His dark hair was brushed to the side and his blue eyes twinkled at her. She longed for the right to throw herself against his chest and never leave. What was she doing ditching the perfect man for her?
Ren started her direction, but stopped abruptly when Mr. No-Name came around the Lexus and put his hand on Mavyn’s lower back to escort her into the restaurant. Mavyn flinched at the unwanted touch. She only wanted Ren’s hand on her back.
“Mavyn?” Ren asked, his eyes uncertain as they flickered from her date to her.
“Hi, Ren,” she managed in a wobbly voice, forcing herself to go through with the farce no matter how much it hurt. “Sorry dinner didn’t work out tonight.”
“Who is that?” her date asked.
“An old friend.”
Ren’s jaw clenched and he stormed across the sidewalk, stopping right in front of her. Sheesh. He was big, and he was glorious. “What’s going on, Mavyn?” he said in a low, gravelly voice.
“Change of plans,” she squeaked out.
Ren’s gaze raked over her and she was milliseconds away from jumping into his arms and begging him to tell her he loved her and someday God could love her. She straightened her back. Neither would ever happen. She had to stay strong.
“You’re scared,” he said in a quiet tone that contradicted how tough he was. Yet she’d seen he could be soft, for her.
Mavyn could never let herself admit to fear. Not even Cora knew how terrified she was inside. She tilted her chin imperiously, but she couldn’t think of the right words to lie to him.
“Who is this?” her date demanded.
“Ren Chadwick,” Ren said, strong, confident, in charge of the world. She wanted him in her life more than she wanted to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
“Joel Miller,” her date said. So that was his name.
They shook hands briefly and then Joel put pressure on her back to start walking. “We’ve got a reservation.”
Ren stepped in front of her. He looked powerful, imposing, appealing, thrilling. She wanted to close her eyes to protect herself, but she stayed erect and tried for an uninterested gaze. She definitely failed.
“Look, Mavyn.” His voice was husky and beautiful. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but this isn’t the man for you … I am.”
“Excuse me?” Joel sounded affronted.
Mavyn’s stomach hopped happily. Ren was the man for her. Why was she running? She’d known perfect happiness in his arms, and she could be back there in an instant.
No, the dark voice inside said. You could never be worthy of a man like Ren. God was only taunting you, showing you how low you are.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Mavyn ground out, each word a battle. “No man is the man for me.”
His blue eyes flashed. He was going to fight for her. She loved him for it, but she couldn’t give him the chance. She scurried around him and to the restaurant door, letting Joel play catchup.
“Someday you’ll see the truth, Mavyn. Someday you’ll see the light,” Ren said to her back.
“Light is a fantasy,” she hurled over her shoulder, “and so is love.” She allowed herself to drink in his blue gaze, so intent and full of her, one more time before darting through the restaurant door. She ran for the women’s restroom, ignoring Joel’s calls to her. Ren had never said the word love, but she knew that fantasy would never happen for her.
She’d just cruelly rejected the only man she could have had true happiness with.
Chapter One
Ren Chadwick smiled as he watched his little sister. Iris glowed with happiness on her wedding day, dancing around the room in the arms of Devon, her new husband. His gaze swung around to take in all his happily married siblings and cousins: Cedar and Hope, Aster and Chelsea, Devon and Iris, Cat and Stetson, and Cruz and Meredith. Even Quill seemed to be falling in love, though Ren didn’t think his choice was right for him.
A dark feeling rolled through him that he didn’t appreciate. Quill’s choice was Cora Nelson, best friend to Mavyn Vance. Once upon a time, Ren had thought the good Lord had brought him and Mavyn together and he’d found the woman he was meant to be with. But as far as fairy tales go, this one ended with the beautiful princess revealing herself to be a vicious witch—no happily ever after on the horizon.
Mavyn had done worse than ditch him as he’d waited with joyful anticipation for their second date, wondering how it