He led her by the elbow to a quieter corner of the club. Alone, in the presently empty VIP room, she felt horrendously exposed. Not to mention the anger she felt with herself for not wearing something that screamed confidence. This was a big mistake. Coming here was a big mistake. If she opened her mouth to speak to him, a garbled mess would tumble out and she’d be unable to keep up with the pretence that she didn’t care.
‘I never thought I’d see you again.’ He drawled. ‘You look incredible.’
‘Don’t’. she managed. It was a long time ago, lifetimes ago. Everyone has moved on.’
‘Really? I saw a little light in your eyes when you saw me….’
‘Stop it Mikey, if that is your real name. You sound like a bloody teenage mutant ninja turtle. Drew suits you better.’
He chuckled. ‘Like you said, lifetimes ago. Ellie doesn’t need to hear any of it.’
‘I would never ever hurt her.’ Spat Emily, trying her best not to meet his eyes. Trying to suppress the waves of emotion that threatened to drag her under. Maybe you never stopped loving. Maybe you just wished you’d never run into that person again because you knew they were the only person in the world that could rule your every thought.
‘Let’s keep this our secret then.’ He grinned, flashing the smile that once made her knees feel like they were going to let out on her any second. He still had that ability. She cursed him. For walking away from what they had, for lying to her in the first place and last of all, for falling in love with Ellie.
‘I’ll walk you back to the party, remember our little secret’ he tapped the side of his nose and gave another cringe worthy wink. He was now the more irritating brother. Just for being so gorgeous, for turning her to literal putty, and for hurting her heart all these years on. Being in the same room with him was like having all the air sucked from your body and trying desperately not to scream. Her heart felt like lead, and she had no idea how much worse the night was going to get.
As she walked towards Annie, her face was grave. ‘Luke is pissed. He asked me whether I knew anything about you and Saul. I told him the truth, I said I hadn’t known, but now I wanted to throttle you.’
‘Shit!’ she exclaimed, loud enough that a group of Mikey’s frat brothers edged away. ‘Think Emily think!’ she said, calmer, more collected, a little less psycho female in a packed club. ‘Of course I didn’t say anything! My mind is still fried! Where is he?’.
‘Not a clue! He’s probably gone off to tend to his wounds somewhere. You do know I’m not pissed about my brother, I don’t give a rats arse about Luke, but I do care that you don’t seem to want to tell me the truth about anything. You should’ve told me about you and Ellie’s hubby to be.’
She felt someone brush past her shoulder, and caught a fleeting glance of Luke headed up towards Ellie and Mikey.
Oh my God, he’s going to tell Ellie!
All of a sudden, the music came to a stop and Luke tapped on his glass. All eyes were on him, as he cleared his throat.
Emily felt her mouth dry up, and with every swallow it felt like she had sandpaper in her throat.
‘Hi everyone, Ellie asked me to do a little speech tonight, since the resident Golden Boy is back from Sin City.’ The frat brothers cheered and raised their glasses. ‘I’ve known Michael all my life, he’s my big brother, and that’s why I know Ellie is perfect for him. Here’s to the wedding of the year. Raise your glasses to Mikey and Ells Bells!’
He finished his speech and suddenly parched, she headed to the bar, wanting a double shot of anything so long as it was strong, alcoholic and liable to help her forget her little meeting with Mr Dual Identity. Not to mention his brother, who had somehow learned of her indiscretion. Perhaps Saul had tipped him off, a little tactic to bring her back to his arms. At the moment, he and Sophia were on the dance floor giving dirty dancing a whole new meaning. She wondered whether hurling a condom at his head would be appropriate given the way they were dancing. As she caught his eye, she turned, headed back into the VIP space for some thinking room.
Saul followed her and as she collapsed into a booth, he sat opposite her, his eyes flitting every now and again to the bar.
‘You worried Sophia will see?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘What’s your decision?’ he wondered, leaning forward. ‘Because I need to know if there’s any reason for me to head back to Sophia’s room tonight.’
The audacity.
The bare faced cheek.
In the absence of an answer he liked he was prepared to go back to her. He wanted things his way, either she be with him, or he was going to be with Sophia.
‘I think you need to piss off.’ She snapped. ‘Who do you think you are anyway, God’s gift?’
‘You seemed pretty happy earlier’ he put in. ‘Not like you pushed me away.’
‘I was confused! I really liked you Saul, really really liked you, but I was prepared to walk away because you had Sophia!’
‘Nothing has changed’, he ventured. ‘Forget Luke, forget Sophia. I care about you. I know you have feelings for me. I felt it today. You don’t need to mess around with some loser anymore. He’s not your future. Look at him.’
She looked into the bar. Luke’s back was turned, but his floppy brown hair was recognisable anywhere.
‘He’s not a loser.’ She said, her tone low.
‘What?’
‘I said he’s no loser. He’s more of a man than you are.’
‘Hah! He looks like an overweight computer geek to me. That’s not you. You need someone who can keep up with you. Someone just like you. Someone like me.’
‘I am not like you.’
‘I beg to differ. You snuck out on him earlier, just like I did. We’re the same.’
