I didn’t get the rest out because Scarlet lunged toward me. Her hands came up to frame either side of my face. She stared intensely into my eyes for about half a second before she crushed her mouth to mine.
I was stunned and frozen on the spot for all of two seconds. Then, having her mouth back on mine, I succumbed. I wrapped my arms tight around her and kissed her back.
It was the single best experience I’d had in my life over the last fourteen years.
I had a moment of weakness.
I could admit it.
What was I supposed to do? I mean, the guy read my books. He bought them all and started reading them. That alone was enough to encourage me to do what I did. But that, combined with everything else, left me with no choice but to have a momentary lapse in judgment.
Everything else being everything that was Ryker.
He was devastatingly handsome.
He smelled so good.
He still had the patience of a saint.
He was so incredibly sweet.
And it had been fourteen years.
Fourteen long years of loneliness. I didn’t think anyone in their right might would blame me. I hadn’t been kissed or held by him for so long. And now that I was here doing just that, I couldn’t stop. It was like all my hopes and dreams had just come true.
Ryker was here with me. He was hugging me tight to him. And he was kissing me. Kissing him now was like kissing him for the first time, except that we both knew what we were doing. Oh man, did Ryker know what he was doing. His lips, his tongue. He was magnificent. Even his hands were amazing. Because even though they had remained firmly planted on me when I first threw myself at him, once he got over the shock, those hands moved. And it was everything I’d needed, wanted, and missed for fourteen whole years.
I wasn’t sure anything could ruin this moment.
Except something did.
Out of nowhere, right in the middle of such a magical moment, the image of him standing with that woman inside the book store flashed through my mind.
Instantly, I pulled away and shuffled backward on the couch, my hand flying up to cover my mouth. Tears filled my eyes at the memory. He’d moved on. He had someone else. And I had nobody.
He’d always been the one for me. Always. Nothing would ever change that. But I was no longer the only one for him. The reality of that was so crushing, and the tears immediately leaked from my eyes.
“I can’t do this,” I cried.
“What? Scarlet, what happened?” he asked, overwhelming concern dripping with each word he spoke.
“I’m not a homewrecker, Ryker,” I told him.
“What? I never thought you were. How could you be?” he wondered.
He was going to play stupid? Really?
“How long?” I demanded to know, ignoring his questions.
Ryker stared at me, seeming utterly confused.
“Tell me how long,” I ordered, growing more incensed that I’d lost control of my emotions earlier and pounced. “How long did you wait before you moved on?”
“Moved on?” he repeated. “What are you talking about?”
That’s when I knew.
He might have still been handsome and charming and patient. He might have smelled wonderful. But he wasn’t the man I used to know.
He was that cruel. He was going to make me spell it out for him instead of putting me out of my misery.
I swallowed hard as I closed my eyes and looked away, unsure if I could even bring myself to say it. I didn’t think I would be able to do it when I returned my gaze to his, took another look at him, and the vision of him and that woman flashed before my eyes again.
“I saw her,” I spat. “I saw you there with her at my signing. In those few seconds, before you started walking toward me when it was over, I saw you with her. So, tell me, how long did it take for you to move on?”
Ryker’s face had been littered with confusion, but the realization suddenly dawned. “Avery?” he said.
Avery.
“Don’t say her name!” I shrieked. “Don’t you dare say her name in my house.”
“Scarlet, the whole reason I even knew what you were doing with yourself now and that you were even having that signing is because of Avery. She was reading your latest book and—”
“I don’t care!” I shouted over him. “I don’t care what she was doing, and I don’t care if that’s how you finally remembered I existed. The simple fact remains that you walked up to me at my signing with a chip on your shoulder about the fact that I didn’t keep my promise to call you in seven years, and yet, you clearly never kept yours.”
“What are you talking about?” he shot back.
I felt so defeated. So sad. So close to and on the verge of breaking completely. Every single thing I said to him was met with question after question. Not once could he just admit the truth.
The tears rolled down my cheeks as I allowed the sadness to consume me.
“You promised me I’d be your girl forever,” I murmured. “You promised me that you’d never give your heart to another woman.”
“I didn’t,” he said gently.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I seethed, “Okay, Ryker. Let’s get technical about it then. You promised every part of you would always be mine. Every part. So, I’m sorry. But fucking another woman, even if she doesn’t have your heart, means that you still broke your promise. Because every part of you is no longer only mine.”
I looked away, feeling an overwhelming sense of sorrow and stupidity. I don’t know why I ever believed he wouldn’t find someone else. It had been so long. I should have assumed he would have eventually given up on me. I should have known. Nothing in real life is ever like it is in my books.
A moment later, I felt Ryker’s hand cupping the side of my face. I flinched at his touch, knowing he’d put his hands on another woman. Ryker urged me to look at him.
“Scarlet?” he called gently.
“What?” I whispered.
“There is nobody else,” Ryker stressed. “There isn’t now, and there never was. Avery is my co-worker, and she’s dating one of my best friends.”
My lips parted in shock. She was dating his best friend. There was nobody else.
“You… you haven’t moved on?” I asked.
His features softened. “Sweetheart, how could I move on when I’m still in love with you?” he returned.
My breaths came quickly. He was still in love with me.
“I’m only yours, Scarlet,” he assured me. “That’s all I’ve ever been.”
Overcome with emotion, a strangled sound escaped. Ryker, sensing I was on the verge of what felt like my hundredth breakdown of the day, tugged me toward him. My face going into his chest, one of my fists clenched his shirt at his side. For a long time, Ryker held me close, his arms providing me with the comfort I hadn’t felt in years.
And in that time, I found a million thoughts were running through my head as emotions simultaneously clouded my mind.
Relief.
Joy.
Confusion.
Fear.
The relief was all-consuming. Hearing him admit that he never broke his promise was like having a ton of bricks lifted off my shoulders. I hadn’t realized just how much that assumption I made was weighing me down. To know I’d been wrong was quite possibly the best news I could have gotten just then.