by Stacy Dawn
In direct opposition, she was acutely aware of Shane's intense brown gaze focused on her.
A pull of her hand caught her attention back to where Brad now held a gold ring above her fingers. The sacred symbol which would bind her to this man, to the life she'd planned out for herself…
“Eden?” Brad tugged at her hand. “I need your fingers.”
What? She looked down, not remembering clenching them in such a tight fist.
“Eden, we're on a time schedule here.”
“Brad…” She released her lip from her teeth and inhaled a deep breath. “Brad, could you look at me, please.”
“Yes?” His gaze drifted up then back to her hand.
She didn’t release her fingers, but instead waited until his ambiguous expression returned to her face. “I'm sorry, Brad,” she began on the released breath. “I don't love you.”
This time, he almost chuckled. “I know. I don't love you, either. That's why this marriage is so perfect.”
“No, it isn't,” she whispered.
A hearty, “Yes,” from Leah on one side of her came simultaneously with Brad’s confused, “Pardon?”
Eden reclaimed her hand, twisting her cold fingers together. “I'm sorry, but it's not enough.”
Brad adjusted his tie and leaned in closer. “We agreed on the terms, Eden. They were very fair.”
“No, no. I don't mean that. I mean...I...I don't know what I mean.” She flung up her hands, riding on a wave of emotion for the first time in a long time. “All I know is, I want more now. I want someone who looks at me—really looks at me. I want the noise of a big family, the chaos of a backyard hockey game, snowflakes on my nose and someone who knows me enough to give me back a cherished memory of my mother.” At some point during her ramblings, her gaze had latched onto a pair of brown eyes drowning in guilt. Eden turned away, unable to hold the painful truth there. “Maybe it's wrong. Maybe it will never happen. But I don't want to get married just to get married. Now, I…I want more.”
Beneath her lashes, she dared a glance to the side.
Shane's gaze darted back and forth between Brad and herself.
He didn't need to speak, she read his impossible position in the tight jawline and deeply creased brows on the beloved face, and it killed her that she put him there.
“I don't understand.”
“I know you don't, Brad, and again, I'm sorry.” With a heavy breath, she shook her head. “I didn't understand myself until recently. How can I expect you to?”
For the first time, when she returned her gaze to Shane, his wasn't there to comfort her.
If she thought her heart ached last night, this moment cored it clean out of her chest, leaving only a gaping, empty hole.
Chapter Eleven
Eyes closed, Shane listened to the rushed footsteps and the door of the Executive Lounge close behind Eden.
He was in hell. Caught in some fiery limbo between a lifelong friendship and a life without a soul mate.
“I better go check on her,” came Leah’s voice and then the sound of the door opening and closing again.
“Well, that was disappointing.”
Shane opened his eyes at Brad's quiet tone.
His friend stared at the door for a few more seconds, adjusted his suit jacket, and turned to shake the minister's hand. “I apologize for the inconvenient events. Thank you for you time.”
With the dismissal, the clergyman nodded and left.
Shane raked a hand through his hair. “I'm so sorry, buddy. I don't know what to say.”
“Nothing to say. Obviously, Eden wasn't the woman I originally thought she was.”
You have no idea.
“Do you wanna go grab a beer or something?”
“Can't.” Brad checked his watch then headed back to his worktable. “I have to finish these figures and head back to McMillan's. He mentioned the acquisition of a real estate company during the meeting this morning.”
And that was that. The guy just got dumped at the altar and to him, the result was no more than a quick recalculation and off to the next business meeting. For all his brains, so much went right over Brad's head.
Shane rubbed the fire pit in his stomach. Too bad he couldn't dismiss his emotions as easily. He stared at the door. Every instinct in him screamed to go after Eden, but loyalty held him firm together with the mantra playing in his head since last night, 'you don't steal your best friend's fiancée'—especially after she just left him high and dry at the altar.
He walked over to where Brad shuffled papers and placed them into specific compartments of his briefcase. “Since you're busy, I guess I'll head out then.” Go find a pub and wallow for the both of us, he added to himself.
Brad reached his arm over the table and shook Shane's hand. “Sure. Sorry about coming into the city for nothing.”
A loaded statement if he ever heard one, Shane chose silence as the best response.
“You seem out of sorts today. Everything okay?”
Not by a long shot, buddy. “Yeah, fine. Still on for basketball Monday?”
Brad selected a small leather datebook from his briefcase. Running his finger down a page, he tapped near the bottom. “Seven-thirty.”
“See you then.” Shane slapped a hand on his friend's back and headed out.
“Hey, Shane?”
One hand on the door handle, he turned back to face Brad. Had the reality of events finally penetrated his buddy’s analytical brain? “Yeah?”