‘Stop it!’ she said, standing up, and suddenly Luke turned. His eyes flitted from Saul to Emily and back again. A cozy scene in the VIP section, for all he knew they could be discussing their next romantic trip together. She watched as Luke headed back through the crowd, either looking for someone or leaving the club.
‘You know he’s not good enough for you. Otherwise you’d never have gone out with me.’ Saul said, and he made perfect sense. That was exactly what she had done. She had paid no thought to what Luke would think. She had lied. He had visited her, been concerned. He had stroked her head whilst she pretended to be asleep.
She was just like Saul. Every despicable characteristic she knew she had exhibited, he had too. He was probably perfect for her.
‘Go back to Sophia.’ She hissed, icily. ‘Stay with her or don’t I don’t really give two fucks anymore. But keep away from me. I’m going to try and heal my friendship with your sister and enjoy what time I have left here. Then you and I will never cross paths again.’
She didn’t know where to look. The taxi drove around for two hours, she knew the bill would be extortionate, but she wanted to tell him the truth. It wasn’t a kind truth, but he deserved it. He’d been horrendous to be around at the beginning, but even if she couldn’t have him as a love interest, maybe they could be friends. He was funny, he knew Miami and he got on well with her best friends. Saul paled in comparison in so many ways. If it was a battle in the looks stakes, to the outsider, Saul may win, but she couldn’t get those green eyes out of her mind. He had a beautiful soul, a kindness she’d never had in her life before. She was stupid, very very stupid.
Just after midnight, Annie joined her in her search. She knew that this was the first step to forgiveness but she wasn’t rushing things. They agreed Ellie was better off not knowing, but that they’d make sure he knew how lucky he was that they didn’t divulge such a reputation harming secret. As they admitted defeat, heading back to their room, she felt an unexpected sadness at the thought of losing the briefest of relationships that she had had with Luke. As she crawled into her bed, she remembered the warmth of him just the night before, the gentle touch of his skin against hers, evoking levels of arousal she didn’t know possible.
Good sex wasn’t a reason to stick around, but it helped. His personality wasn’t atrocious, no matter what she had previously thought. She looked longingly at the dress draped over the chair, he elicited feelings in her that she’d tried to hold back for so long. He expected to fall for some strapping, tanned, muscular model here in the bewitching Miami sun. Instead she was losing her grip, and falling for a ‘loser’, as Saul put it. Indeed she probably would have said the same thing about him, not so long ago.
Saturday and Sunday passed without a mere glimpse of Luke. His phone was switched off, and in spite of her covert missions down to his floor of the hotel, he didn’t appear to be around. She knew he was avoiding her, and she’d probably do the same. She spent her time down on the beach with Ellie and Annie, in between visits to the caterers and the bridal boutique to select their shoes and tiaras. On Monday, Ellie suggested a day of retail therapy and they convened at a cool, air conditioned mall, with every designer store you could possibly dream of.
Being with her two best friends, she forgot all about the trio of males that were making this a holiday to remember. And certainly not in a good way. They tried make up samples at the beauty counters and made Annie up like a drag queen. In bright purple lipstick and a thick layer of expensive foundation, they laughed riotously, until store security headed over with a warning for them to lower their voices. Surrounded by prim and proper, well dressed and affluent locals, they looked like three escapees from the crazy house. They stopped at a bar on the way home for a well deserved chocotini, and right then she knew what she had to do.
The saying ho’s before bros was a little crude, but it was on the money. Saul was nothing but a charmer, a guy who wanted the best of all worlds, and commitment to none. Mikey was Ellie’s husband to be. He’d wormed his way into her life before, and as menacing as he was to her at the club, she would respect Ell and keep her distance. He could be assured that she wouldn’t spill the proverbial beans. There was no use dredging up the past, it was complicated and unnecessary and soon enough Ellie would be living here. With him. Whatever she saw in him, whatever made her fall in love with the striking demi-deity, she would just have to steer clear.
And try not to look into his eyes. Those eyes that could undress a woman in a matter of seconds.
She shivered as she sipped her drink, and felt Ellie’s hand on her shoulder.
‘Sweetie you look exhausted.’
‘I’m fine, I just need a good sleep. I’ve got friends DVD’s and my laptop, and after working on my book later, I think I’m gonna hit the hay and have me a little ‘Friends’ party.’
Annie passed her a knowing look. ‘She’s not exhausted Ell. It’s Luke.’
‘Annie! She doesn’t want to hear my little gripes! I’m fine!’
‘Emily Marie Clement. You’ll tell me everything, sparing no detail and then I shall consult with Annie as to what we think you should do.’ Ellie’s face said it all, she would actually pin her friend down right here in this bar if she refused to co-operate.
Emily rolled her eyes, sighing in resignation. She knew she’d have to regale her tale, sparing a few minute details of course.
As she finished her elongated novel like speech, about how she had met Luke and hated him and then quite liked him, Ellie looked stunned. Annie shook her head amused, she knew this story but hearing it again just added to its absurdity.
‘So you see, I am destined to be an old, saggy spinster'.
Annie laughed so hard her apple martini came out of her nose. After they had finished guffawing over Emily's hysterically turbulent love life, Ellie gave her a mischievous grin.
Now what was she up to?
/