Page 6 of Fighting Fate

In hindsight, it was a dumbass decision, but she’d got caught up in the romance of having an ugly-duckling makeover, convincing herself it was all she needed to make Luke really see her as a woman for once.

Adam made me feel more feminine in ten minutes than Luke has in four years.

Although she couldn’t imagine why, as she caught sight of herself in the mirror and stifled a yelp, cramming her hands against her mouth. She looked terrible, her makeup smeared all over her face and her hair a disastrous mess instead of the elegant arrangement of glamorously tousled waves she’d been sporting the previous evening. Her tears had made black raccoon circles under her swollen, red eyes, and there was sand stuck to one of her cheeks.

Honestly, she couldn’t recall ever looking worse.

And yet Adam still looked at me as though I was attractive.

It was a puzzle she couldn’t make out, and after a night of no sleep and more tears than she ever wanted to cry again, she wasn’t going to solve it any time soon. Switching on the shower, she eased out of Olivia’s dress, wincing at the state of it. Despite what Adam had suggested, there was no way she’d be wearing it to dinner with him. She’d drop it at the resort dry-cleaner and wear something of her own.

She stood under the shower for a long time, letting the stream of warm water rinse away the misery of the night before, the let-down and disappointment. She couldn’t blame Luke at all; he’d never given her any reason to think he might have any kind of feelings for her other than friendship.

I built it up into a castle of dreams and now it’s all crashed down.

Oddly, the thought of leaving the island and her friends hurt far more than the idea of never seeing Luke again. Which was confirmation, if she needed any, that the love she’d convinced herself she felt for Luke wasn’t real. It was all in her own head.

“Rosie!”

The hammering on the bathroom door made Rosie wince. “Be right out!” she called, shutting off the shower.

“Time to face the music,” she whispered, looking at herself in the mirror as she wrapped a towel around herself. With her face scrubbed clean, her hair wet and slicked to her scalp, the redness of her eyes was all too obvious.

Jill was lurking right outside the bedroom door, a broad grin on her face. “You naughty girl, Rosie, who did you… oh my God. What happened?” She stared at Rosie, her expression changing from mischievous glee to horror in an instant as she took in her best friend’s appearance.

“I made the world’s biggest fool of myself,” Rosie said wearily, “and I’d really rather not talk about it.”

“Oh, Rosie.” Jill shook her head, sitting down on the end of Rosie’s bed. “Just tell me one thing.”

“Okay?” Rosie said cautiously.

“Was it public, and therefore am I going to be fending off questions about it all day?”

“Oh God.” It had been, and therefore she wasn’t being fair to Jill leaving her in the dark. Throwing herself face first on the bed, Rosie dragged a pillow over her head. “This is the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said, muffled.

“Worse than when you ran over that wallaby with a golf cart on Hamilton Island in front of a bunch of horrified Japanese tourists?”

Rosie pulled the pillow off her head and fixed Jill with a death glare. “You promised never to mention that again!”

“I figured it was a special occasion. Come on. Whatever happened can’t be that bad. Are any wallabies dead this time?” Jill’s eyes danced with amusement.

Despite herself, Rosie’s lips twitched. Jill was always good at pulling her out of a funk.

“The only thing dead is my pride. It’s just waiting for decent burial now,” she said with a sigh, rolling over and plumping up her pillows to lean back against them before pouring her heart out to her best friend.

***

“Oh my God. Luke?” Jill said incredulously.

“And that’s why it was an unmitigated disaster. He was just as surprised as you are.”

“Probably more, because I at least knew you had a crush on him, whereas I’m pretty sure he was happily oblivious.”

“Ugh.” Rosie considered trying to smother herself with the pillow again. “It was awful. He was so clearly wishing for the earth to open up and swallow him so he didn’t have to listen to me.”

“Oh, Rosie.” Jill gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” Rosie was honestly grateful; she knew Jill was more than capable of giving her a lecture, but obviously she could see how deeply Rosie was affected and had decided to be kind.

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