She looked up at him and wiped at her eyes with a sad smile. “Even if this doesn’t convince me. Even if we end up fighting later, and I end up leaving, know that I love you, too.”
He did go back to her then. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dropped another kiss on her lips. “I don’t plan to fight with you anymore, Lee. The only fighting I’m going to be doing is for you.”
The ghost of a smile touched her lips, but she didn’t answer. She turned back to the computer and he left her to it, making sure that her glass was full and taking his with him.
~ ~ ~
Leanne stared at the screen when he’d gone. Her survival instincts were screaming that she should run. She could climb out of the window and be back at the resort before he came to check how she was doing. She let out a little laugh at the thought. But no. She had to see. Part of her was hoping against hope that there was something here that would somehow convince her that he hadn’t cheated on her, hadn’t lied to her. Though even if that proved to be the case, it would mean knowing that they’d lost years of their lives that they could have been together. That was heartbreaking in itself.
She clicked on the first document and opened it up, wondering how it might be able to convince her that what she remembered wasn’t true.
As she read it, her mind went back.
“Do you want to go to the club on Saturday night? Ari and some of the others from work asked if we want to join them,” Leanne called. She was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom putting her makeup on, and Ryan was in the shower.
The water stopped running and he came out. “What was that, babes?
She looked him over; water was still running down over his big, muscly, gorgeous, naked body. She licked her lips and smiled as she went toward him. “What was what? I forgot.” She closed her hand around him and loved the way his eyes closed, and his head fell back.
“Damn. That feels so good.”
“I can make you feel even better,” she said with a smile and went to get down on her knees. But he caught her arm and brought up back up to face him.
“I can’t. I don’t have time.”
Her smile faded. “You always have time.”
“Not today.” He reached for a towel and started drying himself down. “I need to get to the office and then …” He gave her an apologetic smile. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe not until Monday.”
“Oh.” She should be used to it. That was how his job went. She was used to it, and normally it was fine. But he’d been more distracted than usual lately and she’d hoped that a night out with Ari and the others would be fun and would do them both good.
“Sorry. What were you saying when I was in the shower?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Hey! It does. I want to know.”
“It doesn’t matter because now I know your answer. I was asking if you wanted to go to the club tomorrow night. But you can’t. Because you won’t be here.”
He came to her and closed his arms around her. “We’ll go whenever I get back, if you want?”
She nodded. “Sure. I think I’m going to go anyway.”
He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up into his eyes. “You have fun, but don’t forget you’re mine.”
She laughed and planted a kiss on his lips. “How could I? You remind me all the time. And everyone knows I have this big, jealous fiancé anyway.”
“Not jealous.”
She laughed. “You’re kidding me?”
“No.” His lips quirked up in a half smile, but his eyes were deadly serious. “I’m not jealous. Jealousy is when you envy someone who has something you want. I have what I want. I’m territorial. I’m all about protecting what’s mine.” He sank his fingers into her hair and kissed her deeply, leaving her sagging against him. “You know you’re all mine.”
She nodded, waiting for him to say the rest.
“And I’m all yours—forever.” He let her go and pulled on his pants. “But right now, I have to go. I love you, babes.”
“I love you, too.” She turned back to the mirror and smiled at herself. Sure, she was disappointed that he was leaving. But she knew just how lucky she was that he was hers—and she was his.
It was after nine o’clock by the time she and Ari left the office that night—late, but not too bad.
Ari slipped her arm through Leanne’s as they walked across the parking lot. “What do you say, do you want to get some dinner with me?”
“Yeah, why not. I’m only going home to an empty apartment otherwise.”
Ari laughed. “Forgive me if I’m not overly sympathetic? Going home to an empty apartment is my normal. It’s not yours. You usually have the lovely Ryan to go home to.”
“Yeah. Sorry. I know I’m lucky. We should go on a manhunt for you tomorrow night, see if we can find you one of your own.”
“No. I know I whine a lot about being single, but I wouldn’t have time for a man anyway, not with the hours we work. It’s all right for you. Ryan’s gone so much anyway, and you knew each other before you started. Can you imagine trying to start a new relationship with our schedule? I’m married to the job. I accept my fate. Speaking of …” She grabbed Leanne’s hand and admired her ring. “When are the two of you going to get married?” She waggled her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t mind meeting some of Ryan’s roughie-toughie friends.”
Leanne had to laugh. “You can’t ever say that around him, you know. Roughie-toughie? He’d die!”
Ari laughed with her. “You know what I mean. All big and strong and tough and a little bit mysterious.”
Leanne did know. But she wasn’t going to admit it. “Yeah. Anyway, where are we going?”
“Lasky’s? It’s only around the corner.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Once they were seated at a table in the back, Leanne got her phone out of her purse.
Ari rolled her eyes. “I’m going to the bathroom while you check in with lover boy. I doubt they’ll come to take our order before I get back, but if they do, I’ll have a Caesar salad.”
“Okay.” She frowned when she opened her texts—there were two of them, both from the same number. She blew out a sigh. She didn’t need this again. Since Brittany, the girl who’d sent her the picture of Ryan in bed—in the hospital—there’d been a couple more. It hadn’t been easy, but she and Ryan had worked their way past it. He’d had plausible explanations and she’d chosen to believe him. But it got harder each time.
She’d had a text from this number earlier in the week, asking if she thought Ryan was distracted at the moment, and if she could guess why.
She could guess what it was implying, but she didn’t want to believe it. She’d promised him that she trusted him. And she was doing her best to.