Cherished (Wanted) (14 page)

Lark and I got out of the Mercedes Roadster, and as I looked back at the convertible, I had a very strong suspicion that Mr. Martin didn’t make his money in communications only.

“Did you want to wait just in case, you know, I can’t find her or something?” I said as the sick feeling in my stomach came back full force.

Lark was looking all around the lobby. It was almost like he was staking the place out. “I actually had Carlos follow us over here,” he said as he handed me the keys to the Mercedes.

I just looked at him.
He doesn’t think I’m going to drive an eighty-thousand-dollar car, does he?
“Dude, does your boss know you’re offering up his Roadster?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Actually, that’s my car. I come to Belize a lot when I’m not working with Skip.”

“Skip?”

Lark smiled and then watched a girl walk by before he looked back at me. “Yeah, Mr. Martin. His nickname is Skip.”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to know how or why Lark was the owner of such an expensive car. After college, Lark had spent a year in the Marines as an officer, but he had been medically discharged, and then he’d immediately begun working for Mr. Martin. He never did tell anyone what had gotten him discharged.

“Bring it back with a single scratch on it, and I’ll kill you,” he said with a wink.

I smiled. “Are you heading back to the house?” I asked.

Lark chortled. “Hell no. I’m going to say hi to that pretty little thing that just walked by.” He gave me a wink and turned to walk toward the bar.

I sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. I spun around and walked toward the front desk. The young girl behind the desk smiled as I approached. I glanced down to her name tag and felt my stomach drop.

Chelsea. Ugh.

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.”

I spun around and walked away as I heard her suck in a breath of air.

“Scott…no.
Please
don’t walk away from me.”

It sounded like she was crying, but I didn’t care. I needed to get away from him…and her. I made my way back into the lobby and into the bar. I saw Lark still talking to the girl who he had followed into the bar.

I walked up to him and smiled at her. “Excuse me. Lark, I’m leaving, and I have no idea how to get back to the house.”

“Oh no, dude. Did you find her?”

I nodded and looked away. “Yeah, can we just head back? I’ll pay you double to take me back to Texas.”

Lark stood up and reached for his wallet. He pulled out some cash and threw it onto the bar as he said his good-byes to the girl.

As we made our way out of the bar, I saw Jessie standing there.

“Scott, please don’t leave me.
Please
.”

She walked up to me, and as she reached out to touch me, I took a step away from her.

She instantly threw her hands up to her mouth and started crying as she shook her head. “He’s just a friend. Please don’t do this. Please forgive me for running away. Scott, I thought that was you with Chelsea, and I just—”

“So, you know it wasn’t me?” I asked her, watching as the tears rolled down her face.

She nodded.

“Your dad told you?”

She shook her head. “It just finally hit me. It couldn’t have been you because I know you love me too much, and…the more I played it over and over in my head, the more I realized it wasn’t your voice I’d heard calling out after me. I think I knew it all along in my heart. It just took my head a bit longer to catch up.”

“I’ll say, Jessie. It’s been over a month. What about the postcard you sent to your dad? You said you’d met someone.”

She started shaking her head again as she began crying harder. “No…oh god, no. I didn’t mean it like that, Scott. I didn’t mean that I’d found someone else. It’s just…Trey was here because his fiancée had left him at the altar, and we started up a friendship. We both helped each other forget the hurt for a little while.”

I felt the tears burning my eyes, and I did everything I could to hold them back. “How did he help you forget the hurt, Jessie? Did you go for walks along the beach? Or maybe romantic dinners out each night? What about a little bit of dancing under the stars? That should have been you and me, Jessie, not you and him.”

The moment she looked into my eyes, I knew she felt more for this guy than she was admitting. I felt sick when I saw that look on her face. I turned and headed toward the car.

“Scott, stop!”

I kept going, but then Lark grabbed my arm to stop me.

“Dude, if you leave, make sure you know what you’re walking away from.”

I shook my head and went to move again when I heard Jessie trying to say something through her crying.

“Scott, I’m…I’m…pregnant.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.
What? Pregnant? Oh. My. God.

My legs started to buckle out from underneath me. Lark reached out and grabbed me as I tried to get my legs to work.

“Scott…oh my god!” Jessie called out.

I felt my legs go out, and Lark slowly let me go down to the ground.

She’s pregnant. With my child or…

Jessie ran up to me and dropped to her knees. “Scott, are you okay?”

I looked into her eyes, and I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. “Is…is it his baby or…or mine?” I asked.

The look on her face turned to one of pure shock, and then it was replaced with sadness. My whole world just stopped with that look, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired all of a sudden.

I’m so damn tired.

The moment Scott asked me if the baby was his or Trey’s, I wanted to throw up.
He thinks I’ve been sleeping with Trey. Oh god.
Then, the guilt of letting Trey kiss me and touch me swept over my whole body, and I was pretty sure Scott noticed it as well.

I shook my head as I felt a tear roll down my face. I tried to talk between my sobs. “It’s your baby, Scott. I never…I never slept with Trey. I couldn’t do that because…because I love you, Scott. I’ve always loved you, and I’ll always love you. Even when I thought you had cheated with Chelsea…I couldn’t. I love you too much.”

I watched his face for any emotions of believing me.
Oh god…please believe me.

“Is that why you called me? Because you found out you are pregnant?” Scott asked.

I watched the tears rolling down his face.
Oh. My. God. His heart has been broken, and it’s all my fault because I ran away.

You left him. You killed him.

“No! I called you before I found out. I called you because it hit me all at once…I knew it wasn’t you with Chelsea. I was planning on coming home in a few days, but everything just kind of all clicked, and I had to talk to you. The second time I called you…” I thought about the two pregnancy tests that were still in my back pocket. I smiled and said, “I still didn’t know. I just needed to hear your voice…to tell you how sorry I was for leaving…to say I love you.”

Scott looked at me, confused. “When did you find out you’re pregnant?”

I smiled and peeked up at Scott’s friend. “Um…”

“Shit,” Scott said as he started to stand up.

He reached his hand down and helped me up. The moment his hand touched mine, I felt that familiar feeling zip through my body. I instantly wanted him. I just wanted him to hold me and then slowly make love to me.

“I’m sorry…Jessie, this is Lark Williams. He’s my best friend from college and the reason I was able to get here to you so fast,” Scott said as he introduced me to his friend.

I looked Lark up and down. He was a bit taller than Scott and had messy light brown hair. I smiled and held out my hand. He took it and kissed the back of it while giving me a smile I was sure melted many hearts.

“You’ve had my boy here in knots for the past month, darling.”

My smile faded, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I quickly looked at Scott. He was smiling at me with the goofiest smile on his face, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Well, I guess I have a lot of making up to do, don’t I?” I smiled at Scott, and then I turned to look at Lark.

When I glimpsed back at Scott, the look in his eyes caused my stomach to drop. He was looking at me with nothing but pure love…and his eyes were saying how much he wanted me.