Free Taming the Playboy by M. J. Carnal Page B

would she be crying over me?”
     
    “She called you in Boston.  You were in the shower.  I answered your phone.  I didn’t know about her then. And I never thought about it again.  Until today. I’m so sorry.”
     
    “Fuck.”  Ryan walked into the house.
     
     
     

Chapter 10
     
    Layla stretched out across the lounge chair.  The lights of the city blurred into the background as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She had spent hours in the ICU and was thankful for the brief reprieve she had while Sophie spent the evening there.  It had been a dreadfully long day.  With Dr. Turner’s help, she had convinced Caleb to go home mid afternoon.  The silence of the room after he left had only made her feel more alone.
     
    Her argument with Ryan replayed in her head.  Her hurt and anger only made worse by his gruff responses.  It was time to move on.  Their time together had been fun.  But the harsh truth was she knew it had only been a fling.  She had known it all along.  Her heart had betrayed her by wanting more.  At almost thirty, her heart had never given her hope of finding love.  She had been determined to live life to the fullest and never settle down. 
     
    Ryan had been different.  The tears fell quickly and she wiped them away.  The minute she had laid eyes on him, even through the window of the gym so many weeks ago when she had gone with Mark to buy Sophie’s ring, she had felt an unfamiliar tug in her chest.  The second she had seen him at Rich and Molly’s wedding, she knew she was in trouble.  And that fateful afternoon, when she arrived in LA to make it home, she had given in to her desire with no thought about consequences.  Her brain may have told her to run screaming but her heart had recognized that he was her other half. 
     
    The back door slid open with a thud, jarring Layla from her thoughts.  She sat up at the sudden intrusion.
     
    “She’s my donor.”  Ryan rushed to her, kneeling down in front of her.  Noticing she had been crying, his heart sank.  He took her face into his hands.  Her eyes widened as his lips crushed her mouth.   The kiss was passionate and long.  When he pulled away, he was breathless.  He put his forehead against hers. 
     
    “Ryan,” Layla whispered, her voice betraying her.
     
    “Lay, she’s my bone marrow donor.  I’m so sorry.  I didn’t realize you didn’t know that.  She told me today that you thought we were together.  There is nothing further from the truth.  There has never been anything between Ari and me.”  His mouth found hers again, this time letting his lips show her everything he was feeling. 
     
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Relief written all over her face.
     
    “Aria has been a part of all of us for so long; I didn’t even realize you didn’t know that.  Lay, I am so sorry. It was so stupid of me not to realize it.  With Mark hurt, I have honestly lost my mind.”
     
    “Why didn’t you tell me she would be with you in Boston?”  Layla’s hands trembled.
     
    “Baby, I didn’t know.  She surprised me at the airport.  And we had barely checked in to the hotel when I got the call from Caleb.  Everything happened so fast.  And by the time I got home, you were so distant.  I was stupid to not figure it out.  I just thought you didn’t want us anymore.”
     
    A sob broke from Layla’s throat.  “It was the exact opposite.  I tried to call you that night.  You were the only person I wanted to tell my job news to.  And she answered your phone and said you were in the shower.  Oh God, Ryan.  I hated her so much.  I thought she took you from me.” 
     
    “Lay, look at me.”  He tilted her head up until her eyes met his.  “I brought her here because she is my family.  She’s my home, Lay.  I am here because of her.  I was so terrified Mark would be dead by the time we landed and that we wouldn’t know because we had been on the airplane.  I needed someone