A few disorderly men shout their enjoyment and a bunch of people erupt in thunderous applause. Destiny turns off the microphone and instantly berates Matt. “What the hell was that? Could you be a bigger jerk?”
“Felicia’s a strong girl. She can handle it.”
Destiny shakes her head. “You’re wrong. You have no idea how your accident has affected her. She’s a different girl. Just a girl, Matt.”
“Sorry.” Could he feel any worse?
Who knew he wasn’t the only one harboring hurt feelings from that weekend?
“Sorry just isn’t going to cut it this time. Get your butt out there and fix it,” Destiny snaps. “You’re going to fix this one yourself.”
Chapter 5: Bus Stop Blues
Felicia manages to keep up the act long enough to escape the confines of the suffocating room and get herself some fresh air. The second the cool night air hits her cheeks, droplets come pouring down over them. Her tears are like a deluge, flooding her face with all the emotions she’s been hiding in private over all this time.
She hates public displays of emotion, but she had very nearly burst into tears in front of Destiny’s entire family, thanks to Matt.
What is his problem? Does he really blame me for his immobility? I knew it!
That explains why he hadn’t contacted her after the accident. She covers her face with both her hands, muffling a sob. She’s so upset. She hates that it’s because she’s learned that Matt truly doesn’t like her. The glimmer of hope that had bloomed in her belly this evening was extinguished like an unlucky flame.
She must have rolled over the accident in her brain a million times before, trying to figure out where they went wrong. She does it again for good measure. She remembers him kissing her, sharing real, honest smiles. They played in the snow. Their attraction toward one another had continued right until the game changed to a delicate balance between life and death.
All she can conclude is that he must have tipped a little too far toward the dark side while awaiting his rescue, and isn’t able to come back from it on his own.
Felicia wipes away her tears ferociously. She knows someone is going to check on her soon and she fears most that it will be him. She refuses to show him any emotion. He doesn’t deserve to see how this has affected her. She rushes down the road and around the block to the nearest bus stop. She hopes Destiny will think to collect her purse. At this point, Felicia doesn’t even care.
She’s amazed to find a bus cruising toward her and her stomach flips when she realizes she might not be fully prepared for this escape. She climbs onto the bus the second its door opens. The change in her pocket from her last drink will hopefully be enough to get her across town. The bus driver nods at her, so she proceeds to the back of the bus and slouches down in the seat.
Within a minute they’re on the move, but the bus takes a right turn. Her eyes widen when she sees that they are passing by the pub she had just run from. She slouches a little lower, but she can’t help but peek toward the place as it draws nearer. Matt had come for her. She can see the streetlight shining off the rim of his wheelchair. He looks concerned. Good. I hope he chokes on it and dies.
A smug satisfaction resonates within her, just as Matt glances up at the passing bus. Their eyes meet for a heated moment. Any minor pleasure she had just indulged in is instantly a thing of the past. The pain in his expression is enough to answer all her unspoken questions. He does care for her, in his own messed up way. At least, I think he does.
Chapter 6: Hopeless
Matt makes his way outside to fix his mistakes. When Felicia ran off, she looked like betrayal personified. He used to tread so delicately with women. He’d always known the right thing to say to a lady and he always got what he was looking for in return. It’s like the tables have turned and he is left sitting on the other side. He’s completely lost.
His failure to get past his own shortcomings is causing him a whole lot of grief. He knows it. But those feelings aren’t going to change overnight. He’s never felt this inept in all his life. How do you fix that?
He rolls onto the sidewalk¸ accepting the offer of the open door from another person heading outside to have a smoke. He glances to the right, but he doesn’t see anyone even slightly resembling the beautiful Felicia down the street. He spins toward the left and scours the darkness for a hint that Felicia has been down the sidewalk, but he sees nothing of any use to him.
He’s really done it now. First, he goes and angers the blushing bride at her wedding shower, and now he’s seriously upset her best friend, all with one blow. He knows it’s going to be tough fixing this, but he believes it can be done. Relationships are easy to mend. Hearts are a little more difficult, but most difficult of all will be mending his broken body. With that he will find his charming confidence and get Felicia to forgive him.
All this positive self-talk should be helping him. Truth is: he’s hopeless. The same depression that has been haunting him all these months comes back to him with a vengeance. He glances up, just as a city bus slowly passes, and finds the answer to all his problems.
Felicia is there. She looks like she’s hiding, but the look on her face is anything but determined to crush him. He wonders if she realizes how hard he’s been on himself for never trying to reach out to her after the accident. It had seemed too difficult to do and he hates himself for it, but he doesn’t want her seeing him like this.
She won’t be attracted to him anyway, once she learns the depth of his injury. Even now, after months of therapy, he feels like a complete and utter embarrassment to his family and himself. He doesn’t want her to look down at him with the same sense of hopelessness and disappointment.
And now she is gone.
Chapter 7: Touch Me
Leave it up to Destiny to transport her guests to a secluded locale and wall them up in an enchanted palace for the weekend. It’s all the entire town seems to talk about for days leading up to the wedding.
