What if she let him make love to her? Would it be so bad? Or would it just confirm his low opinion of her.

Like a bucket of ice water, that thought quashed any desire she had to surrender to his lovemaking. He must have sensed her withdrawal because he drew away, looking at her in confusion.

“I can’t do this,” she said, scrambling to sit up on the bed. “Not knowing what you think of me.”

The words caught and raggedly slipped from her lips. Drawing protective arms around her chest, she sat on the rumpled covers watching him warily.

“Don’t stare at me like you expect me to pounce,” he said in disgust. “I am not into unwilling women.”

He left the room, slamming the door solidly behind him.

Feeling more alone than she had when she left him the first time, she edged off the bed and walked into the bathroom to splash cool water on her flushed face.

She stared back at her reflection and saw the utter misery in her eyes. Tears welled. Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. This was no way to live.

She wouldn’t beg him to believe her. She’d already done that. On her knees no less. What was left? He didn’t believe her. She wasn’t going to beg him again. There was nowhere for this relationship to go but straight to hell in a handbasket.

Turning the water off, she put her elbows on the countertop and buried her face in her hands as sobs billowed from her throat.

She hadn’t been happy in six long months but now her misery was even more pronounced. Her circumstances hadn’t been the best in Houston, but she hadn’t had to look at the man she loved and know that he thought the worst of her.

Tears still sliding down her face, she went blindly back into the bedroom and curled into a ball on the bed. Her shoulders shook and the tears that she’d held back for so long streamed down her cheeks in steady trails.

After a few minutes, the bed dipped and Ryan put a hand to her cheek. “I’m sorry, Kell,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

Gently he lifted her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. She clung to him and buried her face in his neck as her tears soaked into his shirt.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted things to go. I never meant to upset you or make you feel worthless. I swear it.”

His voice was thick with regret and it trembled with emotion as he stroked his hand over her hair.

“You have to know that Roberta was here for the sole reason of causing trouble between us.”

She went still against him, knowing that what she was about to say would probably only piss him off more, but she was through pulling her punches.

“Are you ready to admit that your mother hates me and would do anything to get rid of me? If you didn’t talk to Roberta about us, then who the hell do you think did?”