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Guilt crept over him. Granted it wasn’t his fault he was born into money and could hop on his private plane any time of the day or night he wanted, but he still felt like Abby had been cheated of seeing the beauty of the world. And she’d cheated the world of seeing her beauty.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said in a rush, then popped the orange into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed and continued, “I love all the traveling I’ve gotten to do with you, but I’d like to go somewhere where I can leave my laptop behind and just pack a bikini and some sunscreen.”
The image of her in a bikini had him dropping his own fork. The metal clattered against his plate.
“Maybe when things calm down in a few weeks you can take that much-needed vacation to anywhere.” He hoped he masked his blunder well enough by moving the conversation forward. “In fact, I’ll pay for your trip. Think of it as your yearly bonus.”
Abby’s bright eyes dimmed a bit before darting down to her plate. “I don’t want to go alone. Besides, you’re paying me more than enough for planning the wedding. I can’t accept any more money.”
Yeah, the wedding. Funny how that word kept creeping into their private conversations.
Nine
The next morning offered bright, beautiful sunshine as Abby and Cade boarded his private jet once again for yet another honeymoon location.
Abby knew she needed to bump up the “amenities” she was supposed to be researching. Dinners were proving to be too emotional. For her anyway.
The way Cade kept quizzing her about her lifestyle only made her feel more pathetic. She hadn’t realized just how lonely her nonexistent social life was until she heard the words aloud.
This plane ride was short. So short, in fact, that Abby and Cade didn’t speak a word in flight. He was busy on his phone with Mona discussing office arrangements after they were married and Abby was busy planning that “blessed” day.
With a sigh, and a heavy heart, she closed her computer as the plane came to a stop in Cozumel. They were booked at the Crown Paradise in the honeymoon suite—per her request. She wanted him to see exactly what he could have by ways of luxury for a newly married couple.
Of course when night fell she and Cade couldn’t exactly sleep in the same room, so she’d also booked the suite down the hall.
When they went to check in, Abby stepped in front of Cade at the reception desk.
“I’ll take care of this,” she told him. “Why don’t you make sure the bellboy doesn’t squash my laptop bag?”
When he walked away, Abby offered her sweetest smile and checked in. The registrar paused only a bit when he saw they had two rooms booked. Probably not something commonly done alongside the honeymoon suite.
“Just in case we get into a tiff,” she explained with a staged whisper.
She’d also requested the bellboy bring the luggage to the second suite, not the honeymoon suite. She and Cade could work it out later who would stay in which room.
Cozumel was beautiful…from what she’d seen online. She couldn’t wait to go snorkeling in the morning. But first, they were going to get a couples’ massage. She was both nervous and excited to be in such an intimate setting with Cade.
She hadn’t missed the way he’d been looking at her. There was passion in his eyes, no doubt, but she wanted more.
If there was one piece of advice Abby would always remember from her mother, it was to never settle for second best. Hadn’t Cade told her the same thing?
Though she did feel a bit hypocritical working on his wedding to another woman while trying to get him to see her love and accept it all at the same time, in the end she knew the added stress would be worth it. She hoped.
Abby really, really didn’t want her heart broken. She’d wanted to make sure she was the only one, so she was laying everything on the line here. There were no guarantees, but she couldn’t give up without a fight.
Love was worth fighting for. Everything in life worth having took risks.
She led the way down the hall past the elevators and several rooms. The honeymoon suite was on the ground floor and was supposed to be the nicest, largest room in the resort. When she found the double doors leading to their suite at the end of the hall, she swiped her key down the lock and waited for the click and flashing green light.
But when she opened the doors, she froze. Nothing, absolutely nothing, prepared her for the glorious, romantic room filled with red rose petals sprinkled over the white duvet, trickling down onto the beige ceramic tile.
In the far corner, beyond the giant-sized bed with sheer material draping completely around it from the ceiling to envelope two lovers, was a bathtub for two. The bath, which already had bubbles filled to the top, was sunk into the ground and was also sprinkled with rose petals around the edge.
