The Promise

by Natalie Clarke

  I turn to Josh, who’s face is so easy to read, it always has been. He stands before me stunned. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him rendered speechless until now. I can see the anger bubbling up inside of him. There is no point in him trying to work his way out of this one. He couldn’t lie his way out of a paper bag.

  I wrench my engagement ring off my finger and fling it at him. It clinks to the ground at his feet. “You can have that back. I want nothing more to do with you.”

  I gather the long skirt of my dress and start back down the aisle, my heels clicking with every hurried step. As I reach the fifth row I turn to the five girls who occupy the seats. “Girls, you’re welcome to him, he’s all yours. Here,” I toss my bouquet to one of them, “you can have this. Maybe one of you can marry him instead, well, that is if you don’t mind sharing.”

  I have no real animosity towards them. They were charmed by Josh just as I had been. Obviously promising them the world, telling them how special they are and how lucky he is to have them, a true player if ever I saw one, but like the stupid idiot I was, I believed he would change, change for me once we got together, and for a while he did, our relationship was perfect, until it wasn’t. Until a text message from a girl called Jade flashed up on his screen while he was in the shower one day, saying how much she missed him, attached to the text was a photo of her lying naked on a bed with everything on show, while wearing one of the ties I bought him for Christmas.

  That was the moment I vowed that no other man would ever walk all over me.

  Take me for granted.

  Take me for a fool.

  I hold my head high and continue back down the aisle, swinging the door wide open, crossing the hotel lobby, heading straight for the bar. I couldn’t care less about the strange looks I get from the few people I pass by. My only focus is to get as far from Josh as I can, and move on with my life.

  My son and me. I don’t need anything else. We were perfectly happy before Josh, and we’ll be just as happy after him.

  For the first time today I can breathe. The weight that has been weighing down on my chest has been lifted.

  I’m free.

  Chapter 2

  Gwen

  I step into the bar, which is pretty much deserted, after all, it has only just passed noon. My eyes scan the bar and I stop dead in my tracks when I spot who is sat on a stool at the bar…

  Zachary Gilgunn.

  Christ. When I didn’t see him sat in one of the seats at the ceremony I assumed he’d decided not to show. It would have made things a whole lot easier if he hadn’t. I had to invite him out of courtesy, after all we are friends... or we were up until a year ago.

  My heart beats a little faster at the sight of him, the same as it always has since I first met him when he became Kyle’s business partner four years ago.

  Zach is the easily the most gorgeous man I have ever laid eyes on, and trust me, I’ve seen a lot. This is the first time I’ve seen him in a year, he’s been away in Boston helping to start up the expansion of their company there. In that time, he hasn’t changed one bit, still as handsome as ever. He’s like a modern day James Dean. He’s arrogant and oh so sexy. Oh, and of course, he has a motorcycle too. Although his back is to me, the memory of him is still very much intact. His eyes the colour of honey, warm and soft, his face; symmetrical and perfect in every way, a light dusting of stubble covering his cheeks and jaw, with a mouth that can do wicked things. And that body that’s filled my dreams for a whole year, every single detail etched into my brain... sharp, sculpted muscle, wide shoulders, narrow waist, firm ass and his...

  Tingles spread through my body, heat rising to my cheeks. No. I won’t go there.

  He is all man. Every sinful, rugged inch of him.

  He’s the man I should stay far away from, God knows I should after how he hurt me last year, but the pull I feel towards him, that I’ve always felt for him is still as strong as ever.

  He's everything I want, but I know I can never have, he made that crystal clear.

  As if he can feel my eyes on him, Zach turns his head to glance over his shoulder, his face softens a little and his eyes widen when they land on me. “Gwen?” He sounds surprised to see me, his brows furrow slightly in question.

  The doors behind me burst open and I spin around to find Josh charging towards me. “What the fuck was that Gwen, huh?” he booms.

  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so angry. Of course there have been arguments since we've been together, fights in which plates were broken, vases were smashed and holes were made in the plasterboard, but now, his face is pure fury.

  Kyle and Hayley are standing a few feet away with their daughter, next to Rose where Lucas is clinging to her hand tightly, his eyes flicking between me and Josh.

  “Rose, can you take Lucas outside please?” I ask. She nods ushering Lucas back out into the lobby, taking Sara too.

  My heart aches for him, though I’m relieved that he’s too young to understand any of this.

  Once Rose, Lucas and the baby are through the door, I turn to Josh. “You want to know what that was? The truth, that’s what that was, you know it, I know it, and now everyone else does too, that you are lying, cheating dirtbag.”

  I could have just called the whole wedding off, but why waste a perfectly good venue?

