Page 63 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“And if I hate it?”
“Quit,” she shrugged. “But at least then you know you hate it.”
“And you?” He wasn’t sure why the question slipped out, but now that it had, he wasn’t sorry it had.
“I don’t know what part I play, but I’ll still be here, changing sheets and wiping down sinks,” she said with a little laugh. “I’m not sure that is something that will ever change.”
“You really think I should take it?” he asked again.
“I do,” she said softly. “I heard what Oliver said. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but the room is little, and you have your volume up kinda loud, so I could hear him. It seems like this could be a really good next move for you. So, yes, it sounds like something you should do.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Actually, yes, he could. Because that’s who Leona was. She believed in supporting those who she cared for, even if it meant she got hurt in the process. This wasn’t her pushing him away, this was her showing him just how much she cared. He just wished that it didn’t mean having to leave her.
“I’m still going to wait until tomorrow to give them an answer,” he said. It was the only thing he could think to say.
“I think that’s fair. Now, wanna help me sneak these dirty sheets to the laundry? I’m gonna need a lookout, someone to watch my back,” she said with a wink.
“Lee, I will watch your backside any day!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The “get here now and bring lunch” text that Leona got from Drea had her scurrying down the long hall as fast as her little legs could manage, without dropping the to-go boxes she grabbed from Miller in the kitchen. Cherish was coming together nicely, and with only a couple more weeks until the soft opening, Drea was starting to feel the panic. At this point, it was all Leona could do to help keep her calm when the frantic texts came through, and to make sure that she had chocolate ready to go. She couldn’t imagine what Kyle was dealing with after hours in their cottage, though Leona figured that he probably had his own magic way of keeping her calm.
Drea was standing in the same place Leona had found her pretty much every other time she’d arrived in the spa the last couple of weeks—standing behind the reception counter with stuff spread out everywhere. Placing the to-go containers on the desk, she peeked into the top one before handing it to Drea.
“Food, thank God,” she said, taking the box from her best friend. “I’m starving.”
“Uncle Miller says to make sure you take a break and don’t work through lunch. I assume the third box is for Maeve?”
“Yes,” she said, as the frosted glass door to the treatment rooms opened and Maeve appeared. “And that’s part of why you’re here, to distract me so I take a break.”
“Glad to be a distraction!” she answered, handing Maeve the third box lunch.
Truth was, she needed a distraction of her own. She’d spent the morning running last night through her head. From Carlos’s outburst, to the most amazing sex she’d ever had and all the emotions it brought up, to the fucking phone call. She’d been struggling with her feelings all morning and she didn’t like it. This whole having feelings thing was not something she wanted to get used to. But she had let Cullen Cruz get to her and steal her heart. Every second she could spare, and probably more that she really couldn't, had been spent thinking about him. It had killed her inside to encourage him to take that job last night, but she knew it was what was best for him. And there was no way she was going to stand in his way.
“Oh, a grilled cheese! I can’t remember the last time I had one of these,” Maeve said, knocking her out of her thoughts.
“I didn’t know how you took yours, so it’s just plain. If you let Miller know what you like in yours—tomato, bacon, whatever—he’ll keep it on file so whenever you order one it’s made to your liking,” Leona said, taking a big bite of her own sandwich.
“My uncle makes the best grilled cheeses. It’s become our go-to comfort food,” Drea added in.
“I can see why. This is pretty amazing!”
“Oh,” Drea said around a bite of grilled cheese. “This sounds crazy and neurotic, but you’re my BFF and you know how much this spa means to me, so you’re just gonna let me have this…”
“Okay,” Leona said, furrowing her brow in confusion. “Just let you have what?”
“I just want everything to be perfect, like, perfect perfect, so if your gals move the tables or whatever when they clean, can you please make sure they put them back in the exact spot? I want everything perfect,” she said, starting to ramble.
“You have mentioned the desire for everything to be perfect a couple of times now. I got it.”
“Well, the table in room three was a little off-kilter this morning,” Drea said, holding up her thumb and forefinger with just a small gap between them.
“Oh…I um…I don’t think that was whoever cleaned in here this morning,” she said a bit sheepishly. “Pretty sure that was me…”
Drea came to a complete halt, including her chewing, with Leona’s confession. They’d always told each other everything, so Drea shouldn't be quite as surprised as she seemed to be, standing there with her mouth slack-jawed, half-chewed grilled cheese taking up residence.
“You had sex in my spa?!” she spat out, after managing to chew the rest of her bite.
