Chapter Three
D ex suggested stopping by his apartment so he could throw a few things into a suitcase for the trip. Since he was doing her a huge solid by accompanying her, she didn’t argue about her need to rush out of town.
His place looked new. It lacked personal touches and some obvious pieces of furniture, and smelled like fresh paint. When she asked, he said he’d just recently moved in and was still furnishing it how he liked.
He directed her to a guestroom where she’d changed into a pair of loose silky pants and a tank top, appropriate for Bahamian weather. She pulled a sweater over her shoulders for the cooler plane ride and left her wedding dress in a heap on his carpeted floor. She never wanted to see the garment again. Being an easygoing guy, Dex hadn’t seemed to mind.
Now, on board and in the air, she curled her legs beneath her and looked out the plane window and into the white fluffy clouds. Darkness was falling and seemed apropos considering the mess that was her life.
This morning she’d thought she was getting married and headed to Turks and Caicos on her honeymoon. Now she was in her cousin’s plane with a man she’d had a crush on since she’d first seen him on the television screen when watching the Thunder play on Sundays. Then she’d met Dex Sterling in person.
At her brother’s New Year’s Eve party for his team and their families, she and Dex had shared a long evening of conversation and then a kiss that had ruined her for all other men. Nobody could compete with Dex and the way he’d completely possessed her. With one arm around her waist holding her tight, she’d felt his physical strength against her much smaller frame. And with his talented mouth, he devoured her until her entire body was aroused, even parts she’d never been aware of before.
But no sooner had their lips separated than he’d turned into a different person. Where before the kiss, they’d talked about so many things, after it was like he couldn’t get away from her fast enough. She’d taken it as a harsh lesson to her younger self’s ego and chalked the incident up to a football player who’d had his New Year’s Eve fun and wasn’t looking for anything more than a little flirting. Either that, or he thought she was a really bad kisser. But he definitely didn’t act like he wasn’t enjoying her kiss at the time.
Had she been disappointed things hadn’t gone further? Absolutely, because if he’d asked her to go home with him, she’d have said yes in a heartbeat. So she’d taken her bruised self-esteem and gone home to eat a carton of cookie dough ice cream and fall asleep alone. It looked like she’d be doing the same thing tonight, if Maggie, Asher’s longtime family housekeeper, kept a flavor Samantha liked in the fridge. Because she was going to need it.
All the while, Dex seemed to understand her need for silence and had left her to her thoughts, while he remained busy with text messages on his phone. Both of their cells hadn’t stopped blowing up. Hers with texts from concerned family, friends, and worse, Jeremy, trying to get in touch with her. She frowned at the thought. Not wanting to see his name, she turned her phone off and buried it at the bottom of her bag.
Poor Dex had gotten a phone call from her brother, no doubt, because Samantha wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. He’d shot her a pointed look, eyes narrowed, that she interpreted as, thanks for getting me into this mess, and rose to take the call in private. She wouldn’t avoid Ian forever, just long enough to formulate a reasonable explanation and to fortify herself for the admissions she’d have to give him.
Across from her, Dex had fallen asleep and she envied his relaxed state. All she could think about was how stupid she’d been, ignoring her gut in favor of being stubborn and insisting everything in her life was fine. That mediocre was good enough. That a business plan would lead to a solid, happy marriage.
She plucked her AirPods out of her bag along with her cell, turned to airplane mode so she could continue to shield herself from messages, and settled the white buds in her ears. She set the music to a quality breakup list, mostly courtesy of Taylor Swift, and let herself wallow.
A little while later, movement distracted her. From the corner of her eye, Dex raised his arms over his head, and she realized her companion was awake. She silently took in his full-body stretch, aware of the pull and flex of his muscles beneath the long-sleeve Thunder shirt he’d thrown on along with a faded pair of jeans that hugged his thighs and tight ass. It was all she could do not to let out a girly sigh.
Of course, she reminded herself she’d been on the verge of marrying one man just a few hours ago, she had no right to ogle another guy. No matter how sexy he might be. She flushed with embarrassment and glanced down at the music screen on her phone.
