“I got your note,” Dan said.“PS: Apology accepted, although I’d like to know what you’re apologizing for.”
“For the drama of running out on you, of course.”Libby kept her eyes on Karim.Never again would she leave herself vulnerable to a man and admit her feelings.“Let’s go home.It’s nearly lunchtime.”She looked back at Dan.“Afterwards, we can schedule Part Three before we head out to say goodbye to your mom.”
“Or we can talk about last night.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.I freaked out about leaving Karim.It’s understandable, considering my lifestyle.”
“But you didn’t answer my question.Stop or carry on?And for what it’s worth, I want to carry on.”
Her heart caught in her throat—but was it joy or fear?Not knowing spiked her irritation.
“A vacation fling is the dream for a man, isn’t it?”she said tightly.
Dan’s jaw flickered.“You make it sound like I’m using you.Is that how you feel?”
“We’re using each other, remember?”
“Using?Nothelping?”
“It’s the same difference, isn’t it?”she said.“Come on, keep moving.I need to get Karim out of the sun.”
They walked on, Karim’s singsong chatter the only words between them.Her baby was enjoying the view up there on Dan’s shoulders, but when they reached the road, she told him to get into the stroller.He refused.
“I’m fine to carry him,” Dan said, and Libby kept the lid on those irrational feelings that were itching to escape.
To anyone passing by, they looked like Mom, Dad, and baby.But the reality was that she and Dan were just friends who’d had sex a few times, and her baby would be all hers again the minute her lover stepped on a flight back to the UK.
“What’s wrong, really, Libby?Am I making you unhappy?”
Helpless against the concern in his voice, she shook her head.“I wasn’t prepared to let anyone else into our lives, and yet, here you are, carrying my child like he’s your…like we’re a…a…”
Family.
Good god, she’d almost said the F-word!Part of her wished she had, because surely that was one way to make a guy she’d only known for a month freak out and run.At least she’d know then what he was made of.Or not.
“I’m just hot and tired,” she added quickly.“We’re working together really well, and I don’t want our friendship to suffer just because we decided to fool around.We went off the rails with that.It’s not what we planned.”
“Is that all that’s bothering you about us, Libby?”They reached Tia Rosa’s gate.“The fact that we didn’t plan to sleep together?”
“Yes.”There was no point in revealing all the insecure garbage in her head now.Not until she sifted through it herself.
“Well, things just happen sometimes,” he said, “and this isn’t how I planned my stay in the Cook Islands either.”
“That’s right.You planned your honeymoon here.”
And she shouldn’t forget that.
Chapter 30
Thebrightafternoonsunbeat down onAre Moana.With Libby and Karim trailing behind him, Dan walked through Hehu’s garden toward the bungalow.That dark, windy night when he’d first arrived came back to mind.His aching body.His broken heart.And then Libby, standing in the doorway in her nightclothes, as unhappy to see him as he’d been to see her.
He glanced back at her now.Her brow was creased, like it had been since the moment he’d joined her and Karim by the fallen tree on the beach earlier.They hadn’t spoken much since her honeymoon comment.When they’d got back to the hut, Libby had busied herself with sorting out Karim’s beach stuff while Dan had made lunch.It had been obvious from the way she wasn’t making any eye contact that she didn’t want to talk.Fine by him.Mentioning his honeymoon, liked he’d done something wrong, had pissed him off.But she was obviously upset with him, worried that he might ruin the balance of her and Karim’s life.Worried that she might get hurt again?
But he’d never hurt her.Not intentionally, anyway.And if she were thinking along those lines, did that mean she did want to be more than friends?Why, then, did he get the feeling that she was pushing him away?
“We need to talk, Libby.”
“I know.”
