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“Calm down, Lissa.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Shane. All my life I’ve come in last place behind a man’s work and I won’t do it again.” Her eyes flashed with a mixture of hurt and anger. “Answer my question. Do you or do you not want to be here with me to make a marriage between us work?”
He had told the senator he was free to travel and devote his time to investigating design flaws in several federal and military buildings. But he couldn’t tell her the reason he’d agreed, because he didn’t like admitting—even to himself—that he needed distance to regain his perspective.
When he remained silent, Lissa’s crushed expression caused his gut to twist into a painful knot. “I think your silence is answer enough, Shane.” Removing the engagement ring he had given her, she reached across the bed to place it in his hand. “I’m just glad we discovered that it wouldn’t work out between us before we actually got married.”
“Lissa—”
“Don’t, Shane,” she said, sounding completely defeated. “There’s really nothing left to say.”
Staring at her for several long moments as he tried to put his tangled thoughts into some semblance of order, he shook his head. “This isn’t over, Lissa.”
Silent tears slid down her smooth cheeks. “Yes, it is, Shane.”
He could tell from the look on her face she wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say, even if he had been able to explain himself. “What about the investors and your family? What are you going to tell them?”
“That’s really no longer any of your concern,” she said flatly. “I’ll handle whatever announcement I need to make regarding our breakup.”
Suddenly angry, he asked, “What about the baby? I want to know—”
“From now on, anything you have to say to me can be done through Christian Hanford. Closer to the baby’s birth, I’ll have him contact your attorney to work out a custody agreement.” She took a deep breath and pointed toward the door. “I’d really like to be alone now, Shane. Please lock the door as you leave.”
He stared at her for a moment longer before turning to walk out of the bedroom. Placing the door key she’d given him on the kitchen counter, he let himself out of the house and descended the porch steps.
As he slowly walked down the lane toward the resort’s main building, the engagement ring he still held felt as if it burned a hole in his palm. When he’d given it to her, he could tell it meant the world to her and he’d suspected then that she’d fallen in love with him.
He knew now that his instincts had been right on the mark. Lissa did love him and he could tell that it had broken her heart when she’d taken off the ring and handed it back to him only minutes ago.
His anger escalated, but it wasn’t directed at anyone but himself. What the hell was wrong with him? How had he let things get so out of control?
He’d known for the past couple of weeks that he was walking a fine line, and keeping his feelings for Lissa in check was going to take monumental effort on his part. That’s why he’d eagerly agreed to accept Senator Kurk’s offer. He’d suddenly needed the distance between them to pull back before he found himself in far deeper than he’d ever intended to go.
But was it already too late? Had he done the unthinkable and fallen in love with her?
Shaking his head, Shane wasn’t sure. And until he got it all figured out, it would be best to leave things as they were between them. He’d already hurt her terribly. He’d rather give up his own life than do it again.
Standing on the deck at Willow Lodge, Melissa stared at the mountains beyond. How could her life have changed so dramatically, yet everything around her stayed the same? She had never experienced such emotional pain, never felt so alone as she did at that moment, yet the birds still sang and the sun still shone on the golden aspens whispering in the crisp mountain breeze.
Why had she deluded herself into thinking that Shane would be as committed to making their marriage work as she intended to be? How was it possible that she had missed seeing he was as driven by ambition and work as her father had been?
Shane had told her he would be faithful, and she had no doubt he’d meant what he said. But fidelity was one thing. Spending the time together that a couple needed to make a marriage work was something else entirely.
She had been willing to give up the life she’d built for herself in Malibu to remain in Colorado so that they could be a family. Was it too much to ask that he make a few concessions, as well?
The night he’d given her the engagement ring, he’d told her that his career required only occasional travel. But at the first opportunity that had come along for him to spend more time away from her and their child, he hadn’t been able to agree fast enough.
