“Bastard. What did you do?”

He pauses. “I asked her to marry me and let me raise the baby with her as my own. But she declined my offer. She said that she had been too blinded by Bradley to realize that it was me who she loved, but because of that she wouldn’t take advantage of me.”

“You sweet man.” My heart aches for the woman who was too late and the man lying next to me. Love played him cruelly. “And after that?”

“I went to see her grandparents. At first, they wouldn’t take my money, but when they saw that nothing would change my mind, they accepted my help, and I’m glad of it.”

A wave of jealousy hits me straight in the chest. “Do you still love her?”

His eyes burn into mine. “No, Blaire. I don’t.”

A sudden surge of tenderness for the man in front of me sweeps through me, leaving me lightheaded. I crawl on top of him and rain kisses all over him, wanting to erase the bleak look in his eyes. “You know what I think?”

“What’s that, my darling?”

I trace my tongue on his nipple, a deviant smile adorning my face. “I think we should get completely wasted on champagne.” I snake my arm behind me and wrap his cock in my hand, pumping it slowly, feeling it grow hard between my fingers. “Maybe order fattening, greasy takeout …”

“Yeah?” he breathes, closing his eyes.

Gotcha, baby. With his defenses down, I let him go swiftly and attack. I tickle him under his armpits and on his sides, making him laugh. I think I’m winning when Lawrence shocks me by flipping me over, caging me under his body, and begins an unforgiving assault on my body with his tickling fingers. And we laugh, and laugh, and laugh until our stomachs hurt and both of us have tears in our eyes.

“Oh God, stop, Lawrence,” I croak. “I beg you.”

“Say the words.”

“You win! You win!”

Lawrence stops and begins to kiss every inch of my body, soothing me with his tongue. By the time he reaches my mouth, I open it and welcome his assault, hungry for him. .

“Goddamn, Blaire,” he says huskily, breaking away. Lawrence wraps my hair in his hands, his gaze roaming my face. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

I shake my head, but what takes me by surprise and leaves me momentarily speechless is the glimpse of emotion that I see peek through his eyes.

“You make me remember what it feels like to live again, Blaire. You make me—”

As his words fill my ears, it’s another voice that I hear and another face that I see …

He grins. “—go out with me, Blaire.”

I shake my head, fighting a smile. “I know I’m going to regret this.”

“Maybe … but live a little.”

“I like my life to be planned and uncomplicated.”

“It’s better to live a life full of regrets than not live at all.” He lowers his voice and adds huskily, “Let me show you how it’s done.”

No, no, no, no, NO! Ronan can’t disrupt this moment. He can’t. He can’t. Not now, please, please, please. Cupping Lawrence’s cheeks, I hope he doesn’t hear the ache in my heart as I pull him closer to me. “Hush … kiss me, Lawrence.”

When our mouths become one, I find myself kissing him with everything that I have, fooling myself into believing that this man is who I want. And as the war between our lips becomes more urgent, harder, I find myself believing my own lie.

He pulls away. “Let’s go back to my place.”

“Why?” I blink drowsily. “What’s wrong with my apartment?”