“I know I don't delve into your social life very often, but I realized you might want to consider Eden.”
Shane swore his chin scraped the toes of his boots.
“She's much more emotional than I thought. And I think she once mentioned her father is a kid's hockey coach or something. Guess that should've been my first clue.” He lifted a shoulder absently. “Probably fit in better with your family than mine.”
“And that would be okay with you?” His voice barely registered in his own ears.
Brad snapped shut his briefcase and approached the door. “Sure, why not? Not like I was in love with her or anything.” He hefted a good-natured slap on Shane's shoulder. “That's your department, buddy.”
Chapter Twelve
Eden welcomed the crisp breeze stinging her face and blowing through her hair as she skated around the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. After the wedding disaster, she'd thrown on a change of clothes and escaped for a brisk walk. And ended up here.
Though her first reaction was to keep walking, she realized if anything had been gained from the past twenty-four hours, it was to stop pushing forward and take a moment to enjoy herself more. The hour on the homemade Gallagher ice rink was the most fun she'd had in years. Unfortunately, to think of that time, she had to think of Shane, and she couldn't. It hurt too much.
Eden didn't realize her thoughts brought her to a halt until someone bumped into her shoulder. Muttering an apology, she raised her gaze and froze.
“You okay, Miss?”
Eden blinked and nodded to the older gentleman who’d bumped into her, but her gaze stayed on the broad form twenty feet across the ice.
Shane.
The handsome cowboy leaned casually on the cement wall surrounding the rink—a bright red apple in one hand. She must have watched him take at least three slow, lazy bites before she found the courage to glide across the ice toward him.
Knees like jelly, Eden steadied herself on the solid cement boundary, her gaze held firm in his smiling embrace. “Wh-what are you doing here?” she asked, her breath coming out as light as the puff of mist it turned into.
“It’s Valentine’s Day, so I thought I'd take a little walk—” he held up the apple as he came around the barrier to stand in front of her “—have a little snack, and see where Cupid might lead me.”
His boyish grin infected her own lips and they tilted up, then dropped just as fast. “How's Brad?”
“He's fine. Headed to a business meeting right now.”<
br />
“Oh.” Even after what she'd done to him, she was somewhat disappointed she didn't rate at least a sliver of his attention.
The crunch of another bite pulled her focus back to Shane. And his mouth.
One eyebrow raised, he chewed slowly and swallowed. “As a matter of fact, he's the one who suggested I get my love life in order.” He waved the shiny apple between them. “Thought maybe you and I would be a better fit.”
The whole world froze to a stop. “H-he did?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Warm fingers brushed a piece of windblown hair behind her ear and the universe spun back into motion in time to her rapid heartbeat.
“You know,” Shane continued, his hand settling on her cheek. “I think I've discovered why an apple is called the forbidden fruit.”
She struggled to pull in breath at the way his thumb caressed her over-sensitive skin. “W-why?”
“Because one bite is never enough.”
Firm lips captured hers before Eden even registered the slight pressure pulling her forward from the nape.
Cool air seeped between them as Shane drew a hairsbreadth away. “Or two.” Another sensual kiss, another sweep of erotically cool air. “Or three.”
After a longer, deliciously deep kiss, he pulled away to rest his forehead on hers. “Just for the record,” he said, a serious hue in his ardent gaze. “I never wanted you because you belonged to Brad. I wanted you despite that fact…and that knowledge was tearing me apart.”
This time his lips devoured hers with the same intensity she consumed his, and he tasted of fresh spring apples, new beginnings, and the promise of a life filled with bushelfuls of love and laughter.
A word from the author...
My mother feared I would never marry. She claimed I was far too picky where men were concerned. How could I not be? I believed in fate, in true love, in soul mates. My parents' beautiful relationship was proof they existed, and I wasn’t about to settle for anything less. I knew he was out there; I just had to be patient. Turned out I had to be very patient.
I found out that dreams don’t always come quickly, but they do come true. My stories reflect the same persistence and need to believe. My heroines may not always have an easy time of it but, in the end, they always get their man...just like I did.
www.stacydawn.com
Other Titles by this Author
Finding Their Way Back
Wanna Make A Bet?
Corvette Confessions
Karaoke Cowgirl
Standoff at the Waterin' Horse Saloon
Disco Angel
Love Floats
Luck Be a Cowboy
Cheatin' Hearts
A Matching Fancy
Sold!
Shadows of Moonlight
The Theory of Love
Marry Me, Cowboy (free read)
Christmas in Noelle series:
Reindeer Games
Christmas on Parole
A Cinderella Christmas
Santa's Elves (free read)
Oh Holly Night
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