Page 2 of Accidental Love

“I am not the same guy you were dating a year ago. If I were you I would not piss me off, Carmen.” Keeping my hard gaze on her, I hit the button to un-stick the elevator and felt it starting to go once more. “If you think I would open you back with open arms, you are insane.”

“Liam, you think that little girl can keep you happy? Does she even know about your escapades with women? If you think she can satisfy you, you are wrong,” Carmen said.

“She is everything you are not. She is not a slut like you, who opens her legs for every male.” The elevator dinged, signaling we were at the ground level. “If you come near me and my fiancé again, Carmen, I will not hesitate to make your life hell.” I was always true to my word. I clenched my jaw and turned and exited the elevator, not even glancing back at her. I was beyond angry that she was here of all places, that she’d cornered me in the elevator, and that she talked bad about Jenna. Jenna was everything Carmen was not, and I did not plan on ruining my chance with my fiancé.

Stalking toward the restaurant, I tried to come up with an excuse as to why I was late. I looked at my watch and saw I was beyond late; it was almost ten. I didn’t know I was with Carmen for that long because it had felt like only minutes. Damn it! Damn it!

Walking briskly to the cashier desk, I put my hands on the counter.

“Is my table empty?” I immediately asked, not even bothering to say hello.

“Um, I don’t—” the girl said, looking at me. It was clear she didn’t know who I was.

“I am Liam Stanford. Now tell me if there is a woman at my table or not!” I bit out, not caring that I was being rude.

“M-Mr. Stanford, you are here. I am s-sorry, but the woman at your table left a little while ago,” the girl stammered out.

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know, sir.” She looked like she was about to pee herself. Clenching my hands into fists, I turned and walked away. I need to find Jenna. I bet she was pissed at me, and I couldn’t blame her. I was two hours late to our date when I promised I’d be there on time. Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I opened it and saw a few texts, all from Jenna wondering where I was. Hitting “Call,” I put the phone to my ear as I made my way back to our room.

The phone rang for what seemed like forever before the call went to her voicemail. I grunted and hit “Call” again, but the same thing happened. Where is she? Why is she not answering her phone? Had something happened to her? That last thought made my insides go cold. There was no way to know if something really had happened to her. For all I knew, she could have been kidnapped. Slapping myself mentally at those thoughts, I scowled. I was really stretching it right there.

When I arrived at our room, I noticed Jenna’s bag set outside the door. Glancing to the beach, I didn’t see her. I grew anxious and headed toward the sand, knowing she must have gone this way. I couldn’t lose Jenna because of this; I just couldn’t. I had to explain myself to her and hope she forgave me.

Walking in the sand, I saw a group of people a little bit away sitting around a fire. She probably won’t be there. Looking in the other direction, I saw two lone figures heading back toward me. I couldn’t see much from here, but I did notice one figure was smaller than the other—clearly a woman. That had to be Jenna. Trudging through the thick sand and ignoring the stuff getting in my shoes, I made my way toward the two people. The closer I got, I could see a flash of blonde reflecting by the light of the moon. It was Jenna.

“Jenna!” I yelled. I watched as she and the person next to her stopped. They were too close together for comfort, which made me tense up. Jenna was mine, no one else’s. “Jenna!” I said once more. I heard her turn around and whisper my name. Coming to a stop in front of her, I got a good look at the person she was with. He was a guy around my age, and he was shirtless. He was not bad-looking, and since he was standing so close to Jenna, I knew he had been flirting with her.

“Who the hell are you? Why are you with my fiancé?” I boomed, taking a step closer to him. He didn’t even flinch or move away.

“I’m making sure your ‘fiancé’ is okay,” the stranger replied. I didn’t like his tone.

“Liam, stop!” I heard Jenna say, but I ignored her.

“She is mine. Don’t you go near her,” I said, my voice low. I took another step closer toward him. The guy didn’t seem at all affected, shooting a glance at Jenna, which made my blood boil even more.

“If she is yours, then why did you stand her up, hmmm?”

I clenched my hands into fists, trying my hardest to keep them at my side. This guy did not know when to give up and leave; I did not mind showing him that now was the time, if I had to.

“I did not stand her up. Now step away from my girl!”

“Liam, stop. Devon, you better go,” Jenna said suddenly, stepping between me and the stranger. Devon. So that’s his name. Wait, why does she already know his name?

“Will you be okay alone?” Devon looked at Jenna, a weird expression on his face.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you for the advice, Devon. I hope I see you again.”

I bristled at the smile Jenna sent Devon. She could only smile at me. I barely heard what he said after that, feeling myself shaking slightly.

“What are you doing out here, especially with another man?” I asked as soon as I knew Devon was out of earshot. I did not like that guy at all.

“I was not with another man. Devon was just talking to me, Liam,” she said.

“He was looking at you like he wanted to take your clothes off!” I growled. I hated even thinking about Jenna being with someone else. I had no idea when this feeling started developing. A few weeks ago I had only slightly liked Jenna, and back then, the idea of her being with someone else felt like a soft punch to my stomach. Now, it was like someone had hit me with a sledgehammer over and over.

“At least that’s someone,” I heard her say softly, under her breath.

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