Page 79 of Runaway Bride’s Husband

“She has me in a total tailspin,” I admitted, finally lifting my head to look back up at him. “Seriously, I feel like she’s turned my brain into soup. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Holden stared at me for a long beat. “Does she?”

“No.”

“Does Daniel know?”

I grimaced. “Of course not.”

He swore under his breath. “This is bad, Ryan. It’s really fucking bad. You’re getting in the way of a marriage arranged between two pretty freaking powerful families and you’re fucking the bride.”

“They’re not engaged anymore.” It was weak, but it was also the only defense I had. “Look, I know it’s stupid. Trust me, I know, but it’s like I can’t help myself when I’m with her.”

He let out another snort. “Nice. You’re blaming your body? What, do you just keep tripping and falling with your dick inside her?”

“Obviously not, and I’m not blaming anything. I’m just saying it’s…” I trailed off and shook my head. “It’s different, okay? I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just different.”

He blanched, doing a slow double take as he looked back at me. “Oh my God. Do you love her?”

My heart jerked in my chest and my palms went clammy, but I didn’t answer because, as he’d asked the inevitable question I should’ve seen coming, two familiar faces walked through the door, and suddenly, my answer didn’t seem to matter anymore.

The only thing that mattered was shutting Holden up before either of those two heard a single word of what we’d been saying.

CHAPTER 34

MAGGIE

Ihadn’t planned on going out with Cathy tonight, but the stars had aligned, so here I was. Since everyone believed I was getting married, my parents thought they’d won and I finally had a little bit of freedom back in my life.

Meanwhile, the quiet promise of something that felt right with Ryan was making me feel like I was on top of the world. It was the first time I truly felt like I had a grip on my future, a clear vision of what I wanted.

While I didn’t know yet how I was going to get there, at least I had an end game now, and since he and I were planning the wedding together, we could also buy ourselves the time we needed to figure out how we could reach our mutual goal.

All of which meant I was smiling when we walked into a bar on the Upper West Side, prepared to just cut loose for a night out with my best friend. Honestly, I was looking forward to a drama-free evening of not overthinking my entire existence.

Naturally, because the universe really seemed to enjoy messing with me, my hopes for absolutely all those things were dashed less than four steps into the bar. I blinked a few times after walking in, convinced my eyes must be playing tricks on me, but no.

Ryan was at the counter with one of his brothers—Holden, unless I was mistaken—and standing with them were none other than Marcus and Daniel.

Fuck. My. Life.

My feet slammed to an abrupt halt, but Cathy had spotted them too and, like always, she didn’t hesitate to shoot her shot with my oldest brother. A mile-wide grin broke out across her face and she grabbed my arm, pulling me with her as she swayed up to him.

“Marcus,” she said happily as soon as we were in earshot, giving a quick nod to each of the others. “Boys. Fancy meeting you all here.” She barely even looked at Ryan, Holden, or Daniel before her gaze was back on my brother. “How have you been?”

“Cathy,” he returned, but he didn’t smile back at her or seem even remotely interested in her sudden appearance. “Yeah, I’m good.”

I glanced between them, marveling about how some things in life were just wonderfully so predictable that experiencing them made a strange sense of peace settle over me. At least enough to allow me to breathe again.

“Hey, Maggie.” Daniel glanced at me briefly when we joined them. Then he turned back to the bartender and added two more drinks to their order without even asking. He still looked as calm and polite as ever, entirely composed and wordlessly elegant when he moved.

Ryan was different, staring directly at me looking like all he wanted was to jump up and pull me into his arms. While the world usually stopped when I looked into his eyes, this time, it seemed to accelerate to a hundred miles an hour. It was like I could see the future we would have together, the hot, sweaty nights, and the days filled with banter, laughter, and him getting exasperated with every other suggestion I made before going out of his way to give me exactly what I’d asked for.

Tingles shot through every part of me and my heart hammered, my palms going damp. Every intention I’d had of keeping what was between us quiet evaporated like mist before the sun. I didn’t want to keep it quiet anymore.

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, announcing to all the world that I’d found the man who made my soul sing.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, it occurred to me that this was the point when I should start feeling guilty, but as I stared right back at him, I realized I had nothing to feel guilty about. My family was trying to force me into a marriage I didn’t want.