Pretend You're Mine (Inked Hearts 3)

But he’s not staring back at me with joy or need or animal lust.

Those beautiful baby blues are filled with one thing:

Regret.

Chapter 22

Ryan

Every molecule in my body is begging for Leighton.

I want to tear off that dress.

I want to plant my face between her legs.

I want to pin her to the wall and fuck her senseless.

But none of that is in the cards.

She isn’t mine.

I’m not about to fall for a woman in love with someone else. Not again.

Her blue-green eyes fill with hurt as she stares up at me.

But there’s nothing I can say to fix that.

Nothing I can say to change things.

Even so, words find their way to my lips. “I’m sorry.”

She blinks and a tear catches on her lashes. Her gaze goes to the floor. She steps sideways. “I’ll let you get dressed.”

“Leigh.” Stay. Talk to me. Tell me it’s me. That there isn’t another guy. That there’s only me.

She responds by pulling the door open.

Her footsteps move through the hall.

I strip, hang the suit, change into my street clothes, pay.

But she isn’t in the main room.

She isn’t in the department store.

She isn’t in the parking garage.

She’s gone.

Ryan: Talk to me.

I spar until the dojo closes. I shower. I fix dinner.

My cell stays silent.

All night.

All morning.