  “So what? You end everything just like that?” Josh snaps his fingers. “Without even hearing what I have to say?”

  “I don’t want or need to hear what you have to say, your texts and voicemails told me enough.”

  “But I love you.” His voice couldn’t sound more forced.

  “Yeah well actions speak a lot louder than words. This relationship,” I motion between us, “what we had, ended the second you stuck your dick in one of your little sluts. That was the moment that you decided that I wasn’t good enough for you, that I wasn’t enough for you. If you truly loved me like you say you do, you wouldn’t so much have even looked at another woman.”

  His face hardens, his jaw tight. “How dare you do this to me?”

  “No, how dare you! I trusted you, my son trusted you...” I bite the inside of my lip hard enough I can taste the salty tang of blood, forcing back the tears that threaten to spill. I wrench my veil from my head, tearing out a few loose strands of hair that got caught in it. “The honeymoon is yours, didn’t really give a shit about Niagara Falls anyway. Maybe you can take Jade, or Chelsea or... Portia instead, I’m sure they’ll love it.”

  Yeah, Niagara Falls. For my honeymoon, my husband-to-be was going to take me to see a fucking waterfall. Josh, despite working for an accounting company, has always been a cheapskate. And Portia, what kind of a shit playboy bunny name is that anyway? All fake blonde hair extensions, Botox, lip filler and plastic tits.

  “You’re going to regret this,” Josh spits.

  “Whatever Josh, there’s nothing much more you can do to me. I don’t care anymore. Just leave me alone.”

  “This isn’t over.”

  “Oh, I think it is,” I shoot back.

  He gives me one more glare before he spins on his heel and storms out of the bar slamming the door behind him.

  Rose brings Lucas and Sara back into the bar once Josh leaves. She passes Sara back to Hayley and Lucas comes rushing over to me and I bend down and lift him up into my arms.

  “You okay?” I ask him.

  “Yes.” He smiles, giving me a firm nod.

  “Are you alright?” Hayley asks me.

  “Better than ever.” It’s the truth. I feel free.

  “Why didn’t you tell me he’s been cheating on you, or what you were planning to do?”

  “Because you’d talk me out of it.”

  “Gwen, we’ve been friends since we were five years old, but you clearly don’t know me at all,” she says, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I would have helped you, he deserved everything that was coming to him.”

  “I think it’s safe to say it’s not a day any of us will forget in a
hurry,” Nate adds, giving me a wink.

  “I’m sorry it wasn’t the wedding day you were all expecting.”

  “He’s an idiot who doesn’t deserve you. You’re too good for him, you always were,” Kyle adds.

  “I second that, sweetheart. I never did like the guy, something always felt a little off about him,” Nate says.

  Sara begins to get restless in Hayley’s arms and begins wailing at the top of her lungs. “I better get her home, but I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Hales, it’s fine. You and Kyle take Sara home, I’m alright, honest. I’m gonna stay here for a while anyway.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes,” I laugh. “Go.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you later.” She squeezes my arm comfortingly and Kyle presses his lips to my temple as they pass me.

  “We’re going to go too,” Nate says. “Take care of yourself sweetheart, you need anything, you let us know, okay?”

  “Okay.” I smile.

  “You take care of your mommy, alright?” he asks Lucas.

  “Yes, Grampa.”

  Nate offers Rose a ride home and the three of them leave.

  Then there is just Zach and I in the same room, alone. The last time this happened was a year ago, on a night that changed everything.

  One night that we vowed to never repeat or speak of again.

  One night we agreed to forget. But it’s easier said than done, because I never forgot that night, and I don’t think I ever will.

  I place Lucas back on the ground. “Why don’t you go and play one of your games on mommy’s phone?” I discreetly pull my phone from where I tucked it into my bra and pass it to him. He takes it and runs over to one of the tables, pulling himself up and pouring all of his attention into the phone.

  I sigh, taking a seat next to Zach, the scent of his cologne hitting my nose the second I sit down. I remember that smell, the masculine woody, citrusy smell that turns me to jelly.

  “Nicely done.” A corner of his mouth curves up into a smile, his deep velvet voice sending a shudder through my body.

  I meet his gaze and my stomach flips. “Thanks.”

  Those warm honey eyes have always made me weak at the knees.

  “What can I get you?” the bartender asks.

  “Vodka, neat, please,” I reply. He nods and turns away to get my drink.

  “Drinking already, so early in the day?” Zach asks.

  “I think I have good reason, don’t you?”

  He laughs softly. “I guess. So, pencil-dick isn’t so perfect after all?” He smirks.

