She remained frozen in the same place for a few moments.
What are you thinking Celine? You're just standing too far away. Come closer means take a few steps forward.
'Few steps forward.' She chanted to herself before moving one step, then two steps close to him.
The intoxicating smell of hard wood and cedar along with the sharp scent of Islay whisky drifted into her nostrils. He smelled deeply masculine in a way that unconsciously drew her in even though she tried to keep some distance from him. It was a scent of danger, the kind that would either attract a woman, or repel her completely.
The man looked dangerous and it felt like an understatement, Celine was the type who would run away from bad boys in the past, they were the kind that frightened her and she knew any interaction with them might pull her into an abyss where she could lose her innocence. Males who looked dangerous were a forbidden path she always avoided, she also used to refuse to star in roles that required her to play alongside an actor who was notorious for playing young women, yet this man was the exact type she would have wanted to avoid, however no matter how she tried, her instinct didn't once make her want to pull away, in fact...there seemed to be something pulling her in.
Maybe she was gawking at him too much, staring at him with that light of curiosity and wonder, but Celine was awoken from her daze when she noticed a light smirk lifted the side of his lips before he brought the bottle towards her and poured her a drink.
"Enjoy." He said.
Something about his voice made what felt like feathers playfully tickle her heart. The depth of his voice was attractive in a way she had never known a man's voice could be attractive before.
She looked at the golden brown liquid in her glass and slowly, hesitantly brought it up to her lips.
The moment she took a sip, the liquid burned down her throat as if it was made of fire, yet there were sweet notes to it, hints of light fruity sweetness underneath the burn which made her take another sip, the burn made her wrinkle her face slightly but she didn't hate the taste entirely.
When she looked up at him a second later, she was shocked to find his gaze pinned on her, staring at her intently.
Had he been staring at her like this the whole time?
Blood suddenly rushed up her cheeks and she immediately lowered her head.
The awkward silence continued for a while later, she snuck a glance at him, he was still staring at her. She lowered her head once again.
That gaze...he was staring at her so intently, it almost made her breath seize, but that thought suddenly reminded her of Ian... The only time he had ever made her breath seize was when he had threatened her,
'Did you actually think you could abandon this engagement? Don't fool your damn self Celine, you will marry me in two days whether you like it or not or say goodbye to ever getting another movie role in this industry, and you know as well as I do that I can ruin you and your beloved career.'
She didn't know why she allowed herself to remember this right now, but it brought a tight pain to her chest. The type of pain born from the feeling of betrayal, and the way Ian had betrayed her was unforgivable.
When Celine realized her tears were threatening to fall, she forcefully pushed them back and brought the glass to take another sip, that was when she realized that the man was still staring at her without taking his eyes off her. She stiffened.
This time, his eyes seemed to have turned piercingly cold making her gulp nervously.
She had after all invaded his private space uninvited, of course he wouldn't like that.
"I'm sorry I barged into your suite, I had no idea where I was going, and..."
"How did you get in?" He suddenly interrupted her, and she almost shivered at how chillingly cold his voice was.
"Through an elevator." She replied meekly. If one asked her, she wasn't exactly sure what twists and turns had brought her to that dead end where she found the elevator, all she knew was that it had been her last saving grace at the moment and she had been grateful for a place to hide.
His eyes seemed to turn colder and she panicked.
Was he mad at her?
Did he hate that she was here, intruding on his privacy? What was she thinking, of course he hated that she was here.
Who would want to have a stranger, an escapee from her own wedding intruding on them?
She was about to start apologizing again when the piercing sound of a phone ringing suddenly filled the air.
Celine went stiff. Seeing how he glanced at her immediately the phone rang, her heart started to hammer in her chest, her head swung to the corner of the room where the sound of the ringing phone was coming from, the absolute fear and dread she was feeling was literally plastered on her face.
He stood up, walking to the ringing phone and her nervousness began to increase with every single step he took.
Could that phone call be from the people looking for her right now?
Could it be Ian's people or her father's people? Regardless of who it was, Celine knew she didn't want to get caught by them.
The next second, the ringing of the phone suddenly stopped when he picked it up. Perhaps it was because of how silent the room was, but she could clearly hear every word the person on the other end was saying,
"Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you. We were wondering if you've seen a woman in a wedding dress? The last CCTV footage she was caught in showed her going towards the VVIP floor. There are people worried and they've been searching for her for a while now, she has to be found as soon as possible..." The man on the phone continued to explain but the frantic drumming in her heart had blocked her from hearing what he continued to say afterwards.
Of course, the suite she was in seemed like a VVIP suite. Celine hadn't thought about the fact that when she was running, she would have been captured by CCTV. Ian was unrelenting, he even resorted to using the whole hotel staff and resources to find her.
But it seemed like they didn't know for sure if she was in this particular suite or not, which meant that the CCTV cameras didn't reach the VVIP floor, it must have been done for the privacy of the guests but it might not matter that they didn't know for sure where she was if this man chose to expose her whereabouts.
She saw him glance at her silently without saying a word to the person on the other end of the call who was repeatedly calling out 'hello' since he didn't hear a reply, and her fear grew even more becoming like a sharp object choking her throat.
His expression was unfathomable at this very moment and she feared he might choose to toss her out to them. He didn't seem to like the fact that she broke in, which was normal, anyone would be angry about that and she was surprised he hadn't called security on her yet.
Celine was frightened to face what awaited her out there, she wanted to plead with him so desperately to not expose her but who was she to ask anything of him right now? It wouldn't be unexpected if he was to expose her to the person asking about her over the phone and then threw her out of his suite.
There was an unfathomable glimmer in his eyes as he finally parted his lips to respond to the person on the other end by saying,
"You're looking for a bride?" He asked.
Hearing that, Celine resigned to her fate. Disappointment rushed into her heart at once, tightening with an agonizing ache as she closed her eyes quietly.
It turns out, she could never escape from her own actions.
It was her who made the mistake of loving the wrong man, and it would have to be her who would face the consequences of that mistake.
Regardless of what she did, regardless of her will to escape, it turns out she would end up becoming Ian's bride, whether she liked it or not.