“Let me think… not of sound mind. Mentally deranged,” Maggie listed off, looking like her world could fall apart at any moment.
I laughed, smirking at her. “Oh, yeah. You’re definitely insane.” When panic flashed in her eyes, I added, “You found your one, Maggs. And, in all honesty, from everything I’ve ever read in those overrated chick magazines, being in love is supposedly the equivalent of being insane, so it’s safe to say being insane, at least in your case, is a good thing.”
She shook her head at me, smiling. “You and your way with spinning words. You always did that. Always had some weird way of telling me what I needed to hear.”
I pretended to brush my shoulders off. “Can’t help my awesomeness.”
She snort-laughed. “Have you picked a major yet?”
I inhaled quickly. “Nope.”
Her head fell to the side. “Hannah…”
“What?” I deflected with a shrug.
“You have to settle on something at some point in your life. Why don’t you look into psychology or something? You’re so good with helping people. Everyone always comes to you with their problems.”
I snorted. “That’s because they’re mental. Look, I just… I’m figuring it out. I’ll know when I know.”
“Which can’t happen if you’re always scared of commitment.”
I narrowed my eyes on her, not wanting another lecture about how I always ran from commitment of any kind. I had a past. An ugly one I was tethered to like a ball and chain. The day I broke the chain would be the day I finally settled, which was about as likely as catching a shooting star.
A soft knock sounded at the door before Phillip cracked it open, his eyes instantly finding Maggie’s.
Maggie stood up at once. “Is he here?”
“Is who here?” I asked, looking between the two of them.
Phillip beamed as he entered the office, clearing the doorway.
In walked a tall drink of water I definitely wanted to take a sip of.
Or two.
Or three.
Hell… just give me the whole damn glass.
“Ladies, I’d like you to meet—” Phillip started to say, but tall, dark, and handsome decided to skip the formalities.
All six-foot-plus inches of him.
“Out the way, Phil. I need to give our girl a hug, yeah?” Ed barreled past Phillip and scooped Maggie into his arms, giving her a smacking kiss on the lips.
A kiss that had all of our eyes bulging.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Phillip hissed, screwing his face up as he tried to pry Ed’s hands from around Maggie, who lightheartedly laughed.
He was ballsy. I’d give him that.
Ed put her down, totally downplaying Phillip’s warranted anger. “Don’t be stingy, Phil. I’ve loved her from afar all this time while ye kept her all to yourself,” Ed answered, giving Maggie a wink before he set her down on her feet.
My body was in the middle of some kind of internal war over him. My knees fought to stay upright from the power of that wink, while my fists fought to stay by my side for his so blatant and intrusive arrogance.
Phillip pulled Maggie against him. “Yeah, well, get your hands off my girl and find your own to grope.”
Ed’s gaze landed on me. “And who do we have here then?”
My heart did a weird sort of flippy thing as his eyes raked over me in a way that made my skin feel like it had been dipped in a vat of liquid gold.
“Hannah, this is Ed. Ed, this is my best friend Hannah,” Maggie said, her conspiring eyes darting between the two of us.
“Ed?” I shot Maggie a questioning look. “The Ed you mentioned on the phone before?”
It was Maggie’s turn to smirk at me.
“The one and only, love,” he said as he extended his hand to me.
Caramels. Soft and delicious. That was what his eyes reminded me of. They were golden and somewhat guarded… a dangerous mix I wouldn’t mind playing with.
Fevers. The kind your skin felt when seasoned lips moved across your body in a way that made you scream in ways you didn’t think you were capable of. That was what his full, sensuous smile reminded me of.
One of his eyebrows dropped as he waited for my hand to meet his.
Shit. I’m supposed to shake his hand, but I think my palms are sweating. Like for real sweating.
WTF.
I tried to play off rubbing them against my shirt, and then took his extended hand, my stomach whirling when my skin tingled from the slight contact.
What the hell, Hannah?
