StealingThe Bride (9 page)

“It’s
so much more than my job. I have to leave.
This
is not my reality.” Her fears exploded inside of her and her mouth got away
from her. “I don’t understand how you can be happy here longer than a few weeks
living from one tourist tip to the next.”

She
found herself swung around and facing a furious man. Kolby’s brows were pinched
together and his mouth was drawn tight. His hold on her arms wasn’t painful,
but firm. “The tips I collect are for the people who need the money. I don’t
keep any of it!”

Feeling
shame for her words, Leya looked away from the sharp gray of his eyes. She had
witnessed herself Kolby giving his tips to Citra at the school for more
supplies or Ramelan, the director at the elderly home.

“Tell
me, Princess Leya, if I was one of the men billeting in one of the suites in
the resort would you stay with me then.”

Yanking
her arms away, she wished in that moment that she was a violent person, because
her hand itched to slap him. For some reason Kolby had gotten the impression
that she was some selfish, pampered snob looking for a bigger cash cow. How he
could think such a thing of her, she didn’t know. It was just proof that this
was a fantasy vacation and he didn’t know her at all.

Swallowing
to release the tension in her throat, she lifted her chin and tried to maintain
the small amount of dignity she had left before the dam behind her eyes
crumbed. She refused to cry in front of him. Beside she refused to analyze what
tears falling at the moment would mean.

“Before
this evening becomes any uglier, I think its best we end with ‘this has been
fun.’”

In
the light from the back of his bungalow she saw him hang his head and shove his
hands deep into the long brown golden strands of his hair. “Leya, I’m sorry.”
Raising his head, he pierced her with his steel blue gray eyes. “I don’t want
us to end like this.”

He
cupped her face and stroked her bottom lip with one of his thumbs.

His
touch caused her heart rate to accelerate and she found it hard to breath. “Please,
Kolby…I need to pack. I just want to get back to my r…oo…omm.” She heard and
felt the trembling in her voice.

Pulling
her forward, he captured her mouth in a kiss. It was over almost as quickly as
it happened.

Turning
from her, he called over his shoulder as he strolled to his residence, “I’ll
take you back.”

She
was glad he walked away from her, because she didn’t have to worry about him
seeing the twin tears rolling down her cheeks.

Chapter Seven

“Leya!”
Summer was the first person
out of her seat at Pappa’s Pancake restaurant in the wee hours of the following
Saturday after Leya had returned from her trip.

Leya
hugged
Summer
. She was happy to see her friends. It
felt like she had finally arrived home after a week of doing nothing but
working and sleeping. She believed her body was on the right time zone, now.

“It
is so good to see you two.” Leya stepped over to Kathryn and received a hug
from her as well.

“It
seemed like you were gone forever. Sit, sit. I want to hear all about your
trip.” Summer reclaimed her seat at the table and waved her toward a chair.

“Was
it as pretty as it is on pictures?” Kathryn asked picking up her mug and
drinking from it.

“Oh,
Kat, it was much more impressive in reality.” Leya allowed her mind to replay
the amazing landscape.

“You
better have brought pictures with you,”
Summer
said, a
warning tone to her voice as she waved the waitress over.

“And
gifts,” Kathryn added.

Pulling
her satchel onto her lap, Leya asked, “I have both. Which do you all want
first?”

“Gifts?”
Summer called out.

“Pictures,”
Kathryn responded at the same time.

Laughing,
Leya shook her head at her friends as the waitress arrived at the table and
took her drink order and all their menu choices.

Once
the woman walked away, Leya pulled her laptop out and pushed the on button.
“How about I give you all your souvenirs while my computer boots up.”

Her
two best friends nodded in agreement.

After
removing the two items wrapped in tissue paper, she then handed one to each of
them.

“Oh,
this scarf is lovely, Leya,”
Summer
exclaimed.

Fingering
the material in her friend’s hand, she said, “They were handcrafted by the
women of one of the small villages outside of Batubulan.”

“It
is beautiful and the bracelet too.” Kathryn held the wide silver bracelet in
her hand rubbing the intricate etchings on it.

Summer
slipped hers on. “Thank you very much.”

Kathryn
thanked her too, as she wrapped the scarf loosely around her neck. “Okay, now
show us the goods.”

Smiling,
Leya rolled her eyes at her friends as she pulled up pictures she had
downloaded from her digital and water cameras a few days ago.

