As a matter of fact, Ryan did not get the chance to ask Becca if it was okay if he brought Tracy to the spelling bee competition to show support for Emma. On Monday afternoon, he had to travel to one of the branches of his company to sort out some issues that came up suddenly, so he was very busy it totally escaped his mind. By the time Wednesday came, he still wasn’t done with what he went to do, but he had no intentions of missing the competition. Emma called him literally every minute to remind him about it, and he knew that if he missed it, she would very pissed at him. He got on his plane and arrived back in town in record time. His driver was waiting at the airport with a car to take him straight to the venue where the competition was taking place. It was when he saw Tracy in the car, all glammed up for the event, that he remembered that he did not inform Becca about the fact that Tracy was going to be there.“Hey honey, are you not a sight for sore eyes?” Tracy crooned, immed
“I’d like to take everyone out to lunch to celebrate Emma’s success in the competition.” Ryan offered as they all left as a group.“Thanks, but I think I’ll just go home and sleep. I feel sort of tired. The rest of you can go on without me though.” Becca declined, much to Tracy’s delight. She did not like the way Ryan had been trying to talk to Becca throughout the competition, even when it was clear that the woman was focused on her daughter. It was very evident that Ryan still felt something for this woman, so she was going to do her best to quench whatever feelings he had. Becca watched Tracy hang on to Ryan’s arm as though she was drowning and he was the only solid thing that she could find.“That’s okay, Becca. We’ll send some food home to you. You don’t have to cook anything.” Tracy offered, and Becca sent a tight-lipped smile her way, quelching the urge to rip Tracy’s fingers off Ryan’s arm. What was wrong with her for chrissakes? The woman was only trying to be friendly.“I th
Becca soon began to regret her on-the-spur-of-the-moment decision to go away for the weekend with Trevor. What on earth was she going to do with him for the whole weekend? She was going to meet his family for chrissakes. It was his sister’s wedding, after all. What if they all thought that she and he were having something serious? Well, it was too late to back out now, so on the Wednesday of the week that she was to leave with him, she invited Ryan inside her house when he dropped Emma off from school.He smiled gratefully when she asked him to come in, as he always did anytime she offered him something without him asking. Taylor got down from the car with him, and waited impatiently while Emma changed her clothes, and then they both skipped over to Dan’s house to play with his puppy, leaving the two adults alone.“How have you been, Becca?” He asked her after a while, accepting the glass of water she gave him and declining her offer of something to eat.“I’ve been fine, and you?”“I’m
At the touch of Ryan’s lips against hers, Becca felt as though her body had been charged with electricity. She had forgotten how succulent his lips were and how much of a good kisser he was, and now, she couldn’t stop kissing him. She knew that she should stop, that any of the kids could wander in at that very moment, but she could not for the life of her bring herself to stop him, not even when his hands left her face and trailed down to her neck and beyond.Ryan moaned into her mouth and changed angle, kissing her even more thoroughly, until Becca was sure that she would explode. She ran her hands over his muscled back, enjoying the hardness of his body underneath his shirt and reveling in the feeling of his warmth. They must have remained there just kissing and touching each other for ten minutes or more when the sound of excited giggles caused both of them to fly apart as though they were kids whose hands had been caught in the candy jar. She was backing the door, so she could not
The door was ajar when Tracy got there, so she simply pushed it open and stepped inside the room. The kids paused their conversation when she entered, and for a second, she just stood there staring at them and feeling incredibly stupid as they stared back at her. What on earth was she doing coming to confront little kids about why they were talking about her relationship? Still, she was already here, so she might as well say her piece.“Listen here, Emma. I know that you want your mom and dad to get back together, but honey, it’s not gonna happen, so you better get that into your head and let things be.” Tracy told Emma, trying to be as nice as possible.“They love each other and we’re going to be one big, happy family,” Emma replied stubbornly. The other two kids remained silent.“Oh, really? And whatever gave you that idea?”“Well … well, I see the way he looks at her. Also, I saw them kissing each other. Taylor and I did. They kissed for a long time.” Emma finished triumphantly.“A
Becca found Tracy hovering at the entrance to the hospital, looking nothing like the impeccably groomed woman that she usually was. Immediately the woman sighted Becca, she scurried over to her side and gripped her hands tightly, her pretty face streaked with tears, and spoke before Becca could. “I know that you must hate me, Becca. Hell, I hate myself too and I would gladly trade places with Emma if it were possible. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I swear that it was a mistake. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Tracy said, sounding very sincere, but Becca was not in the mood to listen to anything until she saw her child.“Let go of me. I want to go see her. I’ve had the most anxious wait of my life trying to get here.”“Oh, sorry. Of course. I hear that she’s going to be okay.” Tracy said in a small voice, letting go of Becca’s hands as though they had suddenly caught fire.“Yeah. Ryan said so. Better hope it’s true, otherwise, you’re going to be very sorry.” Becca repl
“To my utter shame, I cannot dispute the fact that I did indeed kiss you back, but the thing is that I got carried away by your story and I felt sorry for you. You can rest assured that it would not happen again. So please, keep your hands and lips to yourself from now henceforth.” Becca informed Ryan, sounding very convincing even to herself.“Ouch. There’s a first time for everything, I guess. I never thought the day would come when a woman would tell me that she only kissed me back because she felt sorry for me, but here we are.” Ryan said.“You must think the world of yourself,” Becca said in irritation, not doubting his words in the slightest. He was a hot man, and a very rich one at that. There was no doubt that there were droves of women who would gladly kiss him and even jump into bed with him given the slightest opportunity. She was not going to be one of them, however.“Actually, I don’t. I like to think that I’m a humble enough man. But it’s not a problem. I understand that
Ryan and Tracy walked in tense silence to the hospital’s parking lot, where her car was parked. Although she had stopped crying earlier, she was beginning to sniffle once again, looking very small all of a sudden. Ryan felt a little sorry for her. Tracy was a good person, and she had gone out of her way to get the kids to like her, but Emma could be quite stubborn, and she had thwarted all her efforts. Still, getting wasted around the kids when she was supposed to be in charge of them was inexcusable.“I’m really sorry, Ryan. I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen. You must think that I’m a monster.” She began, holding onto his arm and staring into his face as though to convince him of her innocence.“No, I don’t. Mistakes happen, and I know you will not intentionally hurt Emma.”“Oh, thank God. I was so scared that you would think that I had done that to her on purpose. So you’re not breaking up with me?” She asked hopefully.“Why? Do you wanna break up?”“Of course not! I just thou