I felt nauseated as I watched her walk off. Throughout the ceremony, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I didn’t even realize Jenna and Lion had said I do until the applause pulled me out of my trance.
Dammit…why did Noah have to be so gorgeous; why did she have to make me lose my mind like that? My hands were twitching, I wanted to touch her so badly, and knowing I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, had put me in an awful mood. Seeing her stop before going outside to ready herself for her performance, in that dress that gripped her body, each and every curve of it, I had reached out to touch her against my will, and that contact with her lower back had made me feel alive again for the first time in ten hellish months.
I couldn’t wait for the whole affair to be over. I needed to leave, get back to my life, where everything was under control. Noah had always brought me chaos, and by the end, I was completely at her mercy. That wouldn’t happen again. When she walked away from me once we were back inside, I was secretly thankful. I couldn’t handle having her so close.
Soon, the reception started. On the other side of the vineyard was a huge white tent with tables set with white tablecloths and red roses. It was obvious what Jenna’s favorite flower was. Seeing her with Lion talking to all the guests, I couldn’t help but feel a little envious. There were couples gathered inside and waiters walking among the guests handing out canapés and glasses of rosé champagne.
Soon we’d be sitting down for dinner, but fool that I was, I spent the whole time looking for Noah. She was nowhere to be found.
She’s not your problem anymore. Let it go.
Trying to follow my inner voice’s advice, I ran into a girl with big green eyes who did everything in her power to seduce me. I hardly paid her any mind, but when she said we already knew each other, I stopped and looked at her, not wanting to be rude.
“Sorry…I don’t remember,” I said, not making much of an effort to do so.
She came even closer, invading my personal space with her expensive perfume, which was too strong for my taste. “Come on, don’t be a dummy… It was one of the best nights of my life,” she said. I cursed myself. I’d slept with her a month or so ago.
I didn’t know her name, and I was about to turn on my heel. I didn’t care if she didn’t like it. Then, on the other side of the room, I saw Noah hanging off Luca’s arm and smiling as only she could.
My jealousy, dormant for so long, awakened with the strength of a hungry lion, and I had to take a deep breath and let it out slowly so I didn’t lose control.
That wasn’t the first time that had happened since I’d gotten to the Hamptons. When I’d realized Noah had been the one jogging with that guy on the roadside, I’d taken off for a gym and hit the bag for two hours before going to Jenna’s.
Steve chewed me out, told me I couldn’t make a scene, couldn’t start fights, had to act like a saint. Now that I was the owner of the company, I couldn’t go around starting scandals, especially not because I was jealous. For that reason, I’d stayed on the sidelines, working with my economists, bankers, and investors, and taking some girl home once in a while, doing my best to keep my problems under wraps. And those problems could be summed up in exactly one word: Noah.
“You really don’t remember me?” the girl went on, getting my attention again.
Noah was still with Luca. Now he had his hand on her back.
I needed a distraction, now.
“Of course I remember,” I said, grabbing her arm and moving her strategically so I could talk to her and watch Noah at the same time.
As if she could sense what I was doing, Noah looked up then and saw me.
I smiled like the asshole I was and looked back at the brunette.
“You feel like dancing?” I asked. Now Noah was concentrated on Luca, who had taken her to a corner. She was laughing, but I knew her well enough to realize it was just to keep up appearances.
I wrapped my arms around the girl’s waist. It was hard to concentrate on her with Noah wandering around. I remembered now where I’d seen the girl: at a downtown club. We’d smashed in the VIP section. Quick and cold.
My hand climbed her back and came to rest on the back of her neck.
“You want to go upstairs?” she whispered.
Upstairs. The offer was tempting. The problem was, I felt absolutely nothing for her. Nothing compared to what I felt for Noah. She’d barely touched me a few hours before, and it had given me an erection I could hardly hide. This girl…this girl was everything but. She was the opposite of Noah in every way.
“Not now. Maybe later,” I said, stopping as the song ended.
Just then, they told us we could sit down for dinner.
I was glad not to have to sit at the brunette’s table. I was with the bride and groom, Jenna’s parents, Lion’s mom, Noah, and Luca. She barely looked over when we were all seated and the first dish was set out. She spent the whole dinner talking and laughing with Luca and everyone else, pretending not to know me. Pretending I didn’t exist.
Since I’d arrived two days before, every time I’d turned, I’d seen her looking at me. Whenever we were together, it felt like she wanted me to herself. And she had talked to me, she’d opened her heart, and I’d almost fallen to pieces when she’d told me she was still in love with me.
Love? Bullshit!
I slammed my glass down too hard on the table, and almost everyone turned and looked. I apologized and got up to go to the bathroom.
Why was I suddenly bothered that Noah wasn’t paying attention to me? I’d hated feeling her staring at me all the time; I’d hated seeing the regret in her eyes, the pain… I’d hated feeling guilty when I wasn’t the guilty one, and now I was pissed because she seemed to be testing me to find out how I’d react.
One thing was for certain: I needed to be careful.
