The Promise of Paradise - By Allie Boniface Page 0,62
at. Eddie took a few steps up the sidewalk.
“Colin, I don’t...” As the guy stood, close to six three or four if Eddie had to guess, Ash put a hand on his chest. Her words fell away, but she didn’t stop looking at him.
That’s Colin? The ex-boyfriend? Eddie’s earlier cup of coffee burned in the center of his chest. As he watched, Colin slipped a ring onto Ash’s finger, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her in for a kiss. One hand swept the hair off her forehead. The other pressed five fingers into the small of her back. Possessive. Wanting. He hadn’t even looked Eddie’s way.
Eddie’s head jerked back as if someone had caught him square across the jaw. He felt sick, almost feverish. Stumbling, he backed toward the bike. Mistake…the word echoed inside his head. A total mistake, to come back here. To think she’d want to be with him. To think she wouldn’t go back to her other life the minute she had the chance. Thunder growled, and a few drops of rain pattered the back of his neck.
“Eddie, wait!”
He didn’t turn around. One leg over the motorcycle, and it revved to life. The rain picked up; the wind swept in and chilled him bone deep. He couldn’t have cared less. Barreling through the stop sign, he headed downtown. He wove around a stupid Civic going thirty miles an hour and an equally stupid mini-van with a bumper sticker that read “I Brake for Manatees.”
Manatees? Where do you live, lady, fucking Florida? Look around. Only small-town USA up here in New Hampshire. No ocean. No big cities. No place anyone would want to stay and build a life, that’s for sure. Under his breath came every curse word he could think of, most of them directed at Ash. A few at himself. What an idiot he’d been to fall for her, someone he’d known less than three months.
On he rode, faster at every chance, savoring the silence, the speed, the rush of air that stilled his thoughts after awhile. Gotta get myself a bike. Or talk Frank into letting me buy this one. The rain came down harder with every mile, and he welcomed it. Only when he reached the hairpin curve that headed out of town did Eddie realize he’d left his helmet sitting on the curb back on Lycian Street.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ash stumbled down the porch steps as Eddie jumped back onto the motorcycle. He sped through the intersection and left a strip of burnt rubber three feet long. Colin’s hand fell onto her shoulder, but she shook it off.
“Colin...” She looked down at the ring on her finger. Already it felt heavy with the weight of the gem, not to mention his offer and the promise it held if she said yes. “I can’t make this decision.”
His Adam’s apple moved once, in a hard swallow that betrayed his disappointment. “It’s okay. Take some time. Take as much as you need.”
He didn’t look mad, or impatient, or as though he wanted to change his mind. He just looked sad, as if he knew maybe he’d waited too long. As if he understood he’d made the wrong decision and now couldn’t right it.
“I know…ah…that maybe you didn’t expect it,” he went on.
“You think?”
Colin reddened. “Took me a while to figure things out.” He stared at his feet. “I screwed up. But I don’t want to lose you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Ash sank onto the bottom step. She didn’t want to blame Colin for her heartache. She didn’t want the exhaustion of hating him anymore. She wanted to watch the rain fall and not count all the times she’d walked with him in it. She wanted to sleep for more than two nights in a row without waking up thinking of him. She wanted what he was offering her: the chance to forgive, move on, and change the past.
But that made it harder. She wished he wouldn't be so damn nice about it. Give me an ultimatum, and I’ll throw the ring across the porch and tell you to go to hell. But don’t tell me you’ll wait. Don’t turn into this sensitive guy I don’t even know.
“You broke my heart.” She meant to hurt him with the words, to make him feel one ounce of the pain he’d put her through. “You can’t just make everything better with an apology and a ring.”
Colin nodded. “I know.” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t