Although she’d vehemently rejected his suggestion that she stay, it was getting harder by the minute not to change her mind. She didn’t like him turning a cold shoulder to her after how passionately he’d treated her all week. It was one thing to want to stay. It was another to know he felt the same way. If he would walk away like she meant nothing to him, it would still be hard, but she could leave knowing their affair was one-sided. She let her heart get involved, and that was her own fault.
And yet...
The car pulled up outside the hotel. Paige knew her chance to change her mind was slipping away. Would it change things if she told him how she felt? Would she just embarrass herself? Things were ending either way.
“Mano?” she said just before they got out of the car.
He paused and turned to her. “Yes?”
“I...” The words stuck in her throat. With his dark glasses covering the expression on his face, she couldn’t read his emotions. She couldn’t tell how he’d accept her words. He just seemed to radiate this protective wall that she wasn’t sure she could penetrate.
“I’ve got a pretty busy schedule this afternoon,” he said when she couldn’t get the words out. “I’ve arranged for the car to take you to the airport whenever you’re ready.”
Paige felt her heart drop in her chest. “You’re not seeing me off?”
He shook his head, his expression aggravatingly neutral. “I’m sorry, I can’t. But I want to thank you for a lovely week. I enjoyed our time together very much. I hope you enjoyed your visit here at the Mau Loa, and I wish you the best for your future.”
Without so much as a hug or a kiss goodbye, he opened the door and he and Hoku got out of the car. He tipped the driver and disappeared into the hotel without the slightest hesitation.
Paige couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart started to crumble in her chest and she could feel every painful crack as it fell apart. The tears rushed down her face then. The seams holding her together unraveled completely, and she collapsed into broken, heaving sobs in the back of the car. It was an angry, ugly cry, making her face a blotchy red and her nose run. She simply couldn’t hold it in anymore. Everything that had happened over the last month—her grandfather’s death, the pregnancy, Wyatt’s betrayal—had snowballed together with Mano’s cold rejection.
She let herself give in to it. She didn’t know if the driver was watching, but she really didn’t care. Her life was unraveling before her eyes, and if she wanted to sit in the back of the car and cry, she damn well would.
When she was out of tears, she reached for a tissue she’d stuffed away in her purse for the funeral. Paige dabbed away the tears and blew her nose before throwing it away. This was what she thought she wanted, but she was wrong. So wrong. She pushed him away in self-defense and now she regretted it. She would rather confess her love to him and be rejected than to receive this cold, neutral goodbye. She’d hurt him. And now he’d hurt her. She had to fix this.
With a surge of bravery, she climbed from the town car and ran into the hotel after him. She glanced every which way around the lobby, but he was nowhere to be found. Paige dashed over to the concierge desk.
“Did you see which way Mr. Bishop went?” she asked.
The man looked at her suspiciously, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t.”
“Please,” she insisted. “I have to tell him something very important.”
“I’m very sorry, Miss Edwards, but Mr. Bishop has requested he not be disturbed while he works in his office this evening.”
“But I—”
“He most specifically noted that he not be disturbed by you, miss,” the concierge interrupted. “I’m sorry. I hope you enjoyed your time here at the Mau Loa. If there’s anything we can do for you today before you check out, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The polite, practiced speech mimicked Mano’s parting words and felt like a slap in the face. He didn’t want to see her. The man seemed pretty firm on his stance. There was no amount of begging or pleading that would get her behind the desk and into the business area of the hotel where Mano was hiding away.
That left her with no choice. “Thank you,” she said softly and turned away. Paige sought out the elevator to return to her room.
It was time to pack and say goodbye to Hawaii and Mano for good.
Eleven
It was a long overnight flight home with a layover in LA. She should’ve slept or watched a movie to pass the time on the plane, but instead, she’d stewed in her thoughts.
Paige hated the way she and Mano left things. He’d seemed to completely shut down when she told him she couldn’t stay. She wanted to. Her heart ached at the thought of telling him no, but how could she stay? He didn’t really understand what he was taking on. He wasn’t just getting her in the bargain, and it wasn’t fair to burden Mano with another man’s child.
Anyway, did he really think they had a future together? The man who didn’t date anyone longer than a week? What if she said yes, quit her job, gave up her apartment and moved to Hawaii, only to have him change his mind? Then what would she do? It was bad enough that it would break her heart, but as much as she might love him, she couldn’t do that to her child, either.
Exhausted, Paige finally arrived home early the next morning, slipped the key into her apartment door and stumbled inside. She dropped her bags on the floor, then shouted in surprise as she noticed a figure in her apartment, sitting on her couch.
Her heart was still racing double time when she realized it was her sister, Piper. “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked. She was too tired and emotionally spent to use her polite filter. Especially with the woman who had run off with the father of her child. Not that she wanted him any longer.
Piper stood up to greet her anxiously. Paige noticed her normally attractive face was blotchy and red and her eyes were puffy. She’d been crying. “I came by because