“You’re not a jerk. You’re sad, and it’s understandable. Or, I’m assuming it’s understandable since you won’t talk to me about it. I’m a pretty awesome person, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.”
Alice groaned. “Thanks for trying, but I think my mood is beyond repair right now.”
“We’ve got,” Cindy glanced at the clock hanging over the dresser, “fifteen minutes. Talk to me. It’ll make you feel better.”
“This is your day,” Alice insisted.
“Spill!”
She took a deep breath and glared at her sister. “Fine, but if my makeup runs off my face, I’ll hold you accountable.”
Cindy grinned. “We’ll be five minutes late to fix your raccoon face if we have to be.”
“I overheard Noah on the phone. I—don’t know all the details, but the gist of it is that he was planning on using our relationship to get out of some sort of vampire arranged marriage.”
“Arranged marriage?” Cindy’s nose scrunched. “How old fashioned of them.”
“He lied to me. Not once did he mention this marriage thing.” She shook her head. “I flipped out at the idea of someone being with me to…to use me again.”
“Noah isn’t Brent, Alice.”
“Don’t you think I don’t know that?” She blinked back tears and nodded gratefully when Cindy offered her a tissue. “But I was so upset, and he didn’t deny I’d heard him correctly. So I broke things off. And when I got back to the room last night, he was already gone. I think he’s left the ship.”
“Well, good riddance. Bastard was just trying to use you, anyway.” Cindy tossed a free curl over her shoulder dramatically. Not an easy feat with the veil attached to her head.
“It wasn’t like that! Or, at least, I don’t know for sure that it was. I didn’t even give him a chance to explain the situation.” Why hadn’t she? She was too stubborn, that’s why.
“Explain, shmexplain.” Cindy waved her hand in the air dismissively. “What excuse could he possibly have? You’re better off without the jerk.”
“He’s not a jerk. And I’m not better off without him. I lo—” Alice clapped her hand over her mouth and her sister jumped up, a huge smile on her face. Crap. She loved him. She’d let herself fall in love with her neighbor. Her vampire neighbor. Within the space of a few days at sea. What the heck was wrong with her? And what was she supposed to do about that?
“I knew it! I knew you were totally falling for him.” Cindy laughed and tugged at Alice’s arm. “Honey, things will work out. I just wanted you to realize how you felt. The rest of us—well, it’s been on your faces since you two slept together—a fact that was totally obvious by the way, Miss Googly-Eyes. Even if neither of you realized it yet.”
“That’s not—faces?” she asked, putting emphasis on the plurality of the word.
Cindy sat back down, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Oh, he’s just as smitten with you as you are with him. I know things will work out for you. Don’t fret.”
“You don’t understand, Cindy. He was going back to get married. And he won’t answer my phone calls. And—” Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard. She couldn’t cry. They had less than five minutes before they had to walk down the aisle. Making Cindy late to her wedding would only compound her guilt.
“Try him again before we go.”
Alice shot a nervous glance at the clock, but hit Noah’s name on her cell phone. Again, right to voicemail. She almost hung up, but steeled her spine instead. She could live with failing to get him back—maybe. But only if she knew she’d tried her best. Anything less and she’d always feel regret.
“Noah, it’s me again—Alice. I really need to talk to you. Please call me before you do anything drastic.” I love you. The words teetered on the edge of her tongue, but she couldn’t confess her love on his voicemail for goodness’ sake. She hung up before the temptation overran her good sense.
“Come on, we’d better get you out there before Mom comes looking for us,” Alice said. She set the phone down on the dresser, but the temptation to carry it with her was fierce. No. That would be crossing a line. What would she do if he called her back? Answer it during the ceremony? Not likely.
“Are you sure you don’t want—”
“No. I’ve left him messages. There’s nothing else I can do about him right now.” She forced a smile onto her face and looked at Cindy, really looked at her. Reaching out, she slid her fingertips over the veil. “You’re such a beautiful bride.”
Cindy smiled back, and fanned away tears of her own. “Thanks, sis. Now let’s go do this before Robert decides we’ve taken off with some cabana boys.”
