I held up a glass. “Champagne?”
She looked confused for a moment before she hesitantly reached out and took it. “Thank you.”
A male voice cleared his throat, then said, “Annalise, I believe you promised me a dance so you could tell me some places to eat in New York City.”
Annalise and I both looked at him.
“Yes, I’m sorry.” She looked back at me. Was she waiting for me to tell her to dance with the guy? That sure as hell wasn’t going to happen.
When I didn’t say anything, she turned back to him. He spoke before she could.
“Shall we?” he asked.
With a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, Annalise nodded.
The fucker took the glass I’d handed her and gave it back to me, then offered her his arm.
As they walked toward the dance floor, Annalise looked back at me and said something I couldn’t hear over the music.
I watched while he took her into his arms and they began dancing. I finished my drink, then hers, and set the two glasses down on a table as I made my way out of the ballroom.
Roger
SOMEONE POUNDED ON my front door, and I bolted off the couch, hitting my knee on the coffee table.
“Fuck!” I yelled out as I hopped on one foot, holding onto my knee. It hurt so badly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d broken my kneecap.
The doorbell started to ring, followed by more pounding. I glanced at the clock to see it was two in the morning. I was going to kick whoever’s ass was at my door.
“This better be fucking good,” I said as I opened the front door—and found Annalise standing there.
She looked pissed. Very. Pissed.
She stepped through the threshold, lifted her hand, and then slapped the living shit out of me.
I brought my hand up to my burning cheek. “What the fuck was that for?”
“You left! You asshole, you left!”
I stared at her, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You left the charity dinner!”
I rolled my eyes, turned, and walked toward my kitchen. The front door slammed, and I heard her heels on my hardwood floors as she followed me.
“You seemed perfectly fine when I left,” I said. “How long did it even take you to notice I was gone?”
“Why did you leave?” she asked. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but her voice sounded like it might have cracked.
I opened the fridge, took out a beer, and then looked at her. “You left to go dance with some jackass. I wasn’t going to just stand there and wait.”
Her mouth fell open. “I told you I’d be right back!”
“I didn’t hear that.”
Her hands balled into fists. “You arrogant asshole. You ignored me all night, then came up with a glass of champagne and I was supposed to…what? Fall at your feet? Beg you for a dance, a conversation, a simple hello?”
“It works both ways, Annalise. You could have come to me too.”
Her eyes turned dark with anger. “You might as well have opened your door and kicked me out of your house the last time I saw. You never even bothered to give me an explanation for your behavior. Why should I have to be the one to seek you out when you acted like a dick? Treated me like…”
Her voice trailed off.
I let out a gruff laugh. “Are we in fucking middle school right now and arguing about who didn’t talk to who first?”
Her head snapped back like I had struck her, and her eyes lost some of their fire. “I thought….”
“You thought what?”
Annalise pressed her lips together tightly, and it wasn’t hard to notice her chin wobble. Oh, shit. Was she about to cry? God, why was I such an asshole?
She turned away, a dazed expression on her face. She looked down at the floor, then around the kitchen until her eyes finally met mine. “I…I guess I was wrong.”
“About?”
I hated the coldness in my voice. I drew in a breath and let it out before I softened my tone. “You were wrong about what?”
Without a word, she turned on her heels and started to leave.
“Wait, where are you going now?” I asked.
She reached for the door, but I put my hand on it, slamming it shut. “Annalise, wait. Stop walking the fuck away.”
When she looked up at me and I saw the tears on her face, I stumbled back a few steps.
“Why are you crying?” I asked.
Her eyes locked with mine, and we just stood there for a few moments, neither saying a word. I wasn’t even sure we were breathing. Then she laughed a strange, distant laugh.
“I don’t even know why I came here. Patty and Jim dropped me off at home, and the first thing I did was grab my keys and start driving here because clearly, I am the biggest fool who ever walked this earth.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Everyone kept saying how amazing it was, the way we met. God, everyone, including myself, kept filling my head with words like fate and destiny. We were meant to be. And just as I was about to give up, you walked up to me. I had the smallest bit of hope that maybe, somewhere in your heart, you had let me in.”
Her voice cracked as a sob slipped free.
“I remember thinking a few weeks ago about how we met and how I was falling for you so fast and so hard. I knew in Chicago I would never be the same again. That my heart would never be the same. My sister said we had fated hearts.”
My own heart hammered in my chest. “Fated hearts?”
Annalise wiped at her tears. “But I can’t compete with her.”
“Who?”
“Kerri.”
I thought my knees might buckle out from under me. “Who told you about her?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. This stupid dream of mine, my Prince Charming sweeping in and carrying me off into the sunset…what a joke. I let myself believe it for those few days in Chicago. Then, when you were at the airport, I was so stunned that we had been brought back together. But…but you can’t even let me into your own bed. Why? Because of her? Because you’ve already given your heart to someone else? If that’s the case, Roger, tell me now. Tell me so I can put myself out of this constant…m-misery I’m in. Tell me so I can let go of this stupid fairy tale I’ve made up in my head.”
