Page 22 of Jilted
Amy and Brett had been at the beach party for almost three hours, and they were having a wonderful time. Both the food and the music were incredible. They’d eaten way more than they should have; they’d laughed and danced, and they even made friends with a young couple – Jason and Emma from Texas.
“I feel like I’ve rambled on all night,” Emma said with a giggle.
Amy smiled politely. In the twenty minutes since Emma and Jason introduced themselves, Amy knew all about them. They’d been high school sweethearts and had married right after graduation, but because Jason had been deployed to Afghanistan, they were just now getting to take their honeymoon. Jason was a Navy Corpsman – a medical doctor – and Emma was just finishing college to become a schoolteacher.
“So, tell us about y’all. How’d you meet? What do you two do?” Emma asked.
Jason kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t be so nosey, darling.”
Emma blushed. “Gosh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Brett said. “Amy and I met when we were kids. How old were we? Twelve?” He glanced at Amy.
“Ten,” Amy corrected.
“Right, well, when we were ten, we were paired together during a dance class, and the rest is history.” Brett smiled.
Amy could tell that he was trying to give them enough information without giving away too much.
“So, y’all are dancers?” Emma asked.
“Yes,” Amy said. “We’ve competed together for several years and now we run our own studio to teach ballroom dancing to kids.”
“Aww, that is so sweet,” Emma cooed and batted her eyelashes at her husband.
Amy noticed Brett shift uncomfortably in his chair. She turned to Emma and Jason. “It has been a pleasure meeting both of you, but I think it’s time I make Brett keep his promise to take a walk with me on the beach.”
She stood and waited for Brett to follow. He hadn’t promised her a walk, but she hoped he would pick up on what she was trying to do – get them out of a situation that was quickly becoming uncomfortable.
Finally, Brett stood. “Yes, it’s been a lot of fun.” He shook Jason’s hand and then escorted Amy down the beach. Once they were away from the noise of the party, he turned to her and said, “Thank you. I really didn’t want to tell two complete strangers that I was left at the altar and had to beg my best friend to come here with me.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured as much.” Amy stopped, took off her shoes, picked them up, and carried them as she walked along the wet sand, enjoying the feel of the cool water lapping at her feet. “For the record, you didn’t have to beg me. All you ever have to do is ask, Brett. You know that.”
“You really mean that?”
“Of course, I would do anything for you.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to tell him that, but she wanted him to know for certain that she was always there for him, no matter what.
Brett reached down and intertwined their fingers, causing a devastating ripple effect on Amy’s body and her emotions. He tugged on her hand and stopped her. She was afraid to face him, but knew she had to.
“Then don’t leave the studio,” he said.
“What?” Amy had no idea what she expected him to say, but for some reason, that wasn’t it.
“I know we’ve talked about opening a second studio, and I think we should, but I don’t want you to stop teaching with me. Think about it, we would both have to train new partners.”
In that moment, a piece of Amy’s heart broke. Just because being here on a beautiful, tropical island made for lovers was bringing out all these crazy feelings in her didn’t mean it was having the same effect on Brett, obviously. She was a fool to think it would. No. Brett only saw her as a friend and business partner. Nothing else. Him not wanting her to leave the studio had absolutely nothing to do with him wanting her close and everything to do with not wanting the hassle of breaking in a new dance partner.
“Amy?” He tugged on her hand again.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll stay,” she said simply because she didn’t want to have this conversation with him right now. It would ruin the entire evening.
They resumed walking, but Brett didn’t release her hand like she expected. Well, she wasn’t about to tell him to let go. For right now, this moment in time, she was going to enjoy walking along the beach holding Brett’s hand.
“The stars are so bright,” Brett said.
Amy looked up. They were bright, and they looked impossibly close, too. She’d never seen stars like that before. It was mesmerizing. From the corner of her eye, she saw Brett staring at her.
“What?” she asked, looking at him.
