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“Fascinating, eh, Caitlin?” a deep male voice said behind her. Her skin crawled as if the water dripping on the walls of the cave were suddenly slithering down her arms and legs.
Turning, she saw the guy who had captured her heart, swept her off her feet, then given her up for dead after her parents and sister had died. Vlad. His hair was black and pulled back in a ponytail like usual, and his eyes glittered in the low light of the cave like glassy, black lava rock. Like Levka, Vlad was not the kind of person she thought she’d fall for. A Scottish Highlander tossing logs in the Highland games, strong, muscular, with curly, reddish blond hair--that’s what had caught her eye when she was fifteen. So why did she keep falling for these dark-haired, mystifying guys now?
Not comprehending how he could be here, of all places, she stared at him.
“I’ve been out of the country,” he said smoothly, reaching for her hand. “I wasn’t aware of your…tragedy.”
She tucked her hands in her shorts pockets. For months, after she’d gotten better, all she’d wanted to know was if Vlad still cared for her. When she tried to reach him, and couldn’t, she knew there couldn’t be anything between them. “What…what are you doing here?”
“Touring the cave, like you are.”
“You didn’t write or call me.”
“I was out of the country… on business.”
He was always away on business. He’d said he was an heir to a glass factory and needed to take care of it from time to time as its CEO. Couldn’t he have emailed her a note, or called, or something?
“I’ve come to be with you.”
“You’re not on the cruise, too, are you? I’ve never seen any sign of you.”
“I flew in this morning. I’ll be on the ship for the rest of the cruise.”
“Oh.”
“You sound disappointed.” Vlad reached out to touch her face, but she turned and hurried after the tour group.
“You haven’t already forgotten me? After all we meant to each other?”
He sounded so arrogant. She’d been so wrapped up in him, she hadn’t realized how wrong he was for her. And for his information, if anyone had forgotten anyone it was he who had forgotten her. Many a night, she’d lain in her bed wishing he would comfort her. She’d fantasized about him taking her away so she wouldn’t have to live with her awful foster sister and attend the high school she hated.
“I tried to get in touch with you,” she said.
“Ah, well, at the best of times it is difficult.”
She glanced back at him.
He touched the water dripping off the wall.
“You’re not supposed to touch the rocks. If everyone does that, it ruins the formations.”
“Always by the book, eh, Caitlin?”
“You could have tried to contact me. Email, or call, or something.”
“I don’t use computers. Don’t like them. As for phones, I told you, I don’t care for them either.”
“Do you know how to write?”
He smiled. “Takes too much time.”
“You could have had a secretary or someone send a note.”
“It wouldn’t have been personal enough.”
They walked outside of the cave.
“It would have been better than nothing.” She gave him her best glare.
