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The phone rang a second after he read the message.
“What happened at the office?” he asked without preamble.
She sighed. “Mercer being Mercer.”
“Felicity.”
“Ronan.”
“Tell me. Please.”
“He saw us yesterday morning. On your porch.”
He cursed. “And then I sent the key.”
She said nothing.
“I’m sorry. Guess sending it to work wasn’t my brightest move.”
“Whatever you’re doing … please don’t.” She sighed. “I really am not interested in going down this road with you.” She kept her voice steady —barely — and disconnected before she could change her mind.
She stared at her phone for a long time, battling the urge to pick it up and pour her heart out.
For so long, she’d closed herself off to the idea of a relationship. And she was good with that decision. It was the right one.
But Ronan … he was seeping into those carefully sealed cracks.
And it needed to stop.
*
Despite her resolve from the night before, she burst out laughing when the security notification came through the next day during shift handover.
Ronan stood on her porch, holding up two ducks to the camera before propping them neatly against the door.
Her laugh earned her a scowl from Mercer — he’d been moved to night shift and clearly blamed her. She flipped him the bird.
*
Any softening toward Ronan was obliterated a few days later.
It was her two days off, and she needed to stock up — her fridge and pantry down to bare bones. It happened while she waited at the butcher’s counter in Fields & Fork for Niles to finish wrapping her order.
“You need to leave him alone.” The disgruntled voice cut through the low hum of the store.
Felicity turned slowly, irritation sharpening her expression. “Excuse me?”
Bella Fischer stood there, arms crossed, glare fixed. “Ronan. You’ve obviously bewitched him with your … easy wiles.” Her lip curled. “He doesn’t need you in his life.”
Felicity took a step closer, fighting for calm. The woman needed a solid slap to take care of her attitude. “Careful, Bella. You’re making a lot of assumptions for someone who doesn’t know me.”
“You got your hooks into him when he was vulnerable. That’s not right.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Bella’s chin lifted. “He’s here for Ruth and the kids.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you saw a good man and took your chance. And he’s too soft to turn you away.”
“Two things, Bella.” Felicity’s voice stayed even. “Ronan is an adult, more than capable of making his own choices. And I know, with absolute certainty, that his feelings toward Ruth are not romantic. Because” — she held the other woman’s gaze — “that would make him a cheater.”
