I grab a towel from the hooks near the lockers and sprint outside, not even caring that I’m barefoot. I race to the pool deck first, but the chairs where I left Lark have been taken over by a couple skinny brunettes, sunbathing. And Lark’s shoes and towel are gone.
I scan the bar. No sign of him. I hurry to the men’s bathroom, tap on the door. Open it a crack. “Lark?” I call.
A pause. “No Lark here,” some guy calls back. “But I can entertain you if you’re looking.”
“Gross,” I mutter and let the door slam again.
Downstairs. He could still be in the lobby. I press the elevator button so many times I’m surprised it doesn’t break. Then I wait for the elevator to ding open and sprint into it, leaving puddles on the clean floor. I hit the ground floor, hold my breath the whole way down. The elevator stops twice to let other people on, all of whom eye me sideways, but I ignore them, and just pull my towel tighter.
At the ground floor, I sprint out of the doors before anyone else can move.
“Hey!” someone shouts. A hotel bellman, maybe. “You need to wear shoes down here!”
I ignore him and sprint toward the exit. Lark used the valet parking. Maybe it will take them a while to fetch his car. Maybe…
Outside, a wave of heat hits me. My feet sting on the pavement, both hot and filled with pebbles. I scan the row of people waiting for their valet cars. No Lark. But then…
There. His car, just about to turn out of the driveway into the hotel. He’s waiting for a row of cars in the street to move first.
I run as fast as I can, not caring about how much my feet hurt. I reach the back window first and pound on it, hard enough to make Lark startle in the driver’s seat and turn around. When he spots me his eyes go wide.
I hold my breath, shivering despite the heat, the towel clutched tight around me. If he drives away now, I don’t know how I’ll ever explain this. How I can possibly apologize.
But after a long, agonizing pause, he puts the car in park, and opens his door.
29
Lark
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask as I climb out of the car. Somewhere behind me, I hear wolf whistles, and some guy shouting something obscene and honking as he passes.
In her towel, Cassidy does look nearly naked. Still, I flip the traffic off in general, and take a step toward her.
“Are you insane?” I murmur. “Did you run through the hotel like this?”
Her cheeks flush red. “I needed to catch you before you left.” She ducks her head. “I wanted to apologize.”
I watch her closely now. “For what, exactly?”
She raises her chin to meet my gaze once more. There’s such deep, pained sorrow in her gaze, it tugs at my chest in spite of myself. “You were right,” she says, and the words hit me like a punch to the gut. “I was trying to use you.”
Whatever I expected her to say, it wasn’t that. I take a step back toward my open driver’s side door, but she stops me, reaching out to grab my arm.
“I just…” Tears start to slide down her cheeks. “It’s my mom. She’s in the hospital; I need money to pay her bills. But it’s so complicated, she’s lied to me before, and I don’t know if she’s doing it again now, and I should never have asked you for money like that, but I didn’t know where else I could get it or who else to turn to and—” She breaks off, hiccupping, and before I can think better of it, I step forward and wrap both arms around her tightly.
“Hey, hey.” I squeeze, hard. “Cassidy.” Warmth floods through me. Not just at having her in my arms again. But at finally understanding where all of this is coming from. “Look at me, Cass.”
She sniffles, but she tilts her chin back to obey, meeting my eyes again.
“I just wanted to help her,” Cassidy whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
The pain in her voice breaks my heart. Even worse is the realization of how I reacted when Cassidy asked me for help. I assumed she’d be just like Sheryl. That she’d want to wring as much money from me as she could for no other reason than to have it herself.
“I’m sorry too,” I murmur. “I should never have jumped to conclusions. My ex…” I grit my teeth. “She left me more fucked up than I realized, I think. I shouldn’t have judged you by her actions.”
A car honk sounds, longer than the rest. I raise my middle finger again, but it’s coming from behind us this time. I turn to realize there are a line of cars waiting to get out of the hotel parking lot. All while I’m parked at the exit, holding a nearly naked woman in my arms.