Page 61 of The Wedding Run
“People make lists all the time to make a decision.”
“How’d that work out for you?” His words take the breath right out of me.
My gaze narrows. “Did you do the Disney thing with your engagement and follow your heart?”
He doesn’t answer.
“How’d that work for you, Luke?”
We stand, toe to toe. I’m breathing like I climbed twenty floors. He’s calm, as if removed from the emotional trauma.
“You’re all sanctimonious, Luke,” I fire at him, “but the truth is you go out with this girl, Benepole?—
“Bethany—”
“—or somebody else, without really committing. That’s it, isn’t it? Derek told me. You act like you owe your life to him or something. That’s where your loyalty lies.”
“That’s not it,” he says, his voice deep and raw with emotion.
“Then what? I’m not stupid. You’ve been interested in me. From what you said before you kissed me. And maybe because you’ve volunteered to help me figure out the teabag. It’s all been a charade, hasn’t it? But you restrained yourself. Because of Derek.”
“He’s my friend.”
“Or is it because he owns most of your business?”
“He’s my friend.”
“Keep believing that. Except for that kiss. Am I right? Trust me, Derek would never give you the same courtesy.”
He closes the gap between us and grasps my arms. He pulls me closer. I want him to kiss me. I want more. And I can’t explain it. It doesn’t make sense. But it’s there – the want, the need, the hope pulsing between us. I see the same desire smoldering in his eyes.
And I’ve pushed him…us,to this edge.
But then he shutters the desire, clamping it off. I sense his tension, his grip on my arms, his shallow breathing. Gently but firmly, he sets me away from him.
“It’s getting late,” he says, his voice rough.
“You have to do what feels right. For you.”
And that’s it. No romantic interlude. No inkling as to what Luke is thinking. Or feeling. I realize that what I want is not what Luke wants. And maybe it never was or can be.
And now, I have something real and solid to put on my ‘What not to like about Luke’ list.
CHAPTER 31
Luke
It went better than I ever imagined. And worse.
Libby really doesn’t want to marry Derek. Great! Good. Glorious!
The unfortunate part is that she is genuinely angry with me.
The drive to my folks’ feels endless, and the silence between us is like a block of ice. I wish I could say something to melt her resistance, to explain, to justify my actions. But it would only make things worse.
My folks’ house looks dark. They must have already gone to bed for the night.
When I park, I turn to Libby, searching for something to say and a way to reconnect with her and postpone her leaving. Yet, the days feel like they’re racing toward the weekend when she returns to Atlanta and her life. And I will be alone. Again.
