Page 79 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“I’m working.”
“Take a break.” His voice was a little sterner now, but there was still a smile on his face that most women would find incredibly hard to resist. Except Leona wasn’t most women, and she had no problem resisting his charm.
“No.”
“C’mon, fresh air will do you some good,” he said, letting his accent get a little thicker, making him sound like a parent trying to encourage their child to stop watching TV or playing video games. “You've been locked in this office for two days. It’s Friday night, and Drea and Kyle have family dinner, so let’s you and I take a walk on the beach. Leave your shoes.”
“Fine,” she said, annoyed at his insistence.
She locked her computer and shoved her phone in her pocket as she stood up. Rethinking it, she pulled her phone from her pocket and shoved it in her desk drawer. Her shift was technically over and anyone who would be calling her could leave a voicemail. Coming around her desk to follow Dalton, she made her way with him through the lobby and out past the pool toward the beach. The pool deck and the beach were full of guests who were trying to hang on to the last little bit of their vacation before leaving in the next couple of days and heading back to their everyday routines. It was always a little weird for her to think about how this was a place where people came to escape, since it was her everyday routine. Not that she didn’t love the resort—she did—but it was still work.
When they got to the beach, they walked to right where the waves met the sand, letting the cool water lap against their feet. The sand was still warm from the sun and she couldn’t help but let her toes sink into it as they walked. Neither of them spoke for a while, letting the sounds of the surf form the background noise to their thoughts.
“Not that you asked my opinion or anything, but if you love him, you need to tell him,” Dalton said, when they were far enough down the beach that most of the remaining guests were out of earshot.
“Lots of people seem to share that opinion.”
“Mmmhmm, great minds and all that. He deserves to know how you feel. Right now he’s up in Georgia with my wretch of a sister for company, probably wondering what the fuck just happened.”
“I can’t believe she’s your sister. She was so…” Leona trailed off looking for the right word to describe the tall blonde tornado that had blown into, and then out of, her life so quickly. “So… tempestuous.”
“‘Heinous bitch’ is the term used most often,” he replied, completely straight-faced.
Leona giggled at his response, and when she turned to look at him, she could see that a small smile formed across his face at her reaction.
“I love that movie,” she said.
Dalton’s smile grew wider, and he got a far-off look in his eye like he was recalling a happy memory.
He looked out over the water as he said, “It is one of the better ones I have been forced to sit through.”
“Who hurt you, Dalton?”
“Never you mind, darlin’. This is about you.”
“What if I don’t want it to be about me?” she asked.
Dalton simply shrugged as they continued to walk along the beach in silence. Once they reached a large formation of boulders that was generally considered the end of the resort’s beach, they stopped and just stood there, neither one wanting to push the other into action. After a moment or so, Leona went and climbed up onto one of the smaller rocks and sat down facing Dalton, who had walked a couple of steps into the receding tide.
“I can’t tell him,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the waves.
“Why not?”
“Because I wasn’t supposed to fall,” she sighed.
“Did y'all have a pact or something?”
“No, but we went into this knowing there was a timeline. He was a guest. Guests leave. There was never any promise that he would stay or that this would continue after he left. Does it suck? Yup, sure does. But I knew what I was getting into.”
“How do you know that the same thing didn’t happen to him? That he’s not out there feeling the exact same way?”
“I just do,” she replied.
“I doubt that. But, regardless of what you think,” he said, turning in the water to face her, “he still deserves to know how you feel.”
“Why? Why does he deserve that? So he can break my heart?” She threw up her arms in exasperation. It was bad enough he hadn’t fought her when she told him to take the job. She couldn’t give him the opportunity to reach into her and straight-up rip out her heart.
“Lee, I adore you, and I like to think we’re pretty good friends, so you’ll forgive me here when I tell you that you are being really fucking selfish right now.”
