Bryce smiled warmly, then whispered close to her ear. “You forgive me for all those things I said, right, sweetheart? You know I didn’t mean them.”
Her lips tightened. Trying to control her anger, she whispered back, “I don’t know what the hell you’re up to, Bryce, but I am not going to—”
The words died in her throat when she heard Ryan’s chair scrape against the parquet floor. Without a word or a look in her direction, he walked out of the dining room.
Panic filled her body. “Ryan—” she called, but Bryce tightened his grip on her hand.
“Let him go. This is obviously very awkward for him, us getting back together,” Bryce said smoothly.
“We are not getting back together,” she hissed out. Then she shrugged his hand off her arm and ran out of the dining room after Ryan.
She caught up to him just as he reached the front door. “Wait,” she said breathlessly. “Please, Ryan, don’t go.”
Very slowly, he turned to face her, his blue eyes utterly expressionless. “Do you seriously think I’m going to stay?”
“Bryce and I are not back together,” she blurted out. “I don’t know what the hell he’s up to, but I promise you, Ryan, I am not marrying Bryce.”
He didn’t answer.
Annabelle stepped toward him, cupping his chin with her hands. “Please don’t go. Or at least wait for me to change and I’ll go with you, okay?”
Weariness etched into his features. Sighing, he covered her hands with his and very gently removed them from his face. “You can’t go with me,” he finally said, his voice rough.
She wrinkled her nose. “Why the hell not? Trust me, the last place I want to be right now is here. I just want to throttle Bryce for what he did back there. He knows damn well we’re not back together.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter.” There was a chord of frustration in his voice.
“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”
He paused for a few long beats, then let out a heavy breath. “You should probably go back to Bryce anyway.”
Ice hardened her veins. “Pardon me?”
“This isn’t really my scene, babe.” He shrugged, then reached up to loosen his tie. “It’s a little too much for me, actually.”
“What exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying I don’t belong here.” He tore off his tie and shoved it in the pocket of his black trousers. His voice was suddenly cool, careless. “We were just having some fun, Annabelle. I didn’t sign up for family weekends and drama and all that crap.”
Her hands trembled. “You offered to come home with me.”
“Yeah, and it was a big f**king mistake, okay?” He raked one hand through his dark hair. “Let’s just make this easy, babe. We spent a couple of weeks together, had a good time, but now it’s time to end it.”
“End it,” she repeated dully.
“Yes. Because honestly? The fun’s over for me.”
The cruelty of that comment hit her hard. Her chest felt like someone had sliced it open with a knife, and at that moment, she realized just how much she cared about this man. Damn it, she’d fallen in love with him. Her heart squeezed in pain and humiliation. God, she was so stupid.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked quietly, forcing herself to meet his eyes. “Do you even feel anything for me?”
He hesitated, and her heart ached again.
“Do you?” she demanded.
Ryan’s gaze didn’t waver as he gave a slight shake of the head. “No,” he finally admitted.
Tears pricked her eyelids. She quickly blinked them back. Anger joined the sorrow swimming in her gut, and she narrowed her eyes at him, unable to accept what he’d just said. “You’re lying. You do have feelings for me.”
“You turn me on, sure,” he said callously. “But I don’t love you, if that’s what you’re getting at.” He grimaced. “Fuck, we both know I’m in love with someone else.”
The knife in her heart twisted several more times, leaving her chest raw and empty. “Jane,” she said softly.
“Yes.” He averted his eyes. “It’s always been her, all right?”
“Were you using me to try and get over her?”
He nodded.
The tears returned, this time doing more than stinging her eyes. They streamed down her cheeks and she viciously swiped at them with the back of her hand. She took a deep breath. “Go then. You obviously don’t want to be here, and frankly, I don’t want you here either, so just go, Ryan.”
His blue eyes flickered with regret. “I’m sorry, Annabelle.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said bitterly.
He started to reach for her, then seemed to change his mind. “It was fun at least, no?”
Anger ignited in her body. “Yeah, loads of fun,” she answered darkly. “Now do me a favor, Ryan, and get the hell out of my house.”
It was past midnight when Ryan let himself into his apartment, his suit rumpled from the flight and his heart battered from everything he had put it through tonight. You did the right thing, the voice in his head said, but he didn’t feel reassured. Had he done the right thing? He couldn’t get the image of Annabelle’s tears out of his mind, and it killed him knowing that he’d hurt her.
But she would be better off in the long run, right? He didn’t belong in her world, and he would never fit in to that wealthy lifestyle of hers. Her father had made that pretty damn clear. Annabelle would be fine. She’d probably get back together with that ass**le Bryce, move into a big mansion, and have a luxurious life. He was sparing her the embarrassment of being with some military bum who made in a year what her father probably earned in a week.