Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“To remind you of what?”
“To remind me of what I’ve lost, but more so of what I’ve kept from my friends.”
She walks toward me, her arms out. “Let me help you. You’re helping me, so let me help you.”
I back away from her. My dick is so hard, and God, what I wouldn’t give to grab her, kiss her, lose myself in her. She takes me in so willingly. Offers such a glorious escape...
But she’s told me she won’t simply be my escape any longer, and I can’t blame her. She deserves more. She deserves better.
I will give her better.
As soon as I take care of something I should have done a long time ago.
“Not this time, Emily. You can’t help me with this.”
“I’d like to try.”
I rub my forehead. “I wish you could. I wish so many things.”
“I love you, River. Please. I want to help.”
I love you too.
The words hover at the tip of my tongue. How I long to let them out. Tell her how much she’s grown to mean to me in such a short time.
But I can’t love her until I’m whole.
And for the last twenty years, I haven’t been whole. I’ve been harboring a secret from my three best friends.
Fuck.
They’re going to hate me.
Will they believe me that I had no choice?
Will they ever be able to forgive me?
Twenty fucking years...
I made the only decision I could at the time.
They’ll understand.
They’ve got to.
I step toward Emily and grab both her hands. Her flesh against mine makes my body hum, but I have to think with the right head in this moment.
“Emily, I have to leave the island.”
She drops her jaw. “Because of me? Because of what I said? What I did?”
“No, no, no. It’s not you. If anything, you’ve been a mirror for me.”
“River? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. When you look at me, you see me. I see who I want to be in your eyes, Emily. I have to do what’s right. And that means I must leave.”
“Will you return?”
I nod. “I will. I promise I will. But you stay here. Enjoy yourself.” I exhale. “Enjoy your date tonight. With Alex.”
The words leave my throat as jealousy surges through me like a fucking dagger.
“I don’t want a date with Alex,” she says. “I should have chosen you. I would have, you know, if you hadn’t been acting like such a rotten beast last night.”
I want to smile at her words. I want to take her in my arms and kiss those pink lips and never leave this room.
“You’re right,” I say. “I was in a mood, and I’m sorry.” I walk to the closet and pull out my small suitcase. If all goes well, I’ll return tomorrow.
After Emily’s date with Alex.
Fuck.
She won’t fall into his arms, will she? Not if she’s in love with me.
But if she thinks I don’t love her back…
Say it, River. Just say it.
“I... Emily...” My voice catches in the maelstrom of emotions threatening to swallow me whole.
For a moment, our gazes lock and I see it—all of it—the love, the confusion, the hurt. But also, the hope. It burns bright in her blue eyes, sparking like a lighthouse guiding me through tumultuous waves.
“I need to do this,” I say. “You need to understand.”
She cups my cheek. “I understand. But promise me that you’ll come back.”
“I will,” I say, my voice firmer now. “I promise I will.”
She gathers the sheet around her, ties it like a toga, and then gathers her stuff. She leaves my suite without another word.
I walk back to the closet, open the safe, and retrieve my cell phone, quickly making arrangements for the ferry and a flight to Miami. With luck, I’m able to get a charter that will get me there quickly. I dress in jeans and a button-down, slide my wallet and cell phone into my pockets, and send a quick text to Evangeline.
I don’t text the guys. They don’t have their phones on them anyway, and I’ll be back tomorrow.
Then I call my mother to see how the investigation into the break-in is going.
“Shelley didn’t tell you?” she asks.
“Shelley?”
“Yes, she said she talked to Sebastian earlier,” Mom says. “Apparently one of the hands saw a blond woman poking around. An older woman. Then, when Shelley was questioning the other hands, she said Fred was acting strangely.”
“Fred?” Fred’s been around since I was a kid. He’s a great guy.
“That’s what Shelley says. But when I talked to him, he seemed fine.”
“All right. Keep me posted. And keep that damned security system armed.”
“I will, sweetheart.”
After the call ends, I grab my suitcase, ready to leave, when I open the safe once more and take out Larson’s leather watch fob.
Whoever broke into my parents’ home and trashed my old room was looking for something.