After the Christmas Party(52)

“I can honestly say this wasn’t how I envisioned us spending Christmas Day together.”

“I imagine not.” Now she glanced toward him, her eyes full of emotion that he wished was focused on the positive instead of whatever had occupied her mind all day.

“Which means what? That you’ve deliberately needled me because you didn’t want to go with me to my mother’s? That you’ve deliberately undermined our day together?”

Because he’d had that impression all day, but why she’d do that made absolutely no sense to him. No sense whatsoever.

“From the moment of the hospital Christmas party you’ve refused to listen when I tell you something about myself and you claim it means something else, something that’s what you want to hear. Then, when, like today, I’m not what you envisioned, you don’t understand why I’m not. Well, hello, Riley, but I am a woman with real needs and real wants and real desires. If I say I like something or don’t like something, guess what? That means I like something or don’t like something. And you want to know something else?”

“You’re obviously going to tell me whether I want to know or not.” He pulled his car into his driveway and parked beneath the covered awning.

“I don’t like you after all.” Trinity jumped out and headed to her car.

He felt a first-class jerk. How had the day gone so wrong? Why was he going after her when it would be better to just let her leave? They had no future. Yet he couldn’t let her go.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, putting his hand over the car door to prevent her from being able to open it.

“Anywhere you aren’t,” she spat at him.

“Trinity, why are you doing this?”

Her? Trinity fumed. He was trying to blame this on her? Him and his goody-two-shoes, perfect, rich, Christmas-loving family could just get over themselves. Okay, so she’d liked his family, had enjoyed playing cards with his sisters, mother and aunt, had found herself thinking that this was how families should be. How Christmas should be.

She’d longed to be a real part of his family, had been saddened that she would always be on the outside of such family moments, of real Christmas joy.

But that didn’t give Riley reason to blame her for the day going wrong. She’d told him she hadn’t wanted to go and he’d finagled her into doing so and then blamed her when things hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. Why was that her fault?

She’d taken blame For enough things during her life. For her mother’s problems. For her father leaving. For Chase finding her lacking. For Chase leaving her. She refused to take blame any more for not being what someone thought she should be.

“Because I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be with you. I didn’t from the beginning but I got caught up in this fairy-tale you tried to create. Well, guess what, Riley? Fairy-tales don’t exist. They don’t come true. Not everyone gets a Prince Charming or a happily-ever-after or even a pair of pink hightops. The whole concept of happily-ever-after is as fake as…as Santa Claus himself.”

“You really believe that?”

She nodded, saw the look of disgust in his eyes, the disappointment. No doubt she’d been one big disappointment for him. From last night through today.

“I also believe that I don’t want to see you any more. Just leave me alone, please. We’re finished.” She shoved past him and got into her car.

This time he didn’t try to stop her.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN



THROUGH HER TEAR-CRAZED haze, Trinity realized she’d left her cat at Riley’s. How could she have forgotten Casper?

Then again, she couldn’t exactly be faulted for not thinking rationally. She’d just had a crazy few hours.

She’d had sex, amazing sex that had proved at least on one count Chase had been wrong. She wasn’t frigid. She might not be a dynamo in bed, but she at least now knew what all the fuss was about.

She’d met Riley’s family. She’d liked them, regretted that she’d probably never see again the wonderful women she’d come to know.

She’d realized she was in love with Riley and then proceeded to fight with him all day.

Christmas. What a blasted day! A day when everything seemed to always go wrong. Only could she really blame everything that had gone wrong today on the holiday?

She’d expected everything to go wrong and had pretty much rejected his sweet, thoughtful gifts. He was right.

She’d been the problem.

How could she have been so blind?

How could she have dirtied something so good? Because Riley was good to her. Good for her. He’d genuinely liked her. Genuinely wanted her. Thinking back to how he’d looked at her, how he’d held her and touched her, she had to wonder if maybe he genuinely loved her.