Kat might have built the wall, but I handed her the bricks.
Any man who says the right woman will fuck your world upside down knows exactly what he’s talking about. You’re perfectly happy living the single life, but then you meet a woman who blows in like a goddamned tornado. No warning, and suddenly your life is unrecognizable.
That was Kat. She wasn’t part of the plan. She changed everything I thought I had figured out, and what’s more, she didn’t even realize she was doing it.
Before it all crumbled, I would have told you it was the best fucking thing that ever happened to me. Now she’s avoiding eye contact from the seat next to me like she would with a stranger.
In the beginning, I never would have been able to picture things coming to this.
*
Two and a half years ago
Waiting around wasn’t my thing. Getting shit done and moving on—that was what I was best at. Someone else would have been the better choice for this job, but I’d drawn the short straw. It was a strange group when you had to fight over who would have to sit at the all-inclusive resort for a few days.
My annoyance with the task faded when I heard the unsure stammer of a woman declaring she was going to ride me until I needed a new saddle.
That was a new one. I dig her originality. She’d definitely caught my attention.
Asking her to dinner wasn’t part of my initial plan, but I’d gone with it. Now she was sitting across from me in this restaurant wearing a tiny excuse for a teal sundress I’d rather see on my cabana floor.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
I’d pegged her for a one-night stand, a distraction, but with every word that came out of her sexy-as-hell mouth, I was drawn in.
“Basically it’s like jumping off a cliff with no net, but I have faith that I’m going to fly rather than crash.”
Something I’d actually done before . . . although not the way Kat meant.
“So you walked away from your job at a big consulting company to take a chance on yourself.”
I could respect that. I’d left behind a steady paycheck for nothing but the hope of a bigger reward. It was a scary thing for most people, but Kat was brimming with excitement.
“Exactly. If I don’t believe I’m worth taking a chance on, then why should anyone else? Besides, life is too short not to take risks. There’s no time like the present.” She lifted the mojito to her lips and took a sip.
There was something she wasn’t saying, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to get it out of her. Or maybe I was reading more into the conversation than I should have been.
“But first, vacation?”
Kat lowered the drink to the table. “Benjie bullied me. I finally said yes, because . . . well . . . it’s going to be a while before I get to take a week off again.”
Definitely something she wasn’t saying, but the server interrupted.
“Sir, someone left a message for you at the hostess stand.”
She dropped the folded slip of paper onto the table and I picked it up, scanning the words before tucking it in the pocket of my shorts.
“Could we get the dessert menu? I think my companion would like something sweet.”
“Of course. One moment.”
When the server walked away, Kat’s forehead creased. “Do people leave a lot of messages for you at hostess stands?”
“Not often, but it happens.”
Her blue gaze darted over my shoulder. “The cougar behind you has been eyeballing you like she’d rather have you for dinner. I’ve got a twenty that says it’s from her.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her tone. Half jealous, half mocking. I reached for my wallet and pulled out a twenty, then tossed it on the table.
“Seriously?” Her eyes lit up. “That’s bold. I couldn’t imagine doing something like that.”
“I could. Maybe not hit on a guy at dinner with another woman, but you did claim me with your friend on the beach.”
Kat covered her face with both hands as her cheeks turned pink. She was just the sweet side of tipsy, and it was fucking adorable.
“I can’t believe you heard that. Be kind. Lie to me if you have to and tell me you really didn’t.”
Add another lie to the tally? I don’t think so.
“I didn’t say I had a problem with it.”
“I guess that’s a good thing.” She lowered her hands to the table. “Because then you’d really be shocked when I told you that I wasn’t joking.”
I reached out and took her smaller hand in mine. “I’d be disappointed if you were.”
Chapter 4
Kat
Present day
When the captain announces we’re making our descent, I breathe a sigh of relief. This flight is several hours shorter than when I came home from London last week, but with the clock ticking down on what could be the end of my marriage, it felt eons longer.
It’s all my fault. I know it.
Dane has barely looked at me, choosing to tip his baseball cap down over his face and sleep for most of the flight. Normally I’d be comforted by his familiar ability to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, but now it feels like a cold slap to the face.
I’m panicking and sucking down coffee and Baileys, and he’s as calm as ever.
Because he’s already done?
No. He gave me an ultimatum, and he always keeps to his word. Benjie might have lied to me, but Dane never has.
The plane jerks as the tires connect with the tarmac, and Dane finally lifts his hat from where it hid his face and resettles it on his head.
His gaze lands on me immediately. Well, not me exactly, but the phone in my hand. My thumb is itching to take it out of airplane mode so I can check my work e-mails and messages.
They have it under control, I tell myself. My very capable team has been prepped for my ten-day vacation, and I know they can handle everything just as well as I would.
That knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to let go, though.
I talk myself out of turning on my phone and instead pull my purse out from under the seat and shove my phone inside.
Dane’s eyebrows go up, no doubt with shock.