling her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, her entire body stiffening as she dug her nails into his biceps.
“I think,” he said, letting his eyes travel over her face before resting on her eyes. “I’m letting you know I want to kiss you.”
She appeared dumbfounded before she said, “Well, you can’t.”
“Fair enough.” His lips twitched before he said, “But you should probably know I’m the kind of guy who acts first and begs forgiveness later.”
“You don’t think I know that already?”
It was obvious they were both thinking about the night in that Vegas hotel. The night that marked the end of what could have been the most meaningful relationship of his life.
“I make stupid mistakes sometimes, Bella. I’m only human. And I was reeling when I found you in that bar, chatting up that guy. You just…” Rocked my world. “Made me question everything I thought I knew. I’d always been in control with women. With you I wasn’t.”
“I wasn’t in control either,” she said softly, staring at his chest. “I wanted to be, but I wasn’t. That’s why I had to leave your room instead of spending the night. I panicked.”
Finally they were getting somewhere. “Why did you panic?”
She looked up at him before closing her eyes as though she couldn’t stand to face the truth. “I couldn’t make sense of what happened between us, what I was feeling for you. What happened between us in that hotel room was… intense. At least for me. I knew you’d probably had hundreds of nights just like that, but for me it was… special.”
“I’ve never had another night like that with anyone.” His voice was low as they moved in unison, just like they had that night. It was like his body was made for hers and vice versa, they were so in sync. “Before or since.”
“Have there, uh, been a lot of women since?”
He winced at the question but vowed he’d never lie to her, no matter how hard it was to tell the truth. “A few.”
She nodded, like that was the answer she’d been expecting.
