Page 96 of Second Chance Wedding
Ana hurried toward the elevator and pressed the button. While she waited, she turned back to see Quinley sitting alone at the table, her glass empty once again. Her two bodyguards in view and ever watchful.
The elevator dinged, and she felt torn as the doors opened. She needed to talk to Cole and Ben, but Quinley…
As though she sensed Ana’s indecision, Quinley glanced her way. Her best friend shook her head and mouthedGo, adding a jerk of her head and wave of her hand to indicate the open doors behind Ana.
Ana lifted her hand and mimedcall mebefore she stepped onto the lift.
The doors began to close, and Ana watched as Quinley turned her attention back to the view, looking beautiful and elegant and…sad.
* * *
Ferris wheel.
Cole frowned at his phone screen once again and reread the text from Ana. Not that there was much to it.
Ferris wheel was her safe word. The one he’d created for her to use whenever she needed him. He’d just finished a call with Alec as the text had come through andknewBen was working at the store with his brother. This wasn’t about Ben.
A second text quickly followed the first.
A pin.
He pressed it and caught his breath when he noted her location.
He’d had a black car service request for an airport run and was on his way back to Carolina Cove, and thankfully already close to the boardwalk. He didn’t want to take precious time swapping vehicles, so he hurried down the final few streets and grumbled until he finally found a parking space big enough for the limo, then left it behind to jog the rest of the way.
He paused, breath seizing in his lungs when he finally spied her, face upturned as she stared at the Ferris wheel.
Afraid to hope, he fisted his hands and forced himself to walk the rest of the way toward her. Ana must have sensed his presence because she turned her head, her gaze meeting his.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” He tilted his head toward the ride. “Wanna ride with me?”
The smile that flashed over her face was tenuous, but she nodded and lifted her hand, showing him two tickets.
“I was really hoping you’d say that.”
They walked toward the ride, both silent as they took fleeting glances at one another. He wanted to ask questions, but with people crowding around them, he knew it wasn’t the time.
Crisp, cold air smoked their breath when it was their turn to climb aboard and settle in. He put his arm along the back of the seat, and she leaned closer to him naturally, like she sought his warmth. Once the attendant double checked they were locked in and had walked away, Cole shifted his attention to the woman beside him.
Her pulse beat rapidly in her throat, and she bit her lower lip, worrying it with her teeth. He lifted his hand and gently freed her lip with his thumb.
Sitting as close as they were, he felt her inhale.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Her beautiful gaze met his, but sadness dulled the light in her eyes.
“I think… I know…I overreacted,” she said softly.
In that moment she looked every bit like a woman who didn’t like having to admit a flaw but was forcing herself to verbalize it anyway.
“I realize now that you made a very difficult decision when you took Ben to the restaurant, but you did it with Ben’s safety and well-being in mind. Quinley pointed out that…I may have been behaving more like my parents than I thought or…ever wanted.”
He winced with wry amusement. “Thatcouldn’t have been easy to hear.”
“Oh, trust me, it wasn’t.”
