Part 3 in the Kiss and Cry YA Romance Book series
In an attempt to find his way back into his ex-girlfriends life, Adam offers Dalia the opportunity of a lifetime: She will direct a television show that will air nationwide, earning her power and money she never dreamed of having.
Everything goes according to plan until Global executives insist Adam hires Dalia's ex-husband and figure skating partner Ryan to work with her on the show. The station argues that Ryan's presence will attract more viewers and possibly reunite Canada's favourite couple.
The tension mounts as the history of this love triangle finally comes to a head in the conclusion of the trilogy, Kiss and Cry.
Excerpt:
The shadows of the night hide his rage. I can feel it emanating from every pore of his body. His hand doesn’t rest on the headrest and his foot sits heavily on the gas pedal as we speed back to London forty kilometres an hour over the speed limit.
We just turn onto the 401 when Ryan’s phone lights up and vibrates with his BFF’s name on it.
Ryan answers, “Hey Jer, ..She’s not!”
“Bro!” his voice booms, “Sierra’s in labour! I’m going to be a father any minute! She’s screaming for Dalia! Get your asses here!”
“We’re on our way,” he answers.
Sierra screams Jeremy’s name and then we lose our connection. Ryan turns off at the next exit never slowing down. Our best friends need us.
“It’s going to be a long night,” he comments under his breath. It’s the first thing he said to me since we left his mother’s house.
He parks the car and we walk into the hospital holding hands out of habit. The old man at the information desk with hearing aids in both ears directs us to the labour and delivery department. He says that when we get there, they will tell us which room Sierra is having her baby in. We don’t have a moment to waste. Ryan and I walk briskly down the hallway when we see Jeremy hugging his father in the lobby. I freeze for a brief second as I catch sight of Adam standing next to Jeremy.
Ryan senses my hesitation, “Go to him if you want,” he boils over with jealousy.
Adam is maturely dressed in a fitted black suit and tie that does more than just flatter him. He is sharp, bordering on hot. His shoes shine and his hair is cut short, almost like Ryan’s. I’m stunned, he looks so different, professional.
I acknowledge Adam with a swift nod and a smile I know Ryan won’t see before hugging Jer, “Congratulations dad! Is it a boy or a girl?”
“It’s a girl Dal, Sierra named her Frankie. I think it’s her hormones, go in their and talk to her. The poor kid is going to be teased relentlessly the rest of her life.” His father nods in agreement with Jer.
“Is it okay to go in now?” I ask politely.
“The sooner the better!”
I push the door to Sierra’s room open and hear Jeremy greeting Ryan behind me, “Hey bro, I thought you guys were never going to make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Ryan says feigning happiness.
Sierra lights up when she sees me, “Dalia!” she whispers.
I walk up to her and lean in kissing both her cheeks, “Sierra! You look so beautiful!” I whisper back. I’m not lying, she looks pale, exhausted and gloriously happy, but I guess that’s what all new mothers look like after having a baby. I try not to envy or be jealous of her but it’s hard. I imagine myself where she is holding Ryan’s baby, the look of happiness in his eyes.
“Check her out!” Sierra encourages.
I walk over to the glass bassinet and admire her precious bundle. Franky’s features are cute, her skin is so pink. All you can see is her tiny little face, the rest of her is snugly wrapped in a warm hospital blanket with blue and pink stripes on it.
“She’s beautiful,” I admire. A while ago, Ryan actually slept with Sierra when Ryan and I weren’t together. She didn’t know at the time that I cared about Ryan. She actually was knocked up by him, but terminated the pregnancy, it’s water under the bridge now, but hard to forget.
“Are you cold?” Sierra notices my shiver. She studies the despondent look in my face.
“No, I’m not cold.”
“Don’t worry, one day it will happen to you guys! Your back with him aren’t you? Jer told me that Ryan picked you up from the airport and apologized to you.”
“It sort of didn’t work out well,” I try to explain.
“How so?” Sierra asks. “Didn’t he apologize to you? You know he loves you, right?”
“I told him I can’t go back to him as partners or husband and wife, I can’t let him hurt like that again.”
“How do you know he’s going to hurt you?”
“I just do.”
She looks at me skeptically, “You never struck me as a coward!”
“He ignored me for three months, I lost thirty pounds and wanted to die.”
“His ego is bruised, he’s a proud guy. He didn’t know how to cope with his jealousy. Surely you can forgive that?”
“He told me just now to go back to Adam if I want.”
“He didn’t! I thought Adam left.”she said forgetting to whisper.
“Yup, they’re both out there with Jer and his dad.”
“I hope their not fighting.”
“You would hear it if they were.”
“Ryan’s already furious with me because I told my mom that his mother slept with Dad when he was alive.”
“You what? Why did you do that? You’re only hurting your mom by telling her.”
“Because Ryan’s mom had the nerve to talk about trust to me after what she did with my father. She said Ryan should get our apartment in London after he promised it to me.”
“What happened with your parents is in the past. Don’t let it ruin your relationship with Ryan.”
“Either way I’m not going back to him.”
“Like I said, since when did you lose your spine.”
Sierra is starting to ruffle my feathers. Who is she to judge whether I have a backbone or not? She has everything I ever wished for, a beautiful baby and a great guy.
The baby starts squirming. I look over at Sierra, “Do you want her?”
“Please.”
I carefully lifted the baby cradling her in my arms. The door opens, Ryan and Adam step in. I look up meeting Ryan’s gaze. I see a flash of warmth pass over him before he turns stone cold again. We are locked onto each other. I step towards the bed and only break my gaze as I place Franky in Sierra’s arms.
I glance at Adam who nods his head in my direction curtly, “Dalia.”
