“Right? I think so too. Carter is sort of a tool, but in a cute way, and I think his heart is in the right place. I heard he made a big production about tearing up the prenup and signing a new one.”
“He did. It was actually really sweet. And she’s incredible,” I added. “He’s definitely punching above his weight, but they make it work.”
Nora was scrolling through her photos. “Check this out. I couldn’t resist.”
She held out her fancy camera to show me a photo from earlier in the evening. It was of me, standing at the edge of the dancefloor, and based on the way the glowy light was hitting me it was taken right as the baby fireworks were set off during the cake cutting. I was wearing a genuine grin, because how could you not get caught up in the moment?
I zoomed in and spotted Drew off to the side in the image. Instead of looking towards the flames like the rest of the guests he was watching me with an intense focus, like I was the only thing worth watching, despite the cartwheeling sparklers going off. As always, Nora had managed to tell an entire story in a single image, using the lighting and composition to create a photo that looked like a Renaissance painting.
“Unresolved feelings much?” Nora asked pointedly.
“Please. He looks like he wants to murder me.”
“Hardly. More like he wants to eat you alive,” she insisted. “Either way, he’s not as checked out as you think. He might be trying to pull off indifference but this photo tells a different story.”
“It’sonephoto,” I scoffed.
She yanked her camera back and scrolled through a series of images from around that moment, and all of them showed Drew staring at me. The entire time the sparklers were going off.
“Maybe he was mad because I okayed indoor pyrotechnics,” I said.
“You’re ridiculous.”
The DJ switched to a slow song and Kristen and Drew bumped close like they were magnetized.
“Aw, too cute,” Nora said. “I need to go grab that. See you at home?”
I nodded, trying to push down the unexpected emotions bubbling up inside of me. I’d heard “From This Moment On” played at dozens of weddings, so there was no reason to get teary as the joyful couple swayed. I was overworked and overtired, that was all.
The night wore on, the roller-skates came out, and to my shock, zero bones were broken. A win all around. By the time Kristen changed into her final look of the night for the dash into their chauffeured Bentley, I was cooked. All of the scaffolding that had been holding me up until this point seemed to collapse at the same moment. I felt like I needed to take a year-long nap.
And now I had to face Drew, to give him back the ring and say goodbye to a stable paycheck and health insurance.
The drunken stragglers were doing their thing like at every wedding, screeching out their own music on the dancefloor while the servers tried to shut the place down. I looked for Drew and spotted him chatting with Carter’s father, no doubt fielding compliments over the picture-perfect event.
Mission accomplished. The Ashford was back on top.
I walked back to my office, which was conveniently nowhere near Drew’s. My plan was to grab an envelope, drop the ring in it and leaveit in the resort’s main safe, so I wouldn’t have to deal with talking to him. I would email my resignation to HR.
There was nothing left to say.
I didn’t even bother flipping the light on. My new office was an incredible upgrade from my home office, a light-filled place with a big glass desk that felt official, and important. I ‘d been looking forward to truly claiming the space as my own. Except, of course, that wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Even with him moving on to check on the other resorts, Drew Ashford was everywhere. There was no way I could work here and be able to get past my Drew-baggage.
“Envelopes,” I muttered to myself as I fished through the drawers. The truth was I hadn’t spent much time in my office so I wasn’t sure where they might be hiding. The desk had been stocked by someone else, and I hadn’t reworked the organizational system yet. Not that I needed to now
The light switched on and I froze.
“There you are.”
It was the last person I wanted to see.
I nodded at Drew then went back to searching the drawers, because looking at his beautiful face hurt me. Even after working a seemingly endless day, Drew looked perfectly unruffled. How was it possible that his suit was crease-free?
“What are you looking for?” Drew asked.
“Nothing,” I sighed. I pulled the ring off for the second time in twenty four hours and held it out to him. “This is yours.”
Making him cross the room to come to me was a tiny flex, a power move even though we both knew that I didn’t really have any powerin this situation. He didn’t move from the doorway, his expression as tense as I’d ever seen it.
