But was it really that simple? Would Bella ever forgive him for being such a stubborn, selfish fool? Or had she got over him and moved on days ago?
Blind panic speared through him at the thought that he might have screwed everything up for good and his whole body went cold. And then he forced himself to calm down, because that was not an option. In fact the sooner he sorted this out, the better, he thought firmly, scouring the congregation for her and desperately hoping he hadn’t left it too late.
And then he saw her. Sitting on the other side of the church looking wan but gorgeous and staring at the ceiling and Will realised with a blinding flash of clarity that it was that simple and he knew exactly why he’d come.
He’d deliberately blown one chance of happiness. He didn’t intend blowing another.
Bella clutched at her glass of champagne and wished it were a bucket to which she had the only straw. Her face ached with the effort of maintaining the rictus grin she’d been wearing for the last half an hour, and she wasn’t sure she could manage much more in the way of chat. She congratulated the bride and groom, who looked so happy that it made her heart bleed with both delight and, she was ashamed to admit, envy, and that was the main thing. Now she could drink herself into oblivion without having to worry about sounding sensible. She took another sip of her second—or was it third?— glass of champagne and tuned out of the conversation rattling around her.
Maybe she’d get a cat. A cat didn’t have problems with trust and obstinacy and forgiveness, did it? No, you knew where you were with a cat. They were simple creatures. Unlike men. Unlike Will …
Bella’s heart lurched and she squeezed her eyes tight shut against the images that flickered through her head. Damn. There he was again. Invading her head, the way he did all the damn time.
Well, she was sick of it. Utterly sick of it. She’d had two weeks of feeling like this and she was fed up with it. She’d had enough of the constant misery, the agonising pain that relentlessly gnawed away at her and the hopeless sense of despair that accompanied her everywhere she went.
Why should she be doomed to a life of singledom just because of Will’s emotional cowardice? She glanced around and took another sip of champagne. How many single eligible men had Phoebe said there were here this evening? A dozen? Two dozen? Surely one of them would be a fan of commitment and relatively baggage free.
So she’d chat and flirt and have fun for a change. Maybe even throw herself on the dance floor later and shake her groove.
Oh, yes, she thought, holding out her glass to be refilled by a hovering waiter. She was going to get over Will, come hell or high water. Because what option did she have? Was she going to spend the rest of her life pining after him? No, she was not.
One thing was for sure though. She was done with emotion. Emotion made you unstable and unpredictable, and only led to heartbreak. So from now on she was going to be practical. Ruthless. She’d take no prisoners. Break some balls. She was going to—
‘Bella.’
At the sound of the voice behind her Bella froze and whatever she’d thought she’d been going to do went clean out of her head. All her blood rushed to her feet and she swayed. Her stomach leapt, her heart lurched and the room swam. Oh, no. Please, no. Not again.
She closed her eyes and tried not to panic. Maybe she’d imagined Will’s voice. Maybe to add insult to injury she’d finally lost her mind. Because he was supposed to be on the other side of the planet, wasn’t he? Conquering the day-trading world or whatever it was he did and cowering behind his hang-ups.
But while her imagination had been pretty active recently, it wasn’t so good that it could conjure up the intoxicating scent of him. Or the heat of his body. Or the familiar instant response of her body.
Slowly she turned, her heart beating so hard she feared it might leap out of her chest, and thought frantically about how she was going to handle this.
‘Oh, Will, hi,’ she said brightly, deciding that ‘greeting an old friend’ and acting as if his appearance at the wedding didn’t mean a thing to her was the way forward.
‘Hi,’ he said, his eyes dark and unfathomable and fixed unwaveringly on hers.
Bella held herself still, which was hard when every cell in her body longed to fling itself at him. It had only been a couple of weeks since she’d last seen him but it felt like a century and despite everything it was so heavenly to see him. Even though he looked haggard and exhausted.
Ignoring the urge to stroke the weariness from his face, Bella injected some much-needed steel into her spine. ‘I didn’t think you were planning to be here.’
‘I wasn?
??t.’
A tiny spark of hope rushed through her at the thought he’d come to see her and she stamped it out. Ruthlessly, of course, because she was done with emotion, wasn’t she? She twisted the glass in her hands and then made herself stop it. ‘So how are the Cayman Islands?’
‘Still there.’
‘And work?’
‘Fine.’
‘How nice.’
‘I’m thinking of transferring my business back here.’
Bella’s heart leapt. ‘Oh?’ she said, unable this time to obliterate the hope that his decision might have something to do with her.