Her skin was flawless, if a little pale, but that could have been the shadows or her long ebony hair that did it. She had all of Sarah’s beauty, but somehow it was different, magnified. Her eyes were dark, her brows darker and thinner than was currently fashionable. She didn’t bother filling them in. Her nose was dainty, her cheekbones high and pronounced. She had that gentle heart-shaped jaw the rest of her sisters were blessed with, but her lips were fuller, pinker. Her eyes were her best feature. Dark pools with the thickest, darkest lashes.
“Ummm, are you going to say something or just stare at me? I know it’s a fucking shock…” Bella trailed off. She couldn’t contain a snort a second later. “No, it’s fucking not. It can’t be a shock to you.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Please tell me you knew what you were marrying. Even mom and dad said earlier, at the house where everyone was getting dressed, that you just wanted a trophy wife, you didn’t actually expect Sarah to love you.” She paused and it was awkward as hell. “Oh, batty fucking shit. You actually thought she did.”
CHAPTER 2
Rhett
Rhett swallowed hard. Damn it. Was he the only idiot on the planet? How could he have been the only one who didn’t know? That damn literary dagger that he’d read about in his mom’s cheesy romance books that she hid under her bed and would have died of shame if anyone knew she read, stabbed him straight in the heart.
His stomach lurched and he barely had time to bend again before he heaved. There was nothing left to come up so instead, all he did was cough and gag and retch horribly and embarrassingly. Lines of spittle strained from his lips, dripping downwards, towards the floor.
“Jesus…” Bella said, and not in the pious, church suitable, religious sort of way. This time her hand was more than just a whisper on his back. She set one right above the small of his back and one on his shoulder. She traced a gentle circle there, awkwardly and oddly adept, trying to comfort him. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Stop puking. Just try and breathe. I have some more tissues in my purse. There’s probably a bathroom around here where I can get you some water. Just… do you want to sit down? You’re shaking. Uh- come here. Let’s just go over here and try and breathe, okay?” Bella rambled on, clearly at a loss. “Well- don’t feel bad. She’s a good actress. She was always in plays at school. Probably just because she wanted all the attention, but she was good at it too, pretending to be something else. Getting her way has been in her nature since she was a kid. Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s worse- uh- well- it’s just good that you didn’t marry her. You can still get away clean… fuck- I’m sorry. This isn’t making anything better.”
It was obvious that comforting her sister’s fiancé- no, ex-fiancé, on his wedding day right before he was about to be married, hadn’t been on her agenda for the morning.
“Fuck…” Rhett spat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was probably going to hell for desecrating the church so disgustingly. Not that he wanted to. It was either puke or die of humiliation though. It could be coming. The swift death from mortification. He wasn’t sure he could entirely term in a broken heart. Damn it. Did he ever even love Sarah, the woman he was about to make his wife? Truly love her?
Bella’s surprisingly strong arms guided him a little further down the hall. “Come on. We’ll find somewhere to sit down.” Though she was a good half a foot shorter than his six three-inch height, he leaned heavily on her. Freaking stars danced in front of his vision. They mingled with black spots and he realized he wasn’t breathing. He took a large exhale, filling his fiery lungs, and the spots cleared up.
A few steps later, Bella pushed open a door on the left that Rhett didn’t even see. The room was dusty and smelled dank and old. It was empty, but Bella guided him inside and shut the door behind them. She let him slide down to the floor as his legs gave out. He dropped his head into his hands, mostly because he couldn’t bear to look at Bella and see the pity written all over her face.
Pity for him.
Because he was such a straight-up dumb ass.
Wet Dyck. Yup, they’d been right all along.
“Hey.” Bella’s gentle hands massaged his shoulders.
She crouched in front of him, so close he could smell her. She smelled good. Not like perfume, since she obviously wasn’t wearing any. Not even like hair spray or any kind of product. Just… just good. Sweet. Maybe lingering body wash or shampoo. Or maybe that scent was just her.