Ed let go as soon as his eyes settled on something behind me. “I think I’ve found my girl, Phil,” Ed said, bending over Autumn’s crib. “Hello there, lovie,” he said, running his finger over the silken roundness of her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered open, staring intently at the new face above her before her lips turned into a smile matching Ed’s.
“See, she loves me already,” Ed crooned when Autumn caught his finger up in her chubby fist.
I think my sanity just left the building.
“She usually doesn’t do well with strangers,” Maggie said, sounding a little dumbstruck as she watched her daughter coo and try to pull Ed’s finger closer to her rosebud lips.
“Must be my English charm.” He reached out with his other hand to run his thumb over Autumn’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, lovie? Ye know your favorite uncle when ye see him.” He turned to Maggie. “Ye did a good job, Maggie. Lucky for us, she took after you, and not this arsehole.” His hand shot to his mouth. “Oooh… sorry. Have to work on the language around the little one.”
“It’s okay,” Maggie said, laughing as Phillip’s ears went red. “I slip a few times here and there.”
I was stuck on the fact that he literally just pranced right in, fitting in as if he already belonged. He was even able to coax a heartwarming smile from Autumn. What planet was he from?
Mars. Definitely Mars. All kinds of Mars.
He looked up at me, and my mind went blank.
“So…” I said, scrambling to think of something to say. Anything to get him to stop staring at me so intently. “I’m assuming you’re the best man, then?” I asked, trying to downplay my complete and utter failure at being the levelheaded, man-eater I usually was.
He straightened back up to his full height and stepped back from Autumn’s crib. “Haven’t had any complaints to refute the claim, love.”
My mouth hung open at his witty attempt at humor. The kind of humor I enjoyed the most.
“So, Ed,” Maggie said, making her way between us. “Are you single?”
“Ready to ditch Phil already then? I have to say, Maggie, I thought it’d take more work to convince ye to run away with me,” Ed replied with what could only be called a roguish laugh that did something to my lust-filled hormones.
Phillip’s face turned a healthy shade of red. “Knock it off, jackass, before I put you back on the plane and send you home.”
Ed slapped Phillip on the back. “I’m just messing with you, mate. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
“I wanted to thank you in person for saving Phillip from making a huge mistake,” Maggie cut in, moving to take Phillip’s hand in hers. “Without your persistent interference, we probably wouldn’t be standing here together today.”
“Phillip’s a smart lad. He would have gotten ‘round to figuring it out. I just nudged him to move it along faster,” Ed said. “But don’t think anything of it. That’s what best mates do for each other, yeah?”
Not only was he good looking with a panty-melting accent… but he was also good friend material?
Boy, I was in trouble.
Maggie turned back as she wiped her tear-glazed eyes. “I bet you’re hungry after such a long flight. Why don’t we take you both to dinner, and then we can show you the venue for tomorrow’s ceremony? Maybe even have a small rehearsal. Nothing too formal.”
“Sounds good,” I said, try
ing to keep myself from looking over at Ed. I felt his eyes on me. Felt them taking me in. For some damn reason, I actually wished I had taken two seconds in a mirror after getting off the plane. I was still in my travel-worn clothes with my hair in a ratted bun, while Ed looked as if he’d just finished up a photo shoot with GQ, or whatever sort of hunky men magazines they had over in the UK.
How could someone who looked like they just rolled out of bed make you want to take them right back to that very same bed and do all sorts of naughty things with them?
It was then my eyes decided to betray me and wandered over to him, catching his eyes roaming my face as if picking apart my lackluster appearance.
What a first impression.
Wait a minute… what the hell do I care? That’s right. I don’t.
“Is that okay with you, Hannah?” Maggie asked.
All three of them were staring at me, waiting for me to answer a question I never heard.
Mortification forced my lips to part. “Sure,” I said, hoping I didn’t just agree to something I’d regret. But, judging by the weighted smirk on Ed’s face, I had a feeling I just signed myself up for a march straight into Just-shoot-me-now Ville.
