AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There were cafe tables around the edge of the room and some people were going outside where they had a few picnic tables set up. His clumsy question probably meant she would go sit with someone else and avoid him.
Noah had always had an insatiable curiosity. It was one thing that made him a good student in the past, but it was driving him crazy now with Julie. He had to know about the man she’d fallen in love with and agreed to marry. The man who’d filled the role in her life that he’d once believed should have been his.
After they had run into each other at the Beachview Country Club, he had asked his friend Murray, who seemed to know all the female club members, if he had ever met Julie’s ex. Murray said no and had no idea even what his name might be, since she used her maiden name of Vaughn. Noah decided he would find a discreet way to ask Jordan, who’d been her brother’s friend since they were young. Would Jordan also know that he and Julie had been more than friends?
In the meantime, Noah thought it best to give her some space. She’d gone outside, probably to get away from him, but also to be with her daughter who was out back now at a table with several of the other children.
He carried his plate to an area where his firefighter buddies, Harper and Morgan, were sitting with their wives.
Morgan leaned close and said in a low voice, “Looks like you met Bryce’s sister. She’s a looker, isn’t she?”
He nodded. “Actually, I already knew her. We met when we were both going to NYU.”
“You’re kidding,” Morgan said. “How well did you know her?”
When Noah stuttered and hesitated, not wanting anything he told him to come off as gossip about Julie, Morgan gave him a wicked grin and said, “I can tell by your nonanswer that you knew her pretty well. Maybe…very well?”
Luckily the DJ called for everyone’s attention and Noah was able to avoid answering him. The caterers went around the room passing out flutes of champagne and Carter gave a toast to both couples. Then they began cutting the cake. Everyone laughed as they did the obligatory feeding, with Kaylee getting icing all over Micah’s face. Then Jordan’s adopted daughter, Melody, organized the children into an adorable serving crew to help pass out slices of cake to everyone on paper plates. Harper’s little boy dropped the plate he was given and decided to sit down and eat it off the floor until his daddy came to the rescue.
After that came the bouquet and garter toss. When Noah saw that Julie stayed on the sidelines and did not join the other single women eager to catch the bouquet, he decided to opt out too.
Next, the DJ announced the two newlywed couples were about to perform the first dance. The lights dimmed and Tricia and Bryce, along with Kaylee and Micah stepped to the center ofthe large room. Turned out Tricia, being a professional dancer, had choreographed a fun quartet for them. Noah wondered how long it took her to teach Micah and Bryce the steps as well as a few fancy lifts they’d managed pull off.
Everyone applauded and laughed and cheered, and when the guests began to fill the dance floor, Noah’s eyes sought out Julie. He saw her shake her head no when a guy he did not know approached her. A couple songs later, he saw a refusal again with another man. Was it because she was involved with someone? Why hadn’t he asked her that when they were hanging out earlier? But if she was, why would she have let the comment slip out about her regret over giving up her relationship with him? Regardless, there was no way he was going to ask her to dance and get turned down.
Yeah, he’d admit the fact that he knew Julie was going to be here today was the main reason he showed up. But he didn’t come here to dance.
Just as he thought that, Morgan’s wife, Blake, tugged his arm. “You owe me a dance after my eighteen-hours of labor.”
“Hey, Morgan’s the one who got you in that situation, not me.”
She laughed and pulled him onto the floor for a slow dance, while her husband twirled their nine-year-old daughter around.
Somehow, as the celebration wore on, both he and Julie were dancing with one person after the next, and he noticed her glancing his way. In a music break, he stood near Jordan and struck up a conversation about the newlyweds and other couples here, then said in what he hoped was a casual tone, “Who was Bryce’s sister married to?”
“Some rich Brit asshole,” Jordan said. “Can’t remember his name. I never met him.”
“So they didn’t live in the New York area together?” Noah asked.
Jordan gave a sarcastic snort. “I don’t think they were married long enough to live anywhere together.”
He was about to push further, when Jordan cleared his throat while directing his gaze over Noah’s shoulder, and said, “Hey, little sis.”
Noah turned to see Julie standing there and hoped to hell she had not heard anything he’d asked about her.
“It’s time for you to dance with me,” she said, giving Noah a challenging look.
Relieved, he put his hand on the small of her back and walked her out to the dance floor. As they swayed together, he had to admit having her in his arms felt so right. It always had. But he needed to keep his guard up. Julie had crushed his heart on that final day before she left town, and he was not about to open himself up to that ever again.
Besides, he was a damn successful doctor now. No, he would likely never have the net worth she had inherited from her father, but he was no longer a struggling med student and he was not about to crawl to her.
No matter how much a part of him wanted to.
“Do you live near here?” she asked, looking up at him with those beguiling eyes of hers.
“Not far.”
“I’ll be coming up to the North Fork a few times next week to see a friend of mine that just bought a place she wants to turn into an event center. Maybe we could have lunch or something if you are open to it.”
