Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2)(16)

“Just a little.” He sat down on the bed next to her and stroked her face. “Do you want cream or sugar in your coffee?”

“Cream, because it’s my birthday – otherwise I just take a splash of milk, and never sugar,” she said.

He smiled at her. “As a doctor I guess you’re supposed to promote healthy eating.”

“I try.” She took the cup of coffee from him once he’d added cream and sipped it. “This is fabulous. It’s not my coffee, is it?”

“The instant stuff you made me earlier? Um, no.” He grinned. “I think I might need to teach you a little bit about coffee, Dr. Cassidy.”

Did that mean they were going to see each other again?

Or was she hoping for too much?

Not quite sure what to say next, she ate a macaron. What had just happened between them was amazing, but it shouldn’t have happened. And she didn’t have a clue what ought to happen now. “I – um – Ryan, I…” She took a deep breath. She could do this. She was Dr. Rachel Cassidy, a future pillar of the community in Marietta; she was good with her patients…

…and not enough for Nick.

She pushed the words out of her head. “Ryan, this was meant to be just dinner, I feel like a… like a…” She paused. “What do you call a woman who pays for sex?” she asked helplessly.

“You didn’t pay me to go to bed with you,” he said softly. “That just happened. And you’re right – it shouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t part of the deal.”

“I’m no good at relationships,” she said miserably. “I’m divorced – though I probably don’t need to tell you that. You’ve probably already heard it from someone in town.”

“Yeah, I have,” he admitted.

Hopefully nobody in Marietta knew the whole reason why she was divorced; she’d just said that it hadn’t worked out and changed the subject if anyone asked further. Her family and closest friends knew that Nick had cheated on her, but she knew they wouldn’t spread the gossip. Though she hadn’t quite been able to tell them the full story, because she felt too awkward and ashamed about what had happened.

The day she’d come home early from work.

Nick had been there – his shoes were in the hallway – and there was another pair of shoes kicked off next to them. Women’s shoes. Not Rachel’s.

Maybe a colleague had popped in to see him. Or a neighbor. A friend.

But deep down inside she’d known.

She’d heard the noises coming from the bedroom. And, unable to stop herself, she’d pushed the door open.

Nick had been lying there on their bed, gripping the wrought iron headboard and grunting in pleasure. And another woman – a woman with lush curves, so very different to Rachel’s own slender frame – had been straddling his naked body, bouncing up and down on him and crying out equally loudly.

They’d been making too much noise to hear her.

Hurt, betrayed and angry, she’d slammed the door. Hard. She hadn’t even been able to pack, because her clothes were in the wardrobe opposite the bed. Their marriage bed. A bed of betrayal.

She’d gone into the bathroom to throw up. When she came out again, Nick was standing there. Fully dressed. And the woman had gone, though the cloying perfume she’d worn still hung in the air.

“Who is she?” Rachel had demanded.

“Esme.”

Two syllables that had brought Rachel’s world crashing down. She knew the name. Nick’s ex. The one she’d overheard his mother comparing her to – and not favorably.

“I’m going back to her,” he said.

As if Nick guessed what she was thinking – what had she done wrong? Why had he betrayed her like that? – his lip curled. “You’re not enough for me. I only dated you to get back at Esme when we had a fight.”

She’d stared at him in shock. “But you said you loved me. You married me!”

“I didn’t really love you. Not like I love her. And I married you on the rebound. My mistake.”

There hadn’t been even the slightest hint of remorse, much less an apology.

“I’ll come back for my stuff tomorrow when you’re not here,” he’d said. Then he’d walked out of their apartment and out of their marriage.

How stupid she’d been. Falling in love with a man who didn’t love her back. Who’d seen her as a poor substitute for the woman he really loved. And she was never, ever going to make that kind of mistake again. No more relationships. No more chances of getting hurt. So she needed to be honest with Ryan Henderson right now.

“Just so you know, I’m not looking to get involved with anyone,” she said.

“Me, neither,” he said. “I’m assuming you know my home situation, because Marietta’s a small town and everyone knows everything about everyone.”

Not quite everything, she hoped, but she nodded.

“Right now I just don’t have time for a relationship. My focus is on looking after my grandmother – being there for her, the way she was for me when my parents were killed.”

So in the end there was an easy get-out for both of them, she thought. “So we’ll, um, just pretend this didn’t happen?”