Page 76 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Yes, it is. But I’m worried that you’re hiding behind that. That you’ve gotten so used to putting your wants second because the rest of us needed something that you’re missing out.”
“I’m not missing out, Mama, he doesn’t love me back.” The tears she had been holding back slowly started to trickle down her cheeks, and she looked down at her lap trying to hide them. She didn’t want to cry over Cullen Cruz for a third time today.
“How do you know?”
“Because he never said it,” she said, sniffling, wiping her nose on her wrist. Anna reached over to her nightstand and grabbed a tissue. Leona took it from her and dabbed at her face. She really had no idea how she was still able to cry over all this.
“Did you tell him you love him?” Anna asked.
“Not exactly.”
“Then you don’t know. For all you know he could be sitting on that plane right now wondering if he’s the only one with a broken heart.”
“I highly doubt that’s the case!”
“Maybe it’s not. Men can be stupid. But if he isn't, then it’s his loss. But don’t let this stop you from opening your heart. Maybe let a person or two in.”
“Maybe.”
“Do you have to go back to work, or can you stay for dinner?”
“I should go back. I have reports to file. Plus I need to change over La Isla Bonita now that he’s gone.”
“Maybe assign that to one of your staff members. Unless you want an excuse to wallow.”
Leona got up off the bed and straightened the pillows, placing them back where they were before. “I think I want to wallow,” she said, turning to go.
As she got to the bedroom doorway, she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder, turning her around. Before she could blink, her mother's arms were around her, holding her close. Leona returned the embrace and relaxed a little, not realizing just how much she needed this comfort.
After a moment of them just holding each other, Anna pulled away and reached up, smoothing her daughter’s hair. “Just make sure you have enough chocolate.”
Chapter Thirty
The flight from St. Thomas to Atlanta went about as smoothly as one could hope and was actually shorter than Cullen had expected. The private charter plane owned by his new bosses looked to be brand-new, and the fittings on the inside seemed to sparkle when the sunlight hit them. All the seats—from the easy chair-esqe bucket seats that sat around small four-person meeting tables on either side of the aisle up front, to the sectional couch that faced a big-screen TV at the rear of the plane—were made out of soft, cream-colored leather. Cullen could only imagine what the bedroom and bathroom that were down a small hallway past the TV were outfitted with. Whomever these people were, they certainly took their comfort to an extreme.
Thankfully, Felicity didn’t say much to him, having taken the hint early on that he was not a talker. Or maybe she realized just how pissed off he still was about her showing up unannounced. Either way, it allowed him to remain lost in his thoughts of Leona and what the hell had actually gone down on the beach just a few hours ago. His thoughts were still too jumbled to make any sense of it all. One minute he was convinced it was fear and insecurity that caused her to push him away. The next, he was doubting if she’d ever felt the same way he had and thinking she must have just been in it for the fun, after all. He was halfway convinced he should have fought her, told her he loved her, and made her see that she was wrong to want to move on. But the other half assumed he should write her off as just another casualty in dating.
Except, she wasn’t just another casualty. She’d been so much more. No matter her end game, he had fallen. Fallen hard too. At the end of the day, he still felt like his heart had been ripped out.
They landed at a private airstrip just outside the city and got into a limo that was waiting for them. It was surprisingly hot and humid outside, although Cullen did have to admit he didn’t know a whole lot about the weather in this part of the States. For all he knew, this stuffiness was normal and just one of a long list of things he was sure he would have to get used to. Thankfully, someone had the smarts to leave the limo running with the air conditioning on so that it was comfortable to get into.
“Welcome to Atlanta!” Felicity said when the car pulled away from the airport. He could tell she was forcing an upbeat, happy attitude. It was something that obviously did not come naturally to the blonde and was something she really had to make an effort at.
“Is it always this sweltering?” he asked, barely glancing over at her. His focus was on the city lights as they drove toward downtown. It was fairly late in the evening, but it was still light enough out that lights were just starting to come on and he could see some sunlight over the horizon.
“In July, absolutely,” she answered, her accent fully o
n display as she drawled out the word ‘juu-lie’. “Just wait ‘til August! But don’t worry, every place ‘round here is air conditioned.”
“Bloody well better be,” he muttered under his breath.
“We’re headed toward the Southland Holdings offices, but we will drive by the pit so you can see how construction is coming along.”
“The pit?”
“Sorry,” she laughed lightly. “That’s what some of the folks in the office started calling it since they had to dig so deep for the foundation, it just looked like this huge pit in the middle of downtown for quite a while. But it’s the construction site for the new Rising arena. This place is going to be state-of-the-art—all the bells and whistles you can imagine.”
Cullen simply nodded, keeping his focus on the buildings as they passed. He knew the polite thing would be to make small talk and ask questions about the team, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not that he didn’t have questions—he had plenty. He just didn’t want to engage this woman in any more conversation than he had to.
