Hate at First Sight by Diana Nixon Read Free Book Online

not hours. The hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth; the way her eyes were changing colors when the illumination changed; or the way she was looking at me waiting for my responses. The memories of her scent, enveloping me with its freshness and softness never left my mind. And no matter how hard I tried to switch my thoughts to something else, all I wanted was to cross the distance between the office and her room and see her again.
    I didn’t notice when that thought pulled my body to the door, and a few moments later I found myself standing in front of Megan’s bedroom. I knocked, but no one answered.
    “Megan? May I come in?”
    When she didn’t reply, I opened the door and let myself in. She was sleeping, curled up under the huge blanket that made me smile. She looked like a little girl, lost among pillows and toys; though her toys were not bears and dolls, but a cell phone, a notebook with a pen hidden in between the pages, and a laptop. It was opened, with a new message flashing on the screen. The first line caught my eye, and I started reading it.
     
    “Hey Sweetheart,
    I hope your flight was okay, and you got home safely. I wanted to make sure that you remember about our plans. Miss you like hell! Come back here ASAP!!!
    Love you
    Z.”
     
    What did she say about a boyfriend? She didn’t have one? Yeah, right … I closed the laptop and stormed out of the room, not even bothering to be quiet.
    How could I have been such a fool! I ran down the stairs as fast as I could. I knew she was hiding something, but who would have thought that it was a boyfriend!
    “Aiden, would you help me with….”
    “Not now, Owen!” I snapped, getting into the car. I started the engine and speeded to the quay.
     
    I was so freaking angry: at Megan for lying to me; at myself for trusting her, for feeling guilty about what happened or not happened last night, for upsetting her. Well, looked like I was angrier at myself.
    Serves you right, man, I thought to myself.
    I stopped at one of the cafés, sat at the table facing the ocean, and ordered a cup of coffee. I would gladly order something stronger, but I needed to get back to Owen’s, and I needed to be sober, so as not to ruin his surprise for Mary.
    I cursed and sighed. Why didn’t she tell me about the mysterious Mr. Z? Did she think it would compromise her in the eyes of her family that truly believed in her hate for men? How ridiculous!
    What surprised me most was my own reaction to the damn message. It pissed me off. As if I had any right to be pissed off. Megan wasn’t mine, so why would I be angry? She couldn’t have gotten so deep under my skin, could she?...
    I didn’t want to think much about that. I never thought too much about the women I dated. And I never dated Megan, so there was no point in bothering myself with the questions I couldn’t answer.
     
    The moment my car stopped at the porch of Owen’s house, I saw Annabel standing there. She was wearing a short red dress and high heels that made her look like a real Barbie. Oh, man, no sane woman would ever believe that that human creature was just a friend of her fiancé. Poor Mary.
    I took a deep breath and went to greet the guest.
    “Hey, Sunshine! I always knew it was impossible to talk you out of something that you wanted to do so badly.”
    “Good to see you too,” my friend replied, kissing me on both cheeks. “Have you already seen Owen’s fiancé?”
    “Yes, why?” I ask suspiciously.
    “No reason.” Annabel shrugged, but I knew her well enough to see that she was nervous. “Is she beautiful?”
    “I think you and I have different opinions about the definition of beauty.”
    “So she is.”
    I smiled, took her suitcase and opened the door. “I thought you said you simply wanted to wish Owen a happy wedding.”
    “Well, and that too.”
    I stopped abruptly, and Annabel ran into me. “Don’t ruin anything. You promised, remember?”
    “Relax, Aiden. You know that I can