“This is my home.” Her voice was soft but stubborn. “This is where my life is.”
“What life?” Wyatt asked. Anger flared inside of him. He was so tired from the day. He'd used up all his emotional reserves dealing with Lorna. He could feel anger starting to form inside of him. He just wanted to go home. To leave all this behind and go back to the life that he loved.
Her eyes narrowed. “This is where my life is,” she repeated. “My house. My job, my friends. I don't have anything in the Caribbean.”
“What house?” he snapped. “You live in a tiny apartment. Your job? You've basically been fired. And your friends? I've seen what your friends do. They assault people to get what they want."
Anger flooded Cassie's pretty features. Her cheeks flushed, and her chest started to heave.
“How dare you,” she hissed. “My friends are good people. Lorna isn't my friend. You chose to go on that date. You know that Lorna isn't a friend.”
Wyatt didn't even care that he knew he was wrong. He was angry now. He was so tired of being here. He'd come here for Cassie, but she wasn't willing to do the same for him. She wasn't willing to give them a chance as he had.
He'd come to her home, but she wouldn't come to his.
“You don't have anything for you here,” he said, sounding logical and reasonable.
“It's my life,” she replied, drawing further away from him. “And it was just fine before you came and wrecked it. You're the one who dragged me into this me
ss. This is all your fault.”
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin defiantly. Her eyes flashed with fury, and her cheeks flushed with emotion and wine.
Wyatt vibrated with unleashed anger. He was here for her, yet she was ungrateful and unwilling to try. Guilt only added fuel to the fire consuming him.
“It's been a long day,” he said, rising to his feet. “I think it's best if I go to bed.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” she said the words with bitterness.
He tried to walk calmly to the bedroom, but he felt like stomping and swearing the entire way.
Nothing was going as planned. Nothing was working the way it was supposed to. He'd thought they would be already in their happily ever after, but Cassie showed no signs of leaving. She obviously didn't care for him as much as he did for her.
Heartache, guilt, and anger all fought in his chest as he flopped into bed. Sleep took a long time coming, especially because Cassie never joined him in bed.
She left him to sleep in his own anger. She wanted nothing to do with him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Cassie
Cassie's neck hurt the next day, and her back had a cramp that she couldn't stretch out.
The couch was not nearly as comfortable to sleep on as she'd expected. After a few hours, the once soft couch became too soft to be supportive. The blanket was too light, and every time the air conditioning kicked on, she got cold. The pillows were too small and decorative to be useful for actual sleep.
She'd nearly gotten up and gone to the bedroom several times, but each time her pride and spite got the best of her.
The fact that Wyatt would call Lorna her friend rankled. His dismissive attitude toward her job infuriated her. Sure, she wasn't a billionaire. She was just a hotel manager, but she had worked hard at it. She'd followed the rules. Didn't that mean something?
Why did she have to give it all up?
It wasn't fair. She wanted to be with Wyatt, but she didn't want to give up her life to do it.
She pretended to be asleep when Wyatt left the bedroom in the morning. He came out wearing a suit and tie. He paused as he approached the couch and stood there for a moment before sighing and then leaving the apartment.
Cassie wasn't sure if she should be angry or sad. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.
The longer she was with Wyatt, the more her priorities shifted. She wasn't the living, breathing embodiment of corporate policies anymore, but she wasn't free of her desire to make something of herself either.