Lucas had hoped to make a quick, clean break. After all, he really did need to get back to LA now. He needed to get Omegron back on track; the company was his life’s work, and Kendra knew that. He was excited to walk back into his old offices, get a briefing on exactly what had happened while he’d been away, and try to make things right.
At the same time, though, his heart ached at the thought of never seeing Kendra again. He was tempted to ask her if they could see each other in LA, at least for drinks or a walk on the beach, but that would never work. He would be working for the next few months with barely enough time to sleep and eat. There was no way he would have time to date.
He needed to go. Standing here in the doorway with this suitcase by his side was just making things worse, especially sinceKendra looked like she was on the verge of tears. He was the world’s biggest jerk.
“Goodbye.” He crossed to her. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her, gently and slowly, one last time. He wanted to show her how much she meant to him and how he would always remember their time together. But that would be a mistake, because once he kissed her, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to pull away. He might throw away his whole future, his life’s work, just to hold her a little longer.
Instead, he reached out and gathered her into a quick hug. She stiffened, clearly upset, but then melted against him. He held her close, smelling her sweet jasmine scent and feeling how perfectly she fit in his arms. His heart ached.
It would be so easy to just hold on. To kiss her. To take her to bed, one more time. To enjoy their breakfast together. Even to stay another day, two more days, the rest of the week, snorkeling and looking at the stars and swimming together. He could make plans to meet her in LA, at least, for a walk on the beach or dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. He could imagine pulling up in front of her house and seeing her standing outside with sunglasses on her head and a smile, the typical California surfer girl he liked to tease her about.
It would be easy, too, to tell her that he cared about her. That he needed her. That he wanted to see her again. That, even though he was an uptight workaholic who’d never had a real relationship, he wanted to try, with her. That his life had been black and white until she’d stepped into it, though he’d never missed the color until now. That she had given his life a meaning he hadn’t expected and didn’t deserve.
Instead, Lucas gathered all his strength and let her go. She turned away, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“Bye.” Her voice was soft and hurt.
“Bye.” Lucas turned away, too. He went to the door and grabbed his suitcase. He took the elevator downstairs and got into the cab he’d already called to take him to the private airport nearby. He watched the colorful streets of Cabo fly by outside the window. He checked his phone for messages from work.
All the while, he wanted to run back. He wanted to take the stairs two at a time instead of waiting for the elevator. He wanted to fling the door open and gather Kendra into his arms and ask for one more day, for one more week, for a little more time.
He didn’t do any of that.
When the car arrived at the private airport, he got out and went into the building to wait. Tony had sent the jet as soon as he’d gotten Lucas on the phone, so it should be there soon. Lucas could have waited at the resort, but he hadn’t wanted to draw out the goodbye.
He found a seat, plugged in his laptop, which he hadn’t even opened since arriving in Cabo, connected to the Wi-Fi, and got to work. As he looked through reports and spreadsheets, Lucas slowly fell back into the world of Omegron. His mind raced as he pieced together what had happened from the emails his staff had sent the previous day. He looked through the statement his PR team had worked up for him and started making edits. He read the interview with Jim Adams, in which his CFO admitted that he’d been working alone.
He came back to his real life.
By the time the plane landed and he boarded, he was fully focused on what he was going to do once he got back to Los Angeles. It felt good to think about Omegron again. It felt good to know what had been happening since he’d left almost two weeks ago. And it felt good to be on the way home, where he could really make a difference.
Despite all that, as the plane taxied down the runway and took off, his gaze was drawn to the window. He looked down as the airport disappeared below. He saw the cerulean ocean and the rolling hills and the small buildings. He even thought he could see the Sol Y Estrellas resort far below, looking like a toy, and his heart ached as he wondered what Kendra was doing at this very moment.
He hoped she wasn’t too sad. He hoped she understood, as he did, that this was for the best. Their time together had been magical, but it couldn’t have lasted forever. Even if he hadn’t left today, the honeymoon would have ended in a few more days, and they were too different to have a relationship in the real world. Lucas was a CEO who cared about Omegron more than anything. Kendra was a wedding photographer who believed in fairy-tale love stories.
He would have broken her heart, sooner or later. It was for the best that he’d left now, no matter how desperately he wanted a little more time with her. No matter how much his heart screamed that he’d made a terrible mistake.
Lucas pulled his gaze from the window and focused on the spreadsheet he’d been trying to read, which had figures about how much money had been embezzled and when. He let out a low whistle. Jim Adams had taken a huge chunk of Omegron’s profits; it was amazing that the company had survived. It wasgood that Lucas was going back. This was a problem he could solve.
Even though his heart was breaking now, once he fixed Omegron’s problems, he’d feel like he always did: on top of the world, invincible. Working was the best way to move on from Kendra.
CHAPTER 20
KENDRA
Kendra sat on the bed as tears streamed down her face. Her heart ached so badly she was worried there was actually something wrong with it, but she was just sad. And angry. And confused.
When Lucas had pulled her into a hug before leaving, she’d felt his tenderness and affection in the way he’d held her close. She’d buried her face in his chest, inhaling his shaving-cream scent and feeling how well she fit into his arms. There was a spot, just below his chin, where her head fit perfectly, as though they’d been made to hold each other like that.
In that moment, Kendra had realized that Lucas was ignoring his true feelings. Hedidcare about her. Hedidwant to stay, even if he couldn’t admit that to himself. And she thought he’d realized that, too. She’d thought he was going to reconsider.
But he hadn’t. He’d just turned and left as though they were nothing more than strangers.
Kendra forced herself to take a slow, deep breath. She hadn’t cried this hard in months, not even when her wedding had fallen apart. But Lucas had stirred something unexpected in her.
That’s a good thing,Kendra told himself.Maybe, someday, you’ll find those feelings with someone who loves you back.But that thought made her heart break all over again. She didn’t want to feel warm and fluttery with anyone else. She wanted Lucas.
After a while, she got to her feet and went back into the sitting room. The tray of breakfast she’d brought up waited on the table by the loveseat, so she picked up the cold coffee and took a sip. She quickly realized she’d grabbed the mug she’d made for Lucas, though, because the coffee was bitter instead of sweet. She set it back down.
