He flung open the doors.
Zoey crashed into his back as he stopped, still on the threshold, and stared in.
Okay. So this place would be perfect. Once the renovation was actually finished.
‘Can we get inside already?’ Zoey asked. Ash could feel her shaking, shivering with cold as she pressed against him.
The storm was on them. There was no going back.
‘You might wish you’d stayed and married David,’ he muttered as he moved aside to let her in.
Zoey pushed past him, then stopped in the middle of what Ash assumed would be the lounge. Eventually.
‘So, when you said that this place had just been refurbished...’ She turned around slowly, taking in the room. Ash winced. Even in the darkness of the storm raging outside, he knew this didn’t look good.
‘I might have been a little optimistic.’
He tried to see the villa through her eyes. The half-built kitchen area off to one side. The random pieces of wood stacked up against the far wall. The windows still covered in tape but no blinds. The complete lack of furniture.
Zoey sighed. ‘I suppose it’s too much to hope for a fully stocked drinks cabinet, then?’
CHAPTER THREE
THERE WAS OFFICIALLY nothing luxury about the luxury villa Ash had promised her. Even without the storm raging outside, this would have been a disaster. As it was...
Well. They’d just have to make the best of it. After all, it had to be better than going back to the hotel and admitting to David that she’d tried to run out on their wedding but been driven back by bad weather and incomplete renovations. Besides, if she had to get on another boat again this lifetime it might be too soon for her seasick stomach.
Of course, she would have to. But not yet.
They had to make it through the night first.
‘Maybe the builders have left some useful stuff lying around,’ Zoey said. Although, looking around her, mostly they seemed to have left splintering wood and a lot of rubbish. ‘Like blankets or tea or something. I’ll go look.’
‘And I’ll go check the boat.’ Ash didn’t sound particularly excited at the prospect. ‘Probably a better chance of finding things we need there anyway. Maybe even some dry clothes.’
Zoey glanced reflexively down at her beautiful strapless pink dress—now dark and sodden with water, streaked with sandy mud and clinging unflatteringly to her body. She imagined her hair must look even worse.
Good job that Ash had seen her in some seriously unflattering positions before, really—especially at university. At least he wouldn’t be surprised. Or too horrified, hopefully.
‘Wish me luck.’ Ash flashed her a bright grin before pushing open the wide glass door and stepping out into the storm again.
‘Good luck!’ she called after him, but she doubted he could hear her over the wind. She tried to watch him go, but he was swallowed up by the darkness of the storm in no time.
Suddenly, Zoey felt very alone.
Well, that was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? To escape from the pressure and crush of all the people at the hotel, waiting for her to walk down the aisle in another white dress that didn’t feel quite right, to marry a man who used to give her butterflies in her stomach but now gave her moths. Still unsettling but darker and somehow not right.
Oh, God, she’d done it again.
Her knees shaky, Zoey sank to the ground, her soaked pink dress pooling around her and leaving a puddle on the dusty, splinter-laden floor. Her hands twisted in the wet material as she tried to stop the tears threatening to spill over her cheeks.
Why was she crying, for heaven’s sake? She hadn’t been left at the altar, or the night before at least. She hadn’t been abandoned, hadn’t suddenly lost the future she’d imagined for her and David.
She’d chosen to run. Again.
She’d made her choice and now she’d live with it.
It was just... How could she have let this happen again?
The first time, with Kevin, it had been so hard. But she’d known it was the right decision. He told her he loved her, that he couldn’t imagine his life without her, that he’d die if he couldn’t have her...but he’d wanted her to give up her dreams of university, of a future career, to stay with him and see if he could make it as a rock star.