The Game Plan (Neighbor from Hell #5)(80)

Or rather, he heard his father talking to her about the *.

He still couldn’t believe just how badly that piece of shit had f*cked her over. What kind of a man does that to a woman? Not only does he dump her, but he also leaves her destitute and responsible for cleaning up his mess? There was no doubt in his mind that if he’d been home when he’d found out the extent of just how badly that piece of shit had f*cked her over that he would probably at this very moment be getting arrested for killing the bastard.

All those times that he watched her deny herself something that she wanted, watched her settle for less and it was all because of that f*cking loser. When he’d realized just how incompetent and lacking the piece of shit had been in bed he’d been pissed off on her behalf, angry that she’d been with a man who hadn’t appreciated her, but this…….

This was too f*cking much.

And she’d been willing to marry this f*cking *?

That’s the part that he really didn’t understand. The guy had been a f*cking loser in every way possible, sucked in bed, been lacking downstairs and hadn’t treated her the way that she’d deserved. Now he knew that it was actually so much worse. According to his father, the guy was a pudgy, ugly, balding piece of shit who thought it was okay to steal from women and ruin their lives just before he dumped their asses and his Tinkerbelle had dated that.

Not only that, but she’d been willing to marry that f*cking bastard, but not him….

That was the part that he couldn’t understand.

It was also the part that made him feel like shit.

He was supposed to be the one for the her, the one that took care of her, made her happy, loved her and…..

Oh…….f*ck.

He loved her.

He f*cking loved her.

“Shit,” he said, dropping her hand so that he could rub his hands roughly down his face, needing a moment to come to terms with this.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“Nothing,” he said with a small shake of his head, not particularly happy with this revelation.

He didn’t like this, not one f*cking bit.

She was supposed fall in love with him, not the other way around. This was his game plan! She was supposed to come to need him, want him and ultimately love him so that he could marry her and have what his father, uncles and cousins had. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with a small woman who not only didn’t love him, but also didn’t want to marry him. He needed her to fall in love with him so that when he finally fell in love with her, his game plan would be over and she would be all his.

“Tell me why you won’t marry me,” he said, taking a step back, needing the space to clear his head.

“It has nothing to do with you. I’m just not interested in marriage,” she explained with a wobbly smile that caught his attention.

“You don’t want to get married?” he asked casually, waiting for her answer and the confirmation that he needed as he quickly formatted a brand new game plan, one that would end with him getting exactly what he wanted.

It was risky and something that he’d told himself that he wouldn’t do, but the stubborn woman standing in front of him, searching for the right way to tell him that she wasn’t interested in marrying him really wasn’t leaving him with much of a choice, now was she? Then again, he really shouldn’t be shocked. The woman didn’t seem to know what was good for her.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m just not interested in getting married,” she said softly as if that would somehow make it easier for him to accept.

It didn’t, but it did make his decision to follow through with his new game plan easier. There was a real possibility that she would never speak to him again after this, but…..

What the hell, it would be worth it. She’d be his forever and she would know for the rest of her life that a man loved her, truly loved her and wanted her then that was a risk that he was willing to take.

“I understand,” he murmured absently as he reached down and took her hand in his, running several possibilities through his head. “I understand.”

*-*-*-*

“Danny?”

“I need to make a call,” he said, picking his phone up from the bureau as he made his way towards the door. “I’m going to be a while.”

“That’s okay,” she said around a yawn as she laid back down on the bed and snuggled back beneath the covers, more than happy to have an excuse to get in a few more minutes of sleep before she was forced to face a long day of standing in lines at one of the parks.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised just as she started to drift off.

*-*-*-*

Nine hours later…..

“Baby pink or baby blue,” she contemplated out loud to the empty hotel room as she tried to decide between the two small bottles of insanely expensive nail polish that she’d bought from the hotel store.

Sighing, she shot another glance at the alarm clock bolted to the nightstand and once again couldn’t help but wonder what kind of phone call took nine hours. When she woke up to discover that she’d managed to sleep for three whole hours she’d been admittedly surprised. When she’d managed to get in a shower and get dressed she’d become a little concerned and now, she was becoming a little pissed for good reason.