Wes froze, and Melody’s eyes were on the ground.
“Caralina is a dynamic young woman,” Luca continued. “I can see why you are out of sorts.”
He meant Cara.
“Yes, she is.” Wes agreed.
In fact, in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to find her and beg for her forgiveness. Cara had seen the truth long before he had. A pit formed in his stomach. What if he was too late? Wes understood what it took last night for her to tell him how she felt, and like an absolute idiot, he had said nothing! He groaned.
“Wes is not in love with Caralina Bloom,” Melody laughed.
Luca gave her a shrewd look. “Of course, he is, Bella. Everyone here can see it. The way he watches her...”
Melody scowled. “They’re friends. He’s just looking out for her.”
Luca turned his fiancée so that she faced him. He placed his hands on her hips before pressing a kiss to her lips. “He watches her the way I watch you. When I’m with you, you are all that I see, and when we are apart, you are all that I want to see.”
Wes tuned out Luca’s ardent proclamation, already walking back toward the party. Luca was right. Cara had become his entire world. How had he not understood that until right now?
“It’s not the same. She’s not the same,” Melody insisted.
Behind him Wes heard Luca murmuring, but when he reached the area with the al fresco tables, he didn’t see Cara.
Wes had to find her.
He had to tell her.
Right now!
“Where’s my sister?”
The Irish lilt startled Wes as he wove his way through the crowds. The band had started, and Declan leaned close to his ear for him to hear.
“For someone who is supposed to be watching out for my sister, you are spending an awful lot of time with other women.”
“She was with Colin.”
“I don’t like him. He’s like all the rest of that group of friends. Weak and entitled.”
Wes frowned. “Cara said he was a family friend.”
“Not really. Ah, there she is.”
Declan inclined his head toward the bar set up closest to the door to the villa. Cara sipped a glass of wine, while chatting with her mother. As if she felt him watching, she turned his way and caught him staring. Corinne turned her head to follow Cara’s gaze. She turned back and said something to Cara that left her with a small frown.
“I’m leaving, but I’ll be back in the morning. You and I are still due for a conver—”
He was interrupted when Corinne approached to thank Declan for coming. Slipping away, Wes approached Cara.
“You look gorgeous.”
Cara averted her eyes. “I’m flying home with Declan tomorrow.”
All the air in Wes’s body seemed to desert him and he sputtered. “I know you are upset with me, and you have every right to be. I’ve been an ‘obtuse piece of flotsam.’” Her lips twitched at the reference to their favorite show. “Hear me out, and I won’t argue with you about leaving.”
He held his breath, waiting for her response. It felt like forever before she slowly nodded. “I need to get my shawl, anyway.” He followed her up the stairs to their room, but when the door closed, she walked to the middle of the room and stood with her feet apart and arms across her chest.
“This trip made me realize something I know you already figured out. I mean I already realized it… I just couldn’t admit…” He groaned. “This is coming out wrong. You know I’m terrible with words!”