I took her hands in mine. “That wasn’t it. Now that I look back on it all, it’s so fucking stupid, but I didn’t want you in my bed because I’d slept with other women in that bed. It didn’t feel right to be with you there. You’re so different, so special. I…I don’t know how to explain it without making me sound like a crazy man who’s had woman after woman in and out of my bed. I mean, I’ve slept with other women, of course, but—”
She held up a hand. “Please, just stop. You don’t think I know you’ve been with other women, Roger? I’m not naïve, for fuck’s sake. I know I’m not your first. That makes no sense to me at all.”
“Maybe it is stupid, but in my head, it made sense. What I have with you feels pure, and I thought it would ruin it.” I scrubbed my hands down my face and sighed. “That next day, I bought a brand-new bed.”
Annalise frowned. “I don’t know if that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, or the most romantic.” She shook her head and waved a hand in front of her. “No, it’s not romantic. I don’t know what it is.”
She turned away from me. “I don’t care about your past, Roger. Who you slept with, how many times... Whatever… It was the past. It was all before me, and I don’t care. What I do care about is whether you’ll ever be able to open your heart to me. Because if you’re going to pine for a woman who isn’t even here, I don’t think I can play seconds.”
Every part of me wanted to scream out and tell her she was wrong. She was so wrong. But I stood there, not uttering a single word because I couldn’t seem to make my mind come up with the right words. I knew, deep down, why I held back. I was fucking terrified to give her that much power over
me. How in the hell did I explain that to her?
Her eyes met mine.
With a sniffle and a shake of her head, she opened the door and walked away from me, and I let her go.
Again. All because I was too much of a coward to admit to her how scared I was to give her my heart.
After I’d managed to down nearly an entire bottle of whiskey, I stumbled to my bed and fell into it face-first with a bottle of gin clutched in my hand. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. Visions of Annalise came and went in my dreams. Her smile, her laughter…her tears.
I rolled over and sat up in bed when I heard a noise.
Blinking rapidly, I stared at the woman sitting at the foot of the bed.
“Kerri?” I whispered, quickly realizing I was dreaming since there was no way she was actually sitting on my bed.
She smiled. “Are you really going to let her go?”
“Annalise?”
Laughing, she said, “Yes, Annalise. Are you an idiot?”
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes and rubbed them.
When I opened them again, Kerri was still there.
“Why are you afraid to let her in? I know you love her, and it’s okay if you love her more than you loved me.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t love her more. It’s…it’s a different love. God, I’m so sorry, Kerri. It feels…so much stronger than what we shared. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s supposed to be different, Roger. It’s okay that it’s different, that it’s stronger. Everything happens for a reason.”
I swallowed hard. “What did you say?”
She moved and knelt at the bottom of the bed, just like she used to when she wanted to talk to me about something important. “Everything that has happened in your life up until now has been for a reason. I died in that car accident for a reason. You got stuck in Chicago for a reason. Annalise ended up in that hotel room with you…for a reason.
“Fate, Roger. Fate brought you back together here in Boerne.” She laughed. “My goodness, Roger. Do you need to be knocked upside your head for you to see it? No woman has ever made you feel the way she does because your journey was to find her. To find Annalise. Her path and your path led you to each other. Our love didn’t work out because it wasn’t meant to be. Your heart has always belonged to her, and you have to be brave enough to hand it over to her now.”
“When I lost you, Kerri, I was devastated. What if…?”
A soft smile moved over her face. “Love isn’t easy, darling. But to never give it a chance would be even more devastating. Your hearts are fated for one another. Open up and let her in.”
“Wait—Annalise said the same thing.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, only to find Kerri drifting away.
She blew me a kiss and then said, “It’s time to wake up now, Roger. You have to go get her. She’s leaving…wake up now… She’s leaving! Roger! Wake up!”
I sat straight up in bed and looked around the room.
“Fuck, you scared the shit out of me, Roger.”
I turned to find Truitt next to my bed, a panicked look on his face.
“What happened?”
He held up the empty bottles. “Well, for starters, it looks like you drank an entire bottle of whiskey and gin. No wonder I couldn’t wake you up.”
I scrubbed my hand down my face and felt the stubble along my chin. “Shit, I had the strangest dream…it felt so real.”
“As much as I would love to analyze your drunken dreams, you need to get up and get dressed.”
Dropping back onto the bed, I groaned. “Go away, Mom. I have a hangover.”
Truitt pulled the blanket and sheets down. “Roger, Annalise is leaving.”
That made me sit up again. The room spun, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from throwing up. Once everything settled, I looked at him. “What do you mean, she’s leaving?”
“Patty called Mom, who called Saryn, who told me I needed to find you. Annalise called Patty this morning and told her things weren’t working out. That she was going back to New York City.”
I flew out of bed.
