Page 73 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Breaking into my rooms while I’m out on a run isn’t exactly the way to get me to say yes,” he bit back.
“But you are saying yes, correct?” Oliver clarified.
Cullen sighed. He walked over to the chaise that was still sitting in the sun where Leona had placed it on Monday and sat down. He could hear her words ringing in his brain. “Go and let me move on.” Why had he listened to her? Why hadn’t he fought back and told her no, that he wasn’t going to let her push him away?
He couldn’t deny that the job offer was tempting. The more he’d thought about it the more and more he liked the idea of it. But he also liked the idea of Leona by his side. Everything had been so clear to him after his run this morning, before he found Felicity sitting on the couch in the living room. He was going to tell Leona he wanted to take the job, but that he wanted her to come with him. That he had a plan, and if she was up for it, it could be the start of something amazing. But then everything changed.
It had taken until this moment for him to realize that maybe she wasn’t interested in what he had to offer. That for all the accusations that everyone would have about him using her, that maybe she was just using him. Maybe he was just something to add some excitement to her life for a couple of weeks. She’d been the one to push him away, after all. He’d tried to tell himself that if she knew how he felt she wouldn’t have done that, and that he should have told her. But the more he thought about it, he was starting to wonder if she didn’t have the same intense feelings that he had, and this was her way of showing it. That maybe she did like him but not enough that she would be willing to give up her life here for him. Just maybe she saved him from making a fool out of himself.
“I am saying yes,” he said, with less enthusiasm than he felt he should have.
“Good decision, mate,” Oliver said. “I will call them and tell them right away. They will want you to fly out tonight.”
“Fine. But Oliver, the contracts? The ones the legal team mentioned?”
“What about them?”
“I want them completed ASAP. They’re important.”
“Not as important as this job, Cullen.”
“We can agree to disagree there, and I don’t care which you handle first, as long as all of it is completed today. Understood?”
“Understood. I assume if Felicity is there, you can fly back with her? Want me to make the call and see?”
“Sure,” he shrugged.
“Good man. Go get packed, Coach.”
He hung up the phone and threw it down on the chaise lounge. Letting out a long sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what he’d just done. It was the right move, taking the job. Everyone seemed to think so. So why did it feel so wrong to agree? Why were his gut and his head not on the same page here?
Forcing himself up from the chair, he headed inside and started to pack. Most everything he had was dirty, and he didn?
??t really have anything other than beach holiday attire with him, but he assumed it would be easy enough to find a laundry and purchase something more appropriate once in Atlanta. His new employers couldn’t expect too much from him right off the plane, anyway. They were the ones who had flown down to cut his trip short.
When he walked into the bathroom, a wave of emotion hit him. So much had happened in this bathroom. So many important moments with Leona. Their first encounter ten years ago in the tub, the kiss on the vanity where she first let her guard down, that incredible fuck in the shower. He’d never realized that a bathroom could hold so much meaning, and in this moment it was a punch to the gut. The toiletries that were spread out across the vanity clattered as he scooped them into his case and zipped it shut, before stalking back into the bedroom and tossing the kit in his suitcase. He heard his phone ding and he retrieved it from his pocket, looking at the text from Oliver.
Oliver: Wheels up in 60. Car will be there for you in 20.
He took another look around La Isla Bonita, wondering if this would be the last time he took a holiday here. Ten years' worth of vacations had made this place feel like home, and there was a part of him that couldn’t imagine not visiting every year. But now there was another part of him that wondered if this bungalow would always be haunted by the memory of him and Leona coming together. Of him falling for the first time in his life. Of him having his heart ripped out and stomped on. It seemed unlikely that these rooms would ever not be tied to her in his mind, and his return would just depend on how quickly he could get over her.
If he could get over her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Brother?” Leona said, popping up out of her chair. She turned and found the same tall blonde she’d seen in Cullen’s villa earlier in the day. “This is your sister?”
“Oh. Em. Gee…” Drea said, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at Felicity.
“Y’all know about me? How cute,” she said mockingly. A fake, saccharine grin was plastered across her face. “When he ran off to waste away his days in the islands, we weren’t really sure where he’d land, but it’s nice to see he’s found…people.”
Leona looked back and forth between the two siblings. Now that both of them were standing in front of her, she could see the resemblance. They were both exceptionally tall, with the same blue eyes and high cheekbones. Her jaw was softer than Dalton’s, and she was obviously a lot more done up, but it was clear that if you put him in a suit or her in beach attire, there would be no question they were related.
“What are you doing here, Felicity?”
“I'm here on business. Our newest acquisition for the latest venture needed a little convincing, so I was here to seal the deal,” she answered sharply. “You’d be a little more informed if you actually returned our father’s calls. Which, by the way, he wanted me to remind you to do while I’m here.”
“I have no need to be informed,” Dalton replied matter-of-factly.
