“That’s us,” Scott said.
“Good. I can’t wait to get home to a hot shower and a good night’s sleep,” Zane said.
Allison felt the same way. She also wished she could do those things with Zane. She was going to need to work up to this whole business of forgetting her attraction to him.
The three boarded the plane, but as soon as Allison figured out the seating arrangement, she realized just how much she would always be the odd man out when it came to her brother and Zane. The two guys were seated together, across the aisle from her. That had been Scott’s decision, since he’d booked the flights, and Zane was obviously perfectly happy with it. Allison flagged the flight attendant and asked for a gin and tonic before takeoff. She needed something to soothe her ragged edges. Maybe she could catch some sleep after they were in the air.
But for now, since Zane and Scott were immersed in conversation, and the plane was still boarding, Allison took this chance to give Kianna a quick call.
“Tell me you’re okay,” she blurted without even saying hello.
“I’m fine. In one piece. On the plane to New Jersey.”
“I can’t believe that storm hit the island. It all happened so fast. I kept watching the forecast, hoping it would change for you. I can’t help but feel responsible. It was my idea for you to go down there in the first place.”
“No. No. It’s not your fault. I wanted to go. And believe it or not, it was still a good trip. Despite the storm. Despite everything.” She was trying to put the best possible spin on this, not merely for Kianna’s sake, but also for her own. She didn’t want to regret her time with Zane. She didn’t want to believe that it might have been a big mistake. But what do you do when you get what you’ve always wanted and then it’s snatched away by timing and circumstance? What do you do when the guy you’ve wanted for years tells you that it’s over before it’s had a chance to really start? Right now, it felt like nothing would ever sting as much as this rejection.
“Did you at least find a hot guy? Please say yes.”
Allison couldn’t suppress the smile that crossed her face. “I did. But I’ll have to tell you about it later. We take off soon, and I have to turn off my phone.”
“Okay, hon. Did you postpone your meeting with Black Crescent?”
“Nope. Still going in tomorrow. As planned.”
“Did you talk to Joshua Lowell?”
“I texted his assistant. We’re all good.”
“You’re a badass, you know that, right?”
Allison laughed. Her friendship and partnership with Kianna meant the world to her. She really hoped she wouldn’t end up letting her down. This Black Crescent meeting had to go well. “I’m trying.”
“Call me after the meeting tomorrow?”
“You know it. Talk to you then.”
Allison hung up the phone, switched it to airplane mode and tucked it into the seat-back pocket. She swirled her gin and tonic, took a long sip and glanced over at Zane and Scott. Zane, who was sitting at the window, made eye contact with her. That instant seemed to speak volumes—there was a connection between them that hadn’t been there before they got to the island. Zane knew it. She did, too. But he seemed resigned to setting it aside. Keeping it in the past. No matter how hot and passionate that connection was, it didn’t seem to be enough for Zane.
He dropped his gaze and returned his attention to her brother. Allison’s heart plummeted to her stomach, but she was used to the disappointment now. It was the story of her life with Zane. And exactly the reason why this visit to Falling Brook would be all about her role as businessperson supreme, not the woman who couldn’t stop pining for a man she couldn’t have.
Scott leaned across the aisle to talk to her. “Do you have plans tomorrow night?”
“Hanging out at your house. Not sure what else I would possibly be doing.”
“I wasn’t sure if you had work obligations.”
Allison wanted to strangle her brother for bringing up Black Crescent while Zane was sitting right next to him. “Nope. I should be done by midafternoon. Why?”
Zane peered around Scott. “He invited me over for dinner.”
“I wanted to thank him for taking such good care of my little sister,” Scott added.
What in the world was her brother up to? “Okay. Sounds great.”
Nine
Right on time, Allison pulled her rental car into the Black Crescent parking lot the following afternoon, shortly before two o’clock. She’d arrived back in Falling Brook in the nick of time—less than twenty-four hours before her scheduled meeting with Haley Shaw and Joshua Lowell. Anyone else might have used the fact that she’d been stranded on an island in the middle of a hurricane as an excuse to postpone the meeting, but that detail was a dramatic selling point. She could tell Josh Lowell that not even a natural disaster would keep her from doing her job, and doing it well. In the end, she and Kianna needed the Black Crescent contract. It was their best shot at keeping their company alive.
Of course, the only trouble with that was Zane. If she got the contract, she would have to tell him that she was working for the company that he considered the enemy. Even though there were no more remnants of romance between them, she couldn’t keep the secret from him forever. As she walked up to the sleek and modern building that had always stuck out in the otherwise traditional Falling Brook landscape, she was well aware that if Zane knew what she was doing right now, he would tell her she was not only a terrible friend, she was foolish. The things he’d said while they were riding out the storm in the Bahamas echoed in her head. The Lowells destroy everything. Families most of all. He’d been deeply hurt by
