I hear a soft knock on the door and find Catherine standing in the doorway. Smiling, I stand and walk out into the hall, greeting her with a hug. “I hope it’s okay. I just dropped by. My brother had me drop him off at the vineyard, and I took a chance, coming here.”
“Of course, it’s okay.” She loops her arm through mine and brings me to her office, which is double the size of Ranger’s. “The girls haven’t stopped talking about you. Erin would like a tattoo for her birthday.”
“Oh my gosh, she’s so sweet. If you want, I know a company that does amazing temporary tattoos. I could draw up some designs, and then you’d just have to upload it into the system.”
Catherine smiles widely at me. “That would be incredible.”
I take her information and the stuff that Erin loves. I can already picture the design in my head. “Awesome, this will give me a lot to work with. I’ll email them to you.”
“Perfect, I can’t thank you enough for this.” She looks beyond me. “Hey, Ranger.”
“Hey, did you need me for anything?” he asks when he steps into the office. Ugh, I need to stop staring at him in his suit.
“Not at all. I had a few minutes and wanted to check-in. You guys go have lunch, and I’ll catch up with you this afternoon,” Catherine says as she gets up. She gives me a hug.
Ranger grabs my hand and then leads me out of Catherine’s office. Once outside, we walk down the street to a little Thai restaurant. “I’m really glad you came by,” he says as he pulls out my chair for me.
“Me too.” This isn’t good. He’s creeping his way back into my heart. I haven’t even decided if I’m going to forgive him yet. Although I should because he did apologize. Do I trust everything he said? Did he really not feel anything, or was he telling me what I wanted to hear?
“Lainey?” I realize I’m staring off into space.
Shaking my head, I smile. “Sorry,” I order my drink, and the waitress walks away. “How are things coming along for the launch?”
“Great, we sent out invites as soon as we had the guest list from Lance, added to the list we have, and we have about a hundred people who have already RSVP’d.” Our waitress interrupts us to drop off our drinks and take our orders. Once she disappears, he turns back to me. “I have representatives from several hotels coming, and hopefully, they’ll agree to carry your wine exclusively.”
I take a sip of my water. “That’s great. I can tell Lance is starting to get nervous, but his fiancée should be here by the weekend. Maybe she’ll be able to help him with his nerves.”
I’m looking forward to finally meeting my future sister-in-law.
“He’s got a great product, the packaging is going to look great, and the vineyard is really beautiful.” Ranger grabs my hands from across the table. “Have you come to any conclusions about us?” His thumbs stroked my knuckles.
“I live in Atlanta. You live here. How could that work?” I give his hands a squeeze. “I love you, I do; I’m just not sure it could work.”
His voice is soft as he answers me. “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. Every time I think of you alone and losing our baby, I hate myself just a little bit more than I do already for hurting you.”
I jerk his hands toward me. “Do not hate yourself. I get what you were trying to do.” As soon as I say the words, I believe them myself. “I wish you would’ve talked to me—told me about my dad, told me about the recruiter, and let me decide what I wanted.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t trust in us enough for you to make that decision. Baby, I was a dumb eighteen-year-old kid.”
Our waitress brings our food, and the conversation is kept light and casual after the us talk. I need to make up my mind. Can I keep things casual with just sex? Am I setting myself up to leave Malibu brokenhearted like last time?
Only time will tell.
Chapter Fourteen
Ranger
I left Lainey on the sidewalk with a deep kiss, telling her that I wanted to see her tonight. She told me to text her when I was on my way home, and she’d meet me at my place.
The rest of my day has been great, and I feel like I’m on top of the world. I don’t know if Lainey will ever fully forgive me for hurting her; hell, I don’t know if I’ll ever fully forgive myself, but I want to soak up every moment I can with her.
In the end, if I could get her to fully forgive me, enough to where she’d move to Malibu for me, or I’d move to Atlanta for her, I’d do it.
I’m packing up to head home when Catherine gives a knock and steps into my office. “Hey, Ranger. Do you have a second?”
“Of course, come in.”
“I won’t keep you, but I wanted to tell you that I saw the mockups of the wine bottles and labels, and they look fantastic. I already arranged for a sitter; Jackson and I plan on being there.” She holds up her hands. “For moral support, of course. I promise I’m not a micromanager.”
I shake my head and chuckle. “I know you’re not, and I appreciate that you guys are coming.”
I’m at the grocery store by my house when I get a text from Lainey that she’s sitting on the little park bench in front of my building. I finish grabbing stuff for dinner, pay, and then head home.
When I pull into the parking lot, I spot her. Her hair is up in a knot on top of her head, and she’s reading a book.
Lainey looks up when I approach, smiling. “Hey, how was the rest of your day?” She stands and accepts my kiss, taking one of the grocery bags from me. We’re quiet as we head up to my apartment.
Once inside, I take the bag from her and quickly unpack everything. “I’m gonna change but get yourself a drink.”
“I’ll start getting dinner ready; just tell me what we’re having.”
“Sure, if you want to season the steaks, scrub a couple of potatoes, and get the asparagus ready.”
I smile down at her and kiss her lips. In my bedroom, I take off my suit and hang it up in my closet. I can wear it one more time before it has to go to the cleaners.
I change into a pair of basketball shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. On bare feet, I head into the kitchen. I take a minute to watch Lainey puttering around my space like she belongs here.
Before I can stop myself, I step up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. I love that she leans into me, just like she always used to. Images flash through my mind of me resting my hands on her swollen belly, our baby growing inside of her.
I kiss her temple as a wave of sadness washes over me. The fact that we could’ve had a ten-year-old child and possibly a couple of more hurts because I’m the reason we’ve been apart.
I’ll prove to her that this time around, I’ll get it right. It’s safe to say that I can’t let her go—I don’t want to let her go.
Lainey turns in my arms and looks up at me. “Why the sad face?”
I shake my head. “Just thinking about stuff. It’s not important. I’ll go start the grill. Will you grab me a beer?”