Page 7 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

There would be nothing private between us again. Ever. Like never, ever.

I still couldn’t believe he was here and that I’d had to spend the day with him. Not like we’d had a lot of interaction, aside from being subjected to his let me possess your body and soul good looks and smell. But even though I spent the time mainly ignoring him, something just felt off about it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but Cash seemed to invite the strangest things into my life. First, losing all my photos of him, then his mysterious disappearance, followed by his flat owner denying any knowledge of Cash. Then today he showed up out of nowhere, I was unexpectedly upgraded to first class, and my car reservation mysteriously vanished. These kinds of things never happened to me.

Don’t even get me going on my coincidental seatmate and his just-by-happenstance reservation at the resort where I would be for Lexi’s wedding. It didn’t feel real. I couldn’t even chalk it up to hallucinations, unless Mia and I were having the same one.

Maybe I was overthinking things, but something was telling me I hadn’t thought things through thoroughly enough three years ago. I’d been so enamored by him in France and then devastated by his disappearance that I’d taken everything at face value. Now, I wasn’t taking anything for granted. While I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, I had the feeling the entire drive up here that I needed to get to the bottom of the mystery that was Cash Denton—as quietly and drama-free as possible, of course.

Honestly, the only reason I’d gotten in his car was because Lexi would have killed me if I hadn’t made it in time for her bridal shower, so it was a lose-lose kind of proposition anyway. I had to choose between spending time with my ex—who, for all I knew, was a psycho at this point—or being murdered by my sister. But when Mia kneed Cash in the groin and stole his key fob and he didn’t go ballistic, I figured he probably wasn’t a psycho and we had a pretty good chance of surviving the drive. Besides, he’d been nothing but a gentleman while we were in France. You know, except for when he tore my heart out.

The first step was to take another photo of him to see what happened, and then to use the information from his reservation to dig up everything I could about him online. Not sure what I thought I’d find, but something was rotten in the state of Denmark. Or maybe I was just bitter. In any case, I would never allow myself to be deceived by him again.

I closed my eyes and let the cool breeze dance across my cheeks, soaking in the peaceful moment before wedding chaos rained down on me. Lexi had already texted me a dozen times on the drive to make sure we’d be on time, and to see what clothes I’d brought in case she wanted to borrow something while I was home. It wasn’t as if she didn’t own a department store’s worth of clothes already. And she’d mentioned several times how her fiancé bought her anything she wanted—he was clearly wealthier than our parents.

Well ... parents, meaning our daddy’s side of the family. Mama had also married into money—it had been a big scandal back in the day. Daddy’s family’s holding company out of North Carolina had purchased the land for the resort several years earlier, and Daddy was the one to oversee it all. It was then that he fell in love with Mama, despite the fifteen-year age gap and his recent divorce. Mama’s daddy, Pops, was none too happy about it, and neither was Aunt Vivian. It’s why she and Mama didn’t get along. I think she’s jealous of Mama’s lifestyle. Aunt Vivian didn’t even want my daddy to give Mia and me a loan to start our catering business, but we both promised we would pay it back, so it didn’t feel like a gift or a handout. It’s sad, because Uncle Finch is such a great man, and I think Aunt Vivian sometimes made him feel like less of a person because she was dissatisfied with their life. But no one is kinder or as hardworking as Uncle Finch. He’s the plant manager for a baked bean company in a neighboring town, and everyone loves him.

“We’re home,” Mia interrupted my thoughts.

I opened my eyes to see Belle Lodge, the heart and soul of the property. The structure stood proudly, like a timber-and-stone castle with a wraparound second-story balcony. Inside was a world-class spa and restaurant, where I had learned to love the art of baking. It was the perfect venue for a wedding, with its breathtaking views of the lake and nearby mountains. Our guests stayed in cabins and cottages dotting the property.

Mia and I would stay in my favorite cottage, the Evergreen Cottage, allowing me a place to escape from the drama at my childhood home just off the lake. Lexi still lived at home, as she worked as a massage therapist at the lodge’s spa. I’d heard that Soren was staying there as well. Once they were married, they would move to Emerald Isle, an island off the North Carolina coast, where Soren would continue to be a hedge fund manager. Regardless, I knew I would need a breather from Lexi and Mama from time to time—though I think Daddy hoped I’d stay with them to balance out the crazy. He would never say it out loud, but he probably wished he could move out for a couple of weeks until the wedding chaos was over.

“It’s beautiful. Just like you described it,” Cash chimed in, reminding me of his unwelcome presence in the passenger seat. I ignored him like I’d done each time he’d tried to engage me in conversation. I wished I’d never gushed about the place most special to me on earth. Or worse, that I hadn’t subtly hinted he should visit Belle Resort with me someday. For his information, I hadn’t meant over three years later, after he’d dumped me in the rudest manner possible.

As soon as Mia parked in the semicircular drive in front of the lodge, I hopped out of the car as quickly as possible, anxious to get away from Cash. And ... desperately hoping my family didn’t come rushing out to meet us. Mama was already way too interested in the man who was, as she put it, a knight in shining armor for saving the day and driving us to the resort. She was all sorts of nosy about how I’d met him, and she’d already asked me via text if he was married. I’d done everything I could, short of lying, to make it clear that he was nothing more than an acquaintance—granted, an acquaintance who could make my toes curl when he kissed me, but Mama would never know that.

Cash was a nimble sort of fellow, so he was out of the car just as quickly as I’d made my exit and was way too close for comfort. “I’ll get your luggage,” he offered.

“Why are you even here?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Seriously, out of all the places in the world you could vacation, why here?”

He stepped closer, his deep-blue eyes boring right into mine, keeping me in place and making me feel things I shouldn’t. It was as if he were holding me without even touching me, as if his powerful aura enveloped my person.

“Sabrina,” he breathed out. “You don’t know how often I’ve thought about you.”

I held up my hand, shocked and even hurt. “You don’t get to say things like that. I’m sorry I asked.” I turned to walk away.

The dang man had the audacity to grab my hand, reminding me of how he would hold both my hands to my sides or above my head, gripping them tightly while kissing me in the most thorough manner. The memory of those kisses and how he’d made me feel so wanted left me paralyzed in place and unable to breathe.

“Sabrina, please, let me explain.”

Oh, there would be some explaining to do, because my family walked out at the exact wrong moment and witnessed Cash holding on to me as if I actually meant something to him.

Mama ran toward the car, forgetting the propriety she loved to preach about. Dressed to the nines in a cream pantsuit with just the right amount of gold jewelry, she barreled toward us with eyes zeroed in on Cash’s and my clasped hands. This reminded me to breathe and pull away from him.

Unfortunately, the damage had been done—I saw all the possibilities swirling in Mama’s brown eyes. Callie Belle had just found her new mission in life, and I was afraid. Very afraid.

Mama didn’t bother saying a word to me; she went straight to Cash. “Hello, I’m Callie, Sabrina’s mother.” She held out her elegant, manicured hand and I noticed it was now sprinkled with a few age spots. I would never tell her that, though. Aging scared Mama like nothing else—she’d kept her long brown hair well touched up, and she exercised like no one’s business. Honestly, it was the first time it had really hit me that Mama was getting older. She never seemed to age. Perhaps it was because she was so much younger than Daddy, or maybe it was that I still saw her as the most beautiful woman in the world.

Cash took Mama’s hand and shook it. “I’m Cash Denton. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Belle.”

“A man with manners. I like it. You can call me Callie, just as soon as you tell me how you know my daughter.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing this wasn’t going to a good place.

Cash gave me an abashed smile before adding mounds of drama to my life. “I had the pleasure of getting to know Sabrina in Bordeaux.”

Mama’s eyes lit up like someone just told her that chocolate was calorie-free, which would have been fabulous news. Sadly, chocolate still contained a lot of calories, and now I had a four-alarm Mama fire on my hands.

“Is that so?” Mama sang. “Sabrina, you never mentioned meeting anyone in France.” Her tone told me we’d discuss this grave injustice later. I had a feeling she would have grounded me over this if she were able.

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