“Checking in?” he asks. I read Scott on his nametag.
“Actually, Scott, I need your help. I have an outgoing ticket to Minneapolis in two days, but I need to get home today.”
“Oh, let’s see what we can do,” he says. I pass him my license, and he starts tapping on the keys, bringing up my name. “I have a ticket in first class available on a flight that leaves in forty-five minutes. Will that do?”
“That might be the most perfect thing you could have said to me.” I need to get out of Seattle.
Scott grins. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to check your bag.”
“Can I carry it on?”
Scott looks at my suitcase. “Yes, it looks like it’ll fit. This is a larger plane. Just make sure you don’t have any prohibited items like liquids over three ounces and the like. Okay, Lexi, let me work a little magic, and we’ll get you on your way.”
It takes the wonderful Scott less than three minutes to get everything switched, and before long, I’m rushing through SeaTac to get to my gate in time.
They’re already boarding when I arrive. Because I’m first class, I am pushed through quickly, and then I’m in my seat.
When they close the boarding door, no one is seated next to me.
I’m all alone.
I manage to hold myself together until we’re in the air, and I watch Seattle disappear through the clouds.
Then, I cover my mouth with my hand and feel the tears well up. I don’t want to go, but I have no choice. Because being in love with Shawn O’Callaghan isn’t an option for me.
He lives in Seattle.
My life is in Minneapolis.
It can never work. Any relationship with him would only lead to heartbreak.
I feel more tears fall on my cheeks.
Too late. We’re already at heartbreak. I can’t do this. I can’t love someone so much, someone so wonderful, knowing that he can never be mine.
It’s not fair to me.
It’s definitely not fair to him, either. I changed the rules. I’m the one who suddenly can’t handle a coworkers-with-benefits situation.
Not him. He didn’t do anything wrong.
But I feel like we’re both being punished.
“Are you okay, Ms. Perry?”
I glance up at the first-class flight attendant.
“No. But I will be.”Chapter 18~Shawn~The sun streams into the room. I can see it, even through closed eyes. I take a deep breath and frown at the unfamiliar scents filling my nostrils.
I roll to my back and open my eyes, and the past several hours flood my mind.
Lexi.
I’m with Lexi.
I grin and roll toward her but find the bed next to me empty. Which isn’t unusual where we’re concerned. During the month we spent together, we regularly woke up and left the bed to work, grab something to eat, or think while letting the other sleep.
I hope she’s either ordering or fetching us some coffee.
I sit on the edge of the bed and listen, but I don’t hear any movement in the suite. I use the restroom, and when I return to the bed, I reach for my phone and shoot her a text.
Me: Please tell me you’re foraging for caffeine. There’s a great little shop called Cherry Street Coffee. Grab cinnamon rolls, too.
I watch the screen after I hit send and frown when the text doesn’t go through.
What in the hell?
I rub my hand over my face and glance around the room, and every hair on my body stands on end.
I don’t see any of Lexi’s things.
A frenzied look in the closet and bathroom confirm that all of her belongings are gone. As is she. She isn’t out looking for breakfast at all.
She left.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter as I retrieve my phone once again.
Me: Never mind. You’re gone. Again.
I might as well take a shower and clear the cobwebs from my brain. I can’t believe I was so stupid. I thought I’d have a few days with her, at least.
I hoped to talk her into extending her stay so I could take her to the island for a little while. Maybe the cabin. I wanted more time.
I just wanted more.
It’s clear that Lexi doesn’t feel the same way about me as I do about her. For fuck’s sake, we had one night together again, one of the best nights of my life, and she ran away.
She doesn’t want me.
And as much as that hurts my ego and my heart, it’s a truth that I need to accept and move on from.
She couldn’t be clearer in her decision.* * *“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Maggie says when I answer the door to her knock. She has my brother Kane’s dog, Murphy, with her, and they both come inside.
Murphy wags his tail as I scratch him behind the ears, then he curls up on my couch for a nap.
“I’ve been working,” I reply and lead Maggie to the kitchen, where I finish making myself a sandwich. “Hungry?”