Broken Love (24 page)

Her eyebrows rose.

“I didn’t want to call your family, then your father would ask why I hadn’t taken the time to memorize his little girl’s number if I asked her to marry me. He would know we argued and I didn’t want that.”

Her teeth sunk in her lip. “No, we don’t want that.”

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t care what you do or if you want to live in that little stone house for the rest of your life. All I care about is that you’re by my side each night I close my eyes and every morning I wake up. You are my life. All that matters to me.”

I dropped onto my knee and that’s when I noticed.

“Oh my God,” we both said at once.

Glancing up, her hands were covering her mouth. “Your cast is off and your leg … looks … so good. When did you get it off?”

She dropped her hands and looked at me. “Really, Ryder? Can that wait?”

“Oh … shit. Yeah.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the jewelry box.

With a huge smile and my heart pounding in my chest, I opened the box. I knew the moment I bumped into Ava that day on the street that she was going to be my forever. “Ava Grace Moore, will you marry me?”

Tears rolled down her face as she nodded her head. Jumping up, I slipped the round antique diamond onto her finger.

“Ohmygawd,” she mumbled while staring at the ring. “It’s beautiful. It looks … so elegant!”

Knowing I was about to make her very happy, I replied. “It’s old. It was my great-great-I think one more great grandmother’s.”

Her head popped up. “Lizzy’s?”

“Yep. It’s been passed down to each first-born son.”

Pinching her eyebrows together, she shook her head. “I thought Nate was older.”

“He wanted you to have it and thought it would mean much more for you to wear it. He’s had it in a safety deposit box here in Austin, so it was perfect timing.”

Wiping her tears away, she stared at the ring. “It’s … I don’t know what to say. It’s perfect.” Lifting her eyes to mine, she whispered, “You’re perfect.”

“I’ve missed you, Ava.”

She pulled me into her apartment and we quickly got lost in a kiss. “Ryder, please make love to me.”

My lips trailed lightly across her neck while she moaned softly. “It would be my pleasure.”

Picking her up, I carried her to the bedroom where I gently set her on the floor.

We slowly undressed one another in silence. Nothing needed to be said because our love filled the entire room. My heart had never beat this hard before in my life. The idea of making love to her and knowing she would be mine forever was amazing.

Jumping back, Ava said, “Oh wait!” She reached down and began itching her leg like crazy. “It. Itches. So. Bad!”

I tried like hell not to laugh. There was no way I was going to say anything. She finally had that damn thing off and I was going to baby the hell out of her. “How about a nice hot bath?”

Her eyes lit up. “That sounds wonderful, but I’m supposed to be going Salsa dancing with Jay.”

With a chuckle, I kissed the tip of her nose. “You got your cast off and you’re ready to go.”

“Well, not really. I planned it before I got the bright idea of getting the cast off. I made an appointment and it just so happened they were able to remove it. But, now that you’re here, we have time to fool around and then go out.”

“With, Jay? Your evil friend who left you drunk and alone? No thanks.”

Ava hit my chest. “Stop it. She’s my best friend, and I’m not sure when I’ll get to go out with her again. Besides, I have a sexy little dress I’ve been wanting to wear.”

She frowned. “That is if I can still fit into it with all the food your mother has been giving me.”

Placing my hands on her hips, my chest felt tight. I loved this woman so much. “You look beautiful and I’d love to go dancing with my beautiful fiancée.”

Slipping her panties down, she gave me a sexy smile that had my heart stopping. Licking her soft lips, she softly said, “I think we need to get back to the whole fooling around thing.”

STEPPING OUT OF my bedroom, I waited for Ryder to turn around. The little silver cocktail dress I had bought a few months back fit like a glove. It hugged me in all the right places. The only thing that would make this better is if I had on my expensive-ass Michael Kors heels that I bought as a pick me up when Johnny dumped me. The last thing I wanted to do was break my ankle again.

I cleared my throat and waited for him to see me. When he did, I couldn’t hide the smile that spread across my face. Even though we had just made the sweetest love to one another, Ryder was looking at me like he wanted more. Like he
needed
more. His face curved up into a smile that was so breathtaking I wanted to call Jay and tell her I wasn’t interested in going out anymore.

“My god, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

I lifted my foot and wiggled my toes. “I can’t wear my sexy heels though. I think I’ll have to wear flats which won’t really do anything for the dress.”

He slowly sauntered my way. “Fuck the shoes. They couldn’t do anything more if they tried.”

Slipping his hand behind my neck, he pulled me closer. “If I kiss you, I’ll smear your lipstick.”

“I can always put it back on.”

He kissed me ever so softly on the lips, causing my stomach to dance with excitement. Every time he kissed me, I was taken to a place I never wanted to leave. There was something so amazingly different about Ryder. He not only held my heart, he owned my soul.

The knock on the door had him pulling his lips away. I wanted to scream out for him to keep kissing me, but if I knew Jay, she would just walk in.

“That’s probably Jay.”

