The Wrong Gentleman(67)

“I have to study, then I have work. And I really need some time to get my head around everything you’ve said.”

“Promise me that you won’t just skip out of town without telling me.”

“You think I could do that?” He might have lied to me, but he knew me better than anyone, and I’d never do that.

“I just don’t want this to be the last time I see you.”

I hadn’t noticed how tired he looked before now. I desperately wanted to go, sit on his lap, and take his face in my hands, and soothe him. But I had to hold back. Be sensible. I had to make sure I wasn’t making a decision in the heat of the moment.

“I promise I won’t leave town.”

“Oh, I want you to leave town. I just want you to do it with me.”

I smiled at his comment as he stood. “I think you’re a little crazy,” I said.

“I’m just a man who realized what he gave up a little late.”

My stomach fluttered at his words. I believed him. It was me I didn’t trust.

I didn’t trust myself not to fall for this man completely. And that scared me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give in to that kind of passion in my life.





Thirty-Nine





Landon


Three days. Three long fucking days since I’d last seen Skylar. I was trying to be patient, but resisting the urge to count every hour was becoming increasingly difficult. I turned right out of the hotel lift toward my bedroom, taking two long strides around the corner to see if anyone was waiting.

Nope. Just wishful thinking.

When I got to my room, I pulled the note that I’d left pinned on the door. I didn’t want to risk Skylar turning up and me not being there and her thinking I’d given up. Because I hadn’t. I wouldn’t.

She’d said she needed time to think, and I got that. I just didn’t like it. So I’d spent the last three days running to keep busy. I’d jogged past the diner where she worked. Past the home where she’d spent four years of her life after her parents had died. I’d run around the city she’d called home until she’d left it for a better life. I felt closer to her like this, but this town didn’t represent Skylar. No more than yachting did. She was lost in both worlds and belonged to neither.

I wanted her to belong to me.

How long would it take for her to make contact? Or was she hoping I’d give up? I’d give her until tomorrow night and then go see her again.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. No doubt it was Avery checking up on me again. I’d been avoiding her calls. She was trying to help, but I didn’t want to discuss tactics with Skylar’s friend. I wanted to win her over because of who I was and what I offered, not because I’d maneuvered things to go in my direction.

Jesus. What had the girl done to me?

I didn’t recognize the number, but it was local so I accepted the call.

“How was your run?” Skylar’s familiar, sexy voice echoed down the line, and my heart clanged against my ribcage.

“Good. I’m just back. Did you guess or—”

“I saw you jog past the diner. Yesterday, too. I’m guessing you know where I waitress.”

“I do. Seems I have to work at being less conspicuous.”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing you gave up the field work.”

Silence filled the space between us. I didn’t want to push, but I knew if I spoke, whatever I said would come out as a plea.

“Are you busy?” she asked.

“No. Never. Not for you.”

“Okay. Good.” Her smile curled around her words, and I couldn’t help but picture a pink tinge to her cheeks. “Can I come over?”

“Yes, or . . .” I glanced down at my sweaty body. I needed a shower. “Or I can come to you?”

Movement at the other end of the corridor caught my attention, and I looked up to find Skylar, her phone to her ear, coming around the corner.

The pulse in my neck froze as she glanced up to find me standing there. She grinned and then stopped herself. “Hi,” she said into the phone, pausing at the other end of the corridor.

I hoped she wasn’t here to say goodbye. To say that she couldn’t live with the uncertainty of being with a man who had broken her trust, no matter the reason. “You look beautiful,” I said, almost stuttering. Her blonde hair was down, her jeans clung to her hips, and there wasn’t a trace of makeup on her face.

As she walked toward me, her beauty was almost overwhelming. Breathtaking. And it shone from the inside. I knew how kind and sweet she was. How the smile covered up the pain she carried. I’d hate myself forever if today was the last time I saw her.

“I changed when I got back from work,” she said and then hung up. She was so close I could almost touch her.

“I should shower,” I said.

“I can wait.”

“But I’m not sure I can.” I pulled out the plastic key card from my shorts, opened the door then held it for her, gesturing for her to go inside. Did I want to shower before I heard what she had to say? I didn’t want her to change her mind and leave while I was in the bathroom. I didn’t want her to leave at all.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she wandered into the room.

“Are you always this tidy?” she asked.