Accidentally Wed To My Enemy by Layla Valentine

Author:Layla Valentine [Valentine, Layla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

ERIC

Sleep wouldn’t come that night. My head wouldn’t quiet. I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling, then on my side, then I got up and paced. I refused to let my thoughts linger on Lacey. To dwell on that kiss would be to admit it meant something, and it couldn’t. It didn’t.

Except maybe it did.

We’d filmed two more scenes after the kiss, a wet, muddy chase scene, then me on my own, digging a grave in a shell-scarred field. Lacey had vanished when her scenes were done. I’d wanted to talk to her, catch her alone. To see if her eyes were still clear and unguarded, the way they had been after the kiss.

I checked the time on my phone, past two a.m. I wouldn’t be talking to Lacey tonight. And maybe — no, certainly — that was a good thing. The words that popped out in the heat of the moment were always the words that messed up your life. Words like I do, vows made on impulse. I’d learned that lesson the hard way. Lacey could wait.

I paced up and down, two-fifteen. Two-thirty. At a quarter to three, I pulled on some clothes, clean workout pants and a hooded sweatshirt. I jerked up the hood so it covered my face, and slunk out through the lobby and down to the beach. The night was a clear one, the rain all dried up, the clouds a pale ring around the full moon. The waves rolled in gently and lapped at my feet.

I stood a long time watching the ocean, listening to the music from some distant beach party. Time was, I’d have gone up and joined in the fun. Now I was famous, and that door was closed. If I went to that party, it’d become about me, and what if they were celebrating somebody’s birthday? Or someone’s promotion, or their engagement? I didn’t want to be that guy, stealing their limelight.

It was so weird, Eric Harper crashing our party. I mean, it was cool at first, but then he just… stayed? Like, get a clue, man. It’s Kelly’s birthday!

I shuddered and turned back to the hotel, but as I did, I spotted movement — a lone, slender figure trudging off down the beach, a messy blond ponytail catching the moonlight. On instinct, I called to her.

“Lacey! Hey, Lacey?”

She didn’t look back. My neck went hot. It wasn’t Lacey, just some blonde lady. Some stranger I’d latched onto, thinking—

She pulled out her earbuds and turned around. “Hello? Did someone— Eric? Is that you?”

I waved, feeling sheepish. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”

She started back toward me. “I couldn’t either. I think it’s the air here. It’s always so fresh, and it has that alive smell, like walking into a greenhouse in spring.” She stopped a few feet from me, fidgeting, nervous. Her green eyes were fixed on a point far behind me, the glow from the campfire at the beach party.

“You were good today,” I said, for something to say.

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