Page 67 of Not that Sea-Rious
His lips tightened into a frown, and her heart pinched.She much preferred seeing a smile on his face and a daiquiri in his hand.Real life was a kick in the crotch.
“I-I’m going to head back to my room,” she stammered.
He stepped around the table.“We can still have dinner.”He gestured to the table.
She shook her head.What was the point?This evening, their dinner, their situation wasn’t going anywhere.“I have wedding things to do.”
The hurt on his face shattered her heart that much more.He reminded her of a wounded puppy shivering in a puddle on the side of the road.She couldn’t face this anymore.She had to get away.
“I’ll text you,” she lied as she stepped backward and turned.
With tears welling in her eyes but her head held high, she marched out of the restaurant, praying he wouldn’t chase her.She wasn’t sure she could maintain this confident façade much longer.
42
Beau
Abettermanwouldhavefollowed her.Beau should’ve gone after her, met her at the elevator, and kissed her with the force of a thousand lovers.If this were a sappy movie, that was what would happen.Oh, and it would be raining inside the hotel, somehow.
But he didn’t, and it wasn’t.
The sun had barely begun to set, casting beautiful shades of pink and purple in the sky outside.It was a perfect eighty-degree night with a slight breeze.
Yet his feet were made of lead.
Beau couldn’t move, no matter how much he wanted to.In the end, it was the right thing to do.He had to tell her.Keeping the turmoil of his current situation a secret wouldn’t be the foundation for a solid relationship.Pretending to be what he wasn’t—stable—just wasn’t how he rolled.
He was honest to a fault, and it cost him a relationship with the most wonderful woman on the planet.
Now, he had to sit and stew with that.
Running his fingers along his forehead to stave off the migraine thundering behind his eyeballs, he reached into his back pocket.He couldn’t sit there and have dinner without Marissa.Honestly, he shouldn’t be spending money so flippantly.He didn’t have an endless supply, but that wasn’t their server’s fault.
Without looking for their waitress, he dropped a fifty onto the table and fled the hotel.This building was a hell of a lot smaller than the cruise ship.If he didn’t get out now, he might run into someone in the bridal party, and quite frankly, he wasn’t sure he could handle that.
It didn’t matter how pure his intentions were.His ex and his former business partner had kicked him in the nuts.The rug had been ripped out from beneath him.He couldn’t hide that from Marissa.Once he got his feet on the ground, he could try again.
They had something.If they hadn’t crossed paths on the ship a few days ago, who knew how he’d have handled the latest blow.He might have exploded.It was because of Marissa that Beau had been able to take all that Jordan and Megan had flung at him in stride.
There was a light at the end of his dark-ass tunnel.He’d get there in time, and if she needed space, he’d give it to her.For now, he had to focus on fixing his situation.Then he could concentrate on winning her over and bringing her into it.Once he had something to offer her, he could chase her.Right now, he didn’t deserve to be at the table with her.He was too messy.She’d done nothing to warrant swimming in the depths of this with him.
He had to do this alone.
Marissa had her friends.They’d support her.Hopefully, they’d be on his side and make sure she didn’t lose sight of the fact that he hadn’t meant to hurt her.Besides, there was wedding prep.If everything went the way it was supposed to, she’d be too busy to overthink his words.
He’d done his best to choose them wisely and leave the door open for the possibility of more because he had hope that they had the potential to be great.He had to figure out how to get there.
Marissa
Marissa was able to hold it together for three floors.Unfortunately, the fourth floor was too much for her.With a hiccupped sob, tears spilled down her cheeks as the ding sounded and the doors slid open.Sniffling and frantically wiping at her tears, she exited the elevator and darted for her room.
She almost made it.
With her key card in hand, she stopped and reached for her knob, just as the door across from her opened.
“Marissa?”Tina’s concern triggered another wave of disappointment and more tears.
Hesitantly, she turned to find her friend holding an ice bucket.
