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Whatever her brother might have been on the verge of suspecting, she was quickly making him forget. She was beautiful, magnificent. Even regal as she handled her older brother.
“Oh, yeah,” Daniel said, clearly having forgotten all about it.
“And wasn’t the surprise wedding absolutely fabulous? Evan looked so happy, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, sure. It was great.” He looked a little dazed by his sister’s fast talk.
As dazed as Cal felt.
“I hear music. Has the dancing started?”
Daniel cocked his ear toward the ballroom. “I guess so.”
“What are we waiting for?” She linked her arm through her brother’s. “I’ve got my dancing shoes on.”
Daniel looked down at her heels. “You’ll break your neck in those things.”
She laughed, and Cal felt it wrap around his heart and squeeze.
She led Daniel out of the glade.
The moment before she disappeared, she looked over her shoulder at Cal.
And winked. Only Lyssa would go commando to a wedding dance.
* * *
Lyssa wondered if Cal would dance with her. Probably not. He wouldn’t want to give her brothers any food for thought. Especially if they realized just how much heat was radiating off the two of them.
Back in the banquet hall, she’d thrown herself onto the dance floor, partnering with Kelsey and Chi and Ari, Rosie and Noah and Jorge, her mom and dad, the newlyweds, all her brothers, their wives or fiancées. It was a dancing free-for-all.
She thought about making a quick trip to her room for another pair of panties, but the loss of them was a sexy reminder of her encounter with Cal in the garden. And her skirt was long enough to hide bare skin, even when she was in full twirl.
Being with Cal with everyone so close had been risky, but the need that came over her had been irresistible. Now all her senses were on high alert as she waited with delicious anticipation for him to reappear.
Her feet were aching, and she skipped to a nearby table, slipping off her high heels and grabbing a glass of water. Maybe it was crazy to be with her boss—and one of her brothers’ best friends. Okay, it was definitely crazy. But being with Cal was so good. So sexy. So right. She made herself shove away any misgivings about how crazy, and potentially destructive, their affair was. They were two intelligent people. Surely they’d figure out a way to make it work, wouldn’t they?
Over the music, she heard Evan talking with Will on the sidelines. “Cal said he had to take off, some big emergency. He just chartered a helicopter to get off the island since the ferry doesn’t arrive for another hour.”
Between one heartbeat and the next, the sexy, giddy thrill inside her shriveled up and died.
She’d assumed Cal wasn’t going to try to fight their connection any longer. That he’d recognized what they shared was something special, something unique, something that came along only once in a blue moon.
She’d been wrong.
* * *
Two hours later, Lyssa was amazed by how normal she was able to act. As if nothing special had happened in the garden. As if she hadn’t let herself believe she and Cal had begun something real, rather than just a series of sexy flings between co-workers. As if she hadn’t felt they were on the precipice of falling in love. As if her heart hadn’t soared…then crashed headfirst into the rock-hard ground and splintered into a million pieces.
As if Cal hadn’t chartered a helicopter to get away from her—and what they’d done wasn’t a miracle that changed everything.
While she was dancing, she didn’t have to think or talk to anyone. Eventually, she’d have to stop from pure exhaustion, but for now she downed water. In the state she was in, downing a glass of champagne and getting tipsy would make her maudlin. Especially since all her best memories of drinking champagne were with Cal.
And really, she tried desperately to convince herself, what difference did it make that Cal had left? She was young. She had the rest of her life to find someone who would make her forget him. Forget every kiss, every touch, every taste, every pleasure.
It was no use. She’d never forget him. No one would ever make her feel as good as he had. She would never feel as safe or as at home in anyone else’s arms.
Which was funny, given that being with Cal had been the riskiest thing she’d ever done, both personally and emotionally. And now, he’d torn off little pieces of her heart and thrown them in the sea as he flew away from the island.
He couldn’t even wait an hour for the ferry. He’d chartered a helicopter to get away from her as fast as he possibly could.
She was angry, she was hurt, she wanted to scream. But she wasn’t stupid. She would continue to trust him on a professional level—he was a master at business, and she’d always have a deep respect for that part of him.
