“SO I HEAR THAT you’re dating my daughter.”
Ransom was standing in the breakroom fixing himself a cup of coffee, when he heard the male voice behind him. There was one other instructor in the room, but somehow Ransom knew that the question was for him.
Stirring in creamer, he turned to find Frank Griffin standing less than an arm’s length away. He was wearing a simple mint green button-down and a pair of black slacks, but it was his face that had Ransom staring.
Behind the distinguished white and gray full-face beard and rimless glasses, it was obvious that he was Dani’s father. She definitely took after him.
Meeting his caramel brown eyes, Ransom ignored the jolt of grief it brought him, instead choosing to focus on the severe bout of apprehension. “Mr. Griffin. How are you today?”
Holding up his hand, Frank pushed past Ransom and began preparing his own mug of coffee. “Let’s skip past the niceties, shall we?”
“Okay.” Setting his cup down on the counter, Ransom smiled as the other instructor politely left the room. It vanished as soon as he was gone. “Yes, I was dating Dani.”
“So I heard. Imagine my surprise when I had to hear it from Robert Goodwin, at his engagement party no less. I heard you were there?”
“Yes, we attended, but something came up and we had to leave early. Sorry we missed you.”
Frank nodded as he turned and fixed Ransom with an intense frown. “You know, when Dani told me about you, I didn’t say anything because I haven’t exactly been the kind of father that she deserves. When we reconnected, I made a conscious decision not to interfere in her life. But now, since you two broke up and I’ve seen how it’s destroyed her, I’m inclined to say something.”
Ransom stiffened. “Destroyed is a strong word, Frank.”
“But no less true. You know, when you become a father, your whole world changes. For the first time, someone else besides you matters. When I had Dani I was young and I didn’t know how to navigate that road yet. I made mistakes. But I’m making up for them now.”
“I appreciate the life lesson,” Ransom cut in, “but please cut to the chase. I have class in five minutes.”
“You made a mistake. Dani deserves a man who is willing to stick by her, no matter what. She told me everything about what happened between you, and I have to say, I think you overreacted to the situation. Honestly, I’m disappointed to find out that you’ve dated a member of the student body. It’s not exactly something the university looks favorably on, but it’s not my place to judge. My only concern right now is my daughter, and for some reason, she’s stuck on you. So whatever your plans are, at the very least I ask that you give her closure. She deserves that much from you.”
“Look, Frank, I appreciate the advice. I do. But I don’t know what my plans are right now. If you think Dani is hurting, imagine how I’m feeling. She broke up with me, not the other way around.”
“And with good reason from what I hear. But if I may say one more thing?”
Ransom nodded, though he wasn’t too sure he had anything to say that he wanted to hear.
“Just like when I became a husband and a father, there comes a time when everybody in their life comes to a fork in the road, and it’s up to you which path you choose to take.” Stepping in front of him, Frank set his hand on Ransom’s shoulder, his daughter’s eyes staring back at him. “Make the right choice.”
With a firm pat, Frank left Ransom alone with his thoughts. Only, Ransom wasn’t sure what to think. He had his mom’s words in his ear, his brother’s words, and now Frank’s. But what was he going to do with them?
***
IT TOOK TWO DAYS to figure out where Dani worked, and another one for him to work up the courage to go and see her. Facing rejection was the hardest part about being in love, and he was in love with Dani. Irrevocably.
He found her sitting behind a desk inside a little corner office with her name engraved on a plaque mounted on the door. “So, this is where the magic happens.” Her head whipped up, surprise widening her eyes. Ransom’s heart sighed. “Hi.”
“Hi…erm…what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“Clearly,” she said as she stood and rounded the desk, breezing past him to close the door. “Have a seat.”
He sat, placing himself directly across from her. The position left him at a disadvantage, seeing as she was holding a seat of power, but he couldn’t care less. If anyone deserved to feel empowered, it was Dani.
“How is your day going?”
“Smoothly…until you got here.”
He smiled. “And your evening. Do you have any plans?”
Sitting back in her chair, she regarded him. “Ransom, what are you doing here? I haven’t heard from you in weeks. Why now?”
