Page 19 of Liberating Bells
“Izabel, Mark,” I acknowledge them with a head tilt. Mark sneers at me as Izabel looks back and forth between Josie and me.
“Beautiful day for a lunch date, huh, Ry?” Mark asks, malice dripping from his tone, a smirk plastered on his face.
I shoot him a glare as I nod hesitantly. “Sure is.” I would give anything to wipe that smirk off his face, preferably with my fist.
Izabel stays silent as her gaze locks on my entwined hand. Mark gives Izabel’s hand a slight tug and addresses me again. “Well, sorry for the rude interruption. We’ll leave you two lovebirds to it. We’ve got a meeting with our wedding planner.”
“Great,” I say with no emotion in my voice. “Have fun.”
Mark pulls Izabel away behind him, her eyes lingering on me and Josie for a second too long before she turns and follows him. I watch them leave, my heart still pattering too fast to be comfortable.
As soon as they’re out of earshot, Josie yanks her hand from mine and hits me with a hard look. “So that was her, huh?”
I look at her sheepishly and nod. My throat still feels thick, and I’m not sure I can respond without my voice cracking. How embarrassing. I’m a grown-ass man, and still, that girl can bring me to my knees just by whispering my name. I think I need therapy.
“I’m sorry, Josie. I don’t know what came over me.”
Josie presses her lips together, and then moves her napkin from her lap to her table. “Let’s get one thing clear, Ryan. You are my friend. I like being with you, and I am happy to work with you. But I will not participate in any more of whatever this was.” I wince as she lets me have it. “I told you before, either you’re all in with her, or you’re not. But I am not going to sit here and let you use me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
She sighs from her spot across from me. “I forgive you. This is your one freebie, Ryan.”
I nod. “I understand. It won’t happen again.”
“I like spending time with you. But I won’t be part of your ploy to win her back, capeesh?”
“Yeah, I get it. I promise.”
Josie’s stern expression falls from her face, and she smirks. “Good." She picks up her fork and digs back into her salad. "I gotta hand it to you, Ryan. That Izabel is a looker. No wonder you’re head over heels for her.”
I groan and bury my face in my hands, knowing that I’m never going to hear the end of it now.
8
IZABEL
“Hey, babe,”Mark grabs my attention from across the dinner table. “Are you okay?”
We’re at a fancy restaurant, a celebratory treat after a successful first meeting with our wedding planner. It’s a beautiful place that Mark has brought me to a few times. Ritzy. He ordered the filet mignon for both of us, which normally would be a delicacy. Instead, I haven’t been able to stomach the steak. I’ve been mindlessly pushing the food around on my plate with my fork for the last few minutes. My mind is obviously elsewhere.
I snap my eyes up to my fiancé and give him a tight smile. “Hm?”
“Are you okay? You’ve barely touched your dinner.”
“Oh yeah,” I say quietly, suddenly fascinated by a piece of roasted broccoli. “I’m fine. I guess my head is just swimming with all the information we got from the planner.”
Mark gives me a knowing smile. “Yeah, it was definitely a lot. Finally starting to feel real.”
I nod in agreement. It was true, the wedding planner did give us lots to think about. Things I wouldn’t have even considered. As the planner pointed out, our planned date of September isless than five months away. But I felt off throughout the whole meeting.
My day was thrown off-kilter after running into my ex-boyfriend on our walk. Seeing Ryan with his new girlfriend had more of an effect on me than I’m willing to admit. Mark, of course, doesn’t need to know about that. But I’ve been feeling nauseous since we ran into them at the café, like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Juliet had mentioned that Liam set Ryan up with someone last month. So it isn’t as if I didn’t know he was dating again. But seeing it in real time is a lot different than just knowing about it. I can’t hold it against him; his new girlfriend is beautiful. And it’s not like I expected him to be single forever.
It’s just...different.
A part of me is surprised Mark hasn’t brought up the encounter. Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice his attitude perk up a bit after running into Ryan and this other woman. I am curious if Mark is now appeased, knowing Ryan is with someone else. Maybe he’ll stop viewing him as such a threat.
