Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
“I could easily call Jackson and find out what’s going on with you. I’m sure you’ve told him.”
“Don’t. Like I said it’s nothing.”
Ethan reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and extracted his cell phone. He had just pulled up his contact list, when his sister reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Okay. I’ll tell you.”
Slowly he placed the phone on the table but kept his hand over it to let her know he could still make that call if she wasn’t more forthcoming.
“It’s Riley.”
Ethan stiffened at the mention of his wife. “What about her?”
“You know how we’d lost touch after the two of you divorced?”
He nodded not trusting himself to speak without making a flippant remark in regards to his so called divorce.
“Remember how I told you how we’d met up again by chance and we exchanged numbers. I practically begged her come to my engagement party before she agreed to come. I’d told her I wanted her to be in my wedding party, after all she and I were friends long before the two of you were together. I didn’t think you’d mind, since it seems like you’ve moved on. You don’t mind do you?”
“Not at all,” he answered tightly. “It’s your wedding and you’re entitled to have whomever you please in the wedding party. But I suspect there’s more to this than you’re telling me.”
“At the party she wasn’t expecting to see you. I think that’s why she had to leave so suddenly. Anyway, before she left I reiterated how I wanted her to participate in the ceremony. I also told her I didn’t want to lose contact with her again. She said she wouldn’t but I’ve left several messages and texted her a few times but she hasn’t responded to any of them. She may be mad at me for not telling her you’d be at the party. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to deal with me anymore. I thought…” Tears welled in Megan’s big blue eyes which she hastily blinked away. “I’m sorry. Like I said it’s nothing. Maybe I shouldn’t have pressed so hard. I know I can be a bit overbearing.”
Ethan clenched his fists at his sides. Sure his sister could be sensitive at times but if Riley was avoiding her because of him it was something he intended to rectify. It did disturb him a bit to think after seven years, Riley hadn’t matured enough to put her differences aside with him in order to be there for an old friend. But damn if that woman still couldn’t get under his skin.
His balls tightened as he remembered how sexy she’d looked in that form fitting black dress. It had taken a considerable amount of willpower on his part to not take her in his arms and taste her succulent lips that tempted him beyond reason. It almost seemed like witchcraft that Riley still had so much power over his libido. Though hearing his sister’s distress made him more than a little annoyed at Riley, it also made a way for him to set his plan into action.
“Megan, sweetheart. I’m sure she doesn’t mean to ignore you. She probably has a lot going on right now. You’ll hear from her.”
“What makes you so sure I will? She’s pulled a disappearing act on me before. When I saw her again, I just remembered how much she meant to me. I don’t want to lose her again. Even though I’d like her to be in my wedding, she doesn’t have to be. I just want to be a part of her life again.” Megan dabbed at the corner of her eye and sniffed.
Ethan handed her his handkerchief. “Not only will she not drop out of your life again, she’ll be in the wedding.”
“Really? How eager will she be when I tell her you’re one of the groomsmen?”
“I’ll handle it.”
Megan narrowed her gaze to icy blue slits. “What do you have in mind? You’re not going to bully her into it are you? That didn’t work out so well for you the first time did it?”
Ethan would have winced if his years as a trial attorney had not schooled him to keep his reactions in check. “Is that how you saw it?”
“Well, you have a way of running roughshod over people to get your way. And the most frustrating part about it is you’re usually right most of the time. Riley is sensitive. She requires a gentle touch. You know what it was like for her growing up with a bunch of unhappy people. They wanted her to be just as unhappy as they were.”
He raised a brow, unable to hold back his mild surprise this time around. He’d always known Riley put too much stock into what her family thought about him which had served as a constant bone of contention between the two of them. But he wondered if there was more to it than he’d realized. Megan seemed to know more about it than he did. “How so?”