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I reached for Gigi’s hand and asked, “Come with me?” My eyes searched hers for any sort of objection.
She hesitated then stood with me. As we walked to the front she said, “Sorry. This day seems to be taking a toll on me.”
I stopped in front of the door and said, “You don’t have to apologize.” I rubbed my hand against her chin. “Can I help make it better?”
She narrowed her eyes and pointed to the restaurant. “As if you haven’t been trying all day?”
I pulled her closer and said, “Tonight should have ended with you in the bed being cherished, right? Your husband—”
She cringed. Lips tight when she said, “No need to mention him.”
“Tonight can still end how it should have.”
The valet stood in front of us, and I waited for her to respond before grabbing my keys from him.
Her eyes drifted down to her hands. They were tightly knit together. “As much as I’d like to say yes, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get out of my head.”
I kneeled until our eyes connected and told her, “Let me help you escape it. All the thoughts. Whatever it is keeping you from smiling.”
ChapterNine
Gianna
Saying yes to Angelo should have been easy. If nothing else, I knew that time with him would keep my mind off Shawn and what should have been that day. But after the day he planned for me, I owed him more than half my attention.
If I met him before Shawn, he would be perfect.
I couldn’t get over the fact I should have been sad about everything. I should have been distraught about my plans burning. The ashes scattered across the desert.
Standing in front of Angelo, that wasn’t it though. I wasn’t hurting because of the loss. Shawn wasn’t consuming my thoughts like I thought he would. The plans of the day, as intricate as they were, no longer plagued me. It was the idea that it should have. I should have been sad. And that was bothering me more than anything. How was I about to marry a man, lose him, and not even weep on our would-be wedding day?
I shed a couple of tears, nothing like the day I found out he was cheating though.Did I love Shawn?
“What do you say, pretty lady?” Angelo’s smile was soft and delicate. One look at him erased all thoughts of Shawn.
“I’ll go with you,” I blurted, but felt my chest ache as I walked to his car.Was I about to have sex with another man on what would have been my wedding night?
I cringed. He opened my door and waited as I climbed inside. And I reminded myself that my would-be husband had no qualms about sleeping with someone else. Whatever we had ended the moment he decided to stick his dick into a woman who wasn’t me. My love for him could have lasted a lifetime, but diminished the more I thought about what he did.
“Hey,” Angelo looked over at me as he pulled from the restaurant, “what do you want to listen to?”
I looked at his console and appreciated the distraction music would give me. Songs were going through my mind, the songs I’d claim asours. My playlist would have to get purged. The lyrics and beats wouldn’t hold the same meaning, and I didn’t even want to hum the melody. I looked his way and said, “Actually, mind if we don’t listen to anything?”
“Silence?” His eyebrows arched. “Okay.”
I snickered. “Not silence. Just no music.” I eyed him. “You and Cam seem so different.” Georgia had been filling me in on the day. Hers was much different than mine. “How’d you meet?”
He laughed and explained, “In elementary school. We all played football together. Me, Cam, and Jared.”
“Hmm…” I tried to imagine a young Angelo. “You were the only one to stick with football?”
His chest poked out. “They weren’t cut out for it.” He laughed. “Didn’t have it in them.”
The lights of the hotel lobby were bright as he pulled into valet. I looked at the inside. The elevators in the distance visible from the front door.
“Hey.” This time his voice was much lower. He asked, “You good?”
I nodded then looked at him and said, “I will be.”
