Wash

He was so handsome and smelled so damn good. Dark stubble speckled his strong jawline. His hair was wavy and thick, and the way it flew around in the wind made him look so sexy. With those dimples and that white, gleaming smile, he nearly had me breathless.

“Isn’t this the most romantic place on the planet?” he asked.

“I’d love to be here with anyone but you,” I muttered. Sure, he was gorgeous, but that didn’t give him permission to stomp all over my heart. Handsome or not, he wasn’t about to get the time of day from me. I refused to look at him and take in his reaction. At that point, I didn’t even care what he thought about me. I ordered a salad because I was sure it’d be easy to take it back to my hotel room.

A surge of guilt rolled over him once again, and he actually winced. “I know you’re having a hard time forgiving me,” he said. “I don’t blame you. What I did was selfish and—”

I met his gaze straight on and cut him off. “Despicable. What you did was just despicable.” I crossed my arms over my chest, the way I always had whenever I was upset with him.

The waiter returned and poured a glass of wine for each of us, then left the bottle.

I pasted on a fake smile. “Thanks.” I gulped down the entire glass of wine in one gulp, then poured another.

He reached for my hand. “Am I that awful to be with?”

“Please don’t touch me, Jake.”

Emotion poured from his voice. “We have a history together. We were lovers, but we were also best friends, Ashly. Can’t we just be friends now?”

I poured more wine. “A friend would’ve never stabbed me in the back the way you did.”

Ignoring my command not to touch me, he stroked my hair from my face and gazed deeply into my eyes. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

I stared at the breathtaking sunset as it unfolded. “That’s just it. There’s nothing you can do.”

The waiter set down a platter for Jake and a salad for me.

“Thank you,” Jake said.

The waiter smiled and turned to leave.

I picked up my salad. “I’ll see you back in the room.”

“I can’t believe you’d prefer to eat that in the room when you could enjoy a sunset dinner by the ocean.”

“I suppose you aren’t used to women running out on you, huh?” I sarcastically snapped. I guzzled the rest of my wine, then grabbed the bottle to take with me and stormed off. The setting sun flooded the sky with more brilliant colors, and part of me wanted to stay and watch Mother Nature’s spectacular light show, but the stubborn side of me fueled my quick departure.

* * *

After I ate my salad, I took a shower and dried off, only to realize I’d left my nightgown in the dresser. I wrapp

ed a towel around me, peeked out, and called Jake’s name. When I got no answer, I ran to the dresser and rifled through the drawer. Just as I grabbed my black nightgown, the door clicked, and Jake walked in.

“Jake, I’m not dressed.”

He met my gaze and smiled. “I can see that.”

I bit my lip hard, unsure which of us was more shocked. “Don’t look.” When he covered his eyes, still grinning from ear to ear, I scurried back into the bathroom and slipped into my gown. “Uh…sorry about that,” I said awkwardly when I stepped out of the bathroom, dressed this time. “I’ll try to be more careful next time.”

“I’ll be sure to knock next time,” he said.

I nodded. “I’m going to bed. Um, I guess you can sleep on the floor.”

“Wonderful,” he said with a laugh.

I slipped under the covers, closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

* * *