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She’d been a fool to push him away. Yes, it scared the hell out of her that he was moving on again, but he’d said he wanted her to go with him. He didn’t want to leave her. He hadn’t used her, betrayed her, or broken her trust. All he’d done was tell her he was following his dream and he wanted her to follow with him.
And she hadn’t even ridden down the hill with him. She was a coward, and the only person wrecking her chances for a happy future now was her.
Her stomach twisted in an anxious knot. There was no reason Ryan should give her another chance. Not after the way she’d treated him. But she dialed the phone, punching in his number with trembling fingers, regardless of the risk of rejection. She couldn’t let him go without telling him how wrong she’d been and how much she wanted him.
The call was sent, and the line began to ring. She could almost hear the digital trill of his phone. No…she actually could hear it.
She spun to the front door of the apartment, where the signature sound of Ryan’s phone filtered in. Her chest tightened around her pounding heart as she shot off the couch, tripped on the leg of the table, and ran to the door.
Jerking it open, she stared, breathless, into Ryan’s stern face.
He flipped the phone in his hand closed and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ll call them back.” His hard stare fixed on her eyes as he moved a step forward. “Before you tell me to get lost, you’ve got to give me a chance to talk to you.”
Tell him to get lost? He couldn’t be serious. Wasn’t the look of stark desperation clear enough on her face? “I’m not telling you to get lost. That was me who called just now. I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t tell me to get lost. I was praying you wouldn’t.”
The air around her seemed thin as she waited for his response. Some sign of either relief or revulsion. She didn’t know why he was here, yet, didn’t want to get her hopes up.
No, she couldn’t let her fears guide her. It was time to rush in without thought of consequence. “I love you. I’ve been so stupid, and there aren’t enough sorrys in the world to make it up to you. But I’m begging anyway. Give me another chance.”
The ease with which the words poured out was startling, a steady flow, straight from her heart. It felt good to be honest with him, with herself.
Ryan’s chin pulled back, and the stunned expression frozen on his face did little to reassure her. Finally, he set down the backpack slung over one shoulder and straightened. She hadn’t noticed the pack before, or, looking around, the rest of the file boxes that surrounded him in the small hallway of her apartment building.
“What is all this?” she asked, motioning to the clutter.
Shaking his head as if to break out of a spell, he took a step forward and grabbed the back of her neck to pull her into a brutal kiss. His arm around her shoulder, his solid chest against her breasts, his lips and tongue meeting and mating with her own, told her everything she’d prayed to hear in words. Only this was better.
Ryan broke away first, holding her back so that she could see his eyes. “I brought all of this to convince you I wasn’t a risk.”
“What?” It came out as a choked whisper, but the smile tugging at her cheek found its way into the tone.
“I’m not reckless. I don’t jump jobs because I’m bored. I’ve been working toward the same goal since I was in college. I’ve built the resume, gained the experience, made the connections I’d need. I’ve done all of it with this final goal in mind. I’ve been honest with my employers from the start, always letting them know where I was going, what I was bringing, what I hoped to take from my employment with them. It’s been mutually beneficial. And now, my company is finally becoming a reality. I have clients lined up. I have investors begging to get in. I have everything I’ve built towards. But since you walked away from me, I feel like I have nothing. Nothing that matters.”
Bethany blinked back her tears. Her limbs were numb, her throat tight. “Ryan, all I care about is you.”
He let out long breath and ran his fingers through the hair draped over her shoulder. “I know how much security means to you. I’ve got the numbers to prove I’m someone you can count on. I’m not rushing decisions. I’ll never let you down—”
Closing the scant distance between them, she snaked her arms around his neck, drawing his face down to hers so their brows touched. “I don’t give a lick about the numbers. I’m going with my gut on this one, and it’s telling me I should never, ever let you go.”
“I love you, Beth.” A sexy smile curved his lips just before they met her own. It was a slow, sweet kiss. At least until he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her from the ground, carried her into the apartment, and kicked the door closed behind them.
The End
