Hit & Run Bride (Hit & Run Bride Contemporary Romance Series) (13 page)

She sighed. No. This couldn’t wait. “I need to talk to you now. It’s about the wedding.”

His lips thinned into that smug, satisfied smirk she hated. “You’re already hating the wedding planning, aren’t you? I told you it would be too much. You really should have listened to me. Lucky for you, I had a feeling this would happen and kept our booking at the resort.” He shook his head then added, “See, I know you well.”

He’d kept the damn booking? He knew her well? All he really seemed to know was that he liked her tits. Fury bubbled below the surface of her skin, and she clenched her fists. The weight of her ring weighed down her left hand. “Stop talking.” Her voice was low and cool.

He blinked at her as if he couldn’t believe what she’d just said, but his jaw clamped shut as if he had an inkling of what was good for him.

“You know what, Holden, I was nervous to come here tonight, but the more you talk, the more I realize that I’m doing the right thing.” She slid the hideous ring off her finger. “I can’t marry you.”

He frowned. “Have you been drinking?”

She resisted the urge to throw the ring at him. “I assure you, I’m doing this of sound mind and body.” She handed him the ring, but he merely stared at her.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I promise you, I am.”

As he ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, Becca saw for the first time the only hint that he might actually care about her. Then he opened his mouth and obliterated that thought. “Well, you don’t know what you want.”

Since he wouldn’t take the God-awful ring back, she placed it on the coffee table before turning on him. “See, that’s the problem right there. You’re dismissive of me. You treat me like I’m a fashion-obsessed airhead. You act like I can be placated with platitudes and you doing all the thinking because Poor Becca couldn’t possibly handle her own thoughts and opinions.”

“So you’re doing this because you’re worried I don’t think you’re smart? I know you’re smart. Why do you think I selected you for Dive’s Southland campaign?”

She shook her head. “You don’t even see the problem with that. You can’t swoop in and suggest that my boss put me on a project. I want to earn that right because he thinks I’m good. Not because my boyfriend is one of the higher ups at our parent company. Geez, Holden. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but you went about it all wrong. You don’t listen. You don’t pay attention.”
Unlike Liam
.

“I pay attention. And I can see how stressed out you are.”

“I’m stressed out because I was tossed into the deep end of a project no one wanted me to have, for which I have no support. I’m stressed out because my boyfriend proposed to me in my office, the last thing I wanted because it wasn’t private or intimate. I’m stressed out because that same boyfriend then decided to plan my whole wedding and honeymoon without asking for a shred of input, then had the nerve to act affronted when I told him I have an opinion.”

Holden crossed his arms. “Becca, you need to calm down. Think this through. Be rational for a second. This is cold feet. Happens to everyone. Even me. It’ll pass. We were meant to be together.”

Was he nuts? She knew he hated to lose, but this was going above and beyond. If he bothered to look at their relationship properly, he’d see he didn’t want to marry her either. They were all wrong for each other. Why was she was the only one who could see that?

Because of Liam.

No. This had nothing to do with Liam. Even without him, she still wouldn’t marry Holden.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry if this hurts you, but no. You don’t know the first thing about me. If you did, you would know that what I really want is to be listened to like what I have to say matters. You would know that I would choose Zumba as a preferred method of exercise over running, biking, yoga, or any of the myriad exercise fads you want me to try. You would know that when you treat me like I have no opinion, it feels like I’m strangling. And for the love of God, you would know that I fucking loathe pink!”

“What do you mean you hate pink? Isn’t that what those reality girls always wear? You love those shows.”

Becca rolled her eyes. “Because I love to make fun of them and their trumped-up drama. I’m not actually one of them.”

He blinked as if the thought had never occurred to him. “Okay, I get it, you’re ticked off, and maybe I could have paid more attention. If you want to get married in Podunk, New Jersey, I’m there. We’re still all booked for the Ironman, and we can just use the resort for the honeymoon. And I’ll spend more time with you. Hell, we should be training together anyway. And you’ll see. I’ll make this right. You just need some time to sleep on this. When you wake up, you’ll see that I’m right. We’ll—”

What the hell would it take to make him listen to her? “I know this tactic of yours, Holden. It’s the same one you use for sales leads. I’m not one of those. I’m a person.” She licked her lips. “Do you know what I’m most afraid of? What terrifies me and gives me nightmares? Do you know?” The bile rose in her throat as she thought of the cloying suffocation.

His voice softened. “Of course, and I promise to always be there to kill your spiders.”

She stared at him, unblinking, as his words sunk in. Then she remembered the night they’d been in her room and she’d seen one on the wall. Admittedly she’d freaked, but come on, it was a spider. Who actually liked spiders?

But he thought her squealing amounted to terrifying nightmares? She ground her teeth. “Spiders do not keep me up at night. They don’t make me feel like I’m being suffocated. I’m afraid of water.” Once the words were out, she shuddered and couldn’t stop them. “I almost drowned when I was a kid. I can still feel the pressure of the water on my lungs. I still remember struggling to reach the surface, but sucking in mouthfuls of water instead. I remember the way it burned. I relive it when I close my eyes at night.”

He shook his head. “But you’ve been going swimming.”

“I’ve been taking lessons so I could survive the honeymoon that you planned. I didn’t have the heart to tell you that it was going to be a bust if I drowned.”

“You really think a few lessons were going to prepare you for the Ironman? See, Becca, this is a perfect example of why I make decisions for you. You don’t think things through.”