  “Look, if all you’re going to do is gloat, I’m out of here.” I begin to slide off the stool when an arm snakes around my waist.

  “Not so fast.” He pulls me back and I gasp at his touch as shivers roll through my body, breaking me out in goose bumps. His hands linger on me a little longer than they should, as if he doesn’t want to let go, and when he finally does, I can breathe again, releasing the breath that I’ve been holding in since the second he touched me.

  The bartender places my drink down in front of me. “Thank you,” I say before downing it in one. “Why did you even come anyway, if you were just gonna sit out here?” I ask.

  “I don’t do weddings.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “That doesn’t answer my question. You came all the way from Boston to a wedding you didn’t actually attend?”

  “I just couldn’t face going in there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because that little prick doesn’t deserve you, never did. Why would I support a wedding that I don’t agree with, where the bride was making the biggest mistake of her life?”

  “I was under the impression that us sleeping together was biggest mistake of my life, I mean, that’s how you put it, remember? That it was a mistake.”

  He drops his gaze and turns back to the bar. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

  “Yeah, you made that pretty clear. Do you have any idea how that felt?”

  His face falters. “I’m sorry.”

  “What?”

  “I said I’m fucking sorry, alright? I was a dick.”

  “Understatement of the century,” I comment, rolling my eyes.

  The corner of his mouth ticks up into a smile, as he lowers his gaze, fiddling with the glass in front of him.

  “So how was Boston?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “Good.”

  “You never told me you were leaving, you never even said goodbye.”

  “It wasn’t planned. We were opening the company there and they needed someone to head it. It was a last minute decision.”

  “Or you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

  When he left it hurt. Even after everything that happened between us I thought we’d still be friends. I’m not stupid enough to think that nothing would change between us, but I thought our friendship was strong enough. I guess I was wrong.

  “Gwen…” he begins.

  “No, it’s okay, I get it. You regret that night and it’s fine,” I say dismissively. “It’s forgotten.” I try to make my words sound convincing, that the thought of his rejection doesn’t still send a stab of pain to my heart.

  “Just because what happened that night was a mistake, doesn’t mean you’re not important to me,” he says, his voice soft.

  Warmth spreads thorough my body. “Friends?”

  He smiles and nods. “Friends.”

  “Okay, well, I’m gonna go.” I slide off the stool and take a step back.

  “You’re drink’s on me,” Zach offers.

  “Good job, ‘cause I don’t have any money on me anyway.”

  He laughs. “Get out of here, Red.”

  My heart flutters in my chest.

  Red. Only Zach calls me Red. I hated the nickname he gave me not long after we met, I mean, how original, a girl with fiery red hair with the nickname, Red? But it eventually grew on me, and soon became more than just a nickname.

  “See you around?”

  “You can count on it.” He winks.

  I turn to my son who’s engrossed in my phone. “Come on, baby. Let’s go home.”

  “Okay, mommy!” Lucas jumps from his chair and runs over to me, placing his tiny hand in mine as we reach the door.

  I look back over my shoulder at Zach to find him watching me, a warm smile on his lips. He bows his head slightly before spinning back around to face the bar.

  We leave the hotel, and I flag down a cab and head home.

  Chapter 3

  Zach

  Gwen fucking Sullivan.

  You'd think after a year I’d have gotten over her by now, that after giving in to temptation and spending the best night of my life with her a year ago, that it would have been enough, but it’s not.

  I need her. I crave her.

  My feelings for her have never gone away, they were always there, I just did my best to bury them, but seeing her again, they’ve resurfaced, hitting me full force like a tsunami.

  At least being out of town for a year, I haven’t had to think about her as much. Consciously, anyway. My subconscious on the other hand had other plans. Gwen has plagued my dreams too many times to count, the scent of vanilla on her tight, sun-kissed body, the feel of her underneath me, her moans, how it felt to hear my name slip between her lips…

  God, it was so good to see her again after so long.

  When she came through that door in the hotel bar, my dick immediately saluted. She is stunning, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She looked so beautiful in her wedding dress, one that I’m sure will lie in charred remains tonight after she burns the last reminder of her relationship with that little prick.

  Opening that wedding invitation she sent me a few months ago felt like someone took a sledgehammer straight to my guts. The thought of her marrying that little asshole made me physically sick.

  What did she see in him?

  I had only decided to come back to New York a few days ago. I
thought that I could do it, go through with going to her wedding, to be there to support her, as a friend, but in the end, I couldn’t. I couldn’t face walking into that hall, watching her marry him, though if Gwen hadn’t have come crashing through the doors to the hotel bar after stopping her own wedding, I’m pretty sure I was ten seconds away from doing it myself.