when we met. w/wedding.

When Violet reached the end of the aisle and looked into Noah’s eyes, she saw it all. His love… his hope… his happiness. It was perfect. Or it should have been.

With her heart pounding and her hands trembling, she could barely hear the minister’s words—until he asked her the ultimate question. “Do you, Violet McKenna, take Noah Clarke to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, until death do you part?”

Violet stared at the minister for a moment before turning to Noah’s expectant gaze. She parted her lips to speak but no sound came out. With a deep breath, she tried again. But instead of “I do,” she said something else.

“I can’t do this.”

She dropped Noah’s hands and ran. She ran until she reached the valet. Shocked to see the bride standing before him, he looked at her but didn’t speak. Violet was focused on one thing—getting away from the wedding. Her wedding. She looked at the keys behind him and recognized the unmistakable Batman keychain holding her friend Andy’s keys. He’ll forgive me, she told herself as she grabbed his keys.

Relieved to be racing away in Andy’s car, Violet had no idea where she was going. She drove until she couldn’t drive any longer. The car was running out of gas, and she was exhausted. She pulled off the road. As she drove into a town she’d never heard of, the car started slowing on its own. She managed to pull over to the curb just as the car ran out of gas.

She had no idea what to do. She had no phone, no clothes, no money, and no ride. She had nowhere to go. Desperate, she rifled through Andy’s glove box and found a total of five dollars. “Dammit, Andy! Five dollars! What the hell am I going to do?” She rested her forehead on the steering wheel and sighed. After a few deep breaths that were supposed to calm her (they didn’t), she looked up and saw a diner across the street.

When she walked in, all eyes turned to her. Of course they did. She was in a wedding gown. She sat at the counter, staring down at her hands until a voice interrupted her racing thoughts.

“What can I get you?”

She held in a gasp when she looked up and met the deepest, darkest eyes she’d ever seen. And those eyes belonged to quite possibly the most gorgeous man on earth. Messy hair, a few day’s worth of stubble, strong arms, and what she could tell was a perfectly sculpted chest under his shirt.

“H… Hi.”

He smiled. And she melted. When she didn’t speak, he reached for a mug. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

After pouring her a cup, he met her eyes again. “Anything else?”

She wanted to say, “you“, but she didn’t. Although she could feel her face flush red anyway. “I only have five dollars.”

“You look like you’ve had a hell of a day. It’s on me. How about a slice of pie?”

“Thank you… um…?” She looked at him, waiting for a name.

“Hunter.”

“Thank you, Hunter.” She smiled.

“You’re welcome…?”

“Violet.”

“Violet,” he repeated with another devastating smile.

This, Violet thought unable to take her eyes off Hunter’s, this is the feeling that was missing with Noah.

—♥—

p.s. — I had to include two pictures. (Had to.) You can’t see his gorgeous face in the second one, where, while I truly have no idea what he’s doing, we’ll pretend he’s pouring coffee. Look at those arms. Damn.

Hot guy: Brazilian model Rafael Lazzini (I’d love to drink his coffee. Or whatever he wants to serve me.)

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