Page 78 of Undeniable Temptation

He’d endured loveless years in the hope of hearing those words. He’d gone to sleep not alone, but lonely for nights on end. He’d thought about baby names, and if he’d be a good parent, and if his child would grow to resent his career like his wife did.

Becoming a father had been his dream, and now it resembled a nightmare.

“I…” He swallowed, hard, the moisture barely coating the gravel in his throat. “I need to…” What? What did he need? Time? Clarity? A bigger set of balls to call bullshit on her manipulative announcement?

“Don’t you want to feel her kick?”

“Her?” Images of little girls and pigtails blinded him. The echo of feminine giggles and a sweet voice calling him daddy filled his ears. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop his limbs from shaking.

She stepped forward, offering the bow of her belly.

“Don’t.” He held up a hand, unwilling to connect with his child while he was in a state of shock.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“It is… Itwas.” He shook his head to fight the lack of concentration. “I…”

“Is this about that other woman?” She took another step. “You don’t love her, Ryan. I know you don’t.”

No, he didn’t love Felicity. But he did love Leah. With all his heart, spare the newly forming extra beat now sounding for a child he’d never met.

“I want you to come back to me so we can be a family.” She was poisoning him. Each word killing the plans he’d had for the future. “I want this to work.”

“I… I can’t…” He couldn’t think. Couldn’t even walk straight. He stumbled from the kitchen and into the hall, passing his guitars before snatching his shoes from the floor.

“Ryan.”

He scrambled for the front door and slammed it shut behind him. He had to get out of here, away from the memories devoid of happiness and the wife who would never love him again.

And the only person he wanted to flee toward was the woman he would destroy with the news.

Chapter Twenty-One

Leah checked her phone. Again. Ryan had been scheduled to meet with Julie hours ago.Threehours, to be exact. He hadn’t called. Hadn’t messaged. Clearly, it wasn’t a sign of mass devastation but her stomach sure felt like it.

Her pessimism had taken control, spitting in the face of optimism’s raised white flag. Any minute now she was going to succumb and call him. For the moment, she was on the edge of restraint, making laundry her mission, shoving non-delicates into the dryer as if they were traitors. She assumed this was how Julie felt for all those months Ryan spent on tour. The jealousy was rich, cloying, coating every inch of her skin.

The tentative knock at the door was barely heard over the rambling in her brain. She had to pause, cock her head, and wait for a louder, more adamant knock before she convinced herself there was a visitor.

“I’m coming.” She closed the dryer, wiped her damp hands on her pants, and made for the entrance hall. Only five men knew she was home from tour. Four of which should be balls deep in their women by now. That only left one. One man she hoped wouldn’t be stupid enough to come to her apartment in broad daylight.

She yanked open the door and cursed his carelessness. “Ryan, what are you doing here?”

“Needed to speak to you.” His eyes didn’t meet hers, those emotional depths remaining downcast, morphing her frustration into fear.

“You were supposed to call.” She pulled the door wider and beckoned him inside. “If anyone sees you…”

He trudged his feet forward and accidentally nudged her shoulder as he passed. Then an unmistakable scent hit her. The strong hint of alcohol and misery.

“Christ, have you been drinking?” She scrutinized him—the crumpled shirt, the slumped shoulders, the tangled hair slicked back from his face as if he’d worked his fingers non-stop through the lengths.

“Ryan?” She followed after him and gripped the waistband of his jeans, bringing him to a stop. “What did she say?”

He laughed, the sound brutal, if not maniacal. She’d lost him again. Julie had taken away the man she loved and replaced him with someone overcome with destruction.

“Either tell me what’s going on or I’m calling Mason.”

His glassy gaze met hers, increasing her panic. “That’s not a very nice threat.”

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