“Adam,” I respond politely. I can’t help notice how much he’s changed. He looks so good.
“I hope you two aren’t fighting out their,” Sierra says.
“There’s nothing to fight over,” replies Ryan callously. His malicious comment is uncalled for a brings a wave of nausea with it.
Adam glances casually at Ryan and then me, “Trouble in paradise?”
“None of your ****ing business asshole,” Ryan hisses at him.
Sierra’s brows furrow in a scolding glance directed towards Ryan, “Not in here boys.”
Adam never removes his eyes from me, “Marriage or partnership?”
“Both,” I confess.
“The tabloids are going to find out, I can schedule a press conference with both of you present to answer questions, or it can leak out. I’ll give you guys 48 hours to decide.”
“Get the **** out of here before I break your jaw, again,” Ryan warns.
Adam reaches into his pocket and pulls out his card handing it to me, “48 hours.” He walks up to Sierra and kisses her on the forehead before turning to leave.
There is a tap on the door and it slowly opens, it is Jeremy. He peaks his head in and lights up when he sees Sierra holding the baby. That’s when I notice there is no Tara or Luke since we arrived, “Where’s Tara?”
“They went to get something to eat. They’ll be back. Did you talk to her?” Jer asks me referring to the baby’s name.
“I sort of like it,” I whisper in his direction.
“I think she’s hungry,” Sierra interrupts.
“We’ll leave for a few minutes,” Ryan offers.
“Thanks,” says Jer.
Ryan directs me out of the room with his hand on the small of my back, “Are you hungry?”
“Starved,” I confess. I haven’t noticed how hungry I am until he asked. I start looking around for directional signs to the cafeteria, “You?”
“Ya, Lets get some food.”
“Hospital cafeteria?”
Ryan shakes his head, “We might bump into Tara and Luke, I’m not in the mood for conversation.”
“Sure, we’ll go wherever you want,” I say trying to be easy.
We drive in complete silence again. I assume he’s emotionally spent. He pulls up to our favourite McD’s and orders our usual. “Love Me Like You Do,”
comes on in the car and he shifts into park, but he keeps it on accessories so we can listen to the music.
He grins at me, “Do you really like the name Franky for a girl?”
I smile back at him, “It suits her. She’s really cute,” I say wistfully.
We chow down like savages. Ryan finishes his burger and stares into my exhausted eyes, “You looked beautiful holding her in your arms. It’s the first time I ever saw you carry a baby,” he whispers. His eyes fill up.
“It wasn’t long ago I wished I was carrying yours,” I reflect getting all choked up.
“Are you sure about all of this, it’s not too late to change your mind about us,” he says with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
‘You said it yourself, there’s nothing to fight for,’ I quoted.
“Adam was in the room and I get pissed off. I keep imagining him touching you. I’m not going to beg you,” he warns.
“I don’t expect you to,” I say respectfully, “I’m sure.”
He tosses what was left of his food back into the bag appearing to have lost his appetite, “We better get back to say our good-byes, so I can drive you to London.”
“What about the press release?”
“Call him and tell him we’ll do it, at least that way we can maintain some sense of control over what’s being said about us.”
I pull my phone out of my purse with the card Adam handed me in the hospital and dial his number. Ryan watches in silence as I wait for him to pick up. I put him on speaker so Ryan can listen, “Hello Adam?”
“Dal?” There is a moment of uncomfortable silence. Ryan’s pained expression returns to his face, I can notice it even while sitting in the darkness of the car, his eyes are blackened with sadness, making him appear lost.
“Ryan and I will do the press conference,” I inform him.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Adam consoles. “I’m sorry I had to give you an ultimatum.”
“Are you?” I doubt.
He ignores my question, “Does this Monday evening work for both of you? We can meet at the Canadian Skating Association around six?”
I look at Ryan, he nods, “That’s fine,” I answer.
“Hang up,” Ryan orders quietly.
“I have to go now,” I say into the receiver.
“I’ll see the two of you then,” Adam says almost triumphantly. There is a click noise and the line goes dead.
Ryan rakes his fingers through his hair out of frustration before starting the car. We head back to the hospital to make a final appearance before going home. When we arrive at Sierra’s room, Tara and Luke are there. They speak to us like they are walking on eggshells, obviously Sierra filled them in.
I take a seat next to Tara, “What are you going to do?” Tara whispers to me.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I answer cluelessly.
“Don’t take him back no matter how much you love him,” she advises. “I’ve never seen you as broken as what he did to you.”
“I know,” I say finally feeling understood. “Sierra doesn’t get it. She thinks I’m spineless.”
“You’re not. I know exactly where you’re coming from,” Tara confides. “If you go back to him and he breaks your heart again, I don’t know if we’ll be able to pick up the pieces.”
“You won’t.”
Ryan’s brooding eyes land on both of us, “I’m right here you know. I can hear everything you’re saying.” Shit, I shift uncomfortably in my seat.
“With friends like you,” he glares at Tara.
“Don’t mind her,” Luke defends. “It’s taking the heat off us having a baby. Sierra has one and they all want one,” he complains.
Ryan chuckles.
“Its pretty amazing,” Jer defends Tara’s maternal desires. He looks at me with concern, “Are you going to be all right?”
“Ya, just tired.”
“You guys go home get some shuteye,” Sierra coaxes. “You’ve all had a super long day. Jer and I are so happy you spent it with us.”
I speak for Ryan and me, “We are too. Congratulations!”
Tara gets up and takes Luke’s hand, “Do you need anything before we go.”
“No thanks,” Sierra says.
We kiss her good-bye and the boys shake hands. When we leave the room Tara and I hug before going our separate ways.
