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I didn’t doubt she meant every single word. If I didn’t get this right, I was going to make it far, far worse. “Will you help us?”
She pursed her lips, not answering me for several seconds. I was about to apologize for even asking when she nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. And let me guess. You want a hut to hide in while you scheme?”
Daniel took her hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes twinkling the whole time. “You bless us in our mission. I hope that’s not too much to ask.”
“All right, follow me and I’ll find you somewhere and help you get an idea of what to do. Then you’re on your own. But while you’re at this business, you might want to make sure Lukas gains some of your charm.”
Daniel chuckled and I rolled my eyes despite the gratitude I felt. With their help, maybe I could at least take away some of the damage I had done to Kit’s life. She was turning down jobs because I had broken her heart. I didn’t dare to hope I could ever have her forgive me for what I’d done. And as a dom, the way I’d failed to take care of her, I knew I didn’t deserve it.
I did want to make sure the rest of her life was as happy as it could be and as full as she should have it. Her career shouldn’t be compromised because of me.
Sarai led us down a side path between several huts until we reached the end of a cluster and then she used her master keys to open up one of them.
“If you make a mess in here, you’re paying for it to be cleaned up,” Sarai said as we all trooped inside.
There was no way I was arguing with her when she was in this mood.
“I’ll send you something for a cleaning fee when we’re done, no matter how we leave it.” If I was fixing this, money wasn’t going to matter. A glance at Henry had him making a note of it, too. Having a PA was certainly going to make this easier, but I was sure a lot of the effort needed to come from me.
Sarai sighed as she noticed Henry helping pick up the pieces. “You’re lucky I’m sure he’s here helping ‘cause he wants to be and not because you’re paying him to.”
“He’s good to me. We all make mistakes. I’m happy to help him fix one of his worst.” Henry looked smug for a brief second and I knew no matter how much I paid him, I would owe him after this.
“All right. The most important place to start is her career,” I said. “She’s turning down jobs because of me. I don’t want that. Is there some way we can fix it that she’ll accept?”
Sarai shook her head. “As much as I admire you for wanting to start there, I’ve tried everything I can think of. She won’t work with anyone else. Doesn’t want to be burned by it all again and take any more risks. All she wants is to go back to the UK.”
No one spoke for several minutes. No matter how much I wanted to put this right, it seemed it might be impossible.
“What if she could work with you again?” I asked, the cogs in my head beginning to turn.
Sarai lifted an eyebrow and considered the question. “How do you proposethatmight work?”
CHAPTER NINETY
Kit
By the time half an hour had passed, I was sitting around the table with my friends. A few of them had gone back to the restaurant to get more food and drink, even though I was supposed to be allergic to something.
“People are beginning to leave now,” Jeff said. “They’ve all seen the place and schmoozed. Even the press has everything they could want. Little bit of drama and plenty of photos.”
I frowned. The drama had to be because of me. After everything I’d done to stay out of the limelight, it seemed I had found it anyway. It didn’t make me feel any better.
“Why don’t we start getting ready for the road trip? Take our minds off all of this. If we’re pretty much done here, then we can get going and have some fun.” Stacy finished the last of her drink and got up as if she wanted to make it a reality right then and there.
Most of the rest of the group hadn’t finished eating yet, however. I didn’t feel very hungry, but even I had nibbled on some of my favorite foods. I liked the idea of leaving as soon as I could and was more than happy to leave whenever they were all ready.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back here at the end?” Stacy asked. “We’d love to see some more of the places you’ve been visiting.”
Although I wanted to shake my head and put this whole place behind me, I knew there were restaurants and stores that I’d found without Lukas. Places I had gone alone or with Sarai. We hadn’t been able to go everywhere in the few days we’d had.
“There could be one or two places you might be able to persuade me to add to the trip…but at the end. After we’ve been away for a few days.”
“That works for us.” Thankfully Stacy dropped it there and I knew that gave me time to change my mind again if I really didn’t want to come back. Getting away for a week with them would make it a lot easier to sort my emotions out. There would no longer be any fear I would run into Lukas anywhere, and I would be able to talk.
No more work, no more pressure. Just friends and fun and no men. I was more than ready for it.
We were finishing up and beginning to clean up after ourselves so we left the hut the way we’d found it when Daniel came back. He had Henry with him, and I lifted an eyebrow, the familiar fear that Lukas might be coming along behind him rising in me.
