Chapter 26
Lacey
I had to get a drink before I kissed him back. Tonight was not supposed to be about being with him but about making money. I wasn’t supposed to enjoy it. Why was this happening? I walked up to the bar. “Vodka tonic with lime, please.” I needed liquor to survive this night. Things were going completely different than I imagined. It was clear he was still into me; the problem was, is that what I wanted?
He had been sneaking compliments all night. Matteo was trying to smooth things over between us, but it would take more than a fancy business dinner to do that. I wanted an apology. I knew it sounded childish, but he humiliated me in front of his entire family. How could we ever be an actual couple? I’m sure his family hated me after that. How would we explain it? My mind wouldn’t stop thinking about it. I gulped my drink down and right as I did, he was behind me with his hand on my back again.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have said that about tearing your dress off you earlier. I realized how perverted that sounded. I just wanted you to know how beautiful you look tonight. That’s all.”
If I didn’t speak up tonight, I never would have the opportunity. “Why did you do it? Back in the Bahamas? You could have stopped and just let me leave, but no, you had to continue belittling me in front of a whole crowd of people. People I grew very fond of. Do you know how horrible that felt?”
I couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth. It just started exploding out of it. I couldn’t stop it. Once my mouth started moving, it wouldn’t stop. Everything that had been rattling around in my brain in the last few weeks to say to him was coming out. There was no filter.
“For you to say the kiss meant nothing? Here I was thinking maybe, just maybe, you were the man I had come to know while we were there, but you proved me wrong.”
I didn’t stay to see his full reaction. I raced out of there as fast as my heels would let me. I just wanted to go back to my dorm room and bawl my eyes out. Tonight had not gone the way I envisioned. If I had known, I would have called and canceled with Dr. Shepard. My eyes began to water, and I couldn’t prevent the tears. I had just reopened a wound that I had tried to close with duct tape. The only problem was it only temporarily sealed it. Eventually, it was going to give out. I needed to get out of there; the last thing I wanted was for him to catch me crying over him.
I heard him running out after me. “Lacey, please don’t run away from me. Let me explain.”
Honestly, earlier I wanted an apology, but now I didn’t. There was no way I wanted to hear how he felt. At this point, if he didn’t feel the same way, I was not sure I could handle it. It was better to just leave things like this. And for that reason, I continued running down the busy city street. Me, in this beautiful fuchsia dress and him following me in a tux. We got many looks from passing cars, but that didn’t slow me down. A couple blocks over, I had to stop and take a breather before continuing. Running in heels wasn’t fun. It was painful. It looked so easy in the movies. I could hear his footsteps getting closer, but there was no way I could run yet. I was hunched over, gathering air, when he appeared next to me.
“I should have stopped; you’re right,” he said, out of breath. “I went too far and pushed you away. Please believe me, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I planned to come back and ask you out on a proper date. No more contracts. However, I knew with the way you left, you weren’t interested anymore. I didn’t want to push you after that.”
My heart skipped hearing him confess his plans to me. “So, why did you ask me to escort you here tonight?” I didn’t want him to know how thrilled I was hearing the words come from his mouth.
“I wanted to see you. Honestly, I didn’t want the end of the Bahamas to be the last memory you had of me. I’m not that guy, Lacey. I’m the guy who loves watching cheesy by the book romance movies. Plus, I once got some great advice. True love is real, but you must be open to it when it presents itself. If you are always so closed off, who knows if you had already missed your opportunity?”
I instantly smiled. I was in no way implying that person was me when telling him that. It was funny how things worked out there. He pulled me close to him, and I could smell his wonderful cologne I had spent so many hours wishing I could catch a scent of after leaving him.
“I don’t want you to be my missed opportunity. You opened my eyes. You made me realize all the things I wanted would only be available if I open myself up to receiving them. The night before the wedding, I knew it was you. There was no way we were coming back as just a business arrangement,” he said while gazing into my eyes and tucking my hair behind my ear.
I wanted to interrupt him, but I had been waiting so long to hear him express himself that I didn’t want to ruin the moment. I kept silent until I knew he was truly done. I smiled at him and brought him closer. “I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t accepted your job. You completely sideswiped me while out there. I hated you when we left here, and by the end of our time in the Bahamas, I was dreading leaving your side. Please don’t ever make me do that again.” That was all I had left to say.
He had no reply but planted a quick, passionate kiss on me. Afterward, we realized all this just happened in front of about ten people who were just standing around us, waiting to see what the outcome was going to be. We had been so caught up in the moment that we didn’t realize all these people stopped.
An older woman with a cane that stood behind me asked, “So, are you taking him back or what?”
I laughed, smiled at Matteo, and replied, “We were never actually together.”