do that. But after a moment’s thought she realized that was exactly what Jean would do in this situation—what he had done.
“He’s just doing what he thinks is best.”
Mike’s jaw dropped and he stepped away. “You’re defending him?”
Rori stood her ground, letting Mike build the distance between them. “Not defending him, no. He was out of line. It’s my place to deal with you, not his.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Rori knew she couldn’t said anything much worse.
“Deal with me?” Mike echoed.
“Not the best choice of words. Mike, I—”
“No, they’re the perfect choice of words if you actually mean them. Is that how you see me?” He took several steps away this time, until he was far away so that they couldn’t have touched if they tried. “As someone who needs to be managed until you decide to make a clean break?”
Speaking of a clean break, Rori’s chest wasn’t feeling quite right. A hot, sharp pain was building in the center of it. She would have sworn something felt broken, but nothing had touched her. “Mike,” she breathed.
“Yes or no, Rori. Did you plan on just having fun with me while I was here before cutting things off to marry your perfect husband?”
“Please. He’s not perfect.”
“And you’re not answering the question. Yes or no, Rori. When I see you tomorrow night, are you going to be on your way to being another man’s fiancée?”
She wasn’t ready to answer this question. Not to her mom, not to Anton, and definitely not to Mike. A few months ago, sure. It would have been a no brainer. She’d had her life all planned out. But now? When she opened her mouth to say what she must, nothing came out.
Even worse, Mike saw her obvious hesitation and came to the right conclusion as to what her answer was. The realization seemed to hit him like a punch to the stomach.
In that moment Rori hated her stepfather. Why had Jean intervened? Why hadn’t he just let her thing with Mike run its course? To let them have their moment and let them organically drift apart over a few months. Things would have been so much better that way. So many fewer ‘what ifs’ and a much shorter list of regrets. Rori understood that marriages weren’t necessarily about falling in love, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t want what she and Mike shared for as long as she could have it.
Why couldn’t her parents have just minded their own business? She should be having a blinding orgasm right now, not showing the best man she’d ever met the door. Because that’s what she had to do. There was nowhere else to go for them.
“Why not me?” Mike asked, striding towards her and gripping her arms with his hands. “And don’t tell me it comes down to money. If it’s as simple as that, then just give me a little time. I’ll make it happen. I’ll get rich. Then I’ll sign your stupid contract, and you can marry me.”
“Absolutely not!” Rori said, thinking more about the terms of the contract than the marriage part. The mere thought of Mike directing movies and bedding women on a casting couch was enough to make her want to slap him right then and there.
He let go of her arms as if they suddenly became too hot to touch.
“Wow,” he said, backing toward the door. “Your stepfather was actually right. I am glad he found me before I showed up here tonight and made a total ass of myself—before I made love to you and convinced myself that you wouldn’t be with me if you didn’t love me back.”
His words wrapped around Rori like a warm blanket that quickly turned cold. He’d all but said he loved her, but it didn’t matter because at this point he would never believe her if she said it back.
“Well, then,” she said, trying to go for stoic. “I’m glad that one of us is glad for how tonight turned out.”
Mike shook head and moved the rest of the way to the door. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? And you’re right. I don’t understand your world—nor do I want to. Maybe that makes me a simpleton, but I’ll take your sneers as a compliment from now on.” He yanked the door open. “Because simple guys like me spend their whole lives looking for the type of connection you and I have, and then we fight to hold onto until the day we