You might be wondering what I’m doing back in town so soon.
Felicia isn’t about to let Matt dictate her life for another second. With what little time is left until the wedding, Felicia embraces change and takes a step in the right direction. After her minor setback at the wedding shower, she’s prepared to take her life by the horns. She takes the job transfer when it’s offered to her, which means less hours and better pay, and now she only has a few blocks separating her from her best friend.
When opportunity knocks, you must open the door. That’s all I’m doing, leaving the door open.
Destiny is actually the one who pressed her to do it. Destiny had been begging her to move closer for months and, she has to admit, being separated from her best friend until now has taken a toll on her social life.
As Felicia empties the contents of her bag into the dresser sitting at the foot of her modest double bed, she wonders why she thinks anything will change now that she’s in town. Destiny has been so hung up on making this wedding the most fabulous event of the decade that she seems to forget she has friends. Skylar insists that the craziness will pass in the next couple of days, but Felicia’s starting to wonder.
At least the wreck of a wedding shower is over and done with, so now she only has to focus on making it through this next weekend. Once over, she can get back to an ordinary life, no matter how boring for her.
Until then, she’s ready to stir things up. It’s when Natalie returns to the apartment that everything falls into place.
“All packed,” Natalie chimes. “Are you ready?”
Felicia nods. “Just waiting for Jensen.”
Natalie rolls her eyes playfully. “You’re actually going to go through with this? I can’t believe you.”
Relieved to hear the ring of the doorbell, Felicia hops up to get the door. “It’s brilliant and you know it.” She pulls the door open and smiles at the fair-haired man standing there. Jensen is perfect. He’s incredibly good looking and an overall nice guy. Matt will be writhing
in his seat when he sees them together.
Felicia jumps into his open arms and he lifts her into a playful hug. Jensen dips to kiss her, but she dodges his lips. “I told you before, there will be none of that.”
“A little kiss never killed anyone. I just thought—”
“Quit thinking. I’m not paying you to think.” Felicia adjusts his shirt and smiles up at him.
“Uh . . . you’re not paying me at all.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She winks at him. “Thank you for doing this. It should be fun.”
Felicia turns away to zip up her bag. She knows enlisting the help of an ex-lover is a bad idea, but Jensen gets her. She might have to put up with a little funny business, but it will be worth it when she sees the jealousy in Matt’s eyes. Jensen will make everything more believable.
So what if he’s still in love with me?
This is her last ditch effort at avoiding Matt, a mess of emotions, and his bed. It’s the only way.
Rather quickly, Jensen gets his things situated in her car. It feels like she’s just emptied her trunk into her new apartment and half of her things have been dumped right back in it. Jensen gets into the driver’s seat, playing his role perfectly. Natalie slips into the backseat, cautiously warning Felicia that this will blow up in her face.
“I know what I’m doing, Nat. Relax. Jensen’s only looking to have a little fun. Right, Jen?”
He smiles across the car at her. Her insides warm to him. Again, he’s a good looking guy and there was a time that she loved him very much. Although that time has passed for her, he clearly has a different standpoint.
“You left me, need I remind you?” Felicia says, before glancing out her window.
“I know what I did,” Jensen admits. “I pay for it every day of my life.”
“You two can drop the act,” Natalie pipes. “We’re not even there yet.”
Felicia smiles again. That’s the best part. It’s not even an act. The man never stopped loving her. When he’d decided to move overseas for school, she told him it was over. He made his choice. He went away. She’d refused to put her life on hold for a man then and now isn’t any different. She’s moved on.
Natalie fidgets in the backseat. “Can you believe all the wedding festivities are going to take place on the castle grounds? I hear no one’s supposed to leave over the next four days. Destiny said that’s the deal.”
Felicia twists around to chat with Natalie. “Destiny has it all planned out, down to the table cloth on the dessert table for her rehearsal dinner. If she says we’re staying on the grounds, then we are.”
Natalie smirks. “She’ll probably have the gates locked and everything.”
Even Jensen smiles about that. “Tell me again why we’re going so early.”
“Destiny’s probably been there for hours already. We want to make sure the arrangements are all in place for when her guests arrive tonight. You do realize I’m the maid-of-honor. I have duties,” Felicia informs him.
In fact, Destiny had demanded it. Being her best friend and the one with the special label, it’s Felicia’s duty to make this night and every night after it a success. Not until Skylar slides that ring onto Destiny’s finger is her job done.
Why did I sign up for this?
The day is long, but she manages to avoid Matt the entire time. It’s a difficult task, with him rolling around everywhere, but Jensen makes it easier. She wonders if Matt has even lifted a finger all day or if he’s just wheeling around to bother her. He still hasn’t made an attempt to apologize for the heinous things he’d said to her at the wedding shower and until he does, she’s going to continue to give him the cold shoulder.
Felicia retires to her room in the left wing of the ancient castle after an afternoon spent taking orders from Destiny. Jensen naturally follows her down the long, stone corridor. He even holds her creaky door open and smiles when she thanks him.
She’s the first to gape at the stunning room and flop back on the four poster bed. He mimics her, until he’s lying right next to her.
