Rhett pushed himself out of the car, hoping he wasn’t about to make a complete fool out of himself. He’d had enough of that lately. More than enough to last a lifetime. God. It was a good thing that the press didn’t care to report on rich dudes who got left at the altar. At least not him. Making a fortune in software wasn’t exactly media worthy and he’d been lucky enough to fly under the radar for a long time. If anything, he was happy that all the attention was directed at his company. He made sure that other people there got the spotlight. He wasn’t cut out for that. Never had been. Never would be. It was far better to dazzle behind the scenes.
I’m a dork. Bella would definitely say that if he had voiced that thought out loud.
The pounding pain from his thigh didn’t let up as he walked up to Bella’s door. The place was too normal. Far too normal. Non-descript, doorbell, even a damn doormat with the word, welcome, printed across its abrasive looking surface. Is this seriously where she lives?
Before he could bring his trembling hand to ring the all too normal looking bell, the door opened and there was Bella. She had on a tight-fitting red dress that looked like something straight out of the fifties. Her dark hair was swept up on top of her head and she’d added a fresh sheen of red lipstick to her dark makeup.
In short, she was fucking astounding.
“You were sitting in your car with a stupid look on your face for over five minutes.” She eyed him wryly and her lips twitched into a sarcastic smile. “Yeah. That’s right. I saw you. Either you were trying to work up the courage to come ring the bell, and I’m not sure why that would be the case given that you had no qualms about tracking me down and coming to my workplace or you were trying to decide if I’d sent you to the wrong house.”
Rhett had to smile. She had him pegged so completely. “I- was just nervous.”
“Really?” Bella’s dark brow arched. Her flawless creamy skin bunched up at the juncture between those perfectly shaped brows.
“You don’t think that’s possible?”
“You did track me down. Stalked me would probably be a more appropriate term.”
“Was I so embarrassing? I didn’t even cry. Not even one tear.”
“That is impressive. Can’t say I expected it. I honestly thought you’d pass out after thirty seconds.”
Rhett barely managed not to grind his teeth together at Bella’s bluntness. “Hate to make it so obvious.”
“That’s alright, but we do need to talk about a few things before we go anywhere. So please-” she stepped back away from the open door. “Come in for a minute.”
He almost hesitated. Did she have some kind of trap in there? Or maybe there was a tripwire that he’d trigger when he plowed in and a bag of flour or slime or something equally humiliating would dump on his head. Maybe Bella had some secretly evil roommate who was waiting to devour him on the other side of that door.
“What?” Bella called him out, because, of course, she would. “Is this all too normal for you? I promise I’m not hiding anything. I don’t have any family members on the other side of the door. No one is waiting to like- shank you or something. There are no tricks. Just- just some conversation amongst friends, because that’s what we are, aren’t we, Rhett?”
His name flowed off her lips and like a heady wine or all that whiskey he’d consumed back at her hotel room, went straight to his head. And- uh- other places. He mentally sent his dick a memo to get its shit together and behave, but it wasn’t having any of it. It continued to lengthen and harden and create a very obvious bulge in his jeans. Bella’s eyes flicked down and back to his and there was a shadow of knowing there that made him feel like a horny asshole.
“Uh- god.” He brushed a hand through his hair, which he realized he did far too often. It was his nervous tell. “Now that I think about it, I bet this looks insane.”
Bella’s eyes flashed. “Which part?”
“All of it. Coming here. The wedding that went to shit. What I did that night. Being an asshole. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was. I didn’t exactly have your number and I didn’t think it was appropriate to text you.”
“So, this is a pity dinner.”
“No, it’s not a pity dinner!” Rhett sighed. There was a reason he didn’t do relationships. At least until he met Sarah. Then something went on in his brain that absolutely trashed any of his good common sense and he’d re-trained his brain into being a complete fuck up that thought it was in actual, real love. He didn’t get bored like he thought he would. He didn’t get much of anything at all, emotional or otherwise. Too bad it took him seven years to figure out the learning curve. “Look…”