Page 45 of Cherish

“I’m going to kill him. I know how to make it look like natural causes,” Jason says, but the only thing we hear is more banging on the door.

The banging continues while I run into the bathroom and put on my robe. I check my reflection in the mirror. I love the woman I see looking back at me. My cheeks are flushed, and my eyes have darkened. My chest is still heaving from our kiss, and all I can think about is getting back to my man.

I step out of the room to find Jake and his two brothers in the room, raiding the minibar.

“You drunks get the hell out of our room,” Jason says, but no one is paying him any attention.

“Hey, guys,” I say, wrapping my arm around Jason’s waist.

“Hey!” they all shout. Someone hands me a drink, but having had enough, I hand it to Jason. “We’re here for the best man. Come on. Party’s in Jake’s suite.” This comes from Jake’s younger brother, Luke, but his older brother nods in agreement.

“Are you three drunk?” Jason asks.

“Duh! Come on! I’m only getting married once. Let’s go.”

I can tell Jason doesn’t want to go, but I intervene.

“Go ahead, babe.” He sighs, grabs his shirt and puts it back on.

“You’re needy as fuck, do you know that, Jake, you damn cockblocker?”

The guys just laugh, and after another kiss, I’m alone. Instead of the passion filled night I had planned, I take a cool shower and climb into bed.

CHAPTER 29

ALEX

“Angel,” Jason says, his lips against my forehead, “wake up.” I stir in the king-sized bed, naked and confused. I blink into the darkness until I’m able to focus on his face. I tilt my face and kiss him as I pull him onto the bed. He tastes of beer and smells of the beach, but I don’t care.

“Hold on, angel. I want you to come for a walk with me.” He pulls out of my grasp and pulls me out of the bed, pushing me toward the bathroom. I stumble, and he catches me.

“It’s three o’clock in the morning. I want to go back to sleep,” I mutter as I turn back in the direction of the bed, but his voice stops me.

“I really want to do this with you, Alex. This might be our only chance.” Just as I’m climbing back into the bed, he hands me a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Resigned, I grab underwear and quickly dress.

Minutes later, we’re walking along the deserted beach, my arm tucked into his. Despite the early hour and close distance to the water, it’s a warm and balmy July night. It’s dark, our only source of light being the sliver of the moon sticking out behind the clouds. I let him pull me into the waves; the water crashing on our bare feet. When a much bigger wave crashes at our feet, we walk away and sit on the sand with me positioned between Jason’s legs. I lean into his chest as he wraps his muscular arms around me.

“I’m so glad you’re here with me,” he says against my temple. “Being here with you is heaven. I guess that makes sense with you being an angel.”

“I’m hardly an angel. Don’t put me on a pedestal, Jason. I’ve done things.”

I can feel the vibrations from his body as he laughs.

“Yeah? Like what? Tell me something about yourself that would shock me?”

I lean back and think about something. “I used to be a smoker.”

“What?”

“It’s true. After my mother died, I started smoking about a pack a day. They helped me deal with the stress of everything. I quit a couple of years ago, but whenever I get stressed, the urge to light up a cigarette becomes so strong. And when I was nine, this boy, James Fisher, used to pick on me. He would pull my hair and trip me, so I told the teacher. The teacher said he was doing that because he liked me, but even to my nine-year-old brain, that didn’t sound right. So, the next day when he pulled my pigtails, I waited until he walked in front of me, then I kicked him. He fell face first and I jumped on his back and shoved his face in the dirt. Our mothers had to come to the school, and when I told my mother what happened and what the teacher said, she raised hell. He never bothered me again.”

He pulls me closer and squeezes me.

“I’m going to find this James and torture him with my surgical devices, then I’ll destroy every cigarette in the city of Boston.”

“I’m okay. Haven’t touched one in about a year and a half. Ananda was always on my back about it. She was always stealing them and throwing them away.”

“She’s a good friend to you.”

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