Forever My Love: A Contenporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 2) (9 page)

Ryan arrived home after his disastrous date with Carla, sad that he’d led her on, but also feeling a new burst of hope. He’d managed to get out of Carla’s apartment without her completely dissolving into hysterics. She’d accused him of having his mind on another woman, and he’d been unable to deny it. She wasn’t furious with him, but she also didn’t want him to call her again. Ever.

He’d tried to sneak out without a confrontation, but she had followed him to the door and demanded an explanation. He had owed her that much, and the only good thing to come from that encounter was his knowledge that the only woman he wanted to be with was Kendra.

He pondered that as he entered his luxurious apartment. Kendra had sent him away. Again. And it hurt even more the second time around. He'd tried to follow his heart, but after what had happened at her apartment, he wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

When he grabbed a beer from the fridge, he noticed the light blinking on his message machine. He pushed the play button as he looked for a bottle opener.

“Ryan. Hi, it’s Kendra. I was hoping to talk to you. Could you call me when you get home? I’ll be up for a while so…well, please call me.”

Ryan turned and looked at the machine, waiting for her voice to say something more. He glanced at his watch, it was twenty minutes before midnight.
Much too late to call her back. I’ll call her tomorrow.

He sat down on his couch and drank his beer while he tried to figure out what she could be wanting. He’d contacted Mr. Carolius for her, and now the rest was between them. She’d kind of made it clear that she didn’t want a relationship with him.
Maybe she’s changed her mind?
That thought caused his pulse to race. Just hearing her voice had the disaster of the evening fading to the background. For the first time in a long while, he slept peacefully and awoke rested and happy.

***

He waited until 7:30 a.m. before returning her call. When she told him about the visit from Mr. Carolius and the man’s tactics, Ryan became furious.

“How dare he! I hope you called the authorities on him.” The mere image of another man asking her out had him seeing red.
She’s mine!
He clenched his fists and wished he was at the gym with a punching bag nearby. The urge to pummel something was overwhelming.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”

“I’m glad he left when he did. He’s not a very nice man.”

“No. He’s not.”

“So…uhm…I was thinking, maybe if you’re not busy, we could get together this weekend and do some roller blading?”

“What about your ankle?” he questioned, while his lips formed a smile and his heart did happy jumps.

“It’s much better, and I’m tired of sitting around. I need to get out and do something.”

“Well, I guess I have to come along. Keep you from overdoing it.” Kendra chuckled and he thought it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.  “How about I pick you up Saturday morning around 10?”

“How about I meet you at your workshop just before noon?”

Ryan smiled, he would have agreed to just about anything as long as it included them spending time together, “Sounds good. Have a good rest of the week.”

“I will.”

The smile didn't leave his face as he got ready for work. He was receiving a new shipment of gemstones this morning and he was excited to see them. There was a fantastic ruby in this order, one of the finest he'd ever seen.

The armored truck arrived with his shipment, and he locked the doors to the workshop, ensuring he’d have plenty of time to unpack and catalog the contents of the box.

He pulled various containers of stones from the box, and then finally, he pulled the crème de la crème out of the box. A ruby to rival any he’d ever worked with before. It was almost two carats in weight, and the brilliance was phenomenal. It cost a fortune. And there was only one woman in the world who'd be the perfect owner for that stone. Kendra!

Ryan touched the stone, running his fingers over every surface in a sensual way. The smooth facets reminded him of her soft and silky skin. Her beauty and brilliance. The dark red color of the ruby would look beautiful against her skin tone. His brain raced and he fell into a trance-like state. That state, where he did his best designs, when he tuned out the entire world and was one with the precious stones.
I’m going to make something out of this stone just for her. A surprise to rival any surprise she’s ever received.

He finally decided on a belly button ring. She'd look incredibly sexy wearing his art.
For my eyes only!

The ruby would be used to form the upper part, and he decided to use another smaller ruby already in his collection to cut a rose shape from. It was a large stone too, but the quality wasn’t good enough, nor did it have the clarity needed to be used as a solitaire. It would be the focal part of the piece, and he selected a one carat diamond to inset in the center of the rose.

He worked through the afternoon, and by the time he quit for the day, his drawings were done, and was well on his way to having the piece finished.
She’s going to love it!
The imagination of her happy smile when she'd see his surprise warmed his heart and gave him a now familiar tickle all over his body. He loved that woman! He'd do anything for her. And spoiling her was part of the plan to make her stay with him forever.

Saturday morning Kendra rose early and found herself doing her hair before heading out to exercise. Something she never did. She even put on a minimum of makeup. Moisturizer. Waterproof eyeliner. Green eye shadow that brightened her eyes and made their color pop.
At least that was what the salesgirl at the makeup counter in Macy’s had said.

