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“Derek, that’s not a good idea.” I shake my head, glancing at the elevator over his shoulder.
“Please,” Derek rubs the nave of his neck. “Just hear me out, I promise it’ll be quick.”
Derek is a very composed man. Even on his bad days, he never has one hair out of place or wrinkle in that Hollywood handsome face. He seems frazzled. Lost. Alone.
“Where’s Mindy?”
“She’s gone.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “What do you mean gone?”
“Can I please come in, Cate?” His blue eyes meet my gaze and as if I am under his spell, I open the door wider and motion for him to come inside.
I watch him bound inside, one hand on his hip, the other rubbing over the fresh stubble he neglected to shave this morning.
I follow him inside but make sure the couch length separates us. My arms are folded over my chest, hiding the cleavage meant for Theo and I ask, “What did you need to see me about? And where’s Mindy?”
Derek whips around to face me, his hand gripping the couch. “Do you love him?”
“What?”
“Do you love this guy you’re with?” He motions in the air, “This Theo person.”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I snort.
“Mindy’s gone because I broke up with her this morning. Told her that I couldn’t be with her anymore when I realize I’m still in love with you.”
Hellfire and broomsticks.
“You what?” Is all I manage.
He takes a step toward me, his hand on his chest. “I love you, Cate.”
I shake my head. “I… I’m with someone else now.”
How dare he come up here and try to confuse me.Or maybe he knows Theo is about to come upstairs and make he his and he’s here to stop that at all costs.
“Don’t you think it’s fate we’re both in Hawaii at the same time?” Derek reaches for my hands, but I take a small step back. “It’s like the Universe brought us back together, Cate. You have to see it too.”
“Derek, it’s not fate. It’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences.” He is relentless. “Seeing you again, seeing you withhim,” he mentions Theo with disgust, “it made me realize I gave up the only person who I truly can’t see my life without.”
Derek lunges for me and grabs my hands, pulling them up to his lips. “Cate, we are meant to be together. We are meant to make a life together. Have those kids we always talked about having. The house in the suburbs. Vacations to exotic places. The white picket fence and a dog just for the hell of it. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought of me too.”
I fail to pull my fingers from his tight grasp. “Derek, you broke my heart. No, you shattered my heart.”
“I know, baby, and I’m sorry. I’m sorrier than you know. But we can still make this work. It’ a second chance for us.”
A second chance at love. It reminds me ofPersuasion. I get swept up in the romance of it all. Maybe it is fate. Maybe we are meant to be together. Maybe…No.
I shake my head. “No, Derek.”
“Think of everything we talked about building together, baby.” He slides his hands up to my chin. “I can still give it all to you. The house, the kids, the dog, the adventures. You won’t be alone ever again.”
I rest my hands over his and pull him away from me. I take another, this time giant, step back. “I still want all of those things. I want the beautiful house in the suburbs. I want those kids. I want the picket fence and the dog. I want the vacations to far and exotic places.” I suck in a breath. I can do this. “What I don’t want any more is you.”
Gutted. Like a fish.
