Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Summer Lake #2)(2)

But regardless of how off-kilter she was feeling after the break-up, she refused to taint Sarah’s wedding in any way. “Really, it worked out perfectly,” Christie insisted. “You needed a wedding venue on short notice, and I had one all ready to go. It was meant to happen this way. I’m certain of it.”

Anyone else would have stopped talking there, would have held something back, would have hidden the rest of her feelings. But Christie had never known how to do that. Especially when a dear friend was looking at her with such deep concern. Besides, she’d finally stopped lying to herself about her ex-fiancé three weeks ago. So what was the point in trying to hold back with Sarah now?

“You know Wesley and I weren’t right for each other. Not as anything more than friends. The truth is, I enjoyed putting the finishing details on your wedding far more than I ever enjoyed working on it when it was my own.” Christie shook her head. “I guess that should have been my first clue that something wasn’t right. After all the weddings I’ve put on at the inn, after spending time with Drake and Rosa and Suzanne and Roman whenever they’re staying in town, and then watching you and Calvin together…” She made herself smile. “You two were supposed to be picking out cake toppers a few weeks ago, but couldn’t stop staring into each other’s eyes. That was the day I finally realized I couldn’t marry Wesley. And that he shouldn’t marry me either.” Not just because she wanted that kind of love for herself, but because it also wasn’t fair to him. “And I will always be grateful to you for helping me see the light.” Long after she should have seen it on her own.

Sarah hugged her tightly, and even though Christie longed to tell her friend more—she could swear that her secrets were actually eating her up inside—there was one thing she couldn’t tell anyone.

Specifically, what had happened three weeks ago when she and Wesley had broken off their engagement.





CHAPTER TWO





Three weeks earlier…

Christie was so twisted up inside her head—and heart—on her way to Wesley’s suite of rooms that she didn’t think to knock before opening the door. She literally froze in place when Wesley and John, a mutual friend of theirs from college, pulled away from each other so quickly that she almost thought she’d imagined their embrace.

Their kiss.

Wesley cursed and came toward her, hands outstretched, his face ravaged with guilt. “Christie, I didn’t want to hurt you. I swear it.”

She waited for betrayal to kick in, for anger to burst forth. Instead, all she felt was relief. Because this had to mean Wesley didn’t want to marry her either.

Maybe she should have been shocked by his kiss with John. Only, she wasn’t. Not when all of the warning signs, everything that hadn’t added up from the first time Wesley had asked her out, suddenly made perfect sense.

Christie had always dated tall, dark, and mysterious men who made her heart race. Men with a core of danger and secrets that she wanted to heal. Whereas Wesley had been safe. Gentle. A calm lake instead of a roaring sea. He had been her best friend since their freshman year in art college, when they’d bonded over giggles during a nude-drawing class. Many years later, when they’d started dating, their kisses—which, honestly, had been few and far between—had been nothing to write home about. But she’d told herself fireworks were overrated. Lord knew she could live without the careening emotions that had gone hand in hand with her previous relationships.

Now, as she stood in Wesley’s living room with John waiting awkwardly by the window, she finally realized why their engagement had always felt so wrong. They’d both been desperately lying to themselves. Both been wanting to believe in something that could never make either of them happy.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She wasn’t angry, but as his closest friend, she was hurt that he’d felt he needed to keep his true feelings from her.

“I wanted so badly to make things work. You and I are such close friends that I thought I could be with you, but seeing John brought up so many old feelings. Feelings I thought had gone away. Feelings I’d convinced myself had never existed in the first place.” His eyes looked wild, as if he was only just barely keeping it together. “I’m just so confused about everything. You must hate me. But I swear I didn’t cheat on you. Just that kiss.” The tears that spilled down his cheeks, along with his confession, broke her heart. “I’m sorry, Christie. So, so sorry.”

“Please, Wes.” She took his hands in hers. “Don’t cry. Not over me. And don’t think I could possibly hate you. Especially when I came here tonight to call off our engagement.”

His eyes widened in shock. “Are you kidding?”

“No.” She swallowed hard, then admitted, “I should never have said yes when you asked me to marry you. Should never even have dated you. Not when we both knew we could never be more than friends.”

He squeezed his eyes tight, as if he was trying—and failing—to process everything that was happening. When he reopened them, instead of looking calmer, if anything his panic seemed to have heightened.

“Please keep my secret. About that kiss. About John.” He gripped her hands so tightly that she winced. “I need to figure things out before I deal with my family. With our friends. With this town.”