There were enough beautiful Hollywood starlets floating around the place that had he been his usual self, he would have had someone lined up to join him in bed tonight. Maybe even two. But he didn't want that. Not anymore.
He didn't want anyone but Ella.
And that was so unlike him that it made him question his sanity. The idea that a single conversation with a beautiful woman could rock his world so completely threw him off a little. He had always been a player, yet the idea of having only Ella was better than knowing he'd have a harem elsewhere.
A small dirt path caught his attention. It was just ahead and barely visible against the lush greenery of the lake. It could be the path that Ella had mentioned, but she hadn't said it would be so small. He paused, debating if the dirt path was better than the concrete one.
The sound of girlish giggles and the clack of high heels decided him. The guests coming around the bend could just be friends or possibly family, but the very real possibility of it being Rosalind and her gang of clones was too dangerous.
Even before he met Ella, Rosalind and her groupies would have gotten a “no” from him this trip. He'd dated Rosalind once upon a time, but had quickly learned that she was just as cold inside as the money she craved. She wasn't even supposed to have been invited to the wedding, yet here she was. The same with so many other guests. Business and politics ruined everything.
They were like sharks drawn to money instead of blood. Every one of them was husband hunting or searching for a pocketbook and he wasn't interested. He was smart enough to know the difference between a girl looking to put a famous notch in her bedpost and someone looking for a long con. He had given up on finding anyone who didn't want his money.
Again, just like his father.
He darted up the dirt path, hiding himself behind a tree as the gaggle of girls passed. It was definitely Rosalind. He shook his head and let out a sigh of relief as she passed without even glancing his direction. She was on the hunt and wasn't going to waste time hiking up dirt trails.
With a grin, Jace turned and saw the gazebo. It was exactly like the photograph.
Upon the announcement of the wedding, venues from all over the world had sent him requests and offers. The picture containing this small gazebo had fallen out of the envelope and Jace had felt in his bones it was the place for Madelyn to get married. It was this picture that had put Blue Lake Inn and Resort as the top contender.
He thought of the picture. A small, simple gazebo stood out against the bright blue of the lake. It was surrounded by greenery, but it was the couple inside that had caught his attention. A man was down on one knee, proposing to a very happy woman. It would have looked staged if the man's hand wasn't blurry from shaking or the sheer delight in the woman's eyes. The note on the back said it was one of the many hidden romantic getaways on the inn, and that the proposal was that of the original owners, Jonathon and Nancy McDaniels. If Love could have taken the image of a photograph, that was it.
The photograph had not lied about the beauty of the place, but it was the woman currently inside the gazebo that stole his breath, not the idyllic picture of the white wooden frame against the bright blue lake.
Ella.
His heart stuttered in his chest and his throat went dry. Somehow, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. He paused, just watching her as she looked out at the lake. She had let her hair down, and the gentle breeze from the lake played with it's dark blonde tresses.
Jace admonished himself for being creepy and just staring at her. He cleared his throat and willed his feet to move forward. She drew him to her like a magnet, his feet gliding along the soft dirt path rather than walking.
“Hello,” he greeted her. His voice sounded squeaky and pre-pubescent to his ears. Heat flamed along the back of his neck, but he smiled the charming smile he knew worked on all women.
Ella started, her hazel eyes going wide as she saw him. Sunlight flashed through her hair as she moved to pull it out of her face.
But she smiled and that was all that mattered.
“Jace...” she gasped. “Hi.”
A slight flush crept into her cheeks and he wondered if she flushed everywhere like that when she was surprised. The almost-kiss they had shared the night before was still heavy on his mind, and just thinking about what he wanted to do with her after kissing her made his core heat.
“So, this is the gazebo you were telling me about?” he asked, trying to distract himself from thinking of her body. He glanced about, noting the beauty of the setting but finding her far more pleasing to look at.
“Do you like it?” she asked. Maybe it was just his imagination, but she sounded breathless. “This is actually where my father proposed to my mother.”