She cracked her neck and only by sheer will resisted the temptation to slap him. If only Van were here. She’d have annihilated his ass by now. “I. Am. Not. Some. Flighty. Airhead! I never wanted to do the goddamn Ironman. That was you thinking for me again. I only wanted to survive a honeymoon where there might be a pool or a beach and maybe some kayaking.” She sniffed. “Looks like I wasted my time because that honeymoon is clearly not going to happen.”

She left the ring where it was and stalked to his front door.

“Becca. Wait, dammit. I’m still talking to you.”

Becca shook her head. “Well, I don’t have anything else to say to you.”

She opened his front door, and he stayed her with his hand. “I’m not letting it end this way.”

She tilted her chin and met his gaze. “Too bad for you that you don’t have any say in that.”

Chapter Twelve

Becca blinked away tears as she left Holden’s building. How could she have been so wrong about him? More importantly how had she dealt with his condescending bullshit for this long?

But mostly she felt like an idiot. Like she’d made this bed only to find that there was a broken spring in it.

Once safely in the hidden confines of her car, she allowed the tears to spill. With shaky hands she called Van. It rang and rang, but eventually went to voicemail. “Where are you, Van? I could use some sassy wit right now. Call me.”

She didn’t want to go home. There was still so much of Holden’s stuff there. She’d have to pack it up, and they’d eventually have to do the sad exchange. But the last thing she wanted to do was see anything that reminded her of him.

Before she even registered what she was doing, she scrolled through her contacts to Liam. Hovering over his name, she debated not calling him, but she needed to talk to someone. She needed to feel like her. Her thumb slid over the call button and she waited as the phone rang.

It rang four times, before a breathless Liam picked up. “Becca?”

“Hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“No, it’s cool.” He paused. “Are you okay? You sound like you’ve been crying.”

“I—” What was she supposed to say that? She
would be
okay, but right about now she felt like sludge she’d scraped off her Prada pumps. “I guess I wanted to hear your voice. Had a pretty crappy day is all.”

She could hear the concern in his voice. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her answer surprised her. “Actually, I was thinking, uhm, if you had a minute, maybe I could go for a swim. I don’t know. I—actually want to be in the water. Accomplish something. Is that crazy?”

“Not crazy at all. You’re starting to relax in the water, and it feels good to you. It can be really calming.”

“I know it’s an imposition, and we don’t have a lesson scheduled, and I’m seeing you Friday, but…” Her voice trailed.

He was quick to answer. “No. Not an imposition. I want to hear from you if you’re having a bad day. Thing is, I’ve already left the pool. How about a glass of wine, and we can hang out at my place. Not exactly what I planned for our first date, but I’d like to see you.”

His place? Her body warmed at the thought. All alone with no one to interrupt them? “Yeah, okay.” Adrenaline replaced the anger and disappointment, and suddenly, she was in a better mood than she’d been in all day.

After he gave her his address, it didn’t take her long to get to his place in North Park. He lived in one of the newer lofts near 30th. The building was one of those modern masterpieces that brought a hint of warmth.

Becca paused outside his door as nerves held her temporarily frozen in place.
This is Liam. In a few weeks of lessons, he already knows you better than Holden did after a year.
Immediately, the tension rolled off her shoulders, and she knocked.

It took him less than five seconds to open the door, as if he’d been waiting for her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she mumbled awkwardly.

Liam studied her for a minute then pulled her in for a hug. With his strong arms around her, holding her tight to him, everything from the day seeped away. None of it mattered anymore. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug.

When he drew back, he studied her for a moment, then dipped his head and placed a soft kiss on her lips. The spark of electricity startled her into a gasp. Yeah, the man was potent, no doubt about that.

Liam released her quickly and stepped back to let her inside. “You looked like you needed a hug.”

She grinned. “You’re right about that.” She followed him into his living room and noticed the game on the television. “Did I interrupt?”

“No.” He clicked off the TV. “It was serving as background noise while I paced and waited for you.”

She giggled. “I find it hard to believe you were pacing for me.”

“It’s true.” He inclined his head toward the kitchen. “Red or white?”

“Red.” She couldn’t help exploring his place a little as he retrieved glasses. His furniture was clearly expensive, and tasteful. Most of it looked broken in, like he actually used the couch and chairs instead of owning show pieces. The pictures on the wall were a mixture of pop art, traditional art work, and movie posters. She noticed one on the wall for Spider Man. “So, Robin, do you want to explain how you’re cheating on me with Spidey?”

His laughter boomed. “A friend of mine was part of the production. I did some design work on his condo, so I got one of the original movie posters.”

“Design work?”

He handed a glass to her, which she took gratefully. “Believe it or not, I actually have a real job as an architect. I took leave in order to help my mom, but I hope to get back to it one of these days.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this.”

“About me being an architect?”

“About you cheating on me with Spiderman.”

The corners of his lips tipped up into a smile. “I promise, I have room in my heart for both of you.”

She took a sip of wine. “I love your place. Did you design it yourself? The full length windows are my favorite feature.”

“I didn’t design the building, but the interior is my brainchild. I like it, too, though I wish I’d given consideration to the noise factor on Fridays and Saturdays. With the bar and restaurants kitty corner to this place, it can get a little crazy.”

“Do you ever feel...exposed?” She stood by one of the windows and looked out. A similar apartment complex stood across the street. “I mean, with the big windows and all?”

He moved beside her. “I didn’t want to put up blinds—I like the openness—so I had a special reflective film put on the glass. I can see out, but no one can see in.”

It wasn’t until they sat that he asked, “So what has your pretty eyes so red?”

She chewed her bottom lip. Why was she so upset? She didn’t want to be with Holden. Then finally it hit her. “You know how people have this impression of you that’s not at all accurate, but somehow you find yourself playing into their expectations?”