Fight Like You've Never Lost (Summer Lake #14) - S.J. McCoy Page 0,82

answer him and tell him that she didn’t want him back. But that would be a lie, and she had the feeling that he knew it—even if she was still struggling to admit it.

I thought we were going to stay out of each other’s way.

She didn’t know what else to say.

You only said until I prove that you were wrong.

She frowned. Yes. She had said that. And he wasn’t going to be able to prove it.

I’m going to do that tomorrow night, so …

What the hell was he talking about? She didn’t know, but she did know that he was sitting in his office with Donovan. So, why was he texting her instead of talking to him? She also knew that he’d be waiting for her to ask him to explain. She blew out a sigh and sent:

?

His reply came back almost immediately.

You’re having dinner with me tomorrow night. I’ll prove it to you then.

Damn, him! He had a nerve.

What makes you think I’m having dinner with you? I might have other plans.

You don’t. And we both know that Donovan won’t mind. I’ll pick you up at seven.

She stared at the screen. Her hands were shaking. Why was she letting herself get dragged back into this? It was bad enough that she’d crumbled and faced the fact that she didn’t hate him, that she did miss him. But was she really going to have dinner with him? Listen to his lies again and let him try to convince her with some kind of proof that she knew couldn’t exist? She shouldn’t do any of it. She should tell him to go screw himself. Instead, she tapped out her reply.

Okay.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ryan slid into the booth opposite Dan with a smile.

“What are you looking so pleased about? And what happened this afternoon?”

He shrugged. “I guess Leanne thought my time would be more effectively spent with Donovan.”

Dan frowned. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Honestly.” He couldn’t help smiling. “Okay, maybe I deliberately made her uncomfortable.”

“How?”

“By letting her know that I don’t plan to give up.”

Dan smiled. “So, what do you plan to do?”

“She’s going to have dinner with me tomorrow night and I’m going to prove to her once and for all that I didn’t cheat on her.”

“Good. I don’t know why you didn’t do that when you first found out what had happened.”

Ryan shrugged. “There was already too much water under the bridge by then. She swore up and down that she was done with me and that she hated me. I was still angry with her for that. I wanted her to believe me. If she needed proof, then that just said that my word meant nothing to her.”

“But if she still needs proof now … what’s changed?”

Ryan blew out a sigh. “I guess I have. I guess back then I needed her to prove that she loved me enough to believe me. Now, I’m prepared to give her whatever she needs so she can believe me.” He met Dan’s gaze. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For forcing the issue. I could have gone the rest of my life telling myself that we were over and done. But this … you’ve given me the chance to admit that I don’t want us to be over, that I want us to be back together. I don’t want her to be my past. I want her to be my future.”

Dan grinned at him. “Can I do anything to help?”

“I don’t think so. Not unless she asks you what I’m playing at. If she does, tell her the truth.”

“I will. Just set me straight on what the truth is?”

Ryan chuckled. “Okay. I’ll say it out loud. The truth is that I still love her, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”

Dan’s eyes twinkled when he smiled. “Awesome! That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Ryan smiled back at him. “I just hope I can get through to her.”

“You will.”

After they’d eaten and he’d filled Dan in on his meeting with Sullivan in San Francisco last week, they walked back across the parking lot.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Dan said when they stopped at his truck.

“Yeah. Don’t forget that we have a call scheduled with Callahan at eleven. He’s saying he wants to come out here next week, but I know he wants to talk to you first.”

“Oh.” Dan’s smile faded. “I meant to tell you. I mentioned him to Leanne this afternoon. She didn’t look thrilled.”

Ryan sighed. “Yeah. She wouldn’t. But that’s just one more detail I need to