“Wouldn’t he? Then why do you suppose he came here of all places?”
She couldn’t answer that. She didn’t even want to think of the implications.
Johnny tipped his head to one side, watching her closely, obviously hoping to see a crack in her veneer. “Why don’t you go on up and see for yourself?” He pointed to a set of stairs. “Right up there. Turn right. It’s the door at the end of the hall.”
Brianna stood, but her legs felt shaky as she made her way across the crowded club and up the stairs. She knew Johnny was lying. Ryan would never do that to her. He loved her; he wanted to be with her, only her. He’d said so mere hours ago. Sure, the old Ryan may have acted impulsively. He may have seduced the first woman who caught his eye, but that was before…
She stood on the outside of the door Johnny had directed her to, her trembling hand on the knob as she strained to hear sounds coming from inside. She raised her hand to knock, but that would imply she actually believed he was in there with a woman, which she didn’t.
Turning the knob, she took a deep breath and threw the door open. “Ry…”
A tousled blonde head popped up from under the covers. “Hey,” she said, pulling the blankets up to cover her breasts. “What the...”
Brianna stared at Ryan’s face, relaxed in sleep. He didn’t even stir when the woman next to him raised her voice. She must have worn him out, she thought bitterly. “When he wakes up for round two, you can tell him he’ll find my letter of resignation on his desk, and I never want to see his face again.”
The blonde looked at the man sleeping beside her. “I’ll give him the message.”
***
Ryan rolled over and his head pounded in protest. Groaning, he pulled the pillow over his face to block out the light streaming through the window.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” a feminine voice whispered in his ear.
He tossed the pillow aside and prayed to God this was a nightmare. “Jesus,” he groaned, glancing at the curvy blonde cozying up next to him. “What the hell happened here last night?” The last thing he remembered was asking her to leave, but a visual of his reaction to her undressing him popped into his head. “No,” he said, sitting up as he held his head in his hands. “No, this can’t be happening. I wouldn’t have done this. Goddammit!” he shouted, his head protesting.
“Relax,” she said, stroking his back.
“Get the hell out of here,” he muttered. “I can’t even look at you right now.” It wasn’t her he didn’t want to face. He saw Brianna’s face and his stomach clenched. Any hope he had of making her his was gone. Unless he could make her understand…
“Does your girlfriend work for you?”
He lifted his head to look at her. “Yeah, why?”
“Then it was her who popped in to surprise you last night.” She winced. “Too bad she was the one who got the surprise when she found us in bed together.”
Ryan jumped up, taking the top cover with him. “Are you telling me…” Of course that’s what she was telling him. “What did she say? How did she react?” As if he didn’t know.
“Let’s see…”
Ryan wanted to grab her and shake the information out of her. “Just tell me what she said.”
“Not much,” she said, shrugging. “Just that you’ll find her letter of resignation on your desk and she never wants to see you again.”
“No,” he whispered, sinking down at the foot of the bed when his legs gave way. “No, I can’t lose her.”
Natasha scooted down the bed and laid a hand on his back. “Maybe you can talk to her, make her see that it was just one night,” she said quietly. “That I was a mistake.” She sighed. “Guys like you always think I’m a mistake.”
He stopped thinking about Brianna for half a second when the blonde at his side reminded him that Brianna wasn’t the only victim of his drunken stupor. “I’m sorry about last night. I had way too much to drink. I never should’ve…” A thought occurred to him and he frantically reached for the jeans he’d worn. Just as he suspected, he hadn’t had any protection with him. He hadn’t wanted to be tempted to make love to Brianna, knowing the special weekend he was planning for her was only a few days away.
“What’s wrong?” Natasha asked when he began stripping the bed, looking for some evidence that he hadn’t been as irresponsible as he feared. “What are you doing?”
He got down on the floor, looked under the bed, and turned the metal wastebasket upside down. No condom wrapper. “Please tell me we didn’t have sex without protection.”
A guilty look passed over her face and Ryan threw the waste basket against the wall. “Son of a bitch!” he shouted.
She jumped at the impact of metal bouncing off drywall. “Take it easy,” she said, holding her hand up.
He pulled his jeans on over the black boxers he still wore. He didn’t give much thought to the fact that he was still partially clothed. “We’re goin’ to get the morning after pill. I’m not takin’ any chances.” He had enough problems without having to worry about a kid he didn’t want with a woman he could barely stand to look at without thinking about how much she’d cost him.
She sighed as her shoulders slumped. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Like hell,” he said, pulling his shirt on before sticking his feet into his boots. His pounding head protested every move, but he didn’t care. He had to take precautions against this mistake before he could think about how he was going to convince Brianna to forgive him. She had to forgive him. He refused to allow himself to believe it was over for them. “I don’t wanna hear any of your excuses. Look, I’m as much to blame for this as you are, but-”
“No, you’re not.” She tipped her head up to look at the ceiling. “You didn’t do anything, Ryan.”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about?”
“We didn’t have sex. Johnny just wanted me to set it up to make you think we had. I don’t know whether he was expectin’ your girlfriend to show up or not, but-”
Ryan raised his hands. “Hold on a minute. Johnny set this up?”
