Page 32 of Best Laid Plans
Until something changed.
Her heart started to hammer as she realised he was withdrawing from her.
‘Wait, Indigo, stop,’ he muttered against her mouth, lifting himself away so she had to loosen her grip on him.
Misery sank through her in a heavy wave as she realised what she’d done.
Exactly what she’d been warning herself against for the entire day.
She’d given herself away again.
When she dared to open her eyes, he was shaking his head, his eyes squeezed tightly closed as if he was trying to will away what had just happened.
And then, like before, when laughter had overtaken her, something seemed to snap inside, only this time it was the tears that came, racking her body with brutal sobs.
‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ she managed to struggle out between gasps, wishing she was anywhere but there with Julien right then. She hated him seeing her break down like this.
‘I guess I’m still feeling a bit raw and lonely after Gavin dumped me like he did. Not that that’s much of an excuse.’
His dismayed expression told her everything she needed to know. She’d totally blown it with him now.
‘Stay here. I’ll go and get us some towels,’ he said, getting up awkwardly.
She felt the cool movement of air on her skin as he left her, which was immediately replaced by the hot sting of humiliation.
Sitting up, she rolled onto her knees then carefully got to her feet, not entirely sure her legs were going to hold her up.
No way was she going to cower here like an idiot until he returned.
By the time she walked onto the main deck, he was coming back with two large fluffy white towels. He handed one to her and used the other to wipe the remaining water from his face.
‘Thank you,’ she said, wrapping it tightly around her, unable to make eye contact with him.
‘Indigo? Are you okay?’ he asked quietly.
When she finally plucked up the courage to look at him his expression was dark with frustration.
‘I’m just going to go and wash my face,’ she said, tearing her gaze away and turning to make her way shakily down to the belly of the boat.
In the bathroom she sat down onto the closed toilet seat and dropped her head into her hands.
What a fool she was. And she only had herself to blame. She’d thought she could handle being here with him – that it wouldn’t mean anything to her, but it did. It did.
It meant the world to her.
After washing away the remainder of the make-up, she took a deep bolstering breath and left the bathroom, deciding to ask Julien to take her back to shore right now, before things got any more awkward between them – if that was even possible.
She found him sitting on the sofa when she shuffled back onto the deck, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him. He hadn’t bothered putting his T-shirt back on and his bare chest glinted with water droplets in the final dying rays of the sun.
Another tormenting rush of awareness made her skin tingle from head to toe.
She perched on the edge of the sofa next to him, readying herself to make some excuse about being tired or needing to get up early the next morning so he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about getting her off his boat as soon as possible.
Acutely aware that this would be the last time she’d ever see him, she took a breath and turned to face him, her throat tight with sorrow.
‘Tell me what happened with your ex,’ he said before she had chance to speak, regarding her with a furrowed brow.
She stared at him, wondering whether she’d misheard.
