On the road to the hotel, the weighted air wouldn’t go away. Ryan fiddled with the tuner on the radio and finally settled on a station playing music. At that time of night, slow jams filled the airwaves, and a woman sang an invitation to a distant lover in a sultry voice that served to stretch Shawna’s nerves even tauter.
When they arrived at The Haven Hotel, Ryan pulled into the underground parking garage instead of dropping her at the front.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to escort you to your room.”
“You’ll have to pay for parking.”
“It’s not that much and it’ll be worth it.” He shut off the engine. “Let’s go.”
Her hands shook as she reached for the door.
The tension between them magnified in the quiet elevator, and so did the heaviness that had settled in her stomach. By the time they reached her room, she was a nervous wreck with sweaty palms and wobbly knees.
She fumbled with the key card before finally fitting the plastic strip into the narrow slot and hearing the door click open.
“Shawna?” Ryan said, so close behind her that his lips brushed her earlobe, affecting every nerve from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
“Yes?” The word came out in a breathless whisper.
“I’m coming in.”
She almost sagged with relief. Her eyes found his over her shoulder, and without a word, she led the way inside.
Chapter Seven
Present day, Atlanta
Shawna managed to enjoy the meal, despite the company she shared it with. She’d never had a bad meal here, and every bite had been as delicious as expected.
She’d never had a bad experience here either—until this evening. Now every time she came back to this restaurant, she’d remember tonight’s awkwardness. How seeing Ryan had caused her to recall moments in her past that she’d never truly forgotten but that she’d managed to suppress for a long time.
“Why did you follow me that day? If you’d let me go, we would’ve never seen each other again.”
Across the table, Ryan watched her closely. “I know. That’s why I followed you.”
His words wreaked havoc with her emotions. She took a sip of water. “What were your expectations for tonight?”
She knew he couldn’t read her mind and know what she’d been thinking, but his scrutiny still made her uncomfortable. “I didn’t have any. I wanted to see you, that’s all.”
“Why?”
He paused, mulling the question before answering. “I never got the chance to apologize that last day in Chicago. What happened stayed with me for a long time afterward. You stayed with me for a long time afterward. For months after I left Chicago, I would wake up in the middle of the night at random times, thinking about you. Wondering what you were doing and who you were with. Did you find someone to make you happy. Someone you could trust and believe in, who wasn’t me.”
Sadly, in the past six years, no other man had come close to making her feel the way he did, but she’d never admit it to him.
“When William showed you the photo, you could have pretended not to know me. Chances are we would have never met.”
“Impossible. Besides, I don’t think you’re sorry to see me. I think you’re surprised, but once the shock wears off, you won’t be so upset.”
Shawna crossed her arms over her chest. “Just like that, you think everything will be fine because you want it to be?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you meant.” She shook her head. “You’re still selfish, Ryan, only caring about what’s best for you. You felt guilty about what happened so, to ease your conscience, you set up a phony date and now you’re trying to convince me to not only forgive you, but not be upset. Let’s pretend you never hurt and humiliated me, and then what? Maybe we hook up again?”
His mouth tightened. “Do you want me to deny that I thought about it? I won’t, because you’re right. Something happened between us in Chicago, and I admit that a part of me wondered if we could recapture what we had.”