“I’m pretty sure the wedding planners have a wardrobe full of dresses to choose from. Effie thinks of everything.”
“Are you guys good friends? Effie and you?” I ask.
Drew leans in to kiss my lips lightly, making me blush and smile shyly. This is definitely not the tequila causing me to feel this way. I feel an actual warm glow in my stomach every time he touches me.
“Not for long. She is dating one of my best friends. That’s how I know her, but she’s really good at her job. Very efficient.”
“The wedding was beautiful,” I say.
“Lena...I don’t even know what you do for a living.”
That makes us both smile. When we smile at each other, we are like giddy teenagers who have just bumped into our biggest celebrity crushes.
“I don’t have an exciting job like you guys. I’m a pet groomer. I’ve always loved working with animals, but I didn’t have the stomach to become a vet,” I say. I’m beginning to realize that I can be completely honest about myself with this man and not have fear of judgement.
Drew reaches to tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.
“Well, your customers have the luckiest dogs in the country,” he replies. I blush and smile, sighing because my heart feels so damn full.
“And you are a security officer, a bouncer and bodyguard. Very sexy!” I exclaim and lean in to trace shapes on his wide muscular chest with my fingers.
He grabs my hand and lifts it up to his mouth so he can kiss it.
“Actually I’m not. Like I said, I was just helping my friend out for the night. It’s his business.”
“Oh, okay, so what do you do otherwise?” I ask. His lips trail over my fingers, kissing each one gently. If he sets my heart pounding when he’s doing something this innocent, how will I feel when that mouth does something dirty to me?
“I’m a Marine. Alpha Mavericks Brigade,” he says.
I still have a smile on my face when I hear the words, but when they register, my smile begins to quickly droop.
He notices the way the color has left my face. I tug my hand away from his mouth.
“What is it, Lena? What’s wrong?”
I can’t speak, I just stare at him. My nostrils flare. My chest is rising and falling. I knew this was too good to be true. I knew there had to be a catch.
Something had to ruin it.
Drew
I know something’s wrong. Lena isn’t looking happy.
She pulls away from me and gets off the couch.
“What is the problem?” I ask again and she runs a hand through her hair. Her cheeks are flushed to a bright red, but not because she’s blushing anymore.
“Are you still a part of the Marines?” she finally asks in a weaker voice.
“Yes, I am being deployed again.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“How soon?” she asks, this time with more force.
“Three weeks. I’m leaving in three weeks. But it’s only for six months. I want to spend this time with you, get to know you, make sure we’re in a good place before I leave.”
Lena turns away from me. She steps some distance away. What the fuck is going on?
I slowly take my jacket off. This suit is getting on my nerves. I don’t belong in this thing.
“I…I can’t,” she says.
“You can’t what?” I ask. “Lena. Talk to me.”
She has her back to me, like she can’t bear to face me.
“I can’t...I can’t do this. My brother…my only brother. Jack. He was older than me. I loved him. We were so close. I always relied on him, and then I lost him. Active duty.”
That is all I have to hear to know what is going on.
“I am so sorry, Lena,” is all I can say.
I give her time. I’m waiting for her to turn back around and face me again. There isn’t much I can tell her to reassure her.
The fact is I can’t make any promises. I won’t make any promises I can’t keep.
“I can’t start something with someone I might lose. The same way I lost Jack,” she says softly and finally turns to me again.
What can I tell her? How can I make this better? I don’t know if I can.
“I don’t think I have met anyone else like you. I saw you at the wedding today and I just knew. You are the one,” I tell her in a deep firm voice. I want her to know I mean every word of what I’m saying.
She slowly shakes her head.
“That is what I thought too. That is how I feel, but I can’t…I can’t go through that again. I have been through so much already. It has taken me years to heal and I don’t think I will heal fully. Ever.”
I clench my jaw tightly. I have never had doubts about my job. I have never once regretted joining the Marines. I still don’t, but there is a part of me that wishes I was a different person right now. For her, I want to be someone else.
“I have to go,” Lena says quickly before I can say anything else.
I want to stop her, but I don’t. I know I have to let her go. She deserves to get what she wants.
And what she wants, I can’t give her.
Lena
I take a cab back to my apartment and when I get there I pull out my phone. My first instinct is to call my brother. I still have his number stored there. All his texts. Our photos together.
There are tears streaming down my cheeks as I run up the stairs to my apartment. I keep scrolling through the photos. I can’t stop. I wish I could just talk to him. Just hear his voice one more time. He would have known what to do. He would
