Crazy in Love (Blue Lake #3)(51)

“What is it?” Cole asked, following her gaze to the window. “Someone out there?”

“No, it’s nothing.” She searched the walls, the floor, the ceiling. No ghostly-white butterfly. She folded her arms over her chest and tucked the blanket in her arms. “How was the concert?”


A smile turned up the corner of his lips. “I rocked it.”

Good for him. “I’m glad. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

As she tried to pass by, he touched her shoulder. “Rachael, can we talk?”

“Why don’t we just leave it?”

There was nothing to say. He was leaving. She was staying behind. She wanted to stay behind, she reminded herself. It was better for the both of them. There was nothing for him in Blue Lake, and there was no way she’d ever leave.

They didn’t need to rehash it.

Every time she thought about it, her heart panged.

“When I said I wish the whole thing had never happened,” he said, “I meant it. That picture is going to cause such a headache for you and everyone in his town.”

Her heart pinched so severely, she could’ve sworn it hardened to stone. She didn’t regret anything. Not one moment, one touch, one kiss.

She couldn’t look at him. “Why are you here?”

“I feel like I should warn you that Blue Lake is about to turn into a media feeding frenzy.”

When she finally met his gaze, her heart caught. “You already told me what was going to happen when we were backstage and I think I’ll handle it just fine. Maybe I’ll give the people from the magazine one of my brochures and ask them to stay.” She removed her arm from his grasp. “You know what? I might even give them a discount. It could be good for business, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “I think it’ll work out all right for you in the end.”

Something told Rachael he wasn’t only talking about her reservation book filling up.

“What will you do?” she asked, stepping back to get some breathing room.

“What can I do?” He shrugged. “Rita’s going to work her magic to minimize the bad press, starting with checking me out of here tonight. She’s coming with the crew in a few hours to get my things.”

“You’re leaving tonight?”

“We thought it’d be better this way.”

She nodded, not really understanding.

“Tomorrow morning I’ll make a statement regarding what happened with Tori. I’ll have to apologize for ending things the way I did.”

“And what will you say about us?”

The second Rachael spoke the words, she yearned to take them back.

He closed the distance between them and stopped a breath away. “I’ll say whatever you want. If you want me to say that I kissed you, but you didn’t return my feelings, I will. If you want me to apologize for crossing a line, I’ll do it.”

Chills scampered up her arms as she gazed into his honey-brown eyes. “What’s the truth?”

“About us?”

She nodded quickly.

“I did cross a line by kissing you when I knew I shouldn’t have. But I don’t regret it.”

“But you said—”

“I wish none of this would’ve happened so the coming weeks and months would be easier for you. They’re already calling you a bimbo and that’s only the start of the mud-slinging. It kills me to think of someone hurting you because of something I did.” He reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “If I were telling the truth about us, I’d say I kissed you and felt something I hadn’t felt in years.” His deep voice was barely above a whisper. “I’d say that the last few days here with you have been some of the best of my life. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I got to be normal…I’d forgotten how freeing that felt.”