Page 22 of Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa

“I can’t,” Marina said in another tight whisper.

Jenna frowned. “What is up with you? We’re supposed to have fun. And just for your information,I’mordering the filet mignon, rare.”

Just then Wade gave Marina a soft smile to acknowledge her. It was sweet of him. Better than ignoring her, which she had fully expected.

She gulped down more water. “Okay, make those two filet mignons. Medium rare for me.”

Immediately, her eyes went back to Wade. She couldn’t help herself. It was hard not to when he wasright therein front of her despite the thirty feet between their tables. The proximity couldn’t have been better if it had been planned.

Wade’s eyes seemed to dance when he looked at her again. There was definitely strong eye-lockage going on. His presence excited her heart, but it was also like a calming balm to her soul.

Tears pricked at her eyes, like burning needles of regret.

She never dreamed Wade would come back into her life. She had pushed away the feelings for so many years, and made so many assumptions, that his appearance had disconcerted her more than she expected. She had never stopped loving him. And the knowledge that he loved someone else was about to choke her.

“That’s the spirit!” Jenna said in response to Marina’s filet order. Then she stared at Marina’s stiff gaze, and followed theline-of-sight, giving a jerk when she realized who was across the dining room.

“Don’t look!” Marina said under her breath, grabbing at her friend’s arm.

“You’re kidding,” Jenna hissed in a low tone. “Isn’t that the same guy who brought your lost cell phone to the shop? The one you had a drink with in my Coffee Loft—and then broke my dishes?” she added with a wry twitch of her lips.

“Yes, it’s him,” Marina admitted weakly. Her heart was rattling in her chest. “Oh my gosh, I can hardly breathe.”

“Do you want to change places?”

“No, no! That would be too obvious . . .”

Wade’s tender smile disappeared as he turned his attention back to his dinner companions. His fiancée was frowning at him and tugging at his arm. The older man waved a handful of papers, and his voice rose for a moment—until his wife laid a hand on his arm and appeared to try to shush him.

All at once, Marina noticed that the woman hanging all over Wade had turned her head, did a quick line-of-sight herself, and stared straight into Marina’s face with eyes filled with daggers.

The expression on the woman’s face was so unnerving, Marina quickly broke eye contact and attempted to act normal.

“It’s apparent they’re in the middle of an uncomfortable conversation,” Jenna observed drily. “Don’t be too envious.”

“That woman . . . she’s scary,” Marina said under her breath.

Jenna took a sip of her drink and smiled. “Pretend you and I are having a pleasant conversation. Just act natural.”

“Easy for you to say,” Marina murmured while trying to read her menu without getting flustered.

When the waiter appeared again, Marina gave her order quickly, gulping down more ice water. “I’m not sure . . .”

“What?” Jenna asked, peering into her face. “What’s going on inside your head?”

“Seeing him gives me cold, tingly shivers,” Marina confessed. “Scratch that. I feel hot all over. But I’m too young for hot flashes.”

“Hm, sounds more like hot and bothered?” Jenna said knowingly.

Marina gripped the stem of her water goblet. “Seeing him—her—all together with her family makes me realize that I have no chance whatsoever. I must resign myself to that fact. He has this rich, close-knit family—”

“That might be a big assumption,” Jenna interrupted.

Marina shook her head. “I have to forget about him. It feels like the universe is laughing at me. He appears after all these years, and at the same time, he’s immediately snatched away. . . the timing is off all over again. I’m also out of his league—and that woman’s, too—I don’t deserve him.”

“Good grief, deserving him has nothing to do with it.” Jenna peered at Marina more closely. “I don’t think you ever got over him. You’ve just been hiding it all these years.”

Chapter Eleven

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