Free Wedded in Passion by Yvette Hines Page A

I’ll break each of your fingers off and
feed them to you.”
    The other woman’s eyelids stretched wide as
she snatched her hand back.
    “ Stop all this, Katherine.
We all just need to sit down and talk.” He came forward.
    “ No. No!” I turned,
needing to get out of the room and away from them. I ran through
the suite and out the door.
    A fool. I had been a damn fool. For two
years, I had given up so much of my life, besides my job as
marketing specialist. While dating Michael, the insecure ass, I had
spent all my free time with him or traveling with him on his
assignments.
    “ Katherine…wait,” Michael
yelled.
    I whirled around in the
middle of the hall and screamed, “Stop calling me Katherine…I’ve
told you a million times over I hate that name. It makes me sound
like an old lady.”
    Halting, Michael looked at me oddly for a
moment. As if the words were new to him.
    They weren’t. Turning, I continued on. I was
thankful the elevator opened before he got down the hall. I stepped
in and pushed the close door button double time. I pressed the
button for the lobby, not knowing where else to go. Hopefully,
there would be a room available.
    Ah, hell, all of my family and friends were
staying in the hotel.
    I could go to my parents’ room, but I didn’t
feel like an ‘I told you so’ speech. Mom and Dad had hated Michael
from the first moment I brought him home to meet them. Dad was a
political science professor so he enjoyed vigorous debates and
intellectual conversations. Michael provided neither of those.
    My ex only concerned himself with fashion,
parties and indoor activities such as racquetball, swimming and
running on an inside track.
    Michael is a selfish ass.
    Now enclosed in the elevator, I realized I
was shaking all over. My throat felt as if someone had a vise grip
around it as I fought the urge to cry. I would not allow a single
tear to drop over that jerk.
    Seeing myself reflected in the shiny metal,
I looked like even more of a fool. Garbed a day early in my wedding
dress, my hair pulled back in the French roll I had been wearing
all day. I was disgusted.
    The elevator chimed, flashing the number one
as it came to a gentle stop. A second before the doors slid open I
sent up a quick prayer that there would not be a member of my
family or any of the wedding guests in the lobby.
    When the doors parted, my breath caught in
my chest as the one person who could make me feel even more like an
idiot was standing before me. Char Randle.
    “ I must be late for the
wedding,” he said. Char, whose real name was Charles, stood six
two, that had not changed. But the nerdish guy I’d grown up with
was long gone. His medium golden brown locks that used to hang in
shaggy locks around his head were now cut neat and comb away from
his face. The new style allowed an unobstructed view of his
sincere, soft fawn-brown eyes. Eyes no longer hidden behind
wire-rimmed glasses. Char had become a hunk.
    “ Um…no.” That was the only
thing that came out of my mouth before the tears I had refused to
let go moments before came streaming down my cheeks. Shit I hated
crying. It always made me feel weak and hopeless.
    “ Oh, Katy…why the
tears?”
    In two seconds I was wrapped in Char’s
strong arms.
    “ Sorry, this elevator is
full.” He called out to whoever had been waiting in the
lobby.
    I couldn’t see past his broad shoulders that
shielded me from onlookers.
    “ Tell me what’s wrong.”
His hand rubbed along my back.
    I shook my head, not knowing if I could
reveal my humiliation to the one person I truly abandoned for the
asshole in my suite.
    “ You want me to take you
back to your room?”
    Stepping away from him, I wiped my face and
pulled myself back together. “Heavens, no. Anywhere but there. I
don’t want to see anyone right now.”
    He gave her a raised eyebrow.
    “ You’re fine.” She smiled
and waved her hand. Char could always do that. He could always make
her smile even when she was