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I want to scream at him to stop saying that because it isn’t true, but I don’t want to destroy the tender goodbye we’ve just had. He’ll move on eventually. At some point, he won’t have a choice.
When we’re dry and dressed again, he scoops me up and heads for the door.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, panicked.
“Shhh. We’re just going down to room two. That’s where I’ve been staying. We made a bigger mess on the bed than I intended,” he says with a wink.
I wrap my arms around his neck and lean into him. When we get to his room, he puts me on the bed and wraps his arms around me.
Let’s sleep for a little while and then we’ll see you to the jet.
But neither of us can sleep, and we just lay against one another until finally I can’t take it anymore.
“I should go pack my things,” I whisper.
He reluctantly lets me go, and I walk back to the Ace suite alone. When I get there, I’m surprised and only slightly embarrassed to find that the bedding and towels are already gone, and a fresh set of sheets is on the bed.
Their staff moves fast here.
I pack my suitcases and try not to think about how hard it’s going to be to get on that plane. But I know it’s the right thing to do.
At three in the morning, Luke comes to my door dressed in jeans and a tight Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. And I can’t help but smile. “You’re slick, Luke Bowden.” He’s bombarding me with memories of the good times we’ve had together, and I wish it could have the desired effect of making me stay.
But it can’t, so I roll one of my bags into the hall. Before I can get the other one, he puts a hand on my arm and slips a hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a familiar plastic card with a diamond spade pinned to it.
“Take this with you,” he says gruffly.
I take it and pull the pin off the card and fasten it to my dress. “Thank you,” I say, running my fingers through his beard once more.
He steps around me and grabs my other suitcase and together we head for the exit.
The club is closed, and only a few staff members remain to clean up, so we get to the front in record time.
A black town car is idling in the parking lot, and a familiar woman steps out of the driver’s seat.
“Jeanie, you’re up early today.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m happy to assist.”
Luke loads my bags into the trunk, and then pulls me into his arms.
“Let me know when you land safely,” he murmurs.
“You’re not coming to the plane with me?” Sorrow and panic fight for attention in my soul when he shakes his head. I thought I would have the drive out to the airfield to finish our goodbye.
“If I do, I’ll get on the plane with you, and I know that’s not what you want. It’s better that Jeanie take you.”
He kisses me one more time and I run my fingers through his hair again.
“I don’t regret forcing you to come to Vegas with me,” he says, kissing my nose.
Tears are falling again, and I know I have to get in the car now or I’m never going to. So, I pull away and smile as best I can. “And I don’t regret taking the date with your cousin.”
He chuckles and catches wayward tears with his thumb. “I love you, Zara.”
Hearing that is too much, and I turn away and climb in the car, telling myself he just thinks he loves me. He’ll be over it in a matter of weeks.
He stands in the parking lot and watches while Jeanie drives away, and I quietly sob in the backseat, mourning what might have been if things were different.