“Yeah,” she said, pulling her legs close as she set her chin on her knees. “He said you were feelin’ bad ‘cause you got into it with your girlfriend. He wanted me to make you feel better. I told him that I have a boyfriend, that I wasn’t interested in sleeping with someone else.”
Ryan’s hands curled in to fists. “What did he say to that?”
“He said I didn’t have to sleep with you. I just had to make it seem as though we did.”
“I’m gonna kill him!”
***
Ryan spotted Johnny sitting at the bar chatting up the pretty bartender. “You have ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”
Johnny spun around, holding his hands up when he saw the look in Ryan’s eyes. “What’s-”
Ryan gripped the edge of the bar as he got in Johnny’s face. “I know what you did, asshole.”
Johnny’s face drained of color as he stole a glance at Natasha. “Look, I don’t know what the hell she told you, but she can’t be trusted.”
Ryan grabbed him by the throat, grateful there were no bouncers in sight to pull him off. “I’m gonna give you thirty seconds to come clean. If you don’t, they’ll be moppin’ your blood off this floor.”
“Relax,” he squeaked, holding his hands up in submission.
Ryan released his hold just enough to allow him to start talking. “I’m waitin’.”
“You’re my friend. I knew you were in a bad place last night. I thought Natasha could make you feel better, help you get over Brianna.”
Ryan squeezed harder, exerting just enough pressure to restrict his airflow. He didn’t intend to hurt the man. He just wanted to send him a message about what happened when he played God with people’s lives. “Try again. The truth this time.”
He sputtered and reached for his throat, his eyes widening in surprise when Ryan tightened his grip yet again. He tried to push Ryan
off, but since Ryan had fifty pounds and half a foot on him, they both knew who would come out on top in a power struggle. “Fine,” he gasped, reaching for Ryan’s wrists. “I’ll tell you.”
“One more chance,” Ryan said, thrusting a finger in his face. “And you better tell me what I want to hear this time.”
“I wanted a shot with Brianna,” he said, trying to ease back on his bar stool. “I was hopin’ she’d come here, see you with Natasha, and need a shoulder to cry on.” He stood up, trying to move out of Ryan’s reach. “I figured it may as well be mine.”
“You set me up so you could sleep with my girlfriend?” Ryan said, backing him into the bar. “Is that what you’re tryin’ to tell me?”
The bartender and Natasha shot nervous looks back and forth, but neither woman attempted to intervene.
“You gotta understand,” Johnny said, holding his hands up to ward off the attack he assumed was forthcoming. “I’ve had a thing for that girl for years. I thought this might be my only chance to-”
Ryan reared back and cracked him in the jaw with a left hook, putting all of his weight into the blow. Seeing the blood trickling down his face and the look of shock and fear in his eyes didn’t give Ryan the satisfaction he hoped it would. There was a time when pummeling his opponent would have made him feel good, but he knew the only way he would find satisfaction today would be if Brianna welcomed him back into her arms.
“You stay the hell away from her,” Ryan said, shoving him back when he took a step forward. “You come near her, or me, again, and I’ll finish what I started here today. You got me?”
“Yeah,” he said, reaching for a napkin to wipe the blood seeping from his cracked lip. “I hear ya.”
Chapter Seventeen
Brianna walked into Evan’s office the next morning clutching a non-descript white envelope in her hands. She’d already deposited one on his brother’s desk, but she felt she owed it to Evan to explain her reasons for resigning in person.
“Hey, Bri,” he said, looking up when she tapped on his door. “Come on in, hon.” He smiled. “What can I do for you?” His eyes narrowed when he looked at her and she knew her concealer hadn’t done its job masking her puffy eyes that morning.
“I, um, wondered if you have a minute? This won’t take long.” She swallowed to coat her dry throat, praying she would be able to keep the tears at bay until she was in the safety of her car, driving away from this building for the last time.
“Of course,” he said, gesturing to the seat across from him. “I always have time for you. You know that. Now what’s up?”
She set the envelope down on Evan’s desk, watching him as he frowned at the blank envelope.
“What’s this?” he asked, picking it up and turning it over, as though he was looking for some hint as to the contents.
“It’s my letter of resignation,” she said, trying to clear the quiver from her throat. “Effective immediately.” She felt guilty not giving Evan the notice he deserved, but working in the same building as Ryan would be torture after what she’d witnessed last night.
“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” he asked, tearing the letter open and scanning the single paragraph. Looking up at her, he tore the letter in two. “Not happenin’. I refuse to accept it.” He pointed at her and leaned forward. “I don’t know what my dumbass brother did to make you wanna quit, but-” He got up and walked around the desk when she started to cry.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, trying to pull herself together. “I didn’t want to get into this.” She didn’t intend to tell anyone about what Ryan did. It was too humiliating. But she should have known Evan wouldn’t let her leave without offering some explanation.
