Page 52 of One Wild Night

I barked out a laugh. "You could say that," I shrugged. "I didn't really eat earlier, so I was starving."

His eyes narrowed for a moment before he spoke. "You didn't eat dinner? But I thought Tony was taking you out tonight?"

"He did take me out, but I walked out on him before the entrees even arrived."

The look on his face would have been funny on any other night, but I wasn't in the mood to laugh tonight. I was still pissed off about what had transpired at the restaurant.

After some serious coaxing on his part, I told Ryan exactly what happened, from Tony slipping his number to the hostess, to his sorry-as-hell proposal. I caught him glancing down at my hands several times before he finally gathered his thoughts enough to speak.

"So he asked you to marry him after giving his number to some random chick right in front of you?" he questioned incredulously.

"Yep," I responded, popping the p.

He shook his head and then glanced down at my hand again. "Did...um, what did you say?"

Was it my imagination, or did Ryan look almost defeated? Without even thinking about what I was doing, I moved my hands to his and gave them a gentle squeeze. "I told him no," I whispered, looking into his eyes as he stared at our joined hands, which were resting in his lap. He still wasn't looking up, so I squeezed his hands again.

Slowly, he brought his gaze up to meet mine, and I felt the world disappear around us. "You said no?" he asked, sounding puzzled by my revelation.

"Yes, Ryan. I told him no...that I wasn't going to marry him if he couldn't be faithful to me. I gave him six months to clean up his act, and told him if he didn't, not to even bother asking me again because the answer would be the same."

The air was thick around us, making it hard to breathe. I wanted to look away from his penetrating stare, but I couldn't. "And what happens in six months? What happens if he does clean up his act? Will you say yes?"

Would I say yes? No; there was no way I could. I refused to live in fear ever again, and I'd be sealing my own fate by agreeing to marry Tony. I couldn't tell Ryan that, though. He didn't know anything about me or my past. He didn't know I was planning to run, and I wanted to keep it that way. Not knowing what else to say, I shrugged. "I don't know," I finally answered, hoping he wouldn't see right through me.

I didn't have to worry though, because Ryan wasn't looking at my face anymore; he was looking at my bare shoulder and partially exposed chest. The tie on my robe had worked itself loose without me realizing it, and the hunger in his eyes was unmistakable.

Before I even had time to blink, he was out of his seat and hovering above me, his lips securely attached to mine. I moaned involuntarily at the feel of his kiss, and he took that opportunity to deepen it, sliding his tongue into my mouth to dance with mine. God, I had missed this! Missedhim!

It wasn't until I felt him fumbling with the belt on my robe that I pulled back. We couldn't do this...especially not here. "Ryan...uh, we ca...we can't do this. Ugh... We need to stop." Trying to form coherent sentences was nearly impossible as he kissed his way to my shoulder, pushing the thin material of my robe to the side. "Ry...Ryan, stop!" I had to put an end to this before someone walked in and saw us. Sensing my urgency, he pulled back and looked me in the eye.

His actions seemed to finally click, and then he started apologizing profusely. "Oh my god, Trixie, I am so fucking sorry. I don't know what came over me."

He was freaking out, and it was rather endearing. "It's okay. I said we can't do this, not that I didn't want to." I met his eyes and smirked, making him groan loudly.

"Fuck!" he hissed under his breath. "I'll just be...um, upstairs for a few minutes taking care of...yeah." With that, he jumped up from the table and bolted up the stairs, slamming some door behind him.

It looked like the great Ryan Lawson had a weakness after all...and that weakness was me.

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