Rescue Me(39)

"That was unbelievable," he said, his face showing the sincerity of his words.

"You really think so?" she asked, basking in the praise.

"Absolutely." He turned to Cole. "I have to say I was skeptical about the idea of you dancing, but with moves like that it's no wonder you can have any woman you want."

Meredith choked on the gulp of water she had just taken. Thanks for the reminder.

Cole just smiled, but didn't meet her eyes. They had to play it cool.

"I'm glad you came to see it," she said.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss out on your pet project. From the reactions, it looks like the program might be everything you said."

"I hope so." And she really did. For Brandon's sake, foremost, but it was also a relief to know she had pulled it off.

Before they could say anything else Katrina called them back over to break down some of the steps for the class and Brandon made his exit saying he wished he could see more, but had to get back to work.

The next two hours flew by, and by all accounts it was a smashing success. The students filed out of the room, many of them coming up to Cole and Meredith and thanking them for putting it together and letting them know they'd be back before their trip was over.

"Make sure you come to the dance club on Thursday night. There will be an open ballroom session for an hour before the usual DJ takes over." That had been Meredith's idea. If the students had an opportunity to practice what they learned in a fun environment it was more likely to stick and create momentum for the program.

She turned to Cole. She had the rest of the afternoon free but was too pumped up to just sit on the beach. "Do you have time for getting out on the water?"

He shook his head. "I actually have a conference call with my superior officer in a little bit. But I'll catch you later. And we have one more lesson booked for tomorrow."

She was aware of it but had been trying not to think about it. They only had two more days together and she wanted to spend every minute of it with him. Masking her disappointment, she said, "Okay, I'll be around."

He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, lingering for just a moment longer than necessary, then he was gone.

Meredith stood rooted to the spot, watching the door he had disappeared through, her heart in her throat. As much as she'd tried to keep things light, she knew that getting into a cab and heading to the airport on Friday was going to be one of the hardest things she'd ever done in her life.

Katrina walked up to her. "You okay?"

Trying her hardest to appear nonchalant, she turned to her friend and smiled. "Couldn't be better. The class was even better than I'd hoped. This is going to be so amazing for you. I'm so excited to see where this goes."

Katrina wasn't buying it. She should have known. They'd grown close over the past two weeks, and Meredith realized she was going to miss her desperately as well. She threw her arms around her friend and told her as much.

"Oh, Mere, I'll miss you too. You have to find a way to make it back down here more often."

"I'll try," she said, but she knew she wouldn't be coming back to the resort anytime soon. The memories of Cole would be too fresh.

Pulling back from Katrina's hug, she was shocked to find tears running down her cheeks.

"Don't cry," Katrina said. "You'll have me a mess, too, and I have another class to teach this afternoon."

Meredith tried to laugh it off. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so emotional." But she did know.

Katrina smiled sympathetically and gave her a quick squeeze. Meredith figured Katrina had guessed the real reason for her teary state. Telling her goodbye before she became a puddle on the ground, Meredith hurried back to her suite to change clothes.

She was angry at herself. She should have done a better job at keeping herself in check with Cole, but it had been so easy to fall into the moment, to get lost in a fantasy. Something about him had tied her heart in knots and she couldn't bear to think about going back to her normal life and him not being a part of it.

She wasn't cut out for a fling. She'd gotten too close, and now she was going to pay the price.

Far too wound up to relax, she opened up her laptop to check her email. The newest message she saw had her hands flying to her mouth. In anticipation or dread, she wasn't sure.

It was from the human resources department at work. She stared at it for an eternity, uncertain if she wanted to know what it contained. She'd come to the resort to get her mind off her job, and she'd done it. So well, in fact, that she'd all but forgotten she should be hearing back about her promotion at any moment.

It looked like that time had come.

With a shaking hand, she moved her fingers over her laptop, opened the email and scanned it quickly.

She'd gotten the job. She fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. After all her hard work and all the years of sacrificing everything, she had finally gotten what she'd been working toward.

She should be elated, jumping on the bed, screaming off the balcony, calling her brother.

Instead, all she felt like doing was curling into a ball and sobbing.

***





Cole knew he should have found Meredith after his lesson was over, but instead he'd headed straight for the bar. He was sitting on a stool, nursing his third beer and avoiding her. Something had changed between them in the past few days and he didn't know what to do about it.