He reached for her hand and pulled her into his arms, comforting her in much the same way she’d comforted him when Erika informed him that she didn’t love him anymore. At the time, she’d felt compassion for Evan, but she didn’t understand the depth of his pain until she’d seen the man she loved sharing a bed with a woman who would easily qualify as every man’s fantasy.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “Whatever he did, it can’t be that bad.”
She tipped her head up to look him in the eye. “I walked in on him in bed with someone else.”
“That bastard,” Evan muttered. “I warned him what would happen if he treated you like all the others.” He held her tighter. “I’m so sorry, Bri. I wanted to believe he meant what he said, that he was in love with you. That he was ready to change and have a real relationship.”
“I wanted to believe that too,” she whispered, laying her head on his expensive suit. She pulled back and brushed away the dampness that had collected on the fine fabric. “I’m sorry…”
“Stop,” he said, laying her head on his shoulder again. “When did this happen?”
“Last night.” She sniffled as she settled in to his strong arms. “We had an argument and he left my place and headed straight over to Johnny’s.”
“I don’t know why he wastes his time with that worthless piece of shit.”
“My sentiments exactly.” She drew back and settled in the arm chair as Evan sat down beside her. “Anyways, I went to Johnny’s to talk to him, and he was upstairs with some waitress.”
“Damn it.” Evan squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry you had to witness that, Bri.”
“Thanks. Your support means a lot.” She pulled her lips tight in what she hoped resembled a smile. “You know what hurts the most?”
“What’s that?” he asked, brushing his thumb across her palm.
“I lost my best friend.” She looked up at him, hoping he would have the answer that still escaped her. “What am I going to do without Ryan in my life?”
“I want to tell you that it gets easier as time passes,” he said quietly. “But I can’t say that it does. It’s supposed to get easier every day, but somehow it just seems to get harder because every goddamn day is another day you’re growing further apart.”
She rubbed Evan’s back, knowing he was the last person she should ask for support. The poor guy had enough to deal with without her laying her problems on him. “It’s gonna be okay. We have to believe that, right?” She took a deep breath and forced a smile when he caught her eye.
“Beats the hell out of the alternative.”
***
Brianna pulled into her parents’ driveway, hoping they wouldn’t ask too many questions when she asked them to take care of her cat for a few days. She didn’t want to see or talk to Ryan, and she hoped her parents wouldn’t mind if she escaped to their little cabin in the woods to lick her wounds in private.
Taking the pet carrier out of the backseat, she offered soft words of encouragement to her feline friend. She would have taken him on the road trip with her, but he didn’t enjoy travelling long distances in the car.
Pushing the front door open, she called out, “Hello. Anyone home?” She didn’t see her mother’s car in the driveway, but her father’s pick-up truck was parked out front, so she knew he was home.
“Hey, this is a nice surprise in the middle of a workday,” Josh said, coming around the corner from the kitchen. He took in her sweats, messy ponytail, and puffy eyes in one brief glance. “What the hell is goin’ on with you?”
She set the carrier down and bit her trembling lip. No matter what, she wouldn’t let her father know that yet another man she’d thought she could trust betrayed her. Two men in a row. At first she was content to believe that Jared was a jerk who couldn’t be trusted, but now she was beginning to wonder if she was the one driving these men into the arms of another woman. “Dad, please, I don’t want to get into it.”
“Too bad,” he said, crossing his arms and widening his stance as though he was prepared to stand his ground for as long as it took to get answers. “You’re not goin’ anywhere ‘til you tell me what has you so upset.”
Coco meowed loudly, protesting his confinement. “Do you mind if I let him out?”
“Go ahead,” Josh said, gesturing toward the carrier.
As soon as the cat was released, he wove through Josh’s legs, hoping for a little attention from the master of the house.
“I, uh, was just hoping to get away for a few days,” she said, gesturing toward the cat. “Mom said I could always bring him here when I need a pet sitter, so…”
“Why the sudden need to get away?” he asked, his eyes narrowing as he zeroed in on her red-rimmed eyes. “And why the hell have you been cryin’? You and Ryan got into it, didn’t you?” When she failed to respond, Josh shouted, “Goddammit, girl, you’re gonna tell me what that little bastard did to you or you’re not leavin’ this house.”
Taking a deep breath as she tried to find the courage to challenge her over-protective and stubborn father to a battle of wills, she placed a hand on his forearm. She could feel the tension knotting his muscles and she knew he wouldn’t give up on this without a fight. “I love you for being concerned, but I’m not six years old anymore, Dad.” She smiled when he scowled at the reminder. She knew he would always see her as his little girl, and any man who hurt her automatically topped his hit list. “You can’t mend my broken heart with a kiss and a bandage the way you used to fix my scraped knees. I didn’t fall off my bike or slip from the monkey bars.” A part of her wished she could go back to those simpler times when her daddy was her hero and his assurance that everything was going to be okay made her believe it would be.
“What did he do to you?” he asked, gripping her upper arms. “You can either tell me or I’ll beat it out of him.”
Knowing he would likely made good on the threat, Brianna knew she had no choice but to give in. “He’s interested in someone else.”
“How do you know that?”
Trying to salvage some of her dignity, she hoped she could get away with telling him partial truths. “I saw them together.”
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