I hope he’s happy, wherever he is. The thought of him spending the rest of his days miserable made my heart sick, and yet it was I who told him that he would. I wished I could take those words back.
I was in a gloomy mood when I shoved through the front door. Christmas was next week and Natalie was going home to her parents. She and Ben were taking a break, so the holidays were going to be rough for her. I was staying behind. Luke will probably be lonely, too. He has nothing but vipers in his family.
“Natalie,” I called out as I opened my apartment door and shut it behind me. “I hope to God we have booze, because I’m feeling the need to do some drinking.”
“In here.”
Her voice sounded strange. Did Ben call? I hung up my scarf and coat rather quickly. I walked into the kitchen and stopped abruptly.
He was there, sitting around our crappy kitchen table. His back was to me, but I recognized his dark brown head and his straight back. He wore a black cashmere sweater and dark jeans that looked like they had been ironed. His head turned around and those lips that I had fantasized about every day, spoke to me.
“Jessica.”
Behind him, Natalie stood up and retreated to her bedroom. I was still too stunned to really register that he was actually here, in my apartment.
“What are you doing here?”
I thought briefly of running into his arms while sobbing madly, which was what always happened in romantic comedies, but that wasn’t my instinct. I just felt numb.
He stood up but didn’t come any closer. I realized with a shock that Luke’s eyes were gleaming. Was he crying?
“These past few weeks have been the worst in my life. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said—”
It swelled inside me. “Luke, I didn’t mean it. You’re a wonderful person; you’re my favorite person. You’re not like your dad.”
“I was.”
I could tell how much it hurt him to admit it. He pushed himself off the table and walked to me, and my heart sped as he came closer.
“I heard what you did with my money. I was thinking about you one night and I looked up your kitchen’s website. I saw your name on the front page, and I knew what you had done.”
He touched my face and a torrent of emotion suddenly boiled up, like the burst of liquid from a shaken soda can.
“You left me. You made me feel like I was nothing.”
“I know—”
“I had to deal with all this craziness on my own.” Tears slid down my face, but I stared at him boldly. I was trying to look for something inside him that would make up for his terrible behavior.
“I know and I’m so sorry.” He grasped my hand and squeezed it, willing me to be silent. “These past few weeks have been miserable. I missed you so much. I realized how much I love who you are. You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever met, and you’re beautiful and honest. You could have made money by selling stories to the press, but you didn’t.”
I choked into the hands that cradled my face.
“I don’t know where this is headed, but I can’t let you go. I know that I’ll never find someone like you.”
I don’t know which of us started forward, but we both launched ourselves and our faces joined, the salty tears dripping into my mouth as he held me so tightly against his chest that I couldn’t breathe. Then I felt like I was in one of those romantic comedies, those silly movies where the man picks up the girl in his arms and kisses her like it’s the last one he’ll ever have.
He came back for me.
I broke off the kiss and laughed in utter joy as Luke’s smile spread across his face.
Chapter 11
I stretched out on the beach towel, closing my eyes as the sun stroked my body with its warm gaze. The gentle roll of the ocean soothed my ears with its gentle lullaby. Eyes closed, I groped with my hand and found the tropical drink perched on a mound of hot sand.
I could get used to this.
There were perks to having a rich boyfriend with access to one of the most exclusive, private beaches in Bora Bora. I opened my eyes cautiously and a bright sky burned my eyeballs. I sat up and watched Luke swimming through the ocean waves, his arms rising and water droplets glittering from them like diamonds.
He needed to get away from it all. Luke managed to reconcile with his father. He told me that he went to the hospice after we broke up. After his father died, Luke only received a meager five hundred thousand with a note:
After all these years, I realized I loved the money more than my own family. It’s too much for one person. I do not want to change the man you’ve become. I love you, Luke. -Dad
Luke’s father had given a similar portion to his uncle, who did not waste time in uttering how disappointed he was. The remainder of his fortune was given to charities and other businesses. Luke had already raged and grieved over the money. “I’m glad that he and I made up before he died, but it still doesn’t change the fact that he was a bastard for most of my life,” he had told me. “This is the final insult.”
He may not have believed in the message his father wrote, but I did. My eyes teared under the blazing sun as I recalled the words on his father’s last farewell.
I hastily wiped the wetness from my eyes as Luke emerged from the water, his board trailing behind him. Dripping, he sat down next to me and immediately leaned over. Water from his hair dripped over my face, but I didn’t mind because it was so hot. He blocked out the sun and smiled as his dripping head hovered over mine.
“You want something?”
“Come in the water with me.”
My skin was baking with heat. I allowed him to pull me upright, not before I wrapped my hands around his head and kissed him.
“We should do this more often.”
“What? Kiss?”
He chuckled. “Well, yes, but I meant that we should take more vacations.”
“Well, we’ve only been together for six months. I don’t have as many vacation days as you.”
It had been six amazing months. After work, Luke would usually pick me up and we would have dinner. I spent a lot of nights at his place, but I hadn’t abandoned my apartment, yet. I wasn’t ready to move in with him. Besides, there was still Natalie.
I frowned as I thought of her. She split up with Ben, her long time college sweetheart and fiancé. Natalie spent a lot of her days with a box of tissues nearby. I felt bad because things were going so well for me.
“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”