Page 51 of Cajuns. Love. Curves.

“Bullshit. You’re stalling.”

“Her brother is my best friend. I spend holidays with her parents.”

He gives me a squinty-eyed look. “This Remy’s sister?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought she looked familiar.” He nods. “You want to do this right? Fine. But don’t waste three days getting stateside to do it.”

“But—”

“I think you’re stalling and acting like—”

“Like a pussy. Yeah, you said that already.”

Jonah levels me with a look like he wants to deck me. “You’re acting like you’re terrified of losing her. Now don’t make me waste my time saying this more than once. You need to get your head out of your ass. If you want to make this right with Remy, then fucking call him. Then get your ass back to her. Stop trying to be the man you think she needs and be the man you are.”

“So, what are you saying? I should go back there now?”

“I have shit to do. I’ll take you back before sunset. If you haven’t figured out how to win her over by then, I’ll take you to the mainland in the morning, because it’ll be too late, anyway.”

chaptertwenty-five

Cassie

There are, undoubtedly, lots of people who would love to spend the next four days doing nothing but laying on the beach, listening to the surf, sipping cocktails, and dabbling in a future with skin cancer.

There are, possibly, even people who wouldn’t mind doing those things with their co-workers, their ex, and their ex’s fiancée.

But I seriously doubt that there is anyone in the world who would want to do those things, with those people, while nursing a broken heart.

Not that Nick broke my heart.

Of course, he didn’t break my heart.

I barely know him.

Besides which, my relationship with Tripp ended only a few months ago. So there’s no way I could have fallen in love with Nick in just a few days, so soon after my breakup with Tripp.

Ergo, when I said, while nursing a broken heart, what I actually meant was while nursing a bruised ego and lady bits that were so thoroughly loved by Nick, I’m pretty sure he’s ruined me for other men.

My point is this: I can’t stay here.

I come to this realization around dinner time when it becomes blatantly and tragically obvious that Nick is not coming back.

I wander through the main palapa around mid-afternoon and catch one of the staff talking about a boat coming to pick up a guest. Which sounds about right.

Nick… this great guy, with abs for days, an amazing sense of humor, and a tongue seemingly custom made for my clit, tells me he loves me and what do I do?

I drive him away.

After I hear the rumor about the boat, I call it. Nick left. And there’s no way I’m going to stick around without him.

I’m halfway through packing my bag before it occurs to me that I don’t have any Navy SEALs conveniently located on nearby islands and therefore I will have to actually make real travel arrangements.

So, I grab my phone and trudge over to the main palapa to look for Clara. Admittedly, she probably can’t get me off the island tonight, but the sooner I make plans for the morning, the better.

I find Clara working on her laptop in the manager’s office, which is just off the main dining room. She’s got her blond hair in the same dutch braids she wore on the first day, her glasses up on top of her head, and a smear of sunscreen still visible on her nose.

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