sure. I certainly had no trouble attracting them either.
EIGHT
BEN read the message from Ethan’s sister to us out loud from his phone, “My cousin is on his way to you now and will bring you up to Hallborough. Look for the tall deadly handsome one. You can’t miss him. LOL. See you soon. Hannah.”
One look at his wide, suggestive eyes paired with the leering grin and I knew exactly what Benny was thinking.
I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes right back. “Filan, your son thinks his mission in life is to find me a man. Can you make him stop?” I pleaded to Ben’s mom.
“Oh, my darling, Gabriellen, I think not . You are too beautiful to be without a man holding you happy in his arms at night.”
I threw up my hands in frustration and raised my eyes heavenward. “I see where he gets it now.”
Filan Clarkson loved her son so very much, but she also loved to mother his friends. She always called me Gabriellen no matter how many times I told her there was no “n” on the end of my name. I’d given up correcting her a long time ago, and I didn’t really even care at this point. She was a stunning woman, a former fashion model who’d made a life for herself in London after fleeing her native Somalia. It was easy to see where Ben got his drive to succeed, as well as his looks. She loved to cook big Sunday meals and invite everyone over to eat. And having someone mother you when your own was gone wasn’t a terribly bad thing after all. I turned away and left them there snickering behind my back while I went to find the loo.
I checked myself in the station bathroom and saw how pale I looked. The strep throat had definitely taken a toll on my body. I’d lost weight and didn’t at all look my best, but there was nothing I could do about it. I pinched my cheeks and shook a hand through my hair to fluff it out before I stopped myself and asked why in the hell it even mattered. I wasn’t the bride. Nobody would be looking at me.
It was time for me to take a pill anyway. My antibiotics still had two days to go before I finished. The doctor had been strict about taking the pills on time, and until the last one was gone, or I could have a reoccurrence. Nope. Not happening. One bout of strep was more than enough and I never wanted to experience that kind of pain or sickness again.
I headed to the concession area inside the station and bought a bottle of Vitamin Water Orange-Orange. My favorite. I swallowed my horse pill and went back outside to where I’d left Ben and Filan.
I could see that our “ride” had found them while I was off. I guessed he must be the cousin, because he shook Ben’s hand before politely greeting Filan. He was tall like Hannah had mentioned, but I couldn’t tell about the “deadly handsome” part because his back was facing me as I walked toward them. His ass looked good in the jeans he was wearing. Um, yeah.
Ben saw me coming and held out his hand , urging me over. “Gaby, this is Ivan, Ethan’s cousin and best man for the wedding.”
I put a smile on my face in preparation of meeting my partner for the weekend. No need to be unfriendly. Hopefully he was as nice as he looked…
He started to turn toward me.
“Ivan, meet Gaby. Brynne’s maid-of-honour to your best man.”
I noticed the hair first. He had the kind of hair you remembered.
Then the shape of his chiseled jaw as he turned his head.
Finally, it was the eyes that verified things for me. Those arresting green eyes of his latched onto mine for the third time in my life.
No, it cannot be him. Ivan. Ivanhoe.
This just couldn’t be right.
But it was him. And Ivan was his name. A wave of desperation hit me as I remembered him telling me his full name. He’d introduced himself properly when we’d both made a second attempt at introductions before everything blew up. He’d turned to me in the front
EIGHT
BEN read the message from Ethan’s sister to us out loud from his phone, “My cousin is on his way to you now and will bring you up to Hallborough. Look for the tall deadly handsome one. You can’t miss him. LOL. See you soon. Hannah.”
One look at his wide, suggestive eyes paired with the leering grin and I knew exactly what Benny was thinking.
I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes right back. “Filan, your son thinks his mission in life is to find me a man. Can you make him stop?” I pleaded to Ben’s mom.
“Oh, my darling, Gabriellen, I think not . You are too beautiful to be without a man holding you happy in his arms at night.”
I threw up my hands in frustration and raised my eyes heavenward. “I see where he gets it now.”
Filan Clarkson loved her son so very much, but she also loved to mother his friends. She always called me Gabriellen no matter how many times I told her there was no “n” on the end of my name. I’d given up correcting her a long time ago, and I didn’t really even care at this point. She was a stunning woman, a former fashion model who’d made a life for herself in London after fleeing her native Somalia. It was easy to see where Ben got his drive to succeed, as well as his looks. She loved to cook big Sunday meals and invite everyone over to eat. And having someone mother you when your own was gone wasn’t a terribly bad thing after all. I turned away and left them there snickering behind my back while I went to find the loo.
I checked myself in the station bathroom and saw how pale I looked. The strep throat had definitely taken a toll on my body. I’d lost weight and didn’t at all look my best, but there was nothing I could do about it. I pinched my cheeks and shook a hand through my hair to fluff it out before I stopped myself and asked why in the hell it even mattered. I wasn’t the bride. Nobody would be looking at me.
It was time for me to take a pill anyway. My antibiotics still had two days to go before I finished. The doctor had been strict about taking the pills on time, and until the last one was gone, or I could have a reoccurrence. Nope. Not happening. One bout of strep was more than enough and I never wanted to experience that kind of pain or sickness again.
I headed to the concession area inside the station and bought a bottle of Vitamin Water Orange-Orange. My favorite. I swallowed my horse pill and went back outside to where I’d left Ben and Filan.
I could see that our “ride” had found them while I was off. I guessed he must be the cousin, because he shook Ben’s hand before politely greeting Filan. He was tall like Hannah had mentioned, but I couldn’t tell about the “deadly handsome” part because his back was facing me as I walked toward them. His ass looked good in the jeans he was wearing. Um, yeah.
Ben saw me coming and held out his hand , urging me over. “Gaby, this is Ivan, Ethan’s cousin and best man for the wedding.”
I put a smile on my face in preparation of meeting my partner for the weekend. No need to be unfriendly. Hopefully he was as nice as he looked…
He started to turn toward me.
“Ivan, meet Gaby. Brynne’s maid-of-honour to your best man.”
I noticed the hair first. He had the kind of hair you remembered.
Then the shape of his chiseled jaw as he turned his head.
Finally, it was the eyes that verified things for me. Those arresting green eyes of his latched onto mine for the third time in my life.
No, it cannot be him. Ivan. Ivanhoe.
This just couldn’t be right.
But it was him. And Ivan was his name. A wave of desperation hit me as I remembered him telling me his full name. He’d introduced himself properly when we’d both made a second attempt at introductions before everything blew up. He’d turned to me in the front
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