Noah didn’t bother with a cab. The cruise ship dock wasn’t far, and it was nearly ten o’clock, so the ship should have redocked for the day. It was the second, and final, day it would dock in Puerto Vallarta. Then it would be gone. And for all intents and purposes, Alice would be lost to him. He couldn’t evade Kane for days, not with how intent the man was to bring him back. The sun beat down on him, and by the time he got to the ship, a headache threatened and he was faintly nauseous.
He boarded quickly. No one waited to get on the ship this time of day. They were all leaving to enjoy the city. Kane had yet to appear, but he was out there, and Noah had no doubt he would show up eventually.
He stepped aboard, and a warm feeling washed over him. He’d never thought he’d miss this garish place that buzzed with people and activity. But this is where he’d gotten to know Alice. Sang karaoke with her. Made love to her. Fallen in love with her.
Noah knocked when he reached the room he’d shared with Alice. The dial in the cabin door had been turned to “Do Not Disturb,” and no sound greeted him. He used the key card he’d forgotten about in his wallet to enter the room. Empty. The smell of her inundated the air, fruity and fresh like her shampoo, but beneath that, the simple scent of her.
But some things were off about the room. Different. She hadn’t made the bed—a first since they’d left California. She’d even remade it one day after he made it, all sneaky-like after he’d gone to take a shower.
But today the comforter and sheets were twisted together, and one of the pillows was in the middle of the bed. She’d set the sun sculpture he’d left for her on the nightstand. And the note…
His gaze swept the room, and finally found the note. It had been crumpled up into a tight little ball, and was wrinkled so badly he wondered if she’d actually crinkled and smoothed it repeatedly. It was on the small table that sat in front of the couch he’d slept on when they first arrived on the ship. His hands fisted at his sides.
Despite her coolness when they’d spoken, she cared. She cared a lot, given the state of the room and the note. He picked up her pillow and took a deep breath, inhaling the smells lingering on the material.
Hope warred with guilt and self-hatred at the salty scent. She’d cried on the pillow. God, he was a bastard. He’d made her cry.
Where was she?
He walked through the ship, feeling more and more agitated as he went. How could he hope to find her soon enough with Kane on his tail? He’d hoped to at least run into a familiar face, a wedding guest who might know where she was, but saw no one he recognized. A cruise ship worker caught his eye. Of course. Why hadn’t he thought of asking an employee sooner?
“I’m looking for a guest. Alice Shepard. Can you page her for me, or tell me where she is?” Noah said.
The young man looked puzzled for a moment, then understanding smoothed his features. “The wedding party, right? The Strub, Shepard wedding?”
“Yes, she’s with that group.”
“I believe they’ve booked The Oasis Room, sir. But—” The man stopped as Noah strode past him.
“Thanks,” Noah told the man over his shoulder.
Thank God. She was still on board. And he could talk to her. Tell her how he felt. He recognized the room name, they’d walked past it a couple of times headed to different dining areas. Ducking in and pulling Alice out to talk to him might be tough if she was still as angry as she’d been the day before, but she wouldn’t want to cause a scene. She’d go with him. He’d tell her he loved her, and make sure she understood how sorry he was. That was the best he could do.
And hopefully he could do it before Kane caught up with him.
The ship would slow him down. The vampire didn’t have a ticket—not that such a simple thing would stop him. But maybe, just maybe, it would slow him down enough for Noah to get Alice back.
If he didn’t get her back—no. He couldn’t think like that. He had to stay fucking positive about this.
The large double doors to The Oasis Room stood closed, and Noah frowned. Had the cruise ship worker gotten the room name wrong? The doors usually stood open when a room was occupied.
He hesitated. Were they doing the dress rehearsal? No, it didn’t matter. He didn’t have time for this.
Noah tried the knobs, and to his surprise, they turned easily. He shoved the doors open, but the hum of noise he’d expected didn’t hit him, instead, the scent of orchids touched his nose, and the gaze of over one hundred wedding guests turned to look at him.
Shit.
With everything going on, he’d forgotten.
At the far end of the aisle, Alice stared at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide with shock. Her body was adorned in a beautiful yellow dress that highlighted her golden hair. Mimicking her expression, the rest of the wedding party also stared. As did the man officiating the wedding.
Fucking hell.
Chapter Twelve
Alice would have never guessed that flustered was an expression Noah had in his arsenal, but interrupting a wedding was apparently an event that threw even the normally cool vampire.