Page 8 of Jilted

Chapter Eight

“ W ow!” Amy stood in the middle of the bungalow and looked around.

She was standing in the living room area, which was fully furnished with a plush, blue couch and two matching recliners.

A glass coffee table was positioned in the middle of the room and smaller, round tables were scattered in between the furniture.

Each smaller table held ornately decorated lamps.

There was no TV, but there was a small radio mounted into the wall above the fireplace.

To her left was a small, fully equipped kitchen complete with a table and four chairs. To her left was a spiral staircase. Her gaze followed the stairs up to an open landing that appeared to be the bedroom.

“C’mon, let’s go check it out,” Brett said, heading for the stairs.

Amy followed him up and was shocked to find the bedroom was almost as big as the entire downstairs. There was a king-sized bed in the center of the room. She stared at it for several moments before looking at Brett.

“Um, I can sleep on the couch downstairs,” she said.

“No, you take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.

“Are you sure? This is your honeymoon. You’ve paid for all of this.” Amy glanced at the bed again. What a shame. It looked so comfortable, and she bet it felt just as good, too.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He laughed. “That bed is big enough for twelve people. I’m sure we can manage to share it without any issues.”

Amy cleared her throat. The last thing she wanted to do was share a bed with Brett, but she didn’t want to seem ungrateful, either.

He had generously dragged her along on his honeymoon to the beautiful, tropical island of Tri Pinnae, which was a secluded island in the Caribbean, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Ignoring his comment for the moment, Amy walked toward the glass double door and swung them open. She was met with a balcony that offered them not only a hot tub, but also the most gorgeous view of the ocean. The lights of the resort below lit up the otherwise dark sky.

“Wow,” she said again.

Brett came up behind her. “Wow is right. The brochures didn’t do this place justice,” he said with a laugh.

With her hand propped on the railing, she turned to look at him. “You’re in a surprisingly good mood considering.”

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Right.” She nodded. “I don’t know about you, but between the time difference and the jet lag, I’m exhausted.” Amy yawned.

“Me too.”

Amy was in that glorious state of sleep where she was half awake and half dreaming. Consciousness was slowly returning to her, but she couldn’t be sure what was a dream and what was reality. So, when she felt an arm drape over her and pull her across the bed, she attributed it to a dream.

She sighed and snuggled closer to the hard, warm body behind her. The arm tightened around her, and she felt hot breath on her neck. And then she felt the unmistakable hardness of an erection pressed against her ass. Hmm… this was turning out to be one hell of a good dream.

The hand splayed against her stomach and pulled her tighter against the body. Lips brushed against her earlobe. A low “mmm” sounded behind her, and her eyes snapped open. Her heart raced and thundered so loud in her ears it was deafening.

That voice...that was...Oh, God! That was Brett’s voice.

Amy jumped out of bed and gasped. Sure enough, there he lay in just a pair of boxer shorts, his erection prominent. She forced herself to tear her gaze from him, but not before she got a good look at what he was packing. Holy hell! If she thought she wanted him before, it was worse now.

“Amy...I’m...God, I’m sorry, I didn’t...I was...shit,” he said.

“I know. It’s okay, you were probably thinking about Vanessa. You thought I was her. That’s all.” Amy’s hands shook.

She didn’t know if what she said was true, but she had to believe it. Otherwise, things were going to get super weird between her and Brett.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. That’s all it was,” Brett said, nodding as he got out of bed.

Ouch! It hurt to know that while she’d been in his arms, he’d been thinking of another woman.

Granted, she was the one who immediately jumped to that conclusion, but that didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt.

No matter what happened, Amy couldn’t stop hoping that someday, Brett would see her as a woman and not just his best friend.

Thankfully it was morning, and Amy didn’t have to get back in bed or try to fall back asleep – both of which would be impossible.

“I’m gonna go shower,” she said.

Brett watched as Amy walked into the bathroom. When she closed the door, he blew out a breath and rubbed his hands over his face. Holy shit, what the hell had just happened? Amy was right – he had been thinking about Vanessa, but he knew it wasn’t Vanessa he’d reached for.

