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Assigned seating placed her at Noah’s parents’ table, and Kristina resolved herself to be normal, to just get through it. At least the wedding party had its own table on a raised dais, which saved her from any chance of having to sit with Noah.
The meal was lovely, and Kristina enjoyed it and the Cortez’s company as much as she could. Kristina smiled and clapped in all the right places. When the couple cut the cake. When Maria smeared icing on Josh’s lips. When Maria and Josh shared their first dance. And when the couple danced with their parents. Each moment was special and joyous, but she didn’t have to ask why each also set off a pang in her chest, just left of center.
Noah.
She tried to keep her eyes from straying his way, but every so often she found herself looking at him up at the head table. He was rugged masculinity personified, and more gorgeous than she even remembered. How that was possible, she didn’t know. But it was true.
It was torture.
The minute they asked all the single ladies to come to the dance floor for the throwing of the bride’s bouquet, Kristina excused herself for the bathroom.
Because. No.
No freaking way.
She hid out in there as long as she thought she could. But it wasn’t long enough. Because when she walked out of the bathroom, she nearly walked right into Noah.
Who was clearly waiting for her.
“Noah,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Kristina. You look amazing. That dress…” He shook his head. “Gorgeous.”
Up close, she could really tell how much bigger he was. God, he was stunning. “You look good, too.”
“Will you take a walk with me?” he asked.
Alone? That seemed like a bad idea. A very very no good terribly bad idea. “Uh…”
“Please?” The vulnerability on his face made him impossible to resist.
“Sure,” she finally said, both because a part of her really wanted to, and because there was no sense torturing herself by putting the inevitable reunion off
for another minute.
He offered her his arm, and she threaded hers around. She almost sighed when he tucked her arm in close to his side, forcing her to walk even closer to him. And, damn it all, but nearly three months of being apart had done absolutely nothing to quell her desire for him. Touching him rushed heat through her veins, sending her heart flying and her pulse racing.
Noah guided her along the marble-floored hallway that ringed the ballroom and led to a set of glass doors opening onto the gardens. A warm breeze sent her skirt fluttering around her legs as Noah led them to a secluded spot where a white bench sat under a trellis heavy with fragrant lavender wisteria.
The utter romance of the secluded little spot turned her stomach inside out.
A wrapped gift sat on the bench.
“Sit with me?” Noah asked.
“Okay,” she said, her voice shaky as she joined him on the narrow bench. Narrow enough that their thighs touched.
Noah held the deep rectangular box in his hands. Colorful whimsical wrapping paper with a cupcake design covered the gift, and a bright pink bow sat on top.
Anticipation built up inside her. Why had he brought her out here? And what was the present for? When he didn’t say anything else, she fumbled for something to say herself. Their inability to communicate, the one thing she’d always taken for granted, broke another piece of her mangled heart.
“So, um—” she said.
“Kris—” he began at the same time.
They chuckled, the sound awkward and tense. Two words that had never once described them before.
Her shoulders fell. “How are you, Noah?”
