Page 27 of How to Break My Heart 1

The bar staff are doing a fantastic job, ensuring there is enough for everyone to drink and the food is served at the correct intervals. I make the rounds, chatting to many of the guests before deciding to stick around Myles’s cousins’ group for a moment.

“So, you’re Maddy’s best friend,” Olivia, his younger cousin, begins with pursed lips. “What’s the deal with her brother?”

“Her brother?” I repeat, trying not to look surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Is he single? Because word is he’s a billionaire, and boy is he fine.”

The girls giggle, waiting for me to respond. The questionitself annoys me. Like, why would I be involved in setting him up with someone? Don’t they know I have better things to do than worry about Aston Beaumont’s sex life?

“Actually, I have no clue. He lives in Manhattan. That’s the limit of my knowledge.”

Ramona, another one of Myles’s cousins, joins the conversation with a champagne glass in her hand. She brings it to her lips, drinking it in one go before dumping it on a table beside her.

Olivia is quick to interrogate her. “So, what’s he like?”

I observed Ramona talking to Aston earlier. To be honest, he looked bored with the conversation, but knowing him, he’s too into himself to care about anyone else.

“Smart, sexy, and I’m going to ask him out for a drink,” she’s quick to inform everyone. “It’ll be our little secret, girls.”

Again, they all giggle.

Something leaves me unsettled, and the more I stand here pretending to be okay with this potential hookup, the more irritated I become. I try to think of an excuse to leave and end up mumbling something about needing to speak to Maddy. When I glance over, she’s busy nodding as her father and Myles’s mother are talking. Slowly, she side-eyes me, then quirks the sides of her mouth to smile as if the conversation is enthralling.

I take the opportunity to exit the room and head straight for the bar near the lobby. The champagne is not doing its job. Maybe a shot or two at the bar. Nobody has to know.

As I walk toward the bartender, a man standing next to a barstool looks awfully familiar. As he turns to his side, I instantly recognize the jawline. Sharp, freshly shaven…

“Dr. Wilde?”

His attention shifts from the bartender to me, a grin etching his handsome face. I take a deep breath, calming the butterflies inside my stomach. It’s been a very long time since a man has made me feel anything, or maybe it’s the fact that he’s a handsome doctor.

“Please, call me Marco,” he insists, then murmurs, “I’m off duty.”

My lips curve upward and I move closer, easing myself into the spot beside him. There are a few people in the bar, but it’s not overcrowded.

“So, what does an off-duty doctor do for fun besides drinking a…” I trail off to pick the glass up, sniffing the liquor. “Gin and tonic.”

“Should I be worried you were able to guess that correctly?”

“Since I’m off duty as a patient, I need a strong drink to get through the next two hours,” I inform him with a quirk of a smile.

“Oh…” He glances back at the room. “It looks like a party to me.”

My shoulders fall, and at the same time, a sigh leaves me. “My best friend is getting married.”

Marco presses his lips together, observing me with soft eyes. “And you’re… upset about it?”

I shake my head. “Far from it. There are just some family members who, let’s say, arechallengingto be around. You know how it is.”

“When my older sister got married,” he begins, still keeping close to me, “every family member interrogated me on when it was my turn. Of course, since I practice medicine, it makes me a target for all my aunties trying to play matchmaker. Some of them pulled out photos of single women from their purses.”

My shoulders move up and down, unable to hold back my laughter. “Poor Marco. It’s hard being a handsome doctor.”

His pout is cute. “So, you’re welcome to join my friends and me over there. Mind you, they’re all medical professionals, so there are a lot of cringey jokes.”

“I’d love to hear them one day.” I grin, then pause when I realize it sounded like I wanted to hang out with him, and that’s against the rules. “I mean, I’m sorry.”

Marco cocks his head, placing his hand on my arm. His touch sends this warm sensation through me, making me want to break all the stupid rules of society. Who says you can’t date your doctor? “What are you sorry for?”