She selected a pair of knee length cycling shorts, and a blue tank top with a built in sports  bra that ended just above her belly button. The deep emerald color accentuated the lighter color of her eyes, and gave her skin a healthy glow. She felt light and fresh, her excitement to see Ryan again making her smile from ear to ear.

Kendra thought it was best if they took things slow and got to know each other again. If they did that, then everything should be fine and no one needed to get hurt. Her head hat finally accepted what her heart had known all along – she loved him. And he did too. At least judging by the excitement she’d heard in his voice when he’d returned her call. 
He told you he loved you. Was that only said by him in the afterglow of fantastic sex? Or had he actually meant it?

Before heading over to pick Ryan up at his workshop, she needed to run a few errands, which she did in record time. She went to the bank, dropped off her dry cleaning, and returned a few books to the library. Smiling like crazy all morning and more bouncing than walking, she made her last stop at her favorite little deli.

The idea to surprise Ryan with an impromptu picnic and some romantic kissing afterwards heated her up, and she quickly bought sandwiches and several bottles of juice for her plan. As she was leaving the small deli, she stopped to pick up a newspaper, when a local magazine caught her attention. There, on the cover, was a picture of Ryan with a model named Carla something or other – kissing!

She tried to convince herself that the picture had been taken before they had met each other again, but her fingers trembled as she picked the magazine up and thumbed through the pages until she came to another picture of Ryan and that model. The picture had been taken a few days ago! After they had slept together! After he told her he loved her!

She was furious! Hurt.  In her rage, she put the magazine in her bag and tossed a few bills at the checker, “Keep the change!”

How could he cheat on me?

Then it dawned on her when the picture had been taken. While she was meeting with the vile Mr. Carolius. While she was fending off the advances of the old lecher, Ryan had been out kicking up his heels with the beautiful model. She looked at the cover photo again and  shoved it in her bag.
Ryan kissing the model in the picture!

She arrived at Ryan’s workshop almost an hour early, bursting through the door and tossing the magazine down in front of him, “How could you?” She screamed, pacing from one side to the other while she waited for him to say something. Anything.

Ryan was obviously startled when she burst into his workshop. He glanced at her and then at the magazine now lying in front of him. “Where did you get this?”

“Is this what you call love? Liar!”

“Kendra…it’s not what it looks like. We only went to dinner.”

“Yeah, while I was fending off Mr. Carolius. I thought things would be different this time around.” She was more angry than she’d ever been and not in the mood to listen to anything he had to say.

“Kendra, what are you talking about? Sit down and let’s talk about this.”

“No! There’s nothing to talk about! This is just like in high school. I am so out of here!” She turned on her heel and left, slamming the door behind her. She jumped into her car and peeled away from the curb, missing the fact that Ryan had followed her to the street and was standing there trying to get her to stop and listen to him.

He doesn’t get a chance to explain. I mean, what kind of explanation could there be for sleeping with me and then a few nights later going out on the town with her?

She drove mechanically, stunned when she arrived at the cycling track in the park. Once the car was off, she sat there and the tears started to flow. Tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks, dropping into her lap, but she was powerless to stop them.
It’s over! No more Ryan!

Her hands were trembling so badly she could barely get out of the car. She grabbed her sports gear and fumbled her way into her roller blades and protective gear.
I thought he’d loved me. He’d said he did, but I was stupid enough to think the words meant something. God, he was no better than Mr. Carolius when it comes right down to it!

She was crying uncontrollably as she struggled to buckle up her roller blades. Finally finishing the task, she hooked her car keys on the clip inside her pocket and set out on the park track. Her tears making her be more cautious than normal.

The fresh air slowly helped calm her down, and she began to breathe easier. As she gained control of herself once more, she increased her speed, firming her earlier resolve that she didn’t need any man to complete her.
Especially not Ryan Armstrong! I don’t need a man in my life. I’m just fine by myself!

She circled around the park, warming up her muscles and letting the sadness flow out of her heart. She’d let down her guard and Ryan had done it to her again. He’d destroyed her self-confidence and broken her heart. Again. God, when was she going to learn to quit making the same mistake over and over?

Ryan followed her out the door, trying to stop her from running away. Again. As she drove away from his workshop, only one thought went through his brain.
Kendra left you again.

Confused, he went back inside and looked at the magazine picture. It showed him and Carla, in a rare moment in front of the restaurant while they'd been waiting for the valet to bring his car back around. He remembered she'd been all over him, but he hadn’t seen the photographer.
That’s because you’d been  thinking about Kendra!