Brett hadn’t expected Amy to respond like she had, which made what he did all the more awful.

He was sad and lonely – and horny – and he needed someone to be close to.

Amy was here. What he’d done just now, that wasn’t fair to her.

He knew she hadn’t wanted to come here with him, but he’d guilted her into it.

Yet, he had to admit, he liked how she’d felt pressed against his body, the way she’d wiggled her ass into his erection, the sigh of pleasure that escaped her lips when he’d pulled her closer. But…did she know that it was him? Or was she dreaming of another man?

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Not more than twenty-four hours ago he was jilted at the altar. The very last thing he needed was to piss off Amy and have her turn her back on him. He honestly didn’t think she ever would, but he didn’t want to chance it by doing stupid shit like he just did.

Several moments later, Amy emerged from the bathroom dressed in a simple blue sundress and white sandals. She looked refreshed.

“I’ll take a quick shower, and then we can go get some breakfast,” Brett said as he passed Amy on the way to the bathroom.

He didn’t give her a chance to respond. Doing so would only lead to him saying something he probably shouldn’t say. Regardless, he knew he had to apologize. Again. And he would, over breakfast.

When he came out of the bathroom, Amy was no longer in the bedroom. He went downstairs and found her in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets and the refrigerator. He stood and watched her for a few seconds, wondering if bringing her here was a mistake.

In his mind, his intentions were crystal clear: he wanted her.

At the very least, he wanted to explore the possibility of more than just friendship.

It would be difficult to broach the topic with her, though, and he’d been wracking his brain non-stop since the wedding trying to figure out a way to bring it up.

Somehow, saying, “I want to fuck you, Amy, and then I want to be your boyfriend” didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Finding anything good?” he asked.

“This place is fully stocked.” She smiled as she turned to face him. “So, what are you thinking for breakfast?”

Brett hadn’t really thought about food. In fact, he hadn’t spent much time planning anything in the way of meals or activities, because it had been his plan to spend the majority of the week in bed with Vanessa.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we can just start walking until we find a place.”

“Sounds good. I can’t wait to get out there and see the island.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Look, Amy, I’m really sorry about this morning. I?—”

“Let’s just forget about it, okay?”

With a smile, Brett said, “Already done.” There was no way he’d ever be able to forget how she’d felt in his arms.

“This island is a lot bigger than I thought,” Amy said with a laugh.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Brett wiped sweat from his brow.

They’d spent the last four hours walking the entire island, getting a feel for where things were and ideas of things they could do for the week.

It was a nice walk, and all the awkwardness from earlier that morning had vanished.

They were Brett and Amy again. And that felt damn good, even though he really wanted more.

“Were you serious about scuba diving?” she asked.

“You really don’t want to?” He held open the door to their bungalow and motioned for her to go first. “It could be fun.”

“What if we get stung by a jellyfish or something? Or we encounter a shark? I’ve seen that movie Open Water . I’m not going to get stranded in the middle of the ocean.”

Brett laughed and followed her inside. “We’re not going to get stranded in the ocean.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be eaten by fish.”

He laughed again. “I think you’re overreacting a little.”

“I’m not overreacting.” Amy tossed her hair over her shoulder and shot him a sideways glance. “I’m being cautious.”

That look nearly killed him; it was so damn sexy. “Well, if cautious is what you’re being, then we probably shouldn’t go swimming right now, either.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “You don’t think there’d be jellyfish where we’re swimming, do you?”

“Uh, you realize we’re going to be swimming in the ocean, right?” He winked, knowing his response would get a rise out of her.

“That’s it,” she put her hands in the air, “I’m not going.”

“Oh, yes you are.”

“Oh, no I’m not.” Amy crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

He grinned. “You are not going to spend the entire week holed up in this bungalow. This is my honeymoon, and if I can’t spend it having sex, then I’m damn well going to spend it having fun with my best friend.”

Reluctantly, she smiled. “Fine. I’ll go change.”