Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Her eyes flew open, and she stared up at me. Her pupils were dilated, and her eyes were glazed with lust, but she whispered my name again. Another enchantment. “Garrett, Garrett, please.”
I wanted to. I wanted to so badly. But she had to go first. When she finally threw her head back and cried out in a noise that sounded like a cross between ecstasy and agony, I thrust into her once, twice more, and then followed her over the edge.
24
DESTINY
I don’t know how Garrett and I got through the rehearsal dinner without everyone figuring it out. To me, it felt so obvious. There had to be tattoos of his fingerprints all over my body. My cheeks had to be permanently flushed. And even if they didn’t see that, surely, they had to notice how we couldn’t keep our eyes off each other. I tried–making sure to sit at the opposite end of the table–but somehow, we always found our way back to each other. Even when we couldn’t stand beside each other, our gazes were always moments away from locking.
When Garrett left, he caught my eye again, and I knew I would be going to his villa instead of mine tonight. Tonight, and tomorrow night, too. But then, after that, we’d return to the real world. Or at least, as real as the world got in Hollywood. The idea tied my stomach up in a knot, but I refused to focus on it. Back home, I’d have to go back to pretending to be in love with Andrew Quinn and fighting for my next role. But for the two nights, I could be myself instead of a character.
I soaked up every second of those nights. It was the daytime that felt like the dream. Soft, fuzzy, and out of focus. The morning of Noemi’s wedding day was perfect because after breakfast, Noemi went to get her hair and makeup done, and the rest of the guests wandered off in their own directions. I went back to my villa, and ten minutes later, Garrett let himself in with the second key.
“Let’s stay here forever,” I murmured later as we were lying in bed. My head was pillowed on his chest, and I felt his laugh before I heard it.
“Okay,” he said lazily, running his hands idly through my hair. “I’m sure there are plenty of people in crisis here.”
At the wedding, I made sure to sit slightly behind Garrett and across the aisle. It wasn’t just because I needed the distance between us to focus. I wanted to see his face when Noemi walked down the white petal strewn sandy pathway between the rows of chairs to meet David at the archway. Noemi hadn’t said much about her first wedding over the years, but I knew it was nothing like this.
When the lilting strains of the processional music started and Noemi took her first step out from the billowy white tent that had been hiding her–I almost forgot to look at him. She looked so radiantly happy, like she’d drank the sunshine that was beaming down on us and now it radiated out of her eyes and cheeks. Her dress was pure white and clung to her full, beautiful figure. She swept a glance at either side of the aisle, but I could tell that she only really saw the man waiting for her at the end.
I turned to check David’s reaction, but before I could, I collided with Garrett’s gaze. Surprise and heat flushed into my cheeks. He was staring at me with undisguised admiration, like it was just the two of us alone in bed and not surrounded by Noemi’s nearest and dearest. I wanted to shake my head at him and frown, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted to look back at him with as much freedom as Noemi had to gaze at David.
Noemi’s procession brought her between us, cutting off our line of vision. When she passed, I saw that Garrett’s mouth had curved into a wry grin as he met her eyes. I soaked in that expression as much as I had the admiration in his eyes. He wasn’t watching Noemi walk down the aisle, bitterly remembering how she was his first. They were grinning at each other like kids who had gotten away with a prank that still made them laugh even though it was a long time ago. And then he was looking at me again, and it took my breath away.
When Noemi reached the front, Garrett had to turn forward. We’d had a brief invisibility cloak, hiding under Noemi’s blinding beauty, but now people would notice if her ex-husband was staring at her old co-star during the vows. It would raise eyebrows. Start murmurs.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t sneak glances at the back of his head, though. Couldn’t trace the line of his broad shoulders and remember what it felt like to have that weight and muscle pinning me to the bed.