“You can’t avoid discussing it forever, you know,” Dex said, leaning forward so they could talk.
“I can try.” She rubbed her finger over her bottom lip, aware he had a point. “I don’t know how to tell my family that they were right. The man I was going to marry, the same man they had a bad feeling about, was using me for my money. That I put all the capital into the business because when I was young and graduating business school, Jeremy talked a good game about how we would conquer the PR world together.”
His eyes flashed angry sparks she’d like to think was on her behalf. “You wouldn’t be the first person to get duped in a relationship,” he said.
“What about the fact that I almost married him without a prenup?”
He’d just lifted a bottle of water to his lips and choked on the sip he’d swallowed.
She slid her gaze from his. “Yep, see? That’s why I don’t want Ian to know. And before you ask what I was thinking, I’ll tell you.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. “Jeremy and I met in business school and at the time, all I could think about was having some freedom from my family.”
“Sounds like most people in college or grad school.”
“Except I was escaping. College was fine, but I went in Florida and my family was close by. I chose grad school in New York and it was a major move. One I really needed.”
Leaning back, he crossed one leg over his knee and remained silent, letting her talk and listening, which she appreciated.
“I’m not sure if you know this, but Sienna, my half-sister, had leukemia as a child and needed a bone marrow transplant. My father needed us, his legitimate children…” As always, she emphasized the word with quotation marks with her fingers. “…to be tested, and that’s how we found out about my father’s other family. Avery turned out to be the match.”
His eyes opened wide. “I knew Ian had a lot of siblings, but I had no idea about the second family or your sister’s illness.” His expression softened. “That couldn’t have been easy,” he said in a gruff voice. “Any of it.”
“It wasn’t.” And though it had taken years, all the kids ended up close and Samantha was grateful to have so many brothers and sisters. But it came at a cost. “The illness, almost losing Sienna, it made Ian overprotective of all his sisters, and as my other brothers grew up, they were similarly smothering.”
Dex tipped his head to one side, studying her. “I only have one sister but three brothers, and we’ve all done our best to smother her, too,” he said wryly. “Point is, I understand.”
“Thank you for that.” There weren’t many people who would get why she’d made such rash decisions, then doubled down on them.
“So what happened? You met—”
“Jeremy. I met Jeremy and he was a smooth talker and smart. Straight A’ s and his ideas were intriguing. Soon we were planning to open a PR firm together when we graduated. But he was smooth, as in slick.” She curled her fingers into fists. “And I fell for it. Hard. But the business took off, so I thought I’d done the right thing and if he hadn’t turned out to be a cheating ass who wanted my money, that would be true.”
He pressed his palms against his temples. “I can see why you’re worried about Ian’s response.”
“Thanks.” She managed a smile and he laughed, the sound low and pleasurable. “You know, things between Jeremy and I were good in the beginning… but the flame burned out.”
At the mention of her romantic past, Dex clenched his jaw. Or maybe she was imagining it. Or maybe his small reaction had nothing to do with her and Jeremy together at all. Just because she sat here spilling her guts, all the while too aware of the man across from her—one she’d once shared a scorching-hot, toe-curling kiss with—didn’t mean he felt the same.
“Anyway, the thing is, I’m embarrassed, angry, and… relieved. I shouldn’t be relieved he gave me an out… right?”
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed, he should. But to answer your question, no, you should not be relieved. Unless… you aren’t in love with him?” He phrased it as a question and leaned forward, watching her with interest.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Was it her imagination or did his eyes darken? One thing she wasn’t imagining was her desire for Dex Sterling and it couldn’t come at a worse time. She needed to process why she’d been taken in by Jeremy, why she’d ignored her anxiety and many other warning signs and continued with the engagement and wedding… and why she was so focused on Dex and not the man who’d humiliated her moments before walking down the aisle.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on any of that, since the pilot announced they were preparing to land. She welcomed the brief reprieve from her confusing thoughts about her ex, and most especially about Dex.
She’d have plenty of time to think about everything while hiding away on the island.