Page 69 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Leona,” he corrected her.
“Sure. Whatever,” she waved him off.
“You told her we were busy? Busy with what, exactly? We don’t have business, Felicity,” he growled.
“Yes, we do, Mr. Cruz. And yes, I told her to run along. That you didn’t have time for little girls with crushes on footballers.”
“Fuck,” he cursed, turning toward the door. He had to go after her. Had to find her and explain. She probably thought the worst of him right now, and he couldn’t blame her. He should have escorted Felicity out the door himself.
“Where are you going? You’re in a towel!”
Cullen looked down as he reached for the doorknob. Shit, she was right. He turned and ran for the bedroom, dropping the towel along the way. He heard Felicity make some noise out of shock, but he didn’t care who he offended right now—he needed Leona. Throwing on shorts and a pair of flip-flops, he headed back to the front door, stopping only to address the blonde bitch one more time.
“When I get back, you will be gone, or I will be pressing charges.”
Not stopping long enough for a response, he took off, heading toward the main building. When he couldn’t find her in her office, at the front desk, or in the kitchen, he was left wondering where to check next. Where did women go when they were upset?
He looked up in time to find Drea emerging from the long hall that lead to Cherish Spa. It had been too much to hope that Leona was with her, but maybe at least Drea would know where he should look.
“Drea!” he shouted. “Where’s Leona?”
“I figured she was with you. She was in the spa with me, but it’s been awhile. When she took off, she told me she was going to show you something.”
Show him something? Oh fuck, this was worse than he thought.
“No, I think she came to La Isla Bonita, but then something happened and she left. She was…upset, I think. Where does she go when she’s upset? Can you check her dorm?”
“You upset her? What did you do?!” Drea shrieked.
“Nothing…I…look, something just happened. I don’t have time to explain. I need to find her. Where would she go?”
“Same place I went,” she sighed. “Big House Beach.”
Sure enough, Drea had been right. When Cullen came around the little cottage Drea had directed him to on the other side of the trees from his villa, he found Leona sitting on the beach. Her legs were pulled into her chest and she was resting her forehead on top of her knees. He could tell even from this far away that she was upset. No, devastated. Whatever Felicity said must have been really nasty.
He walked up slowly behind her, not wanting to startle her. He put a hand lightly on her shoulder, trying to get her attention.
“Menina,” he said, sitting down in the sand next to her. She startled under his touch but didn’t look up at him. Even with her head on her knees he could hear her sniffle and knew that she was crying. His chest felt like it was being ripped in two, knowing that he was responsible for her being in this kind of pain. How could he have let this happen? Better yet, how on earth did he fix it?
“Menina, talk to me, please,” he pleaded.
“Why? So you can go back to your girlfriend and tell her that you let me down easy? And you two can have a good laugh at my expense?” She raised her head from her knees and looked at him. Her bloodshot eyes shot daggers at him.
“She’s not my girlfriend. I don’t even know her
,” he tried to explain.
“Right, which is why she was in your rooms. Your rooms that are highly secure and only like six people have the code to,” she snapped back.
“She admitted to me that she bribed her way in. She’s apparently from the team in Atlanta, and she wanted an answer.”
Leona was silent for a moment. He wanted to beg, to plead for her to understand, but he knew better. He knew that if he opened his mouth it would only make it worse in the long run.
“You swear you didn’t invite her?”
“I swear to God. She was just in my room when I got back from a run.”
Leona nodded. “Okay, I believe you.”