That was the very moment when he had realized Kendra was the one woman he wanted to be with, and that he wasn’t enjoying his time with Carla at all.

He figured the paparazzi had probably been waiting outside the restaurant, trying to make their next paycheck by taking candid pictures of celebrities without their knowledge.
He remembered kissing her on the cheek, but the angle of the photograph made it appear that he had kissed her on the mouth.

He was furious. He hated being taken advantage of. Those stupid paparazzi were always invading his privacy and he despised them and the rags they worked for.
But what could he do?

Ryan took a deep breath and replayed Kendra’s words to him. He was angry that she had automatically assumed he’d cheated on her, but then he tried to look at it from her point of view. Her anger stemmed from a deep hurt. A hurt that had been caused by that picture. But he hadn’t done anything wrong
.

But you had gone out with Carla with the intention of sleeping with her. Sure, I wanted to lose myself in her body, but was unable to follow through. And Kendra kicked me out. What right did she have to be jealous and angry if I went out with another woman?

Of course, seeing that magazine cover and the blatant proof of his almost infidelity…he could understand how she would have jumped to the wrong impression.
We need to talk!

He called her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Grabbing his car keys, he locked up his workshop and raced over to her apartment. She wasn’t there either.

Back in his car he tried to figure out where she could have gone. Off course! She was at the park – probably blading in an effort to get rid of her frustration. She'd told him that she used roller blading to help ground herself, find her inner peace, and get rid of unwanted emotions.
Guess I fit into that last category today!
His heart ached for how much she must be hurting right now.
And it's all my fault!

Luckily, his gear was still in his car. He drove to the park and put his blades on, keeping an eye on the track in the hope to capture a glance of her. Soon enough he found her, going around the park circle, rather than the shoreline track.
Thank god, she's here!

He waited until she passed him for the second time before he entered the track and steadily closed the distance between them. Without a word, he silently skated next to her.

She glanced at him with a scowl, “Why did you follow me?”

“I didn’t.”

Kendra tossed her head and increased her speed. She went faster, but he matched her speed. She went even faster, but he easily matched his pace to hers once again. No matter how much she increased her speed, he kept up with her.

Ryan almost smiled, if it wasn’t for their fight, he would actually enjoy racing her. They continued to play cat and mouse. One lap. Two laps. Three laps. Both of them were breathing heavily by now. But she wasn’t getting away from him, try as she might. He was thankful for being in such good shape, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to keep up with her. She was fast. But he was faster!
I guess all that exercise is paying off now.

As they began their fifth lap, he asked, “Wanna talk?”

“No.” Her response was short, and she increased her speed once again.

They continued to race, until his legs began to hurt. Hers had to be just as sore, at least he hoped so.
She has guts, you have to give her that.
Ryan really did admire her. But he wasn’t giving in. She would have to stop sometime, and until then, he was going to keep up with her if it killed him.

When she stopped, she would have to talk to him. He only hoped her stamina ran out before nightfall set. Otherwise it would be a long and cold night.

After another forty minutes, she began to slow down and finally stopped next to a vacant bench. “Ok. Let’s talk.” She sat down on the furthest end of the bench away from him. Even in that moment when she was furious at him, she still looked absolutely hot and he so wanted to hug her and kiss away the hurt. But that wasn't an option. They needed to talk.

“So what about that woman?” Kendra asked.

“Her name is Carla. She’s a model and we’ve dated a few times in the past.”

“Why?” she inquired.

He didn’t have to ask her to explain, he knew what she was asking. “Kendra, when you kicked me out of your apartment, I was heartbroken. I tried to stop thinking about you, but nothing worked. I know it was stupid, but I thought maybe if I went out with another woman I could finally convince myself you didn’t already own my heart.”

He paused and explored her eyes. When he saw the small glimmer of hope entering them, he continued, “It didn’t work. I was miserable with her, because I wanted you. You and nobody else. And I wasn’t kissing her on the lips, as the picture might suggest. I was kissing her on the cheek. The paparazzi just got lucky on the angle.”

Kendra was silent for so long, he started to worry, “Do you believe me?”

She slowly nodded, wiping tears from beneath her eyes.

He could tell she was still reluctant because of the wounds of her past.
I did this to her. I took her self-confidence away! Way to go, Ryan!

He scooted down to her end of the bench, and took her into his arms. Looked into her eyes and then kissed her. His lips pressed to hers, content for the moment with this tender touch.  He kissed her again, murmuring against her lips, “I love you. No one else. Just you. We’re going to get through this and nothing is ever going to keep us apart again. Ever.”