Six months later
LYNX CLOSEDher eyes as she bent over into downward dog. Breathing in through her nose and then exhaling, she tuned out everything but the instructor leading the class, calling out poses, encouraging them to breathe and clear their minds. For seventy-five minutes, her mind enjoyed a respite from the nonstop chatter and self-berating that was all her own doing. Through the entire series of balancing poses, Lynx freed herself from thinking about Michael and how she’d mucked up both his life and hers.
Mostly his.
In the final pose, she lay like a corpse and enjoyed her last few moments of solitude. As soon as the instructor released them, reality smacked her square in the chest.
Literally. As she stood to fold up her mat, someone bumped into her.
“Excuse me,” a peppy, light, and airy feminine voice said in her ear.
Lynx turned toward the woman who had run into her.
Marta.The other woman.
But she really wasn’t the other woman because Lynx had left, vanished. It was Lynx who had decided to up and run to a dangerous foreign land under self-deprecating pretenses, looking for her own bounty—her sister. In doing so, she’d ruined her life, as well as Dane’s—or Landon’s, or whoever the hell he was. And she’d destroyed Mike and Marta’s chances too.
Marta could have made Mike happy. They could have had a life. Probably a good one.
Of course, Marta had fallen hard for Mike. Who wouldn’t? Except he’d been stuck on her—Lynx.
“No worries,” Lynx muttered and continued to gather up her yoga props.
“Oh. Hey, Lynx. I didn’t know you went here,” Marta said in a friendly tone. Of course, the one woman who was forced to have her heart broken because of Lynx was the nicest person ever.
“Yeah, I got a membership a few weeks ago.” Lynx frowned, already reconsidering the one-year membership Asher had given her.
“Nice. I hear you’re back in school.”
Fucking Mike. Could he just forget her or something?
Trying not to roll her eyes, Lynx said, “Taking a few summer classes and seeing how I like it.”
Marta smiled at her. “Asher’s here for a few days. He told me you went back to school. I thought that was awesome. I should do that too.”
Lynx was wrong. It hadn’t been Mike who’d told Marta, but Asher. Maybe Mike had moved on?
When she’d come back, Asher had been in Miami, pacing like a lunatic, waiting for her and Marta to arrive safely. Lynx had never been super close with him, but since he’d married Natalie—the one person Lynx really adored—she couldn’t help but gravitate to the generous yet gruff man.
He’d held her while she cried.
He’d rented her an apartment ... big enough for her sister too.
He’d given her computer work she could do at home, and set her up with tuition for school.
He’d gone home and sent Natalie to stay for a few days. Nat had set Lynx up with a therapist, who she quit immediately.
Asher was determined to get Lynx’s life back on track, even when she wasn’t so sure if that could be done.
“Oh, that’s nice. I mean, that Asher’s here, but if you want to go back to school, that’s nice too. I guess Asher’s keeping up with the hotel project?” Lynx stumbled over her words, unsure if she should be standing here talking to this woman.
Lynx didn’t have to feign interest in Asher. After all that he had done for her, she was invested in the strip-club owner with a heart of gold. Or platinum.
But Marta?
“Yeah. It’s going pretty well. Ahead of schedule. Anyway, he said you’re thinking of going back to school for a degree in business. Sweet!”
Christ on a cracker, this Marta is too nice for her own good.
