She swallows hard, trying to push down her embarrassment. “Um…let me see here. Um...are you one of the guests?”
My patience immediately vanishes. “Yes,” I hiss.
The woman tries to force a smile on her face. “It’s out on the terrace at o
ne thirty P.M.”
I frown. “Not on the beach?”
She looks at her computer screen again. “Uh…nope, it says the terrace.”
I turn and walk away from the woman without a thank-you. I hate people who are incompetent at their jobs. No, I hate all people. I hate being in crowds. I hate dealing with people’s stupid problems. I just want to be left alone.
I glance at my watch. It’s one twenty. I head in the direction of the terrace, planning on just slipping into the crowd of wedding well-wishers and guests. But, as I approach the terrace, there is no one on site.
I get to the door that leads outside where a hotel worker is standing.
“This is reserved for a private wedding. The terrace will be available again in about thirty minutes,” the friendly woman says.
I glance around her and see no guests or seats set up for guests. Just a simple arch with flowers on the green grass and the ocean far in the distance.
I nod and keep walking past. Nina isn’t getting married; she’s eloping. Like getting married at all is going to protect her.
I turn right and then start walking up the stairs to one of the guest rooms that seems to overlook the terrace. I knock on the first door, and a man comes out.
“Yes?” he asks.
“Sorry, wrong room,” I say, walking past him and to the next door.
I knock again.
No answer.
I try one more time, and then I pop the door open. These old hotel rooms are far too easy to break into. It’s one of the reasons I never stay at places like this.
I walk into the hotel room; it has suitcases and clothes thrown all over the floor.
I sigh. I picked the messiest room in the hotel, I’m sure. But I don’t care. I walk to the balcony, open the sliding door, and step outside.
When I glance down, I see two men standing under the arch. One is the officiant, and the other looks to be about eighteen, maybe twenty.
I try to think back to everything I know about Nina. She doesn’t have a brother or a cousin as far as I know. She has no family left.
I have no idea who this douchebag is.
I glance at the door leading out to the terrace, waiting for the groom to finally make his appearance so that I can see just what type of man Nina has picked to marry—not that she’s allowed to make such decisions for her life anymore.
Instead of the groom though, Eden walks out. She looks nice, as she always does, in a simple black dress. Not really appropriate clothing for a wedding. It looks like she is going to a funeral or business meeting instead of a wedding.
I turn my gaze back to the door just in time to see Nina walking through.
My heart stops. My chest aches. My whole body hardens at the sight of her.
She’s beautiful. I forgot how beautiful she truly is. Her hair is a little longer than it was seven years ago. Her skin is a little tanner, like she has recently been spending plenty of time on the beach. She has a bit of a glow around her body as she walks.
She looks better than I remember. And the lace dress she is wearing makes it even harder for me to stay up here instead of jumping off the balcony to claim her now.
I grab on to the railing of the balcony, forcing myself to stay here. To watch her marry another man. It will make it so much better to take her from him. She will fight harder to get back to him.