“YOU REALLY CAN’T BE SERIOUS?” I asked as the four of us stood outside a small, one-roomed hut on stilts behind Maggie and Phillip’s quaint bungalow.
I peeked back inside the door, just to be sure what I saw was actually what I saw and not some hallucination brought on from the extra shot of tequila I took with Ed. We drank it when no one was looking from behind the bar where the reception would be tomorrow.
Yep. That was a hammock. A freaking hammock she expected me to sleep on.
With or without Ed, I might add.
“We tried booking you separate rooms at the only hotel on the island, but, with the season as packed as it is, there was nothing available last minute.” Maggie’s eyes matched the apologetic tone in her voice. “You said you were okay with it when I asked you in the office.”
So this is what I agreed to?
“You can take the hammock. I’ll take the floor. Unless of course…” Ed’s words trailed off as he playfully wiggled his eyebrows.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“You’re damn straight you’re sleeping on the floor. With the bugs. Where you belong,” I dictated, wishing I had taken the second shot he offered me. At this rate, I may have to sneak back to the bar and finish off that bottle just so I can sleep through the night.
Maggie reached for my arm as Autumn cooed. “Look… we can bring the mattress from the futon in our office if you want. Or you can stay there, but the workers will be there early in the morning, and I’m sure you won’t want to be bothered.”
I perked up a little. “Mattress?”
“Come on, mate. Let’s get the princess and the pea her mattress,” Ed said, slapping Phillip on the back with a chuckle.
Something in his laughter made me want to punch him. Hard.
“I really am sorry, Hannah,” Maggie said as soon as the guys were gone. The worry was thick in her voice, and it broke through my anger a little.
“It’s fine,” I relented, sighing. “Really. I just… I was taken aback for a moment. What kind of maid-of-honor would I be if I didn’t suffer a little, right?”
She suggestively lifted her eyebrows. “The kind holed-up with a very cute, very charming English guy.”
I did a double take in her direction. “You can’t be serious. You’re not suggesting I—”
Her smile spread across her fair skin as she innocently shrugged. “I’m not suggesting anything. Just pointing out the obvious. You’re a girl. He’s a guy. You like kissing. He likes—”
“Please.” I held my hand up, not wanting to admit he had any kind of effect on me. “Please don’t finish that sentence.”
She half-smiled, shifting her hold on Autumn. “Who knows… maybe this time next year, we’ll be at your wedding,” Maggie said, nudging into me.
I looked at her as if she just declared the bubonic plague had been released into our water system, and she wanted me to take a sip from it.
“Umm… no,” I declared, glancing over at Autumn and felt myself internally melting. What if the whole “baby fever” thing was real? I definitely couldn’t have that happening.
“It’s not unlikely though, Hannah,” she stated as she walked over to the small, wooden porch in front of the hut and sat. “Everyone finds their happiness at some point in their life. Look at me… I went from working with the rich and shameless to living out my dream with a man I never thought even existed.”
I followed her to the bench, sat beside her, and then stretched my legs out in front of me, enjoying the pull of muscle from thigh to ankle. “And you also have way better luck than moi, my dear. I don’t do relationships. You know that.”
Her face grew serious. “I know you hold a lot of resentment because of your father. Comparing him to every man in this world isn’t healthy. It’s hindering you from finding what’s really out there.”
Those feelings. The yucky, dark ones I kept locked in a barrel deep in my soul began to rock and shake, banging against my heart for a way out.
“So, why Autumn and not Summer… your favorite time of the year? “I didn’t look over at her. Didn’t want to see that look—the one that made me feel guilty for dodging a subject she’s always tried to get me to open up about.
Tears of sorrow and mascara just didn’t mix. At least, not for me.
“Because that was when we came back to each other,” she said wistfully, going along with the change of subject.
“Would I be a horrible aunt if I told you it makes me think of pumpkin-flavored everything?”
