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Knowing he would be in Alaska all summer brightened her day. “And how often will you be here taking lessons?”
“Every day except Fridays and weekends. The university has a special dorm for all the scholarship recipients and that’s where I’ll stay.”
“I hope you’ve been hard at work practicing while I was away, Miss Outlaw.”
They both turned. The only thing Charm had been hard at work doing was getting to know Dylan Emanuel better. When her and Dylan’s gazes connected and she saw the warm smile that touched his lips, she was convinced that as unlikely as it might sound, she had fallen in love with Dylan the moment she’d looked into his beautiful dark eyes.
Three
Back to the present...
Piper’s mouth dropped open. Then she closed it and asked, “Are you sure the man you saw was Dylan Emanuel, Charm? The sun was bright. Against the glare, you might have seen someone who favored him.”
The wedding reception was over and everyone stood waiting for the bride and groom to make an appearance before heading for the airport. Their honeymoon destination was Tahiti where they would be staying in an over-the-water bungalow for two weeks.
Charm took a sip of her champagne. “It was him, Piper. Even with an unshaven look, I recognized him.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Ola chimed in. “Maybe Dylan was still on your mind since his name came up in conversation last night.”
Charm frowned. “Still on my mind? Honestly, Ola, I am so over Dylan Emanuel and have been for years. The only time he crosses my mind is when I hear his music.”
Piper tilted her head and looked at Charm curiously. “Are you saying you haven’t bought not even one of his albums? Downloaded his songs? Streamed any?”
“No, no and no. And I have no desire to do so.”
“So, you’re not the woman he was singing about in his first big hit song, “Never Again”? If you listen to the lyrics, it tells the story of a man falling in love with a woman, getting hurt and swearing never to fall in love again.”
Charm rolled her eyes. Of course she’d heard the song. Who hadn’t? “No, that song wasn’t about me. Must have been some other woman. A man doesn’t love a woman he later dumps.”
Ola leaned in to make sure their conversation was not being overheard. “He didn’t really dump you, Charm. He got the opportunity of a lifetime to perform in England that summer. Would you have wanted him to pass it up?”
Leave it to Ola to put her positive spin on it. “No, but the decent thing to do was meet with me for lunch as planned and tell me in person. Not send me a text as he was rushing for the airport.”
She cringed every time she remembered what the text message said...Rushing to airport. Got a call. Was hired to play at a pub in the UK for the entire summer. Too good an opportunity to pass up. Last night was great, by the way. Will reach out to you when I’m settled.
“You showed us the text, and I admit it was a shitty thing for him to do,” Piper said. “Especially since the only reason the four of us had traveled to New York was for you to see him.”
Charm nodded. Her three housemates had been her cover when she’d told her father and brothers it was a girls’ trip for Lacey’s birthday. “And although he claimed he would reach out to me when he got settled, I never heard from him again,” she said, recalling the hurt and anger she’d felt then. “I don’t understand how those two years we were together, and struggling to make our long-distance romance work, meant nothing to him. He tossed it all away for what he saw as an opportunity too good to pass up.”
When weeks went by and she hadn’t heard from him, she figured something awful must have happened. That’s when she’d discovered he had blocked her number. After checking his social media page, she saw he was having a great time in England without her.
What hurt her more than anything was that they’d only recently slept together for the first time. She’d given him her virginity and hadn’t expected to be treated so shabbily.
“If the guy you saw was Dylan, that means he’s here at this resort. Will you hang around here for another week knowing you might run into him?” Piper asked.
Charm had wondered about that very thing. She hadn’t been the one to end their relationship. Dylan had. There was no reason to allow him to mess up her plans. “I have no reason to leave, Piper.”
“Maybe the two of you meeting up and talking about the past would be good. It could have been all a huge misunderstanding,” Ola said, trying to sound positive.
Charm rolled her eyes again. “It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Even if our paths cross, Dylan would be the last person I’d let know how much he hurt me. He might not even remember me since I was so many women ago for him. I was barely eighteen and he’d just turned twenty. Ten years is ten years.”
At that moment, the cheering and clapping began. They glanced around and saw Vernon and Lacey returning in traveling attire to tell everyone goodbye. Charm was so happy for her friends and admired the loving relationship they shared. The same kind she’d thought she would one day have with Dylan.
Drawing in a deep breath, she reassured herself. Just like she’d told Piper and Ola, there was no reason not to stay the additional week, like she had planned. This place was huge and if her and Dylan’s paths crossed, so be it. He meant nothing to her anymore. Nothing.
Bright and early the next morning, Dylan went running on the beach. He hadn’t gotten much sleep and blamed Charm. Seeing her again had shaken him to the core, regardless of the fact that it had been ten years. Yesterday, his gaze had taken in practically every single thing about her.
Naturally she was older, but she was as beautiful now as she’d been back then. The bridesmaid dress had been short, above the knee, and had showed off a pair of gorgeous legs. She’d always had an hourglass figure, but it was rocking even more curves.
