Forbidden Love with the Marine(54)
“I think it’s possible she’s interested in making up with you,” Gina ventured hesitantly. “I mean, she didn’t tell me much but from the way she’s been talking, she seems sorry to have broken up with you.”
Blade let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what game Makayla put you up to, but count me out of it, okay? And why would she even be talking about me? I’d have thought she’d been ready to move to London to start her once-in-lifetime job opportunity.”
Gina’s hand rested gently on Blade’s chest. “She’s not going to London anymore. She declined the move.”
Blade huffed. “That was stupid, if what she told me was anything to go by. This was supposed to be the game changer. The career boost of her dreams.”
Gina sighed deeply. “I’m not going to try to convince you of anything but –“
“Then don’t,” Blade said shortly, before cupping her face. “Focus on your wedding. That’s why we’re all here, okay? We’re here for you.”
Gina smiled a happy, shaky smile and moments later, her groom appeared and Blade gallantly handed his stepsister to the beaming Ray.
It was only as Blade walked over to the buffet table and picked up a glass of champagne that he realized his hand had a slight shake to it. Damn it all to hell! He couldn’t get Gina’s words out of his head about Makayla wanting him back. How was that even possible? After her heartless rejection and their devastating breakup, he’d never dreamed he’d even be giving her a second thought. And yet here he was, heart pounding at the prospect that he could possibly be with her again.
But he wasn’t going to be played about like that. Makayla had broken him down like nothing he’d ever been through. Nothing in the service had prepared him for the desolation he’d experienced when she’d told him it was over.
Was it believable that she was having second thoughts?
Well, f*ck that; thought Blade as he almost slammed down the fluted glass. The sun had long set and now the breath-taking beach was awash with a royal blue night sky, the surrounding well-lit for the wedding party that was in full swing. Despite himself, Blade glanced around for just one more glimpse of Makayla but she was nowhere to be seen anywhere in the happy crowd of guests.
So much for that.
He snatched up another glass of champagne and let it spill down his throat. Blade thought about downing glass after glass until he started numbing up. It looked like he was going to need it tonight because he was beginning to see that he was far from over her. He wasn’t even sure what he’d do if she walked up to him at that moment. Probably flatten her in his arms and kiss her senseless before making her swear she’d never leave him again.
Blade told himself not to be a fool as soon as those thoughts registered. The fact was Makayla had never really cared and had used him for a bit of diverting amusement until something better came along.
Swearing furiously under his breath, he decided he’d had enough. He was sure no one would miss him if he left now and besides, he was starting to have a dreadful headache after all that champagne on an empty stomach.
He made his way the short distance to the waterside terraced mansion housing the hotel where he was staying. Many of the other guests were accommodated there and he couldn’t help wondering if Makayla also had a room in the same hotel.
Reminding himself once again to stop thinking about her, he grabbed his key and located his room, too much in a dark mood to notice the beauty of his surroundings. He was too filled with gloom about how all the romance from the wedding was suddenly making him remember what he’d lost.
Wrong...what he’d never had, his inner voice corrected.
Swearing underneath his breath, Blade let himself into his suite and locked the door after him. He stripped out of his wedding outfit, a white tux over black dress pants, bowtie and pleated shirt and black shoes – all pretty formal considering it had been a destination wedding on the beach.
But then Gina had wanted that part of the wedding to be traditional; the outfits, that is. The men all had to look dashing in their suits while the women had been sheathed in their gorgeously feminine gowns. Blade drew up a glimpse he’d had of Makayla in some kind of sea-foam colored dress of ethereal quality. It had hung on thin straps and she’d had matching flowers in her hair. The fabric had clung to her jealously, like a second skin and had seemed like a huff and a puff would blow it off her delectably curvy body.
Shaking his head angrily to shake off the image, he stripped off the last of his clothes and headed straight for the shower. He set it on icy and didn’t care if it felt like he was freezing up his own veins, showering in water at that temperature.
Blade could hear the laughter and music still wafting from the wedding party. Shoving his wet hair off his face, he reached for a towel to dry off.
He padded into the bedroom and didn’t bother with the lights, letting the glow from the adjoined living room provide any kind of illumination he needed. Tossing off the towel, he slipped underneath the covers, letting out a deep sigh at the instant sensation of warmth that welcomed him.
It took two seconds to register that he wasn’t alone in the bed.
The f*ck? Dazed, Blade straightened off the pillows and yanked away the covers. A slim, shapely figure twisted unto her back, moaning slightly as she blinked her eyes awake. The next moment Blade was snapping on the bedside light and he was soon able to tell who the hell had been sleeping in his bed.