Page 60 of Legal Attraction
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“AREYOUSUREshe wants me here?” Ronan asked, as he stood in front of the last empty chair near the stage runway. It was probably the only empty chair in the whole, crowded, loud, chaotic place. He was lucky Simon had saved it for him. But he wasn’t certain he should have.
“Who?” Simon asked. “Muriel?”
Her name struck him like a blow, making his breath shudder out in a ragged sigh.
“Don’t worry,” Simon said. “Muriel has no idea you’re here.”
He didn’t doubt that or he probably wouldn’t have made it past security even with the pass Simon had given him and the other partners. Trevor and Stone sat on the other side of their managing partner.
“I was talking about Bette,” Ronan said. “She’s not exactly a fan of mine, and this is her show.” The official launch of her line of lingerie. She’d worked very hard for this, and he didn’t want to mess it up.
“Maybe if you become a fan of hers, she’ll become one of yours,” Simon suggested.
Ronan settled onto the chair next to him. “I’m already a fan,” he said. “Huge, huge fan of her work.”
And Simon chuckled. “So you’ve seen some of her designs already...” Then he nodded. “Of course, when you were seducing Muriel.”
He wasn’t sure he’d ever actually seduced her. But she had definitely seduced him—so much so that he couldn’t stop wanting her.
It had been almost two weeks since she’d dumped him outside her apartment building. Dumped? They’d never really been together for her to be able to dump him. Like she’d said, they’d never gone out on a real date. He should have taken her. Or at least asked...instead of just assuming that she wouldn’t want to be seen with him.
Because then she’d gotten the wrong idea about him, had thought he was ashamed of her or something.
But that wasn’t the only wrong idea. She’d started to think that he might be looking for more than just sex. And that was crazy.
Of course he’d had fun with her no matter what they’d been doing. And he’d really enjoyed that dinner with her grandparents. They were as sweet and funny and honest as she was.
Fingers snapped in front of his face. “What’s wrong with you?” Trevor asked from where he leaned around Simon.
“He zoned out thinking about Muriel,” Simon said as if he perfectly understood.
Stone snorted. “Just because you do that thinking about Bette doesn’t mean Ronan is falling in love, too.”
Trevor laughed. “Ronan in love...that would be the day.”
“Why?” Ronan asked, and even he was surprised to hear how defensive he sounded. “Why would that be the day?”
Stone stood and stared down at him, his gray eyes full of concern. “Are you okay?”
No. He hadn’t been since Muriel had gotten out of the car that day and told him she was cutting him loose.
“You’re the one who always says love is a sham,” Trevor reminded him. “So of course you’re never falling in love.”
“I used to say that, too,” Simon said. “Now I know the truth.”
So did Ronan. The truth was that Muriel was a good person. She was not a cheater or a liar. She was not his mother. And he had been an idiot to ever think she was.
“Love is real, guys,” Simon said.
While Stone and Trevor laughed, Ronan did not—because, for the first time, he realized that it was.
Simon loved Bette and she loved him. Sure, maybe they wouldn’t last. Maybe they’d burn out like so many other couples did—except for Muriel’s grandparents. They still flirted with each other, still snuck hot glances and touched each other—and they were old. They’d been together so many years, but they still saw each other. It was possible to love someone and it was possible for that love to last.
He didn’t know if it would for him. But maybe he owed it to himself, and to Muriel, to at least try. He knew that it would take more than flowers and a dinner invitation to get her to give him another chance, though. It was going to take a grand gesture—one that would be humbling and humiliating if she didn’t want him anymore.
If she’d moved on to someone else...
