Page 36 of Seeing You

However…all he could think about once he got home was Billie.

Her smile, her laugh, her fire…

Her.

It was a hell of a thing. He’d spent years exorcising her ghost from every aspect of his life, and now…she was back.

The years apart had only made her more beautiful. She had a confidence now that she hadn’t possessed then. He knew that life experiences must have molded her—experiences that he wasn’t privy to. They’d grown up together and he thought he would find the same woman who had walked out on him; instead, the woman he found was so much more.

Unfortunately, he also couldn’t stop thinking about that damn letter. It was an easy excuse—a lie—but he couldn’t let itgo. So he forced himself to think about that day—how he’d come home from work early because they were leaving that night for a romantic getaway. They’d made big plans, and he was looking forward to them so much, but when he walked in the door and was met with silence, he knew something was wrong. He’d called her multiple times, but she didn’t answer. Then he walked into his bedroom and knew she was gone. Her clothes were gone, all her toiletries were gone—pretty much every trace of her was gone.

By the time he walked into his home office, he was both devastated and furious.

That’s when he spotted the ring.

Once that moment came to mind, Marcus remembered what he did next and possibly why he didn’t see the letter.

He had swiped everything off his desk and sent it all crashing to the floor. Things broke, papers scattered, and basically, he had trashed the space.

It had taken several days before he attempted to clean everything up—and even then, his housekeeper helped. He remembered telling her to get rid of anything of Billie’s so…

That solved the mystery of the missing letter.

But instead of simply telling himself to move on, it felt like he needed to go back to Sweetbriar Ridge and let her know.

At least…that was the excuse he told himself.

The reality was that he just wanted to see her again.

The wedding had provided the perfect reason if anyone asked, and now that he was here and sitting next to her, he wished they could be alone.

And not only because he wanted to explain what he remembered.

“Ladies and gentleman, for the first time as husband and wife,” the DJ called out. “Mr. and Mrs. Jared Nelson! Give them a hand!”

Everyone got to their feet, and it brought Marcus fully back to the present. Servers were walking around putting glasses of champagne on everyone’s tables as the DJ introduced Iris and Jared’s first dance. He always thought it was a bit sappy to have a big wedding with so many people coming just to watch you dance and eat cake. It was a silly tradition as far as he was concerned. But when all the guests were invited to join the bride and groom on the dance floor, he did the only thing he could.

“Care to dance?” he asked Billie.

She stared back at him with wide eyes, but they were standing there alone since all of their friends had gone out to dance.

“We want to make sure the happy couple lives happily ever after, right?” he prompted.

He didn’t take it as a good sign when she glanced around frantically, as if searching for anyone else to dance with but him, but she eventually accepted.

As soon as she was in his arms, everything in him seemed to relax. It was good to hold her. She smelled positively delectable, and her dress was even sexier than the one she wore the other night. He gently pulled her a little closer and…

“Thank you!” the DJ called out. “Please take your seats so our best man can make his toast!”

They were ushered back to their tables and he knew it would be awhile before another opportunity presented itself. Salads were being placed on the table, toasts were made, and for the next hour, it was almost impossible to say a private word to her.

A brief window opened up when everyone got up to dance again, but Billie had excused herself and he’d lost sight of her. When she returned, it was time to cut the cake, and then it was more sitting and eating. It was beyond frustrating. After dessert, people were dancing and he looked to see where she was, but she was chatting with one of the groomsmen.

Actually, she looked like she was flirting with one of the groomsmen and he was flirting right back!

What the hell?

It was completely illogical for him to be jealous, but that’s exactly what he was. She had kissed him less than a week ago and she was already flirting with someone else? While he was standing right here?

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