Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

With a quick look around, I soon found Annalise. She looked beautiful in the soft blue gown she was wearing. She was talking to Jim and Patty, and they said something that made her laugh. The sound carried across the room and sent a jolt of heat through my entire body.

“She looks like a princess, doesn’t she?” a familiar female voice said from behind me. I turned to see my mother standing there.

“Yes, she does.”

“Saryn introduced her to your father and me earlier. Interesting, the way the two of you met. What are the odds, I wonder, that two people traveling would meet, get stuck in a hotel together, then end up living in the same city?”

All I could do was nod and repeat her words. “What are the odds?”

I could feel her staring at me, and I heard the slow intake of her breath before she spoke. “You know, all I’ve ever wanted was for the two of you to find happiness. Love. Real love. The kind of love that pulls the air from your very lungs when that special someone simply walks into a room.”

I turned and looked at my mother, who was still watching Annalise.

“Roger, life doesn’t give us a whole lot of opportunities to find that kind of love.” She met my gaze. “Some of us have it and don’t even realize it until we’ve almost let it slip through our fingertips.”

“Love does nothing but cause pain,” I mumbled.

She let out a sarcastic laugh. “I guess you and I would know that more than anyone, wouldn’t we?”

I pulled my gaze away from her and found Annalise again. “I don’t think I even know how to love, Mom.”

She rested her hand on my arm and gave it a slight squeeze. “If you could only see what I see every time you look at her, you’d eat your own words.”

I closed my eyes for a moment. “She’d be better off if I just left her alone.”

“Maybe. But take a long look, Roger. Because if you let her go, this is your life. Standing back and watching. Observing how she moves, who she talks to, the man she leaves with when the party is over. If you can live with that, then I guess you should leave her alone.”

She lifted her hand from my arm, turned, and walked away without saying another word.

A waiter walked by carrying a tray of champagne. I took two glasses and started toward Annalise.

A few more people had joined her by the time I approached. Annalise had her back to me, so I patiently waited for a pause in the conversation to speak.

Finally, Patty saw me. “Roger! What a pleasant surprise.”

Annalise spun around, nearly knocking the two glasses out of my hands.

God, looking at her up close only confirmed how beautiful she was. Her blue eyes seemed to catch every twinkle of light in the room. Her blonde hair had been pulled up into ringlets of curls on her head. I smiled as I thought back to that first night and the pigtails she’d had in her hair.

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.