Ryan Bradley couldn't believe his eyes. Keeley, her father, and her cheating ex-boyfriend were strolling through the park, pushing a double stroller with nonchalant ease. Twins? She'd been pregnant with twins? The rings on their fingers confirmed Valentina's prediction: she'd married the guy. Unbelievable.

He'd thought she was smarter than this. No one sane returned to someone who'd hurt them. What had happened to the strong, fiercely independent woman he knew? She'd let herself get pregnant by a man she'd sworn to avoid, now shackled to him forever. Such a waste of potential. Another brilliant, beautiful woman thrown away on a jerk.

He wanted to talk to her, clear the air after their last bad encounter, but hesitated to approach while her husband was present. The guy looked like trouble, and Ryan valued his life.

Luckily, she excused herself to the restroom on the other side of the park. He followed and waited.

Surprise and displeasure warred on her face when she saw him. A warm welcome it was not.

"What are you doing here?"

"Brooklyn parks are less crowded than Manhattan's. I wanted to enjoy the weather," he explained. "Listen…can we talk? I feel bad about how things ended last time."

Keeley crossed her arms and scowled. She looked exactly as he remembered; had it really only been a few months since she'd given birth?

"What, when you called me a gold digger and said my husband had other women? Or when you questioned whether he'd even let me keep the baby?"

He winced. His words had been harsh; the news had left him confused and hurt.

"I didn't mean any of that."

"Oh? Then what did you mean?" she asked icily.

Someone had clearly rubbed off on her husband. Even angry, she wasn't usually this sharp-tongued. Aaron Hale had been a bad influence.

Ryan pushed that aside, striving for civility despite resenting the man's effect on her.

"I was worried you were making a mistake. He hurt you before, and his family will never accept you. Don't lie and say otherwise; there would have been an announcement if they had."

She snorted. "That's your way of showing worry? I haven't got time for this; my family's waiting."

She turned to leave. He grabbed her arm; he hadn't finished. They'd been friends, and he'd cared deeply.

"I'm done talking. Let go," she said sharply. She struggled, but his grip tightened.

"Just listen! I'm apologizing!"

"Ryan, you're hurting me!"

"Sorry!" He released her instantly. She rubbed her wrist, giving him a contemptuous look.

"There's nothing left to say. We were friends, now we're not. I have a family, and even if you hadn't been incredibly rude, I wouldn't be comfortable being friends with someone interested in me while I'm married. It wouldn't be right."

"Do you love him?" Ryan blurted, unable to resist.

He'd wondered what drew her back: money? His looks? He hadn't thought her that shallow.

"That's none of your business," Keeley said, eyes narrowed.

A strange answer. Shouldn't a simple "yes" have sufficed? Unless she wasn't in love…was it the money after all?

"What does he have that I don't? Why him?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What does he have that you don't? Me."

She turned, colliding with someone's chest. Looking up to apologize, she smiled brightly, her eyes full of affection. "Aaron! I was just about to come back."

A dull ache settled in Ryan's chest. She'd never smiled at him like that.

Aaron slung an arm around her, his posture subtly threatening despite his casual air. He meant business.

"Who are you? You look vaguely familiar."

"I'm Keeley's frie—" He saw her furious expression and corrected himself. "Former classmate, Ryan. We've met."

"Oh right, Cameron's wedding," Aaron said boredly, as if it were inconsequential.

His nonchalance angered Ryan. He knew the guy remembered him. You don't forget someone who hit on your wife.

"We were catching up," Ryan said evenly, refusing to let the man see his reaction.

Keeley scoffed. "Catching up? He gave me a non-apology for calling me a gold digger."

He hadn't expected the truth. Wasn't she embarrassed? The warm summer day suddenly felt like winter.

"He what?" Aaron said, his tone deadly.

She shrugged. "He was rude the day I met Gray. And that wasn't the worst of it. I don't know what I'd have done if Gray hadn't been there."

The temperature plummeted. Ryan shuddered. This man was terrifying. How had she smiled so warmly at him moments before? What kind of relationship did they have?

Aaron pulled Keeley closer, his cold eyes boring into Ryan's soul.

"Listen, Bradley, NO ONE insults my wife. You think she was my gold digger? You're even more of an idiot than I thought. She's the light of my life, the mother of my children. My one and only. Insult me all you want, but leave her out of it."

Petrified, Ryan could only nod as the temperature returned to normal. Aaron smiled gently at his wife, a completely different person.

"Your dad wants ice cream. Want to go?"

She acted as if nothing had happened. "Ooh, yes! There's a great place nearby with excellent rocky road…"

They walked away, arm in arm, he gazing at her with an impossibly soft expression.

Ryan couldn't believe it. That man was in love with her.

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