They Both Thought They Were Using Me
Ruby · Completed · 6.0k Words
Introduction
The man sitting across from me at dinner was his best friend, Ronan.
I got drunk. Half-asleep, I pulled a man who smelled exactly like Nate into my bed.
When morning broke, the truth did too—the man pinning me down was Ronan. He’d used my husband’s cologne.
"From the first time I saw you, I wanted to steal you from him."
Crying, I confessed everything to Nate over the phone. Dead silence for three seconds, then he hung up.
By the time I rushed home, Ronan was dragging two suspiciously heavy black suitcases out the door. And my husband... vanished off the face of the earth.
Chapter 1
Meredith's POV
On the night of my 28th birthday, my husband was stuck in the OR.
The man sitting across from me at dinner was his best friend, Ronan.
I got drunk. Half-asleep, I pulled a man who smelled exactly like Nate into my bed.
When morning broke, the truth did too—the man pinning me down was Ronan. He’d used my husband’s cologne.
"From the first time I saw you, I wanted to steal you from him."
Crying, I confessed everything to Nate over the phone. Dead silence for three seconds, then he hung up.
By the time I rushed home, Ronan was dragging two suspiciously heavy black suitcases out the door. And my husband... vanished off the face of the earth.
I had been staring at this cold glass of Pinot Noir for a full hour.
Today was my 28th birthday.
The heavy walnut doors of the private dining room finally pushed open. It wasn't Nathaniel. It was Ronan—the man who had moved into our house half a month ago under the guise of being "Nathaniel’s best friend and personal landscape architect."
He wore a black moto jacket, his grayish-blue eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his dark, wavy hair. He casually tossed a navy blue velvet box onto the table.
"Happy birthday, Meredith," he said, pulling out the chair opposite me. "Rushed out this morning and didn’t get to give this to you. Didn't want to interrupt your romantic night later, so I figured I'd drop it off now."
"Thank you. You’re always so thoughtful," I said, maintaining the flawless smile expected of a Langley family heiress, my fingers idly tracing the velvet.
Right then, my phone lit up. It was Nathaniel.
"Babe, I am so sorry—" Over the blaring ER alarms in the background, Nate’s voice sounded frantic and exhausted. "Massive pile-up on the interstate. Over a dozen critical cases. I’m the Chief of Medicine, I have to oversee this. I'm sorry I ruined your birthday."
"It's okay, Nate. Work comes first," I said smoothly, forcing a forgiving smile.
"When I get home, I promise I'll make it up to you in bed. Double," he whispered, his voice suddenly dropping low.
The explicit promise made me chuckle softly. "Okay. I'll be waiting."
I hung up. A strange, suffocating silence filled the room.
Ronan stood up instantly, his tall shadow swallowing half the table. "Since Nate isn't coming, I doubt you're in the mood to celebrate. Gift delivered. I’ll make myself scarce."
"Sit down," I ordered.
He froze and looked at me.
"I already paid for the chef's white truffle tasting menu, and I hate waste," I leaned back, locking my amber eyes onto his. "Plus, leaving the birthday girl alone in a restaurant isn't very gentlemanly. Finish dinner with me, Ronan."
He hesitated for a second before sinking back into the shadows. "As you wish."
The rest of the dinner was agonizingly weird. We made small talk over the silver candelabra. The way he sliced his steak was ruthlessly precise—unlike Nate’s effortless elegance, every move Ronan made carried a suppressed, feral energy.
"When will the renovations on your apartment be done?" I took a sip of wine, asking casually.
"Two, maybe three months." He didn’t look up. "Why? Tired of looking at me?"
"Not at all. It's nice having another person around the house," I chuckled.
Click. The clasp of my heavy diamond earring came undone, and it slid down my neck to my collarbone. Frowning, I reached back to fiddle with the tiny platinum catch.
"Let me."
Ronan’s voice was suddenly right by my ear. I hadn't even noticed him get up, but he was already standing behind my chair.
Before I could decline, his calloused fingertips brushed the skin at the nape of my neck.
Just as his thumb grazed my spine, he paused for half a second.
Just half a second. But I distinctly felt the unnatural heat of his fingertips and heard his breath—heavy and deliberately controlled—ghosting over my ear. A sheer jolt of electricity shot through my entire body.
He quickly fastened the earring and stepped back. Without hesitation, I downed the rest of my wine, trying to drown out the sudden, unnameable heat rising in my chest.
The drive home was quiet, save for the low hum of the engine. Maybe the wine was too strong, but my head was spinning. As the car went over a speed bump, my hand, resting on the console, brushed hard against Ronan's wrist on the gear shift. Neither of us pulled away.
Walking into the empty mansion, Nate was predictably absent. I muttered a dismissive "goodnight" to Ronan and, fighting off a wave of intense dizziness, stumbled upstairs, collapsing onto the massive king-size bed in the master suite.
Late night.
A kiss landed on my neck. Wet, urgent, aggressively invasive. My head spun so hard I couldn't even pry my eyes open.
My senses were flooded with a familiar scent—Oud Wood, Nate’s signature cologne.
"Nate..." I murmured.
He didn't answer. Just rough, suppressed breathing hot against my ear. A large, powerful hand moved up my waist, the rough calluses grazing my skin. Without a hint of hesitation, he ruthlessly stripped off my silk nightgown.
I surrendered, melting into that broad, burning chest...
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