AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This was the guy that belonged with Vicky. This was what she wanted.
And no matter how much of a bastard the world thought he was, he would never do anything to ruin Vic’s chance to get what she wanted.
She clearly didn’t know how to handle the situation. So he handled it for her.
“It’s easy, Mom,” he said, crossing the floor. “Vicky and I aren’t together. We never were. Vic here was trying to make me respectable, but clearly, that’s not possible.”
“I knew it! I knew this couldn’t be real!” Noah’s voice echoed through the silent room. Sabrina slapped him across the chest, fixing him with a glare.
“That’s right, bro. I’m the same old screw-up you always thought I was. All of you,” he added, turning to the room, then back to Noah. “No way a woman like Vic would be with a screw-up like me.”
With that, he strode to the stairs, stopping just long enough to give a stunned Cheryl a kiss on the cheek. “Happy birthday, Mom.” He ignored the death scowl his father aimed at him and continued up the stairs and out of the room.
* * *
Vicky’s first impulse was to follow him. Her feet actually took several steps without her consciously telling them to. Maybe she could catch him at the elevators. Maybe she could tell him—
Tell him what? She didn’t even know what she was feeling except confused. And more importantly, what did her feelings matter when he clearly didn’t want her?
Sure, maybe he didn’t mind kissing her in a dark alley. Or a tiny bathroom. Or on the roof. Definitely not on the roof.
But she’d been so swept up, just moments ago, that she’d imagined he was going to say . . . What? That he wanted to be with her? For real? What was the matter with her?
They’d made an agreement, and he’d more than held up his part.
He didn’t want her. Of course, he didn’t. She was boring vanilla commitment and wealthy New York society—shopping at Tiffany and lunch at Tavern on the Green and dancing at the Pink Heart Ball. Everything he’d left behind.
And she didn’t want him. Not really. She wanted . . .
“Hi.”
“Davis.” She startled. He had apparently woven his way through the crowd and was now standing in front of her. “You’re here.”
“I am. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s—how are you here?”
“I thought about what you said on the phone earlier. You were right. If we’re going to give a relationship a try, I need to be here with you more. Be here for you more.”
She gazed up at him, trying to catch up. Her brain was stuck somewhere back at Warren bellowing, “Who is this?”
“So you came?”
“So I came. Some brilliant woman suggested we share our locations on our phones, or I’d probably be wandering the streets of Manhattan, calling your name.” He winked.
She smiled weakly. “That was your suggestion. I just made a joke about needing assistance to keep track of your travels.”
“Ah, yes. Well, either way.” He chuckled gently. Then his expression turned serious. “It was the least I could do. You’ve been so committed to making this work. I haven’t been fair to you.”
It was everything she could have hoped he’d say and yet . . .
All she could think about was the man who had just walked out on her oh-so-dramatically in what was sure to be tomorrow’s biggest headline.
It didn’t matter that Ryder didn’t want her. Or that if she was honest, she’d been fighting an attraction to him all along. For years maybe.
“Davis,” she said, suddenly seeing everything so clearly, “I haven’t been fair to you.”
He knit his brow. “Victoria, no. You’ve been so patient. I’m at fault here.”
