Warