Page 59 of Dirty Intentions

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Shane

I woke up slowly, taking a moment to remember where in the hell I was. Then I smiled and reached for Daniella, only to find her side of the bed empty. And cold. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Jesus, I’d slept like the dead.

I listened for the shower but didn’t hear it. Then I realized the suitcase I’d noticed by the door last night was gone. And so was everything Daniella.

Ten minutes later, Max looked up from his desk to see me walking towards him with purpose.

“Where is Dani? Did she come by here?”

He shook his head. “No, man. Weren’t you with her? When you didn’t come back yesterday, I assumed you two made up.”

“We did, but she left.”

He checked his watch. “Probably for her flight.”

Shit. I’d forgotten about the trip. “Where was she going?”

“Jamaica, mon.”

I didn’t even crack a smile. Instead, I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

“Question to ask is if you’re going after her?”

“To what end?”

He leveled me a look. “That’s the question you need to ask yourself. But if you want my opinion, I’ve never seen you happier than you’ve been the last week with her around.”

“I’d be selfish to keep her in this world.”

He chuckled. “Considering she’s looking at offers to freelance at other clubs, I’d say she’s not in a hurry to leave it.”

“The hell she is.”

He stood up. “Seems to me if you want a right to weigh in on her decision, you’d better get your ass to JFK.”

“And say what? That we’ve known each a little over a week and I might have feelings?” At this point, old insecurities surfaced, stemming from my mother’s decision to disown me. How could a woman like Daniella want to tie herself to man like me? Sure, I had money. But what else could I offer her? Long work hours which included weekends and nights. A parade of women I’d been with in front of others at the club. A tendency to be a dick and to have a tough time apologizing. And what would her family and friends think if they learned the truth about me?

Max sighed. “What if I came to you and said I’d met someone who I wanted to have a relationship with? Would you tell me I wasn’t worthy of it because I owned this club? Would you tell me I didn’t deserve to be happy with someone I could fall in love with?”

“Of course not.”

“Then stop questioning whether or not you deserve it and simply ask her. She’s a big girl who can make her own decisions. Not as though she isn’t aware you can be a moody son-of-a-bitch. Yet she continues to like you.”

I cracked a smile and blew out a breath. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

“You act like you need to choose between this club and her. But what if you can have both? Wouldn’t that be worth it? I know for me it would be.”

My decision came easily. “Can you manage a few days without me?”

***

Daniella

I arrived at the airport exactly one hour after leaving Shane in bed. My first thought while putting my heavy suitcase up on the scale with my muscles screaming from the effort was that I needed a massage. It would be my first order of business once I arrived at the resort. I had every intention of taking a relaxing vacation before returning and figuring out where I’d live and if I wanted to stay in my job. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but for the first time, I did feel the freedom to choose.

Smiling at the desk agent, I handed her my passport.

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