She shakes her head, still baffled it seems. ‘You toowhat?’
‘I was meant to be here on my honeymoon too.’
This time her mouth falls open, and she stares at me in shock. ‘Are youkidding?’
‘Why would I kid about something like that?’
An expression of remorse crosses her face. ‘Shit. Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. I guess the whole being abandoned at the alter thing has left me with trust issues.’ She flashes an apologetic smile. ‘And I’m a bit freaked out about seeing you here, if I’m honest. It’s made my head spin. Plus I’m jetlagged, so a triple whammy.’
I nod. ‘Yeah, me too. It’s a long flight from London.’
‘So you’re here for a holiday too?’ she asks.
‘Yup.’
‘And you’re on your own?’
‘I am.’
‘How are you finding that? I always had you pegged as an extrovert who needs to have people around to give you energy.’
‘To give me attention, you mean,’ I say wryly, harking back to a conversation we’d had years ago. ‘Actually, I just got here myself,’ I say, before she has a chance to reply. ‘But I’m looking forward to having some time on my own.’
‘Really?’ Her tone is full of disbelief.
‘Yes, really. I can spend time on my own you know. I’m notthatshallow,’ I joke.
She holds up both hands, palms forward. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you were.’ She clears her throat. ‘So, what happened to your relationship? If you don’t mind me asking?’
I fold my arms and shrug. ‘She – Katya – decided I wasn’t the guy she wanted to get hitched to after all.’
She gives a little hiccoughy sort of laugh. ‘Snap.’
This time I givehera questioning frown.
A sad smile plays about her gorgeous mouth. ‘My ex-fiancé realised he was in love with a guy he works with and not with me after all. So he dumped me for him. Wedding cancelled. Life reset.’
‘Oh shit.’
‘Yeah. Not the happy ever after I was hoping for.’
‘You know that doesn’t really exist, don’t you? This whole idea of “the perfect relationship” is just a vehicle for selling romantic novels, films and heart-shaped merchandise,’ I say, batting a dismissive hand.
The corner of her mouth twitches up. ‘You reckon?’
‘Yup.’
‘Okay, well, thanks for that insight. It’s really cheered me up.’ Her ironic tone is laced with amusement.
It takes me right back to when we were dating. I’d found her dry sarcasm a real turn-on when we’d first got together – or, I should say, when we first started fucking.
She seems to think she’s crossed a line of politeness though because she takes a step back and flips me an apologetic smile. ‘Anyway, I think it’s probably time I checked in and went straight to bed. I barely slept at all on the flight.’
As much as I don’t want them to, my thoughts immediately turn to an image of her naked, climbing into her bed.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Is horniness a side effect of jetlag? Maybe it’s because my body’s aware it’s unlikely to get any action in the immediate future and is rebelling.
Well, it can rebel all it likes, there’s no way on earth Chloe and I will be partaking in any kind of skin-on-skin activity. She’s clearly hurting from her relationship falling apart and I’m guessing she probably wants nothing to do with men right now.
