Page 17 of Jilted
He gathered his jacket and tie and shoved them into his duffel bag in the corner. Then he paused. The tickets for his honeymoon were right there, staring at him, taunting him. It was the perfect place to go, to get away from all the sympathetic looks from his family, to try to make some sense of his feelings for Amy.
“Take me to the airport,” he said suddenly.
“The airport? Where are you going to go?”
He could tell by her tone that she was worried about him. “My honeymoon,” he said so low she almost didn’t hear him.
“Your honeymoon? What makes you think Vanessa hasn’t done the same thing?” Amy paused. “Unless...you’re hoping she’s there so you can talk to her.”
Brett shook his head. “No, she has no idea where we were going. I was going to surprise her.”
“Oh, so...you’re going to go on your honeymoon alone then? Is that really a good idea?”
“No.” The last thing he needed right now was to be alone. He lifted the bag and pulled the strap over his shoulder. “You can go with me.”
There was no better way to figure out his feelings for Amy than to spend a week alone with her, right?
“What?” Amy took several steps back, away from him. Then she laughed. “You want me to go on your honeymoon with you? No way. Uh-uh, absolutely not.”
“C’mon, Amy.” He gave her that look. The look he always gave her when he wanted something that he knew she wouldn’t do. The same look that would ultimately get him what he wanted. “I need to get the hell out of here, but I don’t want to be alone. I can’t be. Please.” Brett took a few steps toward her. “You are still my best friend, aren’t you?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“Then please do this for me, Amy. There’s no one else I can ask. Please.” He playfully batted his eyelashes for good measure.
With a sigh, she said, “Can I at least go home and pack first?”
Brett smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He released her. “And yes, you can pack but make it quick. I want to get as far away from here as quickly as possible.”
“Okay.” Amy dug her keys from her purse and followed Brett out the back door.
As they walked to her car, Brett realized it was probably a bad idea to ask Amy to go with him, but one way or the other, he had to figure out what was going on inside of him.
It was glaringly obvious to him that he couldn’t maintain a relationship with a woman that wasn’t Amy. So, maybe his mother and his brother were right. Maybe Amy was the woman he should be with. Lord knew he found her attractive, and that he’d fantasized about her enough. Well, it was about time he did something about it. And for all he knew, Amy didn’t feel the same way, but he’d never know unless he made a move. But first, he’d spend a few days reconnecting with her, hoping he could gauge her feelings before he made an ass of himself.
Chapter Eight
“Wow!” Amy stood in the middle of the bungalow and looked around.
She was standing in the living room area, which was fully furnished with a plush, blue couch and two matching recliners. A glass coffee table was positioned in the middle of the room and smaller, round tables were scattered in between the furniture. Each smaller table held ornately decorated lamps. There was no TV, but there was a small radio mounted into the wall above the fireplace.
To her left was a small, fully equipped kitchen complete with a table and four chairs. To her left was a spiral staircase. Her gaze followed the stairs up to an open landing that appeared to be the bedroom.
“C’mon, let’s go check it out,” Brett said, heading for the stairs.
Amy followed him up and was shocked to find the bedroom was almost as big as the entire downstairs. There was a king-sized bed in the center of the room. She stared at it for several moments before looking at Brett.
“Um, I can sleep on the couch downstairs,” she said.
“No, you take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.
“Are you sure? This is your honeymoon. You’ve paid for all of this.” Amy glanced at the bed again. What a shame. It looked so comfortable, and she bet it felt just as good, too.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He laughed. “That bed is big enough for twelve people. I’m sure we can manage to share it without any issues.”
Amy cleared her throat. The last thing she wanted to do was share a bed with Brett, but she didn’t want to seem ungrateful, either. He had generously dragged her along on his honeymoon to the beautiful, tropical island of Tri Pinnae, which was a secluded island in the Caribbean, and it was absolutely breathtaking.
Ignoring his comment for the moment, Amy walked toward the glass double door and swung them open. She was met with a balcony that offered them not only a hot tub, but also the most gorgeous view of the ocean. The lights of the resort below lit up the otherwise dark sky.
