tickets might be sold out.”
After explaining to me where the bus terminal was, he wished me luck and I hurried to the ticket counter. The giggling couple in front of me snagged the last seats on the next bus, leaving me misty eyed when I joined the others waiting for a taxi.
When I finally got into the backseat of my transportation, I was exhausted and blind to the landscape as we zipped past. The driver quickly realized I was in no mood to make small talk, and the cab soon filled with upbeat, island-style music that accompanied the worst ride of my life so far.
I was in such a stupor that I hardly noticed when we stopped and the man had to all but jostle me to get out. Paying him in American currency because I didn’t even have local dollars yet, I gathered my backpack and went in search of the front desk.
A long bath, blackout curtains, and a fluffy hotel robe while my clothes dried were just what the doctor ordered. There were colorful flowers in vases on glass tables, marble floors, and a glorious view of the ocean from the lobby, but I just couldn’t bring myself to take any of it in.
All I wanted was a bath, my bed, and for it to be tomorrow.
Even that, it seemed, was too much to ask. A kind-eyed woman with a wreath of flowers around her neck grimaced after typing my information into her computer.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Flinn. It appears we’ve had a double booking for your room. Our other guests checked into it over an hour ago.”
Hysteria welled up like a tidal wave in my chest. “Are you kidding me?”
She glanced at her screen again, shaking her head. “I’m afraid not. We’re fully booked for the week, but perhaps we can arrange a voucher at a different—”
I waved my hand, unable to stand listening to even another word out of her mouth. Rationally, I knew this wasn’t her fault either, but I’d had it up to my eyeballs with this shitty day.
Marching away from the front desk, I sagged into the closest chair I could find and frantically searched for my phone in my backpack. Tears spilled out of my eyes and rushed down my cheeks, even if I was doing a good job of not turning into a screeching mess.
There were too many people around and I didn’t want anyone bearing witness to the breakdown I felt coming.
Ember answered on the first ring. “How’re the cocktails on the beach?”
“I should never have come here.” I hiccupped, fighting back sobs while trying to keep my voice low. My volume rose as I picked up speed, though, despite my best efforts. “I got stood up at the altar, don’t have my supposed-to-be husband with me, my luggage got lost, I missed the shuttle, and now I don’t have a room.”
“Fuck.” My poor best friend spent the next few minutes trying her best to talk me off the ledge and out of jumping on the first flight home. “Okay, now that you’re breathing again, this is what you’re going to do. Wipe your eyes. Take a deep breath. Then you go right back to that receptionist and demand a room. Don’t leave until she gives you a goddamn bed.”
“Right.” I wasn’t exactly feeling it, but I had no other choices at the moment. “I’ll call you later.”
“Go get ‘em, girl!” she cheered before hanging up.
Squaring my shoulders, I followed her instructions before getting back to my feet. Instead of rejoining the crowd waiting to be checked in, I went right back to the same lady at the front desk.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but there’s nothing I can do,” she said once she’d finished up with the clients she was busy helping. “We don’t have any rooms available and—”
A man’s voice spoke up from behind me just as a heavy, muscular arm draped itself over my shoulders. “I don’t think you understand. My wife and I have reserved a room for our honeymoon and we’ll get one. The double booking must’ve happened at your end, which means it’s your responsibility to make it right.”
The body suddenly pressed up to mine was as hard as a rock and a faint spicy scent came off it. The cologne smelled amazing, and I wondered what it was. My mind immediately drifted to whether Will would like it. Then I remembered it wasn’t my problem what he liked anymore.
I turned toward the stranger, having to