“Because I had to see you,” he said, sitting forward and clasping his hands between his knees.
“Why now though? Why here? Why anything? We broke up, Ransom.”
“No we didn’t,” he argued softly. “You told me not to contact you until I figured out what I want. I have.”
Her lips parted, forming a small O. She didn’t say anything, so he pressed on.
“I want you, Dani. With my heart, body, soul. Everything. I want you.”
As he spoke, her mouth snapped shut, her lips pressing together and her eyes narrowing to slits. “I don’t believe you. If you really loved me, you would have figured that out long before now.”
“What can I say, I’m a slow learner.” The joke fell flat, and Ransom cleared his throat. “Look, you have a right to be suspicious. I would be, too. I’ve said things that I shouldn’t have and my past…well, that speaks for itself. I’m a selfish man. Pigheaded, too. I don’t listen well and even though I’m pretty easygoing most of the time, I have a tendency to fly off the handle sometimes.”
“You’re not making a very good case for yourself.”
“I’m not trying to. I just want to be honest with you about who I am. I’m a mess, Dani. I told you as much when you asked to be a part of my life. I’m not good for you, I know that, too, but you’re good for me. You’re the very best part of me, Dani. These last weeks have been hell.”
Leaving his chair, Ransom went around to her side of the desk and dropped down onto his knees before her. “I’m asking—no, begging you to forgive me, Dani. I don’t want to go back to the way things were before you came into my life. I can’t go back to that. My life was empty—meaningless—before you.”
He watched her battle against herself, her eyes shining bright with unshed tears and her hands gripping the arms of her chair so hard it was a wonder they didn’t break right off. “I—I can’t be what you want me to be, Ransom,” she finally said, her voice choked. “I can’t fix you.”
“I’m not asking you to fix me. I’m asking you to love me. If I have that, I can fix myself.”
“I do love you, but I’m not sure you can be fixed.”
His heart lurched and a knot formed in his stomach. Reaching out, he cupped the side of her face, stroking her pale cheek with his thumb. “I need you, Dani. I want you. I know you always thought that, somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still in love with my brother’s wife. I’m not. It took some time, but I finally realized that what I had with her was just lust. What I have with you? It’s so much more than that. I can’t breathe when you’re not around. I’ve spent these last weeks just going through the motions because this life is worth nothing without you to share it with. And if what Frank said is true, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Her gaze jumped to his at the mention of her father. “He shouldn’t have told you that.”
“No,” he agreed readily, “you should have. If I had known that you were hurting, too, I would have been here sooner. I failed you, Dani. I failed us. I promised you that we would be friends no matter what, and I couldn’t even do that. I threw it all away over old fears that had absolutely nothing to do with you. I allowed myself to doubt my worth to you, and I allowed my insecurities to ruin what we had. But I want to fix it. Please, let me make it up to you. Give me another chance and I’ll show you that I’m done running.”
Gently, Dani placed her hand over the one he used to cup her cheek, and turned her head to kiss his palm. Then, wrapping her fingers around his, she pulled it away.
“I can’t do this, Ransom. I should have listened to you before when you said that you weren’t good for me. Please, just go.”
“You don’t mean that.” He reached to touch her again, but she slapped his hand away. “Dani,” he said his voice taking on a fine tremor, “tell me you don’t mean it.”
She wouldn’t even look at him. “Please, just go.”
Angry, hurt, and upset, Ransom stormed from the room, just barely keeping from slamming the door behind him. He’d thought her walking away from him hurt? The pain of her rejection was like nothing else he’d ever experienced.
Taking the elevator down to the parking garage gave Ransom time to think, though, time to cool off and see things more clearly. For the first time, he was fighting for something he truly cared about: Dani. He knew she loved him, too, could see it in her eyes whenever she looked at him. It would be so easy to just do what she said and walk away. Leave her alone and move on with his life. But he didn’t want to move on. He wanted her. He wanted a future with her.
As he walked up the incline to his car, Ransom knew only one thing: he wasn’t giving up. She could push him away all she wanted, but he was going to fight for her and he wasn’t going to stop until he made her his again.