“God Almighty, dude! Give a guy a warning before you flash your dick at him!”
“Call it payback for the time you made me go to the ER because you thought yours was broken.”
Truitt called out to me as I rushed into the bathroom, “If I remember right, I believe you not only won money because of that ER trip, but you got laid as well.”
I turned on the water, splashed my face, brushed my teeth, and then made my way to the closet. “Is she driving? Flying? Do we know where she is?” I asked, not even recognizing my own voice. I sounded panicked.
“Patty just left her rental house. She’s there right now packing up some things, then she plans on catching a flight out this evening.”
I jerked my jeans on one leg at a time, reached for a T-shirt, and slipped it on. “Wait, is she just leaving her new car here? What about the house? She just signed the lease on it. Is she breaking that?”
Truitt shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is what Patty told Saryn. She’s leaving on a flight out.”
With a quick glance at my clock, I saw it was nearly noon. I grabbed my wallet and truck keys and started down the hall.
“Shoes?” Truitt asked.
“Fuck,” I said as I turned and ran back into my bedroom to pull on a pair of cowboy boots before making my way back through the house.
I was opening the door to the garage when I heard Truitt call out something about my shirt. I ignored him, got in my truck, and broke every traffic violation to get to Annalise’s place. I hadn’t even been there since she’d moved in.
When I pulled up and saw a car parked in the driveway, I let out a sigh of relief. I raced up the sidewalk and knocked on the door while ringing the doorbell simultaneously.
Annalise opened the door, staring at me with a stunned expression.
“Don’t leave!” I said.
“What?” she asked, letting her eyes move over my body. “Why is your shirt inside out?”
I glanced down and saw that it was indeed inside out and on backward. I jerked my head up and took a step closer. “Please don’t leave. Don’t leave me, Anna! I beg you to give me another chance!”
Her brows pulled down in confusion. “Roger, what are you—?”
Before she could say another word, I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my mouth to hers. I ran my tongue along her lower lip, and when she opened to me, I deepened the kiss.
Annalise moaned into my mouth as I walked us back into her house, kicked the door shut, and pressed her against the wall.
She dragged her mouth from mine and gasped for air, looking up at me. “What’s wrong?” she gasped between breaths.
“Don’t leave. I don’t think I can live without you.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked as if she was going to say something, but I spoke again.
“I love you.” My voice cracked, and I cleared it before I said it again. “I love you, Annalise. Maybe it’s too soon to say that, but I don’t want you to leave without knowing. I only want you. It’s only ever been you. I know that with every fiber of my being. My heart only beats because your heart beats.”
“What?” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“I’ve been a complete asshole. I tried to deny how I felt about you because it scared me. The idea of letting you have my heart, knowing you had the absolute power to destroy me…I wasn’t ready to admit it, but I am now. I want to give you everything. Every part of me. My heart, my soul, my love. Everything. Please, don’t leave! Give me another chance. You were right. We were meant to meet in that hotel. Our lives played out like they did so that you and I could meet in that damn hotel room. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m so sorry. If you’ll just give me another chance, I swear to God I will guard your heart and never, ever hurt you again. Just…just don’t go. Please.
”
Tears streamed down her face, and I brushed them away with the pads of my thumbs.
“I love you, princess.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I love you, too, Roger.”
I crushed my mouth to hers again. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I picked her up and carried her into the living room.
“Where’s your bedroom?” I asked.
“Down the hall, last door on the left.”
I had never moved so fast in my entire life. Once we got into the bedroom, I slowly let her slide down my body until her feet hit the floor.
“I want to make love to you, Anna.”
She nodded and whispered, “Um, okay.”
Laughing, I kissed her on the forehead, then the tip of her nose, on each corner of her mouth, along her chin, and down her neck.
Her hands worked to undo my jeans while I reached for her shirt and pulled it over her head. She did the same with my shirt and giggled as she tossed it onto the floor. “Did you get dressed in the dark?”
I kissed down her neck and across her exposed breasts. “Something like that. I was in a hurry to get here.”
She laughed when I swept her off her feet and brought her over to the bed. After I set her down, she lay back and worked on her leggings while I kicked off my boots and pulled my jeans off.
“Commando again. I like this.”
“Again, was in a rush to get here.”
I covered her body with mine and kissed her once again. She wrapped her legs around me and tilted her hips.
I started to rise. “Let me make you come first.”
She pulled me back down. “No, I want you inside me, now.”
“But—”
Annalise put her finger against my lips and gave me a look that would have brought me to my knees had I been standing. “Please, Roger. Don’t make me beg.”
She’d never have to ask me twice.
Moving my hand between her legs, I played with her while our kiss deepened. No way was I going to be a savage and push inside of her, not until her body was ready.
Annalise wasn’t having any of it though. She reached between us and guided me to her entrance. “Roger…”
My name from her kiss-swollen lips was like a sonnet. I would never tire of hearing it.
Fated Hearts Page 20
