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“That’s what you meant when you said I deserve more.” She cocked her head, his words from last night rushing to the forefront of her memory. “I’m worthy of a man who doesn’t offer lies. I shouldn’t have to guess at what he’s feeling.” Her voice rose with each word. “Or worse, what he’ll do.”
“I would never hurt you,” he said firmly.
“But you did,” she said. Her hand went to her cheek, then touched her chest. “Just not in the way you think.” Her sister had been right—this man had broken her heart. “The moment you decided to hide the truth from me, you hurt me.”
“It wasn’t all a lie,” he said quietly. “I thought you were gorgeous from the moment I saw you staring at that painting. One look and I pictured your dress hitting the floor. And when you wrapped your perfect lips around the chocolate strawberry, I knew willpower would only carry me so far. The sex was never one-sided.”
He was right. It hadn’t all been a lie. The nightclub. The Bellagio fountains. Their trip to the beach. The ice machine. And the way he’d focused on her while she stroked him under the table last night. Those moments were real. She could see that.
In those moments, he’d made her feel gorgeous, pushed her to recognize the feeling and hold on to it. She would leave Vegas feeling a sense of beauty. And with a faith in herself that had been buried for too long. But that was the only thing leaving Vegas with her.
“I want more, Cade. Trust, love, a future with someone who wants to worship me in bed and out, someone I can cherish in return. And I think we both know that I can’t have that with you. Because at the end of the day, you were willing to let me leave Vegas without ever telling me the truth.”
“I’m not in a position to give you what you need,” he said, his jaw tight as if it pained him to say those words. “My job comes first. I knew that from the start. And I swear I never meant to hurt you.”
Only lie to me.
She nodded. “I’d like to pack. I’m ready to go home now. This morning. And I need to have a few words with my sister.”
“This isn’t her fault,” he said. “I crossed the line, turned a simple mission to keep an eye on you into something more.”
“Don’t you see?” she said. “I never should have been a mission in the first place.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “I know. And trust me, I plan to play that card when negotiating for visitation with my dog.” His arms fell to his sides as he headed for the door. “I’ll go.”
The Navy SEAL, movie-star look-alike stepped over the doughnuts and headed for the door.
“Good-bye,” she said as he disappeared into the hall. Call her a coward, but she didn’t plan to be there when he returned. There was nothing left to say. Not when he’d proven anything more would only lead to pain.
She crossed the room, picked up her phone, and typed out a quick message to her sister.
We need to talk. But first, I have to catch a plane.
She drew a deep breath, opened the closet, and started pulling out clothes. She could walk away as if her heart wasn’t breaking into pieces.
She could do this.
She had to.
Chapter Nineteen
When a mission went south, Cade shouldered his share of the responsibility. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter who made the call that sent them spiraling into clusterfuck territory. He owned his share of the mistake.
He found a table in the buffet’s open seating area and sank into a chair. While Natalie deserved some of the blame for sending him to derail her sister’s plans, he’d chosen to fulfill Lucia’s fantasy list. And hiding the truth from her? That was on him, too.
But when a mission slid into the danger zone, he started brainstorming the next step. The hostage wasn’t at this location? Okay, where had he been taken? The next step was always on his mind.
Looking at this mess, recalling the stricken look on Lucia’s face, he couldn’t see a way out. Logic dictated that he walk away. She needed space to heal. And the strong woman who’d made it crystal clear that she should have a man in her life who offered her honest words alongside his actions—she could move on from this.
But could he?
“I haven’t been to a Vegas buffet in years,” his dad said, claiming the seat across from him. He set down a plate piled with eggs and bacon. He’d added one lonely piece of melon into the mix alongside a frosting-covered danish.
“Thanks for dropping everything. And for making the trip over,” Cade said.
“I wasn’t doing much, and you said it was important.” His dad picked up his fork and knife, slicing his eggs into precise, equal-sized pieces. “Something to do with that girl?”
“She’s leaving. Heading back
