She poured herself another glass of bubbly and sat down at the table. “Definitely.”
The heavenly scent of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, and sausages drifted up as she inhaled. “Oh, this smells wonderful.”
She took a gulp of her second glass, her nerves suddenly flaring with the thought of staying in the penthouse suite with nothing but a long day stretching out before them.
The honeymoon suite would tempt the most practically minded individual. With thoughts of Ash ravishing her body, she poured the rest of the champagne down her throat.
Grabbing a plate, she stacked two waffles and topped them with strawberries and cream and then refilled her glass.
She gestured to the champagne sitting in front of Ash. “Grab your plate and join me. We can talk about what we want to do after the tour.”
He sat and made his plate. Instead of taking the champagne, he poured a glass of orange juice.
As he dug into his food, his eyes kept darting to the bedroom, and a wistful expression filled his face. He said nothing more about staying in for the day, perhaps sensing she wasn’t ready for him to fulfill the promise he’d made the night before.
The words of his song rattled in her head. The chorus had caught her and wouldn’t let go.
Insanity,
It has to be.
You belong with me.
In a day and a half,she would return to her duties in the emergency department, and Ash’s music and fans would once again consume Blaze, his rock-star persona. She would fade from his life, a tiny blip of adventure, while he’d remain forever imprinted in her heart. The inevitability of their separate futures bore down upon them.
Her fingers clenched around the champagne flute, and she downed the amber liquid with another long swallow. She cut into her waffles as he moved eggs around on his plate. Already, the alcohol surged in her blood, warming her from the inside out and numbing her to the pain of their eventual separation.
Cold didn’t even beginto describe the Niagara Falls winter experience. Even with her heavy coat, scarves, mittens, the cheap poncho purchased from the tourist vendor, Ash’s arms wrapped firmly around her waist, and way too much alcohol floating in her veins, Skye was freezing. She couldn’t feel the tip of her nose, her butt, or her thighs.
She shivered against the arctic breeze blowing over the falls, but Ash didn’t seem affected. He held his phone out, snapping picture after picture, wearing his jacket and T-shirt.
“Can we go yet?” she asked for the fifth or maybe even tenth time. Although visiting the falls was her idea, she couldn’t wait to get back to the heated interior of the limo.
Ash pulled her back against his chest, but the warmth of his body failed to penetrate beneath all the layers of clothing separating them. Even his breath froze on her neck.
“You wanted to hunt waterfalls, babe. We’re at the mother of them all. Now, smile for another selfie.”
Her teeth chattered so hard that a smile was impossible.
He kissed her cheek, leaving a cold spot.
“I never asked to fly to the frigid north.”
The mists of the falls filled the air, carrying the damp and settling a chill deep into her bones, making her wonder if she had ever in her life been warm.
Ash’s low chuckle weakened her knees. “I checked the weather report. Those mountains are buried under almost two feet of snow. If we’d been there, we’d be out of power, out of food, and snowed in for a week. I call this a win. Hey, come on,” he said. “The group’s moving on without us.”
Their tour group consisted of them and an elderly couple, Ben and Edna, who were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
The falls had frozen at the edges, forming massive ice pillars, but water still roared through the center, making it difficult to carry on a conversation. Mist coalesced into a thick fog, saturating their group in freezing rain.
“It’s fucking amazing,” Ash said. He hummed the first few verses of a new song, “Hunting Waterfalls.”
Ben wandered over. “Do you mind taking our picture?” He held his camera out to Ash, a smile lighting his cloudy eyes.
Edna held on to Ben’s arm for support. “Can you believe it?” she said. “Fifty years.”
“Congratulations,” Ash said. “That’s a long time to be married.”
