He ran his hand through his hair and walked away. She listened to his footsteps as he crossed the threshold of the back door. She’d blown it. Ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her. Tears ran down her cheeks. It was too little, too late. He was hurt or pissed at her; it didn’t matter which.
Riley had walked away.
Chapter 23
Riley leaned on the bar, staring at the beer in his hand when his brother walked in. The condensation made a ring on the coaster and the bubbles had long since stopped rising to the top of the glass.
“Been holding onto that for over an hour.” Reg, the barman, grinned at Grady. “Reckon he’s nursing a broken heart. That’s one for the books, eh?”
Riley ignored them both.
“Sure is. I’ll take a light beer, thanks.” Grady pulled up a stool and sat. When his beer was placed in front of him, he took a sip, washing down the day’s dust.
Riley couldn’t hold back the words any longer. “I fucked up.”
“Hmm, sounds to me like you both did, from what she told me.” Grady took another sip and sighed.
Riley looked his way. “She spoke to you?” He shook his head in disbelief. “About us?”
“Yep.” Grady kept his gaze in front of him.
“What did she say?”
“She’d made a mistake letting you believe she was Finn’s girl.”
“She told me that too.” Riley wiped his hands on his jeans and pushed away the warm beer.
“Want a cold one?” Reg stood in front of him with a clean glass.
He nodded and then looked at his brother. Grady kept a straight face. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“She lied. What am I supposed to do?” He reached for the fresh beer, wrapped his hands around the cold glass.
“I don’t know why anyone thinks they can get the better of you.” Grady sighed.
Riley was used to what was coming. A lecture.
“Here’s the thing. Sometimes you have to admit you were wrong and move on or risk ending up on your own. You’re both so damned pigheaded. Don’t bother to argue; you know I’m right. Give the girl a break—at least she came clean and told you. She loves you, and, obviously, you love her. Get over it and go be with her.”
“What makes you such an expert all of a sudden?”
“I’m married, and in case you’ve forgotten, we had issues as well with Jo, and life got a bit tense because of it. But the thing is, even when we drifted apart, I had the balls to learn from it and move forward.” He sipped his beer. “Notwithstanding, I was right all along and Lara was too soft on the girl. I knew I had to make the move and apologize. She was too damned proud to admit she was wrong and come to me. Plus, she’d come out of a difficult relationship with Jo’s father. You have to remember that Sassie’s been hurt too. Women are complex, stubborn creatures, Riley. You’ll learn that along the way.”
“She lied to me. That’s going to be hard to get over.”
Grady cuffed him across the back of the head. “When didn’t you lie to a girl to get what you wanted? I can list them for you if you want.”
Riley had the sense to be ashamed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t know if she’ll forgive me for walking out on her when she came clean on it.”
“Kind of makes you even in my book.”
“Thanks, brother. Wish me luck.” Riley got off the stool and walked out of the bar.
The lane to Sassie’s house was in darkness, but he parked in his usual spot. The door was open, and Tinker Bell wound herself around his legs and meowed. He scratched her head. “Where’s your mom, girl?”
A sound of movement from the bedroom made him straighten.
“R.P?” Sassie’s head appeared around the doorway. Even under the light of the moon, he could see the puffiness of her eyes. It broke his heart that he was the cause of it.
Riley stepped forward and held out his arms. With a cry, she rushed forward and buried her face in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair as she cried against him. When the sobs subsided, he carried her into the bedroom and sat on the chair with her on his knee.
“I’m sorry. I should never have walked out on you. I was hurt, Sassie, and I lashed out at you.”
She wiped a hand across her eyes before sniffing. “I know, and I hate myself for what I did, but I was desperate, R.P. You mean so much to me. I know we had an arrangement. We were both adamant about that, but this little thing called love crept in and ruined it for me. I didn’t know how to tell you how I felt without scaring you off. I’m not that great at relationships.”
She rested her forehead on his and he breathed in her perfume. This was where he wanted to be and the woman he needed more than anything.
“Forgive me?” He pecked at her lips, tasting the tears on them.
Sassie half sobbed and latched onto his mouth with such force he was caught by surprise. “I’m taking that as a yes then?”
Riley gripped the sides of her face and held her to him so he could devour her mouth with his. When he came up for air, she tucked her face into his neck and snuggled into him.
“We’re such fools, Riley.”
“That we are. Who would’ve thought? Both of us adamant we can’t fall in love, and look what happened. I’m sorry for doubting you, sorry for hitting Finn. Actually, no. I’m not. He deserved it.” He squeezed her against his chest.
As long as he lived, he doubted he’d ever get over how lucky he was to find Sassie. And to think he’d come so close to losing her.
* * *
Sassie giggled. “Poor Finn. I didn’t know he felt that way about
