Valentine from a Soldier(12)

“What was that guy’s name that you met this weekend?” Julia asked, interrupting my thoughts. I glanced up and saw her holding the office phone, her hand covering the mouthpiece.

“What?” I asked, looking confusedly at her.

“Oh, Morgan told me about him this morning,” she said with a shrug.

I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Morgan would have even brought him up with my assistant, but I could see that she was waiting for an answer. “Ryan,” I replied as she looked at my expectantly. “Why?”

“He’s on the phone.”

My heart skipped a beat as I stared at her, feeling slightly dumbfounded. Ryan had tried calling me a couple of times over the weekend, leaving me brief messages saying that he really wanted to talk. He’d also texted an apology, which I might have thought was tacky except I hadn’t returned any of his calls, so what was he supposed to do? He had no idea if I’d actually listened to any of his voicemails. Now he’d managed to track me down at the office as well. I sighed, thinking this was neither the time nor place for us to talk. Not that I was ready to anyway. “Tell him I’m working.”

“I’m sorry, she’s not available right now,” Julia said into the mouthpiece, all business. “Yes, I think she is upset,” she said in a more hushed whisper. My eyes darted back to her, and she quickly ended the call.

“What did he want?”

“To apologize. He said he really wants to talk to you. He’s willing to fly out here if you’ll talk to him.”

I laughed, a short, harsh sound, with the slight smile on my face never reaching my eyes. “Sure, tell him to come out here,” I said sarcastically, knowing it would never happen. In a day or two he’d find some other woman to go to bed with. Then he’d have no reason to even think about me. Julia sensed that the conversation was over and turned back to her computer, returning to whatever task she’d been working on. I called the wedding caterer and florist to confirm final details for the wedding and then texted Morgan and Josh, telling them both to calm down. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right? Pulling up my files for the conference I was planning next month, I signed the final agreement for the food service arrangements and faxed it to Denver, promising myself that I wouldn’t fall for any tall, handsome, strangers that I happened to meet there. Maybe I should just stay out of bars all together this time.

A new message beeped on my phone, and I was slightly dismayed to see that it was from Ryan. I closed my eyes, trying not to picture his face in my mind, but all I could see were his blue eyes gazing deep into mine, right before our first kiss in my hotel room, and I ached remembering the tender feel of his lips. Finally deciding that I at least owed him a response, even if it was to tell him never to contact me again, I glanced down at his message. My eyes read over his words again and again.

I know that you’re angry, but just tell me one thing—do you regret the time we spent together?

Finally deciding that I had nothing more to lose, and hoping that he’d give me a little breathing room, I sent him a message back.

No. I just need time to think.

I glanced down at my phone as one final message came in.

I’m sorry, Sarah.

***

I met Morgan for drinks at 6:30 p.m., needing to take a breather after my crazy day. I’d gotten two new requests for event planning this afternoon—a conference that was scheduled for early next year and a wedding in the fall. Apparently one of the vendors I’d been working with for Morgan’s wedding had informed another client that I was a wedding planner. Although I might have considered branching out if I wasn’t so busy, there was no way I could take on planning weddings on top of my already full schedule.

The waitress set our drinks down, and I picked up my margarita, taking a long sip.

“Delicious,” Morgan said with a grin, taking a sip of her own rum and coke. “I needed something to take the edge off.”

“Wedding day jitters?” I teased.

“More like wedding week jitters at this point,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just waiting for something to go wrong. Thank God the snowstorm was this past weekend. Can you imagine if my own relatives hadn’t been able to fly in this week for the wedding?”

“That would have been a nightmare,” I agreed. “But don’t worry; you don’t need to worry about a thing. That’s why I’m getting paid the big bucks.” Morgan laughed, knowing I wasn’t getting paid a thing for my honorary role as wedding planner. I wouldn’t have had it any other way though.