The One I Love

“I knew you weren’t that willing to give up this life.” I laughed.

“You ready to get out of here and head to New York?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Sure, sounds good. You know how I don’t like to be in one place very often.”

“Did you say goodbye to Bea?”

“Yeah,” I replied and then changed the subject. “I think I’m going to grab a coffee for the plane. You want one?”

“No.” He chuckled. “I’ve had way too much caffeine already. I just had a red eye from home to here.”

“That’s right,” I said, nodding. “I completely forgot.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, I just raced out of the hotel. You know I am always late to everything.” I laughed, pulling out my wallet. “I woke up like an hour before I needed to be here, so I packed as fast as I could. I always hate it when I have to rush. I didn’t even stop by and have breakfast. Though I did make a detour and pick up our checks.”

“Oh, great,” he said, laughing. “I spent a bit more than I expected to while I was home.”

“That always happens,” I replied. “Okay, I’m gonna grab a coffee. I’ll be right back.”

I could see the look that Glen was giving me. He had known me long enough to know that I was not actually okay, and that something else was going on that I didn’t really want to talk about. Usually, he would hound me about it until I answered, but I think he knew that it had something to do with Bea. He also knew how sensitive I was to the whole idea of getting attached to someone at one of the resorts. Yet, there I was, moping around, trying to remember what happened that I fell so hard for the girl with the striking eyes. I knew that I had made a mistake, but it wasn’t one that I would have done any differently had I known how it would turn out.

Glen was a good friend, and I was really glad that he decided to not bring things up. I knew that if I had to explain, it would just make me feel worse. I didn’t know when I would feel better about all of this, but I knew I had to try. Bea had made it very clear that she didn’t want to be involved, and even though I wanted to believe that it was really because she was right, I knew part of it had to do with her own fears.

Hopefully, I would eventually be able to let this go.

Chapter 20

One Month Later

Bea

It had been a little over a month since I left Aspen, and still, every morning when I woke up, I thought about Cameron, and every night when I laid down to go to sleep, I thought of him, too. I wondered where he was and if he was thinking of me, too. I wondered if our paths would actually cross again, or would it really just be a romance left to our memories? I had picked back up at work and was writing another romance. This one was completely up to my own creativity. When I read back through the first chapter, I found that I had created a character with Cameron’s sense of humor, his charisma, his charm, and his sexy as hell smile. I guessed I thought that if I wrote him out of my head and onto a sheet of paper, I could keep him there and finally get a good night’s sleep.

This morning, though, when the light shimmered through the windows and my eyes shot open, I immediately jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom. Getting the stomach flu had nothing on whatever was going on with me. I sat there breathing heavily, my forehead resting on the cool porcelain seat of the toilet. Lord, I felt like complete hell. I was shuddering, my stomach was doing flip flops, and sweat was pouring from my forehead. I sat there for quite a while, too afraid to get up and end up puking all over the floor. After my stomach had settled, I pulled myself off the floor with a groan and walked over to the sink, looking up at my pale face in the mirror. I pulled the thermometer from the cabinet and took my temperature. It was strange. I didn’t have a fever.

I took in a deep breath and brushed my teeth, pulling my hair back in a ponytail and walking out to the kitchen. I fixed myself some toast, but before I could even think of biting into it, I was back in the bathroom, lying across the toilet, hating my life. My phone buzzed wildly against the marble counter around the sink, and I reached up and grabbed it. It was Hailey.

“Hello?” I answered, sounding almost as miserable as I felt.

“Hey, uh, why do you sound like you are half-dead?”

“Maybe because I feel like my insides are trying desperately to become my outsides,” I said.

“Oh, gosh. Is it the flu?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “No chills, no aches, and no fever. Well, no aches besides my lower back, but I am assuming it’s just because I have been tossing and turning like crazy at night.”

“Food poisoning?”

“I ate like a bagel and a cup of coffee yesterday,” I said. “And I’ve had food out of the same package.”

“Weird,” she said. “Well, I’ll jump in the car and pick you up some of that soup—”

“Don’t say it,” I said, feeling nauseated again. “Just let yourself in. I’ll most likely be dead on the bathroom floor.”

“Oh, good,” she said. “You know how I feel about finding dead bodies in the kitchen. It’s much harder to clean up after.”