I gave her a smile and watched as her face turned a light pink.
“Good evening, sir. May I help you?” Chelsea asked as she looked me up and down.
“Yes, I got here as soon as I could after I found out about the storm. I’m looking for my girlfriend, Jessica Rhodes.”
Her smile faded, and she started looking around before her eyes met mine again. “Um, you’re Miss Rhodes’s…boyfriend?”
The look in her eyes told me she was surprised.
Ah shit, Jessie must be with her friend.
“Can you tell me what room she’s in? I’d like to surprise her.”
She looked down at the floor and then back up at me. “Oh…I’m pretty sure she’ll be surprised.”
My heart dropped to my stomach, and all I wanted to do was walk away and go back to Texas. “Is that so?” I asked with a slightly forced smile.
She nodded and must have realized what she had said. “Oh, I mean, she’s going to be happily surprised. Um…she’s in cabana seven. Let me show you how to get there on the map. I don’t think her cabana was one of those that flooded. It sits back a bit higher than the other ones.”
After she showed me how to get to Jessie’s cabana, she handed me the map, and I made my way down the path. Everything was still soaking wet from all the rain they had gotten from the tropical storm. I stopped and sent Drake a quick text message, letting him know that I’d arrived safely and I was on my way to Jessie’s cabana.
I turned around the bend, and the first cabana came into sight. The small front porches faced out to the ocean. I thought about how nice it would have been to sit and watch the sunset with Jessie. I glanced down at the map and found that Jessie’s cabana should be around the next tree.
I saw her the instant I rounded the tree. She was standing in front of a guy who was leaning up against the railing. I stopped dead in my tracks. He had his hand on the side of her face, and she was smiling at him. Her smile almost dropped me to my knees.
He’s helping me get over Scott.
He must have said something to her because she let out a small laugh. I was frozen. I couldn’t even muster the energy to turn and walk away. I watched as he pushed a piece of loose hair behind her ear before dropping his hand down to his side.
Jessie must have sensed someone watching them because she looked up, and her eyes captured mine. Her smile faded just a bit, and my heart started breaking all over again.
How stupid of me to come here. I knew I could possibly find her in the arms of another man, but now…now, my worst fears have come true.
She just stood there and stared at me. The prick turned and looked at me. One look at him, and I wanted to beat his fucking ass. I turned and started to walk back to the hotel lobby. I just needed to find Lark and have him fly me back to Texas. I would pay twice as much just to get me off this fucking island.
“Scott!” Jessie called out.
I picked up my pace and tried to get back to the car as fast as I could.
“Scott, wait! Please wait.”
Oh my god. I can’t believe how stupid I was. Why did she leave a message and tell me she loved me when she’s been with another man this whole time?
I heard her running up behind me. She grabbed on to my arm and pulled it, trying to get me to stop.
“Scott, please stop!”
I turned to see her beautiful eyes filled with nothing but sadness.
“Scott, what in the world are you doing here? How did you find me? I mean…how did you get here with the storm and all? I just called you yesterday.”
I glanced up and saw the dirty rotten bastard standing down the pathway. I looked back at Jessie. “I got your message, but I guess I misunderstood.”
She looked confused and shook her head. “What do you mean? Misunderstood what
, Scott?”
I let out a gruff laugh. “The part when you said you loved me. I’ve been going crazy, not knowing where you were. When you told me you were in Belize, I knew I needed to get to you, but…” I glanced over to her friend and then quickly looked back at Jessie. “But I see your friend has done a pretty damn good job of helping you forget me.”