Soon
Kathryn and
Summer
were oohing and ahhing over the
pictures and asking questions about the country. As the picture of the school
and children scrolled across the screen she told them about the work she did
there and how much more was still needed.

“You
rode an elephant?” Kathryn asked as the picture of her on top of the large
animal came onto the screen.

Laughing,
Leya said, “I did.
Once.
It was good enough for me.”

“I’ll
pass.” Kathryn pressed the enter key to move to the next picture.

“Please
tell me you’re wearing a strapless bathing suit in that water?” Summer pointed
at the image of her with her hands crossed over her chest smiling, shyly.

Leya’s
face felt hot as heat infused her body as she recalled the day she and Kolby
had gone hiking and he showed her one of the many falls of Bali. She’d taken
pictures and soon found herself conned into skinny-dipping with him.
“Um.”
She cleared her throat. “No.”

Summer’s
eyes could have popped out of her head as wide as her lids stretched.

Kathryn
wasn’t as shocked as she said, “I’m more interested in who was taking the
picture.”

This
was the moment she had dreaded.
The part where she had to
tell her friends about the man who had affected her life in more ways than she
wanted to admit to herself.
There had been times during the week where
she had wondered if she should have stayed a few more days. However, she knew
it would’ve just prolonged the inevitable.

“So
are you going to tell us who’s behind the camera?” Summer leaned back and
stared at her.

“His
name is Kolby?”

Kathryn
raised a single eyebrow.
“Kolby who?”

Leya
shrugged.
“Never thought about asking for his last name.”
That wasn’t completely true she knew. She had considered asking everything
about his past, present and
future,
just didn’t.

They
paused as the waitress brought her drink and their food. That was one thing
that made being at the breakfast place at a god-awful time of morning. No one
else was around and the food came quick.

“An Indonesian hunk?”
Summer questioned once the
waitress departed.

“No.
American,” Leya revealed.

“Is
he in one of these pics?” Kathryn continued to advance the pictures rapidly as
she and
Summer
stared at the monitor.

“That’s
him.” Leya confessed when they stopped at a picture of a sleeping man. She had
snapped that picture of him one afternoon while they had been napping in his
bed after a hike.

“He’s
sexy.” Summer fanned herself.

“In a wild and rugged way.
Hot.” Kathryn winked at her. “Where’d
you meet him?” Kathryn used her fork to cut off a small piece of her omelet.

Lifting
her cranberry juice, she mumbled around the rim hoping her friends couldn’t
hear her. “He was the diving instructor.”

Summers
fork clattered as she rolled her lips in and gave her a look that said
“no you didn’t”
.

Oh, yes I did.

“Look
at Leya getting a little vacation naughty-naughty with the teacher.” Kathryn
pretended to fan herself.

Pushing
her plate toward the middle of the table,
Summer
placed her elbow down and her chin on her knuckles. “Come on, girl. Give us the
details like you gave up your panties.”

Leya
rolled her eyes up to the ceiling hoping the roof would cave in on top of her.

“Don’t
try and deny it either,” Kathryn warned.

“I
wouldn’t dream of it.” Leya groaned internally.
 
She looked at her friends as she shoved her
plate to the middle of the table too, no longer hungry. “There’s nothing really
to it. I went on vacation, had a fling and relaxed for the first time in a long
time. End of story.”

Kathryn
looked at
Summer
and Summer returned the look, Leya
saw the exchange they didn’t even attempt to hide.

“If
he’s American, when is he coming back?” Kathryn questioned.

“Do
you plan to see him again?” Summer asked.

“Look.
It’s over. There’s no more to it. Case closed.” Grabbing her plate she then pulled
it to her and began forking food into her mouth. It was easier to stare at the
plate then the direct gaze of her friends. “He went his way and I went mine.”
Another forkful went in. She chewed and swallowed without tasting a single
morsel. “Let’s just drop it. I’m fine with how it ended.”

“If
you’re so fine, then why are you eating my food?” Summer’s voice was smooth and
low.

Swallowing
the bite in her mouth, Leya really looked at the food before her. The plate
held pancakes stuffed with fruit and dripping with syrup. It was a far cry from
her waffle with a side of grits and turkey patties.

