“Smart. You probably saved yourselves. The cottages you two were staying in both had significant flooding.”
Allison’s sights darted to Zane, and it was as if he could see her heart plummeting to her stomach. Her aunt and uncle would be devastated to learn of the fate of their resort, especially on the heels of her uncle’s health issues. “Do you know how my uncle Hubert is doing?” she asked.
“He had a heart bypass, but he’s doing well. They ended up transporting him to a hospital in Atlanta. It was too dangerous with the storm to try the surgery in Nassau or even in Miami. They didn’t want to risk the power going out. But he’s recovering well. Your aunt, on the other hand, has been so worried. She said she would never forgive herself if you got hurt while staying on the island. She wanted to send me back for you earlier, but the waters were too rough.”
“I was very lucky to have Zane with me. He knew exactly what to do.”
Zane emphatically shook his head. He wasn’t about to take credit for their safety. In truth, he’d been hoping that they wouldn’t be found. He and Allison had such an amazing night. Unforgettable. Most likely a once-in-a-lifetime event, which struck him with a sense of melancholy he hadn’t thought to prepare himself for. “It was a joint effort. Allison came up with the idea to leave the scraps of her sarong to send a message about where we were.”
“It was smart. That’s exactly how I found you.” Marcus tugged the final strip of sarong fabric off a nearby shrub. “Come on. Let’s get your things and get you to Eleuthera and on the plane to Miami. Your brother is waiting there.”
Oh, crap. This was not a good development. Zane wasn’t even close to being ready to see his best friend. If Scott was worried enough to fly to Miami, he would be that much more likely to pick up on any romantic vibes between Allison and Zane. For that reason, Zane was going to have to shut it all down way before they went near Scott. The thought pained him, but it was for the best.
“Scott flew down to Miami? Was that really necessary?” Allison asked.
“Like I said. Your whole family has been extremely worried about you,” Marcus said.
Zane patted Allison’s arm as platonically as possible. They needed to get back to being friends without benefits. “It’ll be okay. We’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
Allison, Zane and Marcus forged their way back to the honeymoon villa and collected what few belongings they still had. Zane was the first inside and found himself rushing inside to make up the bed, which was pretty much a disaster. The things he and Allison had done to each other there felt like a dream. They’d been amazing in the moment, but Zane needed to get his head out of the clouds and hop back on the straight and narrow. He desperately hoped that Marcus did not have a relationship with Scott. Loose lips could sink ships, or in this case, a deeply important friendship.
It took about an hour to make it back down the hillside and across the island to the dock. There, flapping in the bright early-morning sun, was the first piece of Allison’s sarong, still tied to the metal piling. She’d been collecting the strips of fabric along the way. Zane got to it first and rescued it for her.
“Maybe you can have it sewn back together,” Zane said, thinking that if he could have anything right now, it would be one more chance to see her wearing it. But he needed to stop thinking of Allison that way. Their fling was over.
“It’d be nice to keep it as a remembrance of our time together, but we’re headed back to reality and my brother right now. I’d like to know where things stand.” Her face was colored with a seriousness he hated to see, but he understood why it was there. This was no joke. Zane had crossed a line, and he needed to return to the other side of it.
“I can’t betray him, Allison. You know that. Nothing about that has changed.” Zane could see the frustration bubbling up inside her. He knew that she was tired of this argument, but it was the truth.
“But the betrayal is done. It happened, and you can’t unring that bell. So now the question is what are you going to do about it?”
“You’re the one who said we would keep it all between the two of us. I think we stick to the plan. It was amazing, Allison. But it’s over.” If only the words didn’t sound so wrong coming out of his mouth. They certainly weren’t enough to convince him. If only they’d had a little more time...to talk all of this through, to share one last mind-melting kiss.
“We’re ready to leave,” Marcus called for them both from the boat.
Allison stepped past Zane. “Let’s just get out of here.”
Her tone told him all he needed to know. So that’s what last night had been—he’d been an itch that Allison had needed to scratch. Nothing more. He couldn’t allow his feelings to be hurt by this revelation. He’d felt that way about many women in the past, and he was certain that women had felt that way about him, as well. Still, it didn’t sit entirely right with Zane. Allison had never seemed like the type to love ’em and leave ’em, but her words and her posture were saying exactly that right now.
Between the persistent roar of the wind and the engine noise, Allison and Zane
