Page 39 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Chapter 7
Booze and drugs. The secret pain of Rebel Cayne, as told by those who knew her before pop stardom.
-Tal Tattler
Marigold
Night stretched along the beach. With the lights of the resort behind her, Mari picked a careful path down from her cabin to the sand. The breeze from the water kept the humidity at tolerable levels. Stars reflected on the shifting and broken surface of the water.
Mari found an abandoned lounger and settled in. Tomorrow, she would board a shuttle and return to her ordinary life. For the moment, she wanted to sit in the moonlight and enjoy the sound of the waves. Her honeymoon started horribly, but it could end peacefully.
She sipped the fruity iced tea, perspiration clinging to the sweating glass.
Noise from the buildings behind prompted her to turn, her heart pounding. So what if part of her kept hoping that Tomas would arrive, desperate to find her, and explain the last week away? A lapse in judgment or—fudge, she didn’t know—a brain tumor that affected the decision-making parts of his brains and resulted in him running off with Sandria. A brain tumor seemed adequate to balance karma’s scales.
Not that she’d wish a brain tumor on him, because she was too much of a dang softie. Despite that they had been growing apart, it wasn’t wrong to still harbor some sentiment for him, and a week wasn’t enough time to unravel her emotions. She thought she loved him, or at least the idea of him, and believed that he loved her.
Anger and disbelief kept her numb, but as the ice thawed, she had to wade her way out of the flood. Relief had been her first response the day of her almost-wedding, so she knew on some instinctive level. This was for the best, even if it sucked. She’d get through this. She didn’t want him back, not really. She wanted to see him for closure and all that.
Everything about the situation was a tangled mess. She wanted equally to hug him tight and make him promise to never leave, and to punch him. Mostly punch, even though she strived to be a peaceful person, some people needed to be punched hard enough to cleanse their aura.
It wasn’t wrong to want to be loved.
It wasn’t wrong to want forever with a person.
Joseph seemed content with brief but intense flings. Mari needed more. She always had. Tomas recognized that and used it against her. He whispered sweet promises, exactly what she wanted to believe, and she wasn’t crying about it.
Mari wiped away the moisture in her eyes.
Not crying. Shut up.
Tomas so needed a punch, right in his root chakra, which was in the vicinity of his balls.
The rhythmic roar of the ocean lulled her into a meditative state. Tomorrow, she’d leave behind those ugly thoughts of vengeful brain tumors and focus on a fresh start. She’d swallow her pride and move back to her mother’s. Valerian had plenty of room, having a hangar at Olympus Station. Half had been converted to living space, and they ran the family business out of the other half. There was no shame in going home. Joseph still lived there, after all. She’d miss the privacy that allowed her to wander around in nothing but her panties, but she’d cope.
She had to.
“I checked your credentials,” a gruff voice said.
She jerked in surprise. The iced tea splashed over the rim of the glass. “Are you stalking me?”
“Hardly,” Winter said with a sniff, then sat down on the lounger next to hers like he had been invited.
“Oh, please, do join me.”
He ignored her sarcastic tone. “You were top of your class and have a perfect safety record.”
“So youarestalking me,” she said.
“Yet with these credentials, you work for your mother.”
“It’s a family-run business. Don’t you work for your brother?”
“That is different.”
“Oh, sure.” She settled back into the lounger, returning her gaze to the ocean.
“We are both shareholders,” he said, almost sounding bitter. “I work for myself, not for Chase.”
