Page 21 of I Love You Again
Chapter 7
Trina could have kickedherself for the way she spoke to Brad. As soon as he left she regretted it and saw the error in herways.
She'd been completely out of line, and vile, for basically calling him dumb. He'd never spoken to her like that before either. Probably because she'd never given him any cause to until today. Trina knew she’d been trulydisrespectful.
She waited on the back porch, watching the smooth waves of the ocean breathe in and out, caressing the surface of the shore and the crystal sand. She waited out there for hours, but it felt more like days. When it turned dark, and there was still no sign of him, she felt even worse and realized once again that he wasn't coming back. That was when she broke down again for the umpteenth time or however many times she'd cried since being on thisvacation.
Since waiting out here was only making her crazy she went up to the room she'd chosen and lay in the bed, staring at the myriad of stars in the inky sky through the skylight window. Sleep took her momentslater.
The radiance of daylight woke her up with the sun beaming down on her in full volume. She could barely open her eyes against the rays and got up to semi close the curtain, turning the brightness down anotch.
Looking over at the silver clock on the wall she saw it wasten.
No wonder it was so bright. Back home she rarely slept past seven, and that was because of work. Even on weekends, she tended to wake up early, or not sleep at all sometimes because she was always oncall.
She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the deep grooves in the thick white bedside rug she sunk her feet in. That bad feeling hit her again as she remembered yesterday and how she spoke to Brad. It was pretty clear that he really had left, and it was because of her. She glanced at her phone and saw that there were no messages fromanyone.
She expected it to be flooded. She'd seen Mandy and Lizzie before she met up with Brad to come here, so she didn't expect to hear from them today. But she was sure she'd get messages from Jennifer asking what happened when she learned that Brad hadleft.
Maybe Jennifer was too upset to talk to her. It's not like she'd be wrong to feel disappointed. She and Neil had gone all out to make them comfortable. The location was beautiful, the house was bordering on dreamlike, and the scenic landscape enhanced thevision.
She was grateful for the attempt. She decided she'd have to call and apologize later. She also definitely needed to call Neil and ask for Brad's number. Brad needed an apology from hertoo.
She slid off the bed and made her way down the wooden stairs. When she got into the living room, she noticed that the door leading out to the back porch was wide open. She didn't remember leaving it that way and panicked when she realized she'd slept for hours unsecured in thehouse.
See. She had gone crazy. Sure, this wasn't her apartment right in the city in Chicago where she had to practice more mindfulness, but it never hurt to be safe wherever you went. She'd obviously been lucky nothing had happened toher.
She made her way to close the door, and that was when she sawhim.
Brad.
He was back. He was here. He was sitting on the steps leading down from the porch, resting against the wooden beams of the staircase, gazing out to the sea. His chiseled profile held an inherent strength, but with a certain sensuality she'd alwaysadmired.
Today he wore a fitted, gray jersey tank top that displayed the solid muscles in his thick arms and the well-built wall of his chest. Khaki combat trousers did the usual display of hislegs.
Her heart fluttered at the sight of him, and she was so happy he didn't leave the island. It was happiness and relief to the degree that she had a hard time resisting the urge to run over to him and throw herself into his arms. She had to admit that she missed doing that and it was weird to be here with him and not act the way they usedto.
That was how they greeted each other, even when mere hours had passed since their last meeting. It was like minutes were too long to beapart.
He wasn't that guy anymore though. The bad, troubled side to him was all gone, and the good side didn't have those deep feelings forher.
When she walked out to the porch, he turned and looked at her with those piercing blue eyes, holding hergaze.
She stopped paces away and looked athim.
"Wow, Milady's awake." He smirked withsarcasm.
She almost laughed. He used to call herMiladywhen she was in one of her moods with him, and they'd had anargument.
"Yeah," she breathed and took a moment to look at him. She couldn't believe he was here. It wasn't just that he came back from yesterday's drama, but it was all of it and the fact that she never thought she'd see him again. She used to dream about him all the time, and how they used tobe.
She made a move to get closer, but he held up his hand to stopher.
"Halt." He continued to gaze at her. "State your mood. If you've come to wail on my ass like yesterday, I need time toprepare."
This was another game from the past, so he could prep himself if the argument was likely tocontinue.
Today he had nothing to apologize for. It was all onher.
