Chapter 18
KENDRA
As she stepped out of the elevator, Kendra hummed under her breath, a song from The Nutcracker ballet that always made her smile.
She was balancing a tray in her hands, which was filled with two cups of coffee — Lucas’s black, and hers with milk and sugar and even a sprinkle of cinnamon —several pastries, and fresh fruit.
There was, of course, plenty of cantaloupe.
She was already looking forward to today. Susie had told them about their agenda, which included a whale-watching trip and another massage. This massage should be a lot more fun than the first one, now that she and Lucas were… whatever they were.
It wasn’t like she thought they were dating.
Obviously, whatever was going on between them was only temporary (even if that thought made her heart ache), but she had five more days to enjoy it without questioning her own happiness.
Lucas made her heart flutter and her knees weak.
He made her laugh and think. When she was with him, she felt like a better, less nervous, more fun version of herself. For now, that was more than enough.
She reached their room and balanced the tray on her hip while she opened the door with her key card.
Carefully adjusting the tray, she edged her way inside and saw Lucas sitting on the loveseat.
He held his phone in one hand and was absentmindedly tapping it against his leg. His expression was distant.
“I haven’t seen you there in a while.” Kendra smiled as she set the tray on the table in front of him. “Is there any news from your company?”
“Yes, actually.” There was a note in Lucas’s voice that Kendra couldn’t place, and he wouldn’t look at her. Her heart gave a nervous flutter, but she forced herself to stay calm.
“Really? What’s up?” She sat on the floor and reached for her coffee.
“It’s good news, actually. The investigation into the embezzlement has proven conclusively that I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was helped by the fact that the guy who did do it, my CFO, Jim, made a statement saying that he acted alone.”
“That’s great!” Kendra set her coffee down and stood, crossing to Lucas so that she could kiss him on the cheek.
“Congratulations!” She beamed at him, and then her smiled faded as she realized that he was still looking at the ground and tapping his phone on his leg. “I thought you’d be more excited.”
“I have to go back to LA.” Finally, he looked up at her. “Right now. Today.”
Kendra blinked and stepped back. “Really?”
“The board needs me to make a statement. We need to start putting this scandal behind us.” Lucas stood abruptly and went into the bedroom. Her heart racing, her hands fiddling with her shirt, Kendra followed. He picked up his suitcase, opened the closet, and began packing his clothes.
“I mean, I understand how important your work is,” she managed, “but we only have five more days here. This could wait, couldn’t it?”
He paused, a T-shirt in his hands, and turned to her. His eyes were shuttered. The warmth that had been there the last few days was gone.
“I’ve had a great time, Kendra,” he said. “But we both knew this was going to end eventually. I need to get back to real life.”
“But not yet,” Kendra said. She hated the fact that she sounded so desperate and managed to swallow the rest of what she wanted to say. I care about you. I thought we had something special. Can we see each other in LA? Please don’t go. She didn’t say any of that, though.
“I know it wasn’t supposed to be today, but things change. I—I really have to go.”
Lucas turned back to his packing. Within five minutes, he’d put all his clothes in the suitcase, and he went into the bathroom to get the last of his things.
Kendra’s heart raced. She wanted to say something, anything, to get him to stay, but she couldn’t sound that desperate.
Lucas was right. She’d known that their “honeymoon” would come to an end eventually.
She just hadn’t expected it to be this soon, or this sudden.
Lucas reappeared, put his toiletry bag in the suitcase, and zipped it closed. Kendra gathered her courage for one last thing.
“Listen, Lucas. Maybe you could just stay until lunch.” She tried to stay calm and reasonable. “We could go on the whale-watching tour this morning, say goodbye properly…”
But even as she spoke, Lucas was shaking his head, and she knew what he was going to say.
“I have to go, Kendra.”
“Maybe we can see each other again,” she suggested. “If you have time, I mean.”
“I need to focus on what’s really important.” Lucas turned away. “You know how much Omegron matters to me.”
“I—” She cut herself off and shook her head. “Yeah.”
Despite herself, tears pricked at Kendra’s eyes.
She twisted the hem of her shirt almost hard enough to tear it.
Omegron mattered more than she did. Of course it did.
Lucas had built that company for years, and they’d only had just over a week together.
It hurt to hear him confirm that, but this was Kendra’s fault, really.
Her hopeless romanticism had struck again.
“You can tell the staff that I had a work emergency,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll let you stay.”
“Yeah.” Kendra swiped at her eyes, annoyed with herself for being on the verge of tears.
But how could she not be? Lucas was abandoning her, just like Aaron had.
Except that she actually had feelings for Lucas, feelings that were currently making her teary and angry.
She’d thought there was something real between them, even if it was only temporary.
Why couldn’t she just board up her heart and stop feeling things for anyone?
“I…” Lucas shook his head. “I’d better go. They’re sending the jet.”
“Right.” Kendra looked down. Moments ago, she’d wanted to make him stay, but now she just wanted him to leave, right now, so that she could let herself cry.
She’d been delusional. Again. She never should have believed that this would be any different from her failed wedding.
She should never have believed that they had real feelings for each other.
The pink gift-shop bracelet on her wrist, once a funny joke, now looked cheap and tacky.
Lucas looked up at her. “I’ve really had a nice time.”
“Yeah.” Kendra refused to meet his eyes. He was leaving, but she wouldn’t let him see just how much that hurt her.
She wouldn’t cry until he was gone.