LITMIR.BIZ

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ex-girlfriend,’ she explained, her perfectly manicured, baby-pink fingernails trailing lightly over his tattooed forearm. ‘She’s gone back to her husband, hasn’t she? I saw the press conference earlier this evening on the local news. He’s taking some other manager’s job down south, and she’s going with him.’

      Hearing someone else say those words out loud was like a dagger to Ryan’s heart, the pain almost physical. ‘They’re divorced. He isn’t her husband.’

      ‘Yeah, but, they’re getting married again. He said so, at the press conference.’

      Ryan’s frown deepened. ‘Sorry?’

      She rolled her eyes, her fingernails still running slowly up and down his arm, not that he was noticing. All he cared about was clarifying what she’d just told him.

      ‘Your ex-girlfriend, Amber Sullivan, or whatever she calls herself these days, and Jim Allen. They’re getting married again. That’s what he said.’

      Ryan reached for his drink, draining the last of his pint. Now he needed something stronger that would take the pain away for a lot longer than just a few hours. Something that would wipe away everything he’d just been told and let him believe it was all okay. He needed that. Again. He needed that. Everything he thought he’d left behind, he wanted it back.

      ‘You up for a good time?’ He gently removed her hand from his arm and slid his fingers between hers, his eyes asking her another, silent question he hoped she understood.

      She smiled slowly, and he felt a strange kind of relief surge through him. An excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘As good a time as you like,’ she drawled, leaning forward so her mouth was almost touching his. ‘You call the shots, Ryan. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I can get it. You know that.’

      He smiled, too, reaching into his pocket for his phone. ‘I’ll call The Goldman. Let them know we’re on our way.’

      She grabbed her bag and stood up, wiggling her hips as she pulled the already-too-short hem of her barely-there dress down over her thighs. ‘I’ll make a couple of calls myself. Make sure we’ve got everything we need.’

      ‘You’re an angel.’ He gave her the full-on Fisher smile, feeling a sense of freedom he hadn’t felt in so long. It was almost exhilarating, as though someone had just opened the cell he’d been locked inside for too many years, and now he was free to do whatever the hell he liked. ‘I’ll meet you in the lobby.’

      ‘I won’t be long.’ She blew him a kiss, and he watched as she sashayed over to the bar, throwing his head back and letting out a laugh that was almost maniacal.

      ‘What’s up with you?’ Gary asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as Ryan stood up, slipping his jacket back on and pushing both hands through his hair.

      ‘Nothing, mate. Absolutely nothing is up with me.’

      ‘Where you going?’

      Ryan looked at his friend. A friend he knew cared about him. And he’d never forget how instrumental Gary and Debbie had been in making sure he hadn’t gone too far down a road that had almost ruined him, but he could handle all of that now. He didn’t need looking after, not any more. ‘I’m going to enjoy myself, Gary. That’s where I’m going.’

      ‘Ryan…’

      He swung around to face Gary. ‘I can look after myself, Gary, okay? I don’t need you or anyone else hanging over me, waiting for me to do something stupid, I don’t need that. I don’t. I can look after myself.’

      ‘You sure about that?’

      Ryan said nothing for a couple of beats, his eyes boring into Gary’s as a brief but fleeting moment of doubt flashed through his mind. But then he remembered what he’d just been told – Amber and Jim were getting married. Again. And the only sound he could hear was the hammering of that final nail into the coffin of a relationship he knew he could never have now. It was over. And he couldn’t deal with that right now. Not sober. Not clear-headed. ‘I’m sure.’

       *

      ‘Did we do the right thing? Announcing our engagement during that press conference?’ Amber wrapped her arms around Jim’s waist from behind as he slid his tie off, throwing it over the back of the chair.

      ‘We’re doing this properly, Amber. No more secrets, no more lies. No more pretending.’

      She rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes as his fingers slid between hers. ‘No more pretending…’ she whispered, trailing off as he slowly turned her around, his mouth meeting hers in a kiss so gentle it was hard to believe he was the same man who’d caused her so much heartache for most of her life. Any sane woman would have walked away decades ago. But she obviously wasn’t sane. And she could never walk away. She’d tried, and she’d tried hard, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t walk away.

      ‘No more pretending.’ He smiled, and she felt her heart dance that dance reserved only for him as his handsome face lit up and those eyes she’d found so hard to trust for so long were conveying nothing but honesty. Truth. Something she’d found so difficult to get from him. Dare she believe that, this time, everything really was going to be okay?

      ‘I love you so much, Jim.’

      ‘I love you, too, baby. You have no idea…’ She closed her eyes as his lips touched hers again, and she buried her fingers in his hair, pushed her body against his as the kiss deepened, the intensity growing by the second. But then, for some reason she just couldn’t fathom, she pulled away.

      ‘You okay?’ Jim frowned, watching as she walked away, into the en suite.

      ‘I guess all of this, the press conference, me and you…’ She turned to look at him as he leaned against the doorpost. ‘It’s a lot to take in, Jim. The speed at which it’s all happened…’

      ‘Do you want to slow things down?’ He’d smiled as he’d asked that, and she couldn’t help but return that smile, leaning back against the sink as she brushed her teeth.

      ‘No,’ she replied, through a mouthful of toothpaste.

      ‘Okay…’ He walked into the bathroom, his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of her. ‘So, what’s up?’

      ‘Nothing’s up, Jim.’ She turned briefly to spit toothpaste into the sink, quickly wiping her mouth with a tissue before turning back to face him. And she couldn’t stop another slow smile from escaping. ‘It’s strange, that’s all.’

      ‘What is?’ He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his eyes locked onto hers.

      ‘Feeling like I can finally trust you.’

      ‘That’s strange?’

      ‘Yeah, that’s strange.’

      He moved a step closer, and all she was aware of now was the smell of his cologne and the warmth of his body as it almost touched hers. ‘Well, I guess we’ve both got a few new things we need to get used to.’ His voice was low, practically a whisper, and she felt her breath catch in her throat as he moved even closer, his hand on her hip now, resting gently on the thin material of her short nightdress.

      ‘I guess we have,’ she murmured, her fingers gripping the sink behind her as his body finally touched hers, his hand sliding up and under that nightdress, making her gasp as it came into contact with her skin.

      ‘All I’ve ever wanted is this, Amber.’ His hand was moving higher now, cupping her bottom as he kissed her neck, covering it in tiny, tiny kisses, each one making her gasp out loud, again and again, until she could stand it no longer.

      Slipping her hand around the back of his neck she pushed his head down so their lips met, at the same time pulling herself up onto the edge of the sink, opening her legs to let him in between, wrapping them around him the second he was there. He held onto her tightly, keeping her

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