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say.”
    “We have a lot of catching up to do. I have questions.”
    “I won’t be answering them.”
    “What about you? Don’t you have any more questions?”
    She set her purse on her lap. “You answered the only one that I cared about.”
    “Shawna, I never touched her until we were back in Oklahoma—until I tried and couldn’t reach you.”
    “I don’t care. What’s done is done and we can’t go back. Okay? Let it go.”
    He shook his head, his jaw hardening with resolve. “I can’t do that. I’m a different man than I was back then. You’re right, I should have never approached you. I should have never lied when you asked me if I had a girlfriend. I was selfish. I was an ass. But everything I did was because I knew you were special and I felt that we could have something special. For a couple of days, I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life.”
    “I don’t want to hear this.”
    “My life hasn’t been the same since the day I met you.”
    Invisible fingers squeezed her heart tight. “ Don’t .”
    “When I saw you tonight, I realized nothing had changed. Give me another shot, Shawna. I’m not the same man.”
    “I’m not the same foolish woman I was, either,” Shawna said.
    “We had a connection and you can’t deny that.”
    “You’re a liar, Ryan.”
    He swallowed. “Yes, but not about my feelings for you. Six years we’ve been apart. I can’t let you walk out of my life again.”
    “Watch me.”
    “You have to forgive me. Please,” he added with desperation, his eyes pleading.
    Shawna rose from her chair, and the waitress picked that moment to come by the table. “Is everything all right over here?” she asked, looking from one to the other.
    “We’re fine,” Ryan replied, keeping his gaze pinned on Shawna. He rose from his chair, too.
    “My life is perfect, okay? No drama, no problems. I like my life the way it is.”
    “I’m not bringing any drama.”
    “Leave me alone, Ryan.” At the hard note in her voice, the waitress eased away. “I never want to see you again. Stay away from me for good this time. Do you understand?”
    She turned around and started walking away.
    “Shawna, wait!”
    She didn’t slow down. She didn’t turn. She kept on moving until she was safely out the door.
     

     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Shawna pushed the key into her car’s ignition and turned it. Nothing happened.
    “Oh, no,” she groaned. She tried repeatedly and then hit the steering wheel in frustration. Piece of junk car. It had been dependable when she bought it, but it was old now. She’d put off buying a new one, but she really needed a more dependable vehicle. If she didn’t hate car shopping so much, she would’ve done it already.
    She popped the hood and went around to the front. She examined the interior of the car, not even knowing what to look for. Of all the rotten times for the car to break down on her, it had to happen now, while she was frustrated and upset after running into the one man who made her feel like an incoherent preteen.
    She cursed loudly.
    “Need some help?” a voice asked.
    Her heart jumped violently. Leaning to the right so she could see around the hood, she saw the last person she wanted to see.
    Ryan stood with his hip resting against the driver’s door, his face partially hidden by a shadow cast by the parking lot light.
    “Not from you,” she replied.
    That didn’t stop him, of course. “I can’t leave you out here to fend for yourself.” He walked to her and rested his hands on the car, leaning in to take a look at the insides.
    Shawna stepped away from him. “I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.”
    “Have you figured out what the problem is?”
    “No, I’m not a mechanic.”
    “So what are you doing under here?”
    “I thought I’d—look, I don’t need your help, okay? I can call Triple A.”
    “What’s it doing?”
    Annoyed, Shawna quickly explained. 
    “It could be your battery,” Ryan said.
    Shawna frowned. “I