“Lucky me,” Ryder mumbled before sitting down on the sofa.

I was still limping a bit on my leg. It felt weak, but I wasn’t sure if it was in my head and I was just scared or it really was weak.

“Does she know I’m here?”

Pressing my lips together, I glanced over my shoulder. “No,” I said scrunching my nose.

Ryder smiled. “This should be fun.”

Opening the door, I smiled big. “Hey there!”

She whistled. “Damn girl. Are you hoping to get laid tonight?”

My face dropped. “Jesus, Jay. Really?”

Ryder wrapped his arms around my waist. Jay’s expression went from happy to shocked. “She already did, so she’s covered.”

“Ryder!” I exclaimed as Jay rolled her eyes and acted like she was gagging.

“Please tell me he is
not
coming with us.”

I put my hands up and looked between them both. “Now listen here. You both are special to me and I love you, y’all. But I can’t have my fiancé and my best friend hating on each other.”

Jay gasped and grabbed my hand.

“Holy shit! That diamond is huge.” She peeked up at Ryder. “I will say, you know how to say you’re sorry.”

He smiled, turned, and walked toward the kitchen. “I need a quick beer before we leave for some fun Salsa dancing.”

Following him, Jay pulled me to a stop. “Are you sure we can’t ditch him on the way to the club?”

“Jay! I love him and if you can’t get used to that we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands.”

She let out a frustrated moan. “Fine! If you
really
love him, I’ll behave … kind of.”

My face softened. “I really love him.”

I knew she didn’t want to do it, but she smiled. “I am happy for you and I’d never admit this to Ryder, but I think he’s a great guy.”

“Who’s a great guy?” Ryder asked walking up to us with a beer in his hand. Jay took it from him and gulped it down in one drink. Ryder’s eyes opened wide in shock.

“The guy I was trying to set Ava up with, but she insists she loves you so there goes that plan for tonight.” She shrugged and handed him the empty beer bottle back.

Rolling my eyes, I reached up and kissed his lips. “Ignore her,” I whispered.

Ryder winked and said, “Oh, don’t worry. Ignoring Jay won’t take too much effort.”

Sighing, I turned and said, “I say we get the show on the road. Let me slip on my shoes and we are set.”

Jay stared at the black flats I had on. “You’re wearing … those?”

“Yes. I have to, Jay. I just got my cast off; I can’t walk around in heels. I can barely walk around now in my bare feet.”

She snarled her lip. Her eyes dropped back down to the flats. “You can’t salsa dance in flats. That’s not sexy.”

“I think she looks sexy as fuck.”

“You would,” Jay bit back.

Lacing my fingers with Ryder’s, I smiled. “Let’s go before you two start at it again.”

RYDER AND I danced to a few slow songs. It felt so good to be back in his arms. Everything felt so right when we were together. I knew I needed to tell him about what I had read in Kate’s journal. When to tell him was the question though.

The song ended so we made our way back to our table. Ryder guided us through the crowd with his hand on my back. It was such a simple gesture, but one that always made my heart drop and my stomach dance in delight.

Jay had been dancing with one guy practically all night. The way they were grinding on each other was a bit unsettling. Jay hadn’t mentioned how things were with her husband, Phil. Her almost jet-black hair was pulled up in a slobby bun on the top of her head, but it still pulled out her blue eyes. She was the only person I knew who could get away with the brightest shade of red on her lips no matter if she was going out or going to the gym. She rocked it every single time.

Ryder leaned over and asked if I wanted another drink. “Yes! One more and then I’m done.”

With that drop me over gorgeous smile of his, he winked and quickly kissed me on the lips before heading over to the bar. I watched him walk away and I couldn’t seem to pull my eyes off of him. The way his ass looked in those jeans was almost sinful.

“God … is it getting hot in here?” I said to myself as I waved my hand in front of my face in an attempt to cool off.

Ryder walked up to the bar and waited in line to order our drinks. Smiling, I shook my head. He came for me. And he brought diamonds with him. He was a keeper.

When I glanced to the right, my heart stopped. I sat up straighter and blinked my eyes a few times. When he lifted his hand in a wave, I looked over my shoulder before snapping my head back to him.

“Holy shit balls!”

Dr. Russell started to make his way toward me. I quickly looked back at Ryder. He was now at the bar ordering.

“Oh lord. Shit!”

Quickly getting up, I forced my way through the crowd to get to Jay. When I saw her rubbing up against her new friend, I pushed my way over to her.

“Jay!” I yelled out.

She was so focused on the guy she didn’t hear me. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her. Turning to look at me, she grinned wide. “Did you come to join us? I’ve always wanted to try a threesome.”

I pinched my eyebrows together and stared at her. “Okay, first off … please tell me you’re kidding because … gross! No thank you. Second, Dr. Russell is here!”

Her smiled dropped. “What? Are you sure?”

I turned around and looked directly at him as he stood by the table waiting for me to come back. Ryder was now walking up and looking for me.