Maggie giggled. “I love pumpkin-flavored everything.”
“What’s this I hear about a pumpkin? Decided you’d be a better Cinderella? ‘Cause if that’s the case, I think ye’re truly out of luck with us finding you a carriage,” Ed joked as he and Phillip worked their way past us up the porch stairs. “But if ye’re lookin’ for a bit o’ magic, I have a wand could use some waving, if ye’d like to give it a go.”
He did not just say that.
My eyes bulged as I looked at Maggie, not having to say out loud exactly what I thought about our insane situation. After helping her stand, we made our way into the place I’d call home for the next forty-eight hours.
Phillip pulled on the small chain hanging from the ceiling on the only light in the room. The small bulb flickered to life.
This. This was my life.
Boards of wood warped by salt water, with cracks in between big enough you could see through, all the way to the sand beneath the hut. Barren walls. A hammock hanging in the corner with a wicker chair across from it. A small table with a stack of linens, pillows, and some sort of rigged shower curtain pulled back to reveal a wash basin next to a portable toilet.
And my mattress, smack dab in the middle of the floor.
“Have I told you I love you, Maggie?” I said through clenched teeth, trying not to squeeze too tight when I put my arm around her. “I just… I really, really love you and would do anything for you. Even this.”
Ed plopped into the hammock, crossing his arms behind his head with an evil smirk. “It’s not so bad.”
I just may become a murderer tonight.
“Well, I’m sure you’re beat,” Maggie said, already rushing off to leave the two of us alone. “We can meet up for breakfast in the morning as soon as you’re both awake. I’ll make pancakes.”
“Clammy rogers!” Ed said with excitement.
I didn’t ask. I just made my way over to the end table, grabbed some linens stacked there, spread them out, and laid down.
“See you in the morning,” I said, bringing the sheet up over my head.
IT ALWAYS AMAZED ME THE luck I seemed to run into.
Take for instance the fact that only a handful of days ago, I’d been pulling pints for the local blokes to wet their whistles.
&nb
sp; And now… now I was in paradise with a beautiful lass on the floor and my best mate about to be married.
The hammock creaked under me as I pulled my arms from behind my head.
Outside the clapboard walls of the hut, waves pulled and pushed along the sand. As faint as it was, I could still hear it in between the soft snoring sound coming from the floor.
Maggie’s best friend Hannah was sprawled out, face down on the mattress Phil and I hauled in hours earlier. My fingers itched to push back the sheet covering her, so I could look my fill without getting my balls handed to me by Phillip.
“Don’t even think about doing what I think you’re going to do,” Phillip said as we carried the thin mattress across the sand.
His warning, while understandable, wasn’t necessary. It was only two days we’d be together, and then it would be back to our prospective lives for the both of us.
Admittedly though, Hannah stirred something up inside me. Something I’d thought long ago buried.
Forbidden fruit tasted the ripest. And she’s the ripest peach you’ve seen in a while, mate.
I groaned aloud at the thought.
The sound jerked Hannah upright, her hair a wild, blonde mane around her face like silken moonlight. She sat eerily still for only a moment before her hand snapped out as if thwarting someone, and then she shot straight to her feet, wobbling like a newborn foal.
“What are ye doin’, love?” I asked, trying to push myself out of the roped cocoon that held me in its crisscrossing meshed confines.
With weird-like movements, Hannah pushed with one foot and then the other, almost as if she were ice-skating along the floorboards.
“Hannah?” I called out again.
She came to an abrupt stop and then whipped around, facing me. The moonlight beaming through the window hit her, allowing me to watch her chest heave with her eyes wide open, unblinking.
“She’s having a bloody nightmare,” I said, wondering if I should try to wake her or just leave her be.
A sinister grin spread across her lips before she sprinted full out at me. I didn’t even have time to get out of the hammock before she clotheslined herself against me.
Runaway Heart (A Game of Hearts #2) Page 3