The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(86)
“Thanks, Doc.” Tag pushed out of the chair. His brother had suggested he go to Maui for a good reason. Tag needed to go to Maui not only for himself but also for Rachel. For them. Before he went mental. “Guess I’m off to Maui.”
“Send me a postcard,” Reese said from his desk, flipping through the stack of pink notes again.
Tag turned for the door, feeling better and, oddly enough, worse. Part of him felt like he was running, but if he expected to figure out what had him knotted up, Hawaii could hold the answers.
In front of Bobbie’s desk, Tag stopped and sent her a grin. “Darling, can you book me a flight to Maui?”
“Sure thing, sugarplum,” Bobbie said with the smile he’d been trying to tease from her for years. “When are you leaving?”
*
“I already miss you so much!” Bree cried. Not literally, but her face scrunched up like she might cry at any moment.
“You are a broken record,” Rachel teased. “I’ll miss you, too. At least we’ll work my last shift here together.”
“I guess.” With an exaggerated pout, Bree continued, “You have a fancy job, and a fancy life, and soon you’ll be married and living in Tuscany.”
“I don’t even like Tuscany.”
“Love makes you do crazy things.”
“I never said I was in love,” Rachel said with an uncomfortable laugh.
Bree propped a hand on her hip. “I’m not blind, Rach.”
“Miss, can I get a Monte Cristo sandwich to go?” a customer, waving a twenty, said at the worst possible time. Bree handled the transaction quickly and delivered an on-the-house Coke with a smile. Then she was back to Rachel.
“Besides, I can’t be in love with him,” Rachel said. “I don’t think he’s in love with me.”
Bree clucked her tongue like Rachel was being petty. “Why would you say that?”
“Because he flew to Hawaii yesterday morning.” He was excited about the trip—almost too excited. Seeing him jazzed about leaving stung.
Bree screwed her eyes up to the ceiling. “So?”
“So? He’s been acting downright twitchy since he offered his penthouse as my home away from home, and then yesterday he was bouncing off the walls because he was going to Hawaii.”
“Well, it is Hawaii. And you shouldn’t be surprised. His job requires traveling.”
“I know he travels. Traveling is not the issue.” Rachel huffed, knowing she sounded petty and grouchy. “I’m excited to hear from him already. Like, I’m already waiting for him to call.”
“That’s because you love him.” Bree beamed, fluttering her lashes.
Thank God Rachel hadn’t told Tag that. He’d have booked a trip to the moon instead of Maui.
“He has been gone less than a day, and I miss him so much my chest hurts. I can’t help but remember how much I depended on Shaun and how he ended up leaving. Tag hasn’t given me any indication we’ll stay together for the long haul.”
“Do you want to stay with him for the long haul?”
Rachel pressed her lips together. She didn’t know. Yes. No. Maybe. She needed a Magic 8 Ball.
“But he hasn’t asked you to leave,” Bree said.
“No, he’s been intensely polite about my being there,” Rachel said flatly. Her newfound situation smacked of what Lucas’s wife, Gena, had told Rachel in that restaurant bathroom. Tag had a lot of girl space friends. Because he never wanted to hurt them, so he let them down as easily as possible. “Shaun slowly cut me loose, too, Bree. Months and months passed by before things imploded. I can’t let that happen again.”
Remembering the slow fade and painful breakup was enough to make Rachel break out in hives. Was she on the brink of another breakup like it?
“Rach.” Bree’s eyes filled with concern. “It makes sense for you to be nervous about where things are heading. Love is big and scary. You’re both probably adjusting. I’ve seen you with him, and I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He looks like a man in love to me. Maybe he hasn’t admitted it yet. To himself or to you.”
Rachel considered the possibility. How long until he admitted it? Until she did? They could lose another season dancing around each other and never making any progress. She couldn’t take that. Not again.
“Once he calls you’ll feel better,” Bree said. “I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Tag is not Shaun. He’s not plotting your corporate demise.”
Another customer sat at the bar, and Bree moved to greet him.
Rachel pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time, calculating the flight to Honolulu, how long it’d take to land and arrive at the Crane Makai hotel…
Bree was right. Tag was nothing like Shaun. He bested her ex in every way. But she couldn’t escape the idea that her loving Tag was a one-way street, and she knew exactly where that street ended—with her, alone, picking up the pieces on a life she hadn’t ordered.
She needed to find out what was going on in Tag’s head.
*
Tag called the next afternoon at one her time. She was typing an email and stopped midsentence when her cell phone showed his name. She slipped away from her desk and she stepped into the hallway by the elevators for privacy.