“Shit.”
It was the only word that came to her mind as she raised her guilty gaze to her
friends who were both hiding laughter behind their hands. She set the fork
down, folded her arms over her chest, and gave them a look that dared them to
even smirk.

Not
fazed at all by her threatening stare both
Summer
and
Kathryn’s laughter erupted from them.

When
Leya attempted to make her gaze even more stern, their chuckles became louder.

Leya
smiled and relaxed her arms as the mirth died down some around the table.

“Give
it up, Leya girl.” Summer shook her head and switched plates with Leya, but not
before she stole a sausage patty as payback.

“It’s
not our fault you went to Asia and got sprung on some hot as hell hunk,” Kathryn
teased.

She
knew her friends were right. There was no one to blame but herself. She knew
the risks when she chose to take the plunge into an affair with Kolby. Now she’d
have to deal with the emotions like a big girl. She missed him more than she
thought she would and more than she would allow herself to dwell on. No matter
how many mornings she woke up with thoughts of what if.

“So,
what are you going to do about it?” Summer inquired.

“Nothing.”
Leya poured coffee in her mug
from the carafe on the table and added a heavy amount of creamer. “Besides he’s
not really in an area of his life to financially handle a relationship.”

Her
friends exchanged looks again then they both turned to her.

“Please
tell me you didn’t pay for all those adventures you all had together in your
pictures.” Kathryn the lawyer seemed to sit up straighter in her chair.

“No.”
Leya answered swiftly, but then took a moment to think about it. It was true,
Kolby had paid for everything whether they were in town or even the rare
occasions he had stayed with her in her suite. Hell, he’d even refused to allow
her to pay for the souvenirs she had brought back for her friends and mother. “He
took care of everything.”

“Seems like he did a pretty
good job of financially supporting a relationship for almost two weeks.”
Eating her pancakes,
Summer
lifted a single brow as she assessed Leya.

Fingering
her straight strands behind her ear, Leya gazed around the restaurant not
having the guts to face her friends as she said, “Doesn’t matter. He’s there. I’m
here. It’s over.”

Leya
knew her words may have been the truth, the conversation may have been closed,
but she wished her heart would get the message. Next week she had a three
hundred plus financial seminar to conduct and as always her work helped her
hide in the shadows of her own life. Maybe then she’d be able to fall into bed
exhausted enough not to dream or think or wonder about Kolby.

“Enough about me.
Who’s planning their vacation
next?” It was time to put someone else on the hot seat. She smiled as Kat groaned
and
Summer
attempted to hide behind her napkin.

*
* * *

“Okay,
everyone, we need to be at KB Corp by nine.” Leya glanced around the room at
her team. It was Monday morning, shortly after seven. They always met at the
office before major seminars to get their final game plan together encase of
last minute changes.

“I’ve
already pulled down the spreadsheet with the names of the employees that
completed the online survey for the one on ones. The files are boxed up and
ready to go,” Ryan told her.

“Excellent.
Stacey was very impressed with your work on the Dumont assignment.” She
assessed the young black man.

He
nodded thanks to Stacey who sat across the table from him.

Looking
at her second, a buxom redhead, Leya continued, “Stacey, I’ll keep Ryan with me
this week to work with him on the large group briefings if you can take lead on
the
indies
.”

“Will do.”

Turning
to a young blonde who was new to the group, she said, “Daphne I’d like you to
shadow Stacey.”

Daphne’s
smile almost made it from ear to ear.
“Really?
I won’t
let you down, Ms. Greenwood.”

“I’m
counting on that.” To everyone one, she said, “All right, now let’s gather up
everything and go help some people maintain control of their money.”

*
* * *

Finally
back at the office after being away for the last three days surveying an old
plant he was looking at revitalizing. His development team had been out there
with him with stats and various ideas that would bring in more jobs for the
community. His helicopter had just touched down from West Virginia an hour ago
and in less than an hour he’d be on a conference call with his acquisitions
team.

“Hello,
Mr. Bragdon, the conference room is already set up for one o’clock.” Jill his
assistant greeted him.

“Perfect.”
He entered his office and dropped his briefcase on his desk.

She
followed him into the room. “While you were away did you hear about the
seminars that have been going on this week?”

He
faced her. “I sure did. I plan to stick my head into the staff auditorium to
see if I can hear a little of it before I’m in imprisoned on calls the rest of
the afternoon.”