Escape With Me (Love With Me 1)

He glanced over at her friends, but they were in the kitchen. He could hear them talking quietly as they put the dishes in the sink.

“Lorna kissed me.” His voice was flat.

Cassie's eyes went wide for a moment. “What?”

“I didn't kiss her back,” he assured her. He sighed. “But, she made sure to do it in front of the photographers.”

Cassie's eyes narrowed. “Of course she did. And I bet she made it look good, didn't she?”

Wyatt nodded, shame creeping up the back of his neck. “I swear to you Cassie, I didn't kiss her back. I didn't give her any indication that it was wanted or--”

“I know you didn't,” she cut him off. She put a hand to his cheek and smiled up at him. “You look too damn miserable about it.”

“It's going to be in the press,” he told her.

She sighed, dropping her hand. “I know. That's Lorna's style. She's relentless and incredibly selfish. I half expected something like this from her. She probably paid half the photographers to be there.”

Wyatt felt the balloon of fear inside him start to deflate. Cassie wasn't angry. He'd suspected she wouldn't be, but it felt good to know he'd been right.

“We're going to head out,” Janessa announced. Wyatt turned to see Cassie's three former roommates standing by the door with their things and shoes already on.

“Thank you guys for coming over,” Cassie told them. She leaned against Wyatt.

“Any time. We should do this more often anyway,” Julia replied with a grin. “Wyatt, you're going to have to go out on more dates.”

She said it with a wink and a laugh, but Wyatt had a hard time cracking a smile.

“Thanks for having us,” Janessa quickly said, reading the mood of the room. She smiled and pushed the other two out before they could make any more inappropriate jokes.

The songs of the past still played in the living room, filling the silence after the guests had left.

Cassie sighed and went to the living room, turning off the music. She went to the kitchen and got a fresh glass of wine before throwing herself into the couch and taking a big sip.

“Are you okay?” Wyatt asked. He really meant to ask if they were okay.

She gave him a weak smile and patted the couch beside her.

“I'm just having a hard time adjusting,” she admitted when he sat down. “My life was boring before this. It was just work. I followed Corporate's rules, and my life ran smoothly. Corporate doesn't have any guidelines on what to do when dating a famous billionaire. I looked.”

“I'm sorry,” he said softly.

She sighed again. “It's not your fault,” she replied. “Not really.”

“What if we went back to the Caribbean?” Wyatt hadn't planned on asking now. He still wanted everything to be perfect, but the longer he waited, the more the question pressed on him. He didn't want to be in the city anymore. He wanted to go home. He was so tired of being here that he asked the question without it being perfect.

“That would be great,” Cassie replied. Her whole body relaxed. “I could go for that.”

Wyatt's heart nearly burst from his chest. It had been so much easier than he'd been afraid of. He'd been worried over nothing.

“This should all be blown over in a couple of weeks,” Cassie continued. She smiled as she planned in her mind. “Then we can come back, and we won't be followed by cameras everywhere. I can go back to work. I can go back to my apartment and get clothes.”

Some of the elation ebbed away. “What? Why would we come back?” Wyatt asked.

A mix of surprise and confusion pulled Cassie's brows together. “Why wouldn't we? The islands are just a vacation... right?”

“No. The island is home. Our home.”

Cassie fell silent for a moment. She shifted away from him.