Close Your Eyes (32 page)

He let his hand off the wheel and patted her hands, folded neatly in her lap.

‘Sonia just doesn’t like it when things don’t go according to plan,
Meg
. She was hoping for a long, beautiful evening at our ceremony
,
and instead
,
we got a lot of police and drama. As amazing as it seems, she is mostly upset with the fact it got in
to way of her mingling with the rich and mighty.’

Meg
had to wonder if
Matt
also
saw her as a ladder climber.
Many girls definitely dreamt about dating Ryan Harper.
H
is looks, money
,
and social standing
put
him
at
the top
of the dating
category. Even
Megan’s
parents were impressed with their relationship
and
proud of her great choice
, so they spurred
her on.

Only she didn’t care for any o
f
it, really. She
had fallen in
love with him so long ago
that
she couldn’t even remember what it was like before it happened. Ry
an
had been a part of her life
for just as long
as she
’d
been in
his
. A
ll her memories
entangled with their romance.

‘Don’t even think that
.
’
Amazingly,
Matt
seemed to know what she was thinking
. His face was
serious. ‘
You
know very well that I would never even compare what I had with Sonia with you and Ry. It’s like two different worlds,
Meg
.’

Meg
felt good to be understood
.
As they pulled in front of her house where
elaborate lanter
n
s, her mom’s latest obsession
, lit the impressive façade,
Meg
eyed the manicured lawn and topiary boxwood trees lining the herringbone
-
style
path leading to the double
-
winged door
. Her
heart
sank
as she thought of her mother
interrogating her the moment she set foot inside
the house
.

She
knew she
would have to move out, even though it would
be impossible
without a huge battle. While living here made perfect sense
, her sense of freedom was in a serious need of a dramatic makeover. She almost wished
Matt
would have
dropped
her off back at the store, so she could return on her bike
and avoid
the avalanche of questions.
But
the bike was left locked up securely against the bike holder at the side of the store,
and
Matt
persuaded her
that it w
as
too late and too dark for her to ride back home.

‘
I’ll see you soon
.
’
T
rying very hard to hide her anxiety
, she turned to Matt
. With his in
dependent spirit and laisse
z
faire
attitude
,
he would find her particularly funny as she fretted about her parents. His impressive family never stopped him from doing what he wanted
,
whenever he wanted. But then
again, not everyone could be
Matt
Harper
. S
he thanked him for the ride home and stepped out of his car
. The cool night air soothed
the heated skin of her cheeks.

‘
Megs?’ H
e
climbed out
of
his
car
with an
amused
expression
as she glanced at her house, bracing herself against what would follow. ‘
T
ry not to worry too much,
okay
?’ H
e pulled her closer, his arms coming around her in a comforting gesture.

She felt his lips on the top of her head, the kiss both innocent and sweet. It was only fitting after the day of excitement they
’d
both had
, so she
allowed herself to remain
cradled in
his arms a moment longer. He smelled familiar and felt safe,
and
she
craved both qualities
as she
thought
about the disastrous ending to the party.
Matt
was the closest thing to Ry
an
she could have
, and
his lips pressed against her
hair
and
his
gentle caress fill
ed
her with gladness.
His lips
travelled slowly from the top of her head to her forehead, the slow exploring
touch
sending her scalp tingling. He paused at the hairline, lingering on her smooth, warm skin as if debating what to do next.

It was over before she knew it
. He
stepped back, his face friendly
,
yet distant
.
An
instant sense of bereavement followed,
and
her false sense of
security
collaps
ed
into a heap of ashes.
T
hey parted
,
and he walked back to the driver’s side of his car
before
waving one final
good-
bye
.
Megan
could barely force herself to move forward
. Placing each foot
in front of the other
felt like
a chore.

In one brilliant moment of
self-revelation
,
she realized something she would
have preferred to leave
unexplored
in order
to keep her sanity.
S
he didn’t want him to go. She wanted to call him back, beg him to stay with her even a bit longer. She missed him already
, more than she would have thought possible. She watched desperately as the
rear lights of his car disappear
ed
into the distance.
E
very cell of
her
body crav
ed
his presence.

And she knew
these feelings
couldn’t be good.

‘
Meg
an, honey.
Wake up, please.’ She heard her mother’s voice, anxious and excited at the same time
,
and
she managed to open her eyes,
though she was
still too confused to respond. One glance at the window told her it was morning
. T
he pale sunlight pour
ed
into her east
-
facing room.

She rose on her elbow
and
push
ed
aside her long hair
so she could
see her mother’s face. Something was up, and judging by her
agitation
, it was serious.

‘
Ry
?’ she gasped as an icy coldness took hold of her whole body.
Her
lips felt numb and tingly at the same time
. Her
throat
was almost
too dry to speak. ‘It is
Ry
, isn’t it?’

‘He is fine,
Maggie
, don’t worry.’ If her mother called her
Maggie
, things
really
couldn’t be good.
Meg couldn’t remember the last time her mother had called her ‘Maggie.’

‘What happened?’
she
croaked, sitting up and looking around at her tangled sheets. She didn’t dare think about her dreams
. A
hot wave of
embarrassment
washed
over her as
stubborn
images rose before her eyes. ‘What happened
to
Ry
,
M
om? Did his dad call?’ S
he didn’t want to mention
Matt
right now, not after
the
treacherous weakness that
had taken
over her mind and body last evening, resulting in dreams that needed to be put away and locked up for all eternity.

‘Rosemary, his fiancée, called.’ Her mom watched her
with
concern as
Meg
rose to her feet
.

Megan’s
hands
shook
as she looked for her clothes. It didn’t really
m
att
er what she wore, did it?