LITMIR.BIZ

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been happy with him. Noel had been happy...meeting Ryla had changed him. He had decided early on that he wasn’t going to settle down with one woman until he was about thirty. He would then find a woman to marry who could give him a few kids. That very thought brought him back to the little girl he’d seen with Ryla. Had she been the reason Ryla’d left him?

      He didn’t have much time to ponder this, as Ryla pulled up to a brown-and-white duplex and jumped out of the car, carrying her shoes in her hand. “What in the world?” Noel said as he watched a barefooted Ryla make her way to the front door of one of the duplex houses, while stumbling on a few rocks as if she’d spent her night drinking rather than hosting a celebratory party.

      Smiling to himself, Noel got out of his car and followed Ryla’s path. As he passed by her BMW, he caught a glimpse of the rust, dents and dings and realized that the car had to be at least a decade old. He lifted his hand to knock on her front door, and it swung open. She now had on a pair of pink tennis shoes with sparkly shoestrings, but was still holding one of the shoes she had worn tonight in her hand.

      Her eyes popped out of her head as she was obviously shocked to see him standing there on her porch. She lifted the shoe in her hand and screamed at him, “You ruined my Jimmy Choos.”

      “What are you talking about?” Noel was totally caught off guard by Ryla screaming at him, when he was the one who had to act like a stalker to get a moment with her.

      “Get out of my way. I think I have some superglue in my glove compartment.” She shoved by him and stomped down her two-step porch.

      Noel walked into the small duplex, sat down on the couch and got comfortable as if his name was on the deed. After fumbling around in her glove compartment, Ryla came back into the house, mumbling about hard-earned money.

      “Are you all right?” Noel asked as he watched her struggle with the tube of superglue.

      “Do I look all right?”

      Noel stood, took the superglue out of her hands and opened it. He handed it back to her and then sat down again. “Why on earth do you keep superglue in your car?”

      “I don’t have the newest model car, if you haven’t noticed.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I have to glue things back in place.”

      “Why are you out buying Jimmy Choos if you can’t afford to get a new car?”

      “Hey, I saved for months to get these shoes. And I choose not to get a new car, because I’m putting the money into my new business...if it’s any of your business.” Ryla sat down and began to glue her shoe back together, as she asked, “And anyway, do you know that it’s against the law to stalk a person.”

      “If I’m a stalker, then you must be crazy, because you left your front door wide open so I could walk in.”

      “Why did you follow me home? Isn’t it obvious that I don’t want to talk to you?”

      Noel leaned back against the cushion of the couch. “Oh, it was obvious. But I’ve been trying to find you ever since I saw you at that wedding last month, because I definitely want to talk to you.”

      “Why don’t you just talk to your little girlfriend? The two of you seemed to be having a good time.”

      “Marla is not my girlfriend, as you put it. She and I are friends and I simply escorted her to her cousin’s wedding. But that has nothing to do with what I need to speak with you about,” Noel said pointedly.

      Ryla kept her head down, continuing to press the heel to the base of the shoe.

      He could tell that she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. That was all right with Noel, because as long as she wasn’t looking at him, he was able to stare at her. And Noel liked what he saw...aside from the shoulder-length hair, Ryla hadn’t changed in the past eight years. She was still beauty queen fine to him. He wanted to go to her, put his arms around her and remind her of their sweet yesterdays. But he wasn’t here for that. “You don’t want to know why I’ve been trying to find you?”

      Ryla lifted her head. But she still didn’t make eye contact. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

      “First I’d like for you to tell me something.”

      “What?” she asked, with suspicion lacing her words.

      “Where’s the little girl I saw you with last month?”

      She placed her shoe and the glue on the coffee table as she nervously fidgeted with her hands, trying to remove the excess glue and stall for as long as possible. When she noticed that Noel seemed perfectly comfortable sitting on her couch waiting for an answer, she said, “She’s not here.”

      “Where is she?”

      “Why do you want to know?”

      Getting irritated by their unproductive conversation, Noel shifted in his seat. “Since that question is too hard for you, let me ask another.”

      She nodded, giving him the go-ahead.

      “Did you leave me when we were in college because you were pregnant with another man’s baby?”

      Chapter 2

      No, he didn’t just accuse her of cheating on him. “Come again?” she said with hands on hips.

      He stood up and walked over to her. “You might need to get your ears checked, since you seem to be having a lot of trouble hearing me tonight.”

      Ryla’s eyes traveled the distance as she gazed up at Noel. He was almost seven feet. When they were dating, Ryla was thankful for Noel’s height, because at five-nine she’d dated a few guys who were shorter than her, and had always felt a little awkward. Today, rather than being a comfort to her, his height was more imposing than it had ever been.

      She stood up, trying to get on equal footing with him, but even that made her feel a bit ridiculous since Noel was a full foot taller than her. “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing—I just don’t appreciate being called a cheater.”

      “Well, what am I supposed to think, Ryla?” Giving her a questioning glare, he asked, “Did you adopt that little girl I saw you with?”

      With her arms folded she said, “No.”

      He clenched his fists as he turned away from her. Exhaling a burst of hot air, he whirled back around. “Why didn’t you just tell me that you had a new man? Why’d you have to sneak out of my life like that without letting me know what was going on?”

      Ryla rolled her eyes. She wished Noel wasn’t so tall, because she really wanted to box his ears. How dare he assume that she was the kind of woman who would sleep with multiple partners. She wasn’t the cheater—he was. “I see you’re still a big dumb jock.”

      “Oh, I was never a big dumb anything.” Then as he gave her a sinister grin he added, “Except when it came to you.”

      Ryla stomped her foot like a two-year-old and rolled her eyes. “She’s yours, Noel. I’m not a cheater like some people I know!”

      Noel looked around the room as if the little girl would suddenly materialize so he could verify Ryla’s statement. “Did I hear you right?” His voice thundered as he turned back to Ryla.

      Recognizing the fury in his voice, Ryla stepped back. She hadn’t intended to just throw it out there like that. But Noel had made her mad when he accused her of cheating on him. She lifted her hands. “Noel, there’s no sense getting all mad. Sit down and let’s discuss this like two reasonable adults,” she said, attempting to take control of the current situation.

      He looked at her as if she was a known crackhead asking him for some spare change. “Oh, now you want to be reasonable. Well, I need to speak with my attorney first, and then I’ll let you know just how reasonable I’m going to be.” He moved away from her and headed toward the door.

      But Ryla

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