Page 30 of Smartasses
Catching his breath as he held her in his arms still riding high, it wasn’t so much an epiphany as an acceptance that struck him. Whatever had happened, whatever had gone down, they had to figure this out. She’d fucked up. He’d fucked up. But together, they could make it right.
“Aubrey,” he said, rolling over on his side so they could talk face-to-face.
Shit.
Her eyes were closed, and her breathing steady. Okay, it could wait. He’d get cleaned up, she’d get some sleep, and then they’d talk and straighten the whole thing out. He got up and went to the bathroom to do just that, but when he walked back out, Aubrey was gone.
The walk to the U.S. Embassy from the hotel was a short one, but even if it had been across the island, Aubrey didn’t think it would be long enough for her to pull herself together.
Everything hurt, and it was her own fault. She’d stopped ugly crying in the hotel lobby bathroom so that was a bonus, but she doubted it made much difference considering the looks people were sending her way as she walked the couple of blocks to the embassy. She’d known from the beginning that the truth would come out, but she’d let herself pretend it would all work out. She should know better. That only happened in the movies. Well, The Admiral wasn’t coming in to save the day in this one. By the time she got to the embassy, the entrance gate was shut, and the sign on the front of the guard post said they wouldn’t open again until the next morning.
It was all she could do not to crumple into a ball right there on the sidewalk and cry. Fisting her hands, she sucked in a breath and tried to think. Falling apart now wouldn’t help. She’d do that later when she got back to Salvation and the boring life in the bakery that was sounding better and better with each broken heartbeat.
An older man in a suit walking by paused in front of her. “Miss your cruise?” he asked, his American accent unmistakable.
“Yeah.” She sucked in a deep breath, willing herself not to give in to the tears she’d been fighting back since she walked out of Carter’s hotel room. “My friends are on board. I need to let them know I’m okay.”
He cocked his head to the side. “And are you okay?”
Aubrey let out the sigh she’d been holding in so long that it ended with something that sounded a little too much like a whimper to her ears. “Not even close.”
“You know what, why don’t you come inside?” He nodded at the guard who opened the gate for them. “We’ll get you all straightened out with a temporary passport and on the next flight home.”
“I thought it was closed for the night.”
“Well,” he said, walking through the gate, “every once in a while, we observe Pacific Standard Time when the occasion calls for it, so we’ve got a few hours before it’s five. Plus, being the ambassador has its privileges. Let’s go get you taken care of and make sure your friends know you’re okay.”
She wouldn’t be that, not for a good long time, but getting home and eating pecan pie at The Kitchen Sink Diner would help. She had to believe that because it was pretty much the only thing making it possible for her to get one foot in front of the other and put more distance between her and the man she’d fallen for who never wanted to see her again. And who could blame him? She’d fucked it all up from the beginning.
