Prologue
~Desert Moon~
The smile froze on Stephanie Morelli's face as she stood by her husband's side and right in front of the man she had once or maybe still loved. 4 years. She hadn't seen or heard from Ranger for more than 4 long years. Ever since the moment she put Ranger's keys inside an envelope and FedEx it back to him, and then jumped on a plane heading to Las Vegas to get married to Joe Morelli. Ranger looked just as perfect as ever. Stephanie secretly sighed. She had never thought or wanted to meet Ranger again like this. Both she and Joe—whose hair had already started graying and thinning—had gained more than a few pounds, and she was fairly certain she had lost a considerable portion of her charm.
She knew she should say something. A polite "I haven't seen you in ages". A warm "How have you been?". Or a surprised "Oh my God, you look just the same". People around them, close friends and almost strangers alike, were now nudging each other and discreetly tilting their heads toward the three of them. People were watching and waiting for something, anything, to happen. People would be listening in to their conversation. People were holding their breath for the awkward moment. Yes, awkward. Meeting like this after all these years was plain and simple awkward—or even embarrassing—for Stephanie. She didn't want Ranger to see her double chin. She didn't want Ranger to see her fattened waist. She didn't want Ranger to see the lines around her eyes and the more and more apparent wrinkles on her forehead and cheeks. She didn't want him to see her imperfection. She wanted Ranger to remember her as she once was. Young, sexy, cute, attractive, and fit...
A sick feeling started building inside the pit of Stephanie's stomach the moment she caught sight of the smug look on her husband's face. All of a sudden she became ashamed. Joe was doing this on purpose. He'd spotted Ranger in the crowd and decided to drag her all the way across the party hall just to brag. He wanted to show the whole fucking world he was the true and real winner of their never-ending cat and mouse game. She was the grand prize and trophy. The rose gold and diamond wedding ring on her finger would serve as the solid living proof of his ultimate victory. And Ranger, the man who had never ever hesitated to help and protect her in the past, was the loser who'd had to walk away empty-handed. She so wanted to shout at the top of her voice and tell Joe Morelli to stop being so childish and immature right now and grow up. She so wanted to tell him life was so NOT high school musical. But she was just too afraid to make a scene in front of all these people. It was no secret that she and Joe were never exactly the prince and princess in fairy tales. And she'd already had plenty of problems in her life right now.
She longed to look straight into Ranger's eyes to see what he felt about her. Did he still consider her as a friend? Did he still...love her in his own way? She was dying to know the answer. She couldn't dare to know the answer. Yes, she knew she still loved Ranger. But now he was so close yet so far away. And he no longer smelled like Bvlgari...Stephanie's heart sank into a cold dark abyss as she saw the simple elegant platinum ring around Ranger's ring finger. Hot burning tears threatened to flood down her face the moment a breathtakingly beautiful young woman with enchanting green eyes and wavy long blonde hair appeared out of nowhere and slipped her arm through Ranger's. And there on her slender hand around her ring finger was a ring—a simple elegant platinum ring exactly the same as Ranger's. And her baby bump was showing.
Ranger had moved on. Ranger had met someone else. Ranger had become family material. Ranger's love now came with a ring. Ranger now did ordinary things like marriage and babies. And she was so perfect...she was so pretty...she was just like a princess fresh out of a fairy tale...
Stephanie Morelli smiled her pleasant but forlorn smile. She politely nodded and exchanged greetings with Ranger and his wife. She didn't try to pull away when Joe tightened his hold of her, made a sudden excuse and turned to leave with a soured look on his contorted face. They didn't speak on the drive back home. They didn't speak when they went upstairs to bed. They didn't have sex that night. They didn't fall asleep till a couple hours before dawn. And when she finally woke up late in the morning Joe was long gone.
She was all alone.