He waggles his eyebrows, making her smile. “That Destiny—she knows what she wants.”
Felicia sighs loudly. “I’m wondering why the woman doesn’t have a personal assistant. For the price Destiny is paying for this place, she should have a full staff in uniform tending to her every beck and call.”
“But then she wouldn’t need you,” Jensen says, smirking.
Felicia rests back and closes her eyes. Even with Jensen at her side, Matt manages to skip into her thoughts.
Matt had been following Destiny around for most of the day, answering all her ridiculous questions like he has all the answers. Destiny loved every second of it, but Felicia didn’t get it. Why did he even show early? It’s not like he could actually help. Unless he was only trying to be a nuisance. That made a lot more sense.
Just like the weekend they had met, he’s a shit disturber, wild and unruly and bad-mouthed. He hasn’t changed one bit. She must be the one who’s changed.
“A penny for your thoughts?”
Felicia smiles. “A penny isn’t going to cut it.” She sinks back into her cozier memories, back to the time when she and Matt were good to each other. They‘d only spent a few days together, but he had left a lifelong impression on her. Not a second was spent out of each other’s arms and he’d made her feel like a princess, caressing her with words and teasing her with touch.
Matt said a lot of things that made her swoon and did things to her that she can’t even think about without getting red in the face. She squirms from the thought and is suddenly feeling hot and bothered. Matt’s lips were so soft and were always so determined to please every inch of her. His tongue brought sensations to parts of her body no other man has ever explored.
A pair of soft lips meet hers and it makes her moan, as if it is Matt kissing her. A heavy body closes over her and a hand skims intimately into her hair. She freezes in place when her phone steals her from her reverie. Felicia’s eyes burst open. She quickly resurfaces, pushes Jensen off her and swings her legs off the bed. She can’t believe she let him touch her because of Matt!
“What were you doing?” she asks, covering her eyes with a hand.
A morning filled with Matt’s apologetic glances is getting to her; those baby soft lips and that strong attractive stare has her wavering between uncertainty and closure.
“I’m sorry. You were so receptive. I thought you wanted to get frisky,” Jensen explains, looking a little lost and a lot disappointed.
She waves that hand at him. “You know it’s not you I was thinking about.”
“I know, but it still feels nice.”
Her phone is still ringing, so she quickly answers it without paying any attention to the caller.
“Yeah?” she answers, sounding breathless.
“Hi,” the caller responds. His voice is dark and sensual and he doesn’t make any mention of his name.
“Who is this?”
“You know who this is.”
She feels as though Matt knows she’s been dreaming about him. “I can only imagine why you’re calling me. Whatever the reason is, forget about it, Jensen and I are busy.”
“So I guess now’s a bad time to ask what you’re wearing.”
She instantly thinks he’s talking dirty. That’s right up his alley. “Real classy. You can quit using that sexy voice on me, it’s not going to wet my panties.”
“Mmm, say that again: wet panties. I like the word panties.”
“I haven't seen you in how long? How dare you ask me such a question?”
Jensen backs out of the room. “I’m gonna go . . . uh . . . get some ice. Right!” He reaches for the ice bucket and takes off, forgetting his key across the room.
Her voice doesn’t lower. “This, after you say such hateful words to me?” She hates that her voice squeals.
“I’m sorry. To be honest, that’s another reason why I was calling. I thought we’d first get over the ques
tion of clothes, but since it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen . . . I’m sorry. I’m apologizing to you, Felicia, for being such a jerk. I was mean and I never meant to hurt you. For some reason I can’t control the words flying out of my mouth when I’m around you. Will you please accept my apology?”
“You honestly weren’t trying to phone-sex me?”
“Is that even an option?”
Great. Now he sounds intrigued.
”I don’t know. You get me so rattled.” She doesn’t even know why she admits it to him.
“You’re saying I affect you.”
“Matt, you know you do. Don’t act like this isn’t old news.”
His voice turns firm but somehow she knows he’s still being playful. “Even with your boyfriend along for the trip? How does he feel about that?”
Felicia smirks, as she flops back on the bed. “Jensen is taking full advantage, as a matter of fact.”
“I don’t suppose I’m going to get any details.”
“Tell me again the reason for your call? I was kind of in the middle of something.”
“With Jensen?” he pries.
“No. By myself.”
Sparks pass between them through the ensuing silence. When she doesn’t speak up, Matt does.
“Seriously, Felicia, it was only a question of what to wear. I thought maybe you could help me out since Destiny has so much on her plate.”
Butterflies take flight in her stomach. Has she dreamt the entire sex thing up herself?
It’s not possible!
“Jeans and a shirt will do, I suppose. Unless you have something a little more dressy-casual. Khakis maybe.” She smirks when she decides to go there again. “What color is your underwear?” she teases.
His voice growls. “What color are yours?”
She slips into her own sexy voice. “Who said I was wearing any?”
Felicia closes her eyes and slides a hand between her legs, wondering whether this sexual tension is truly all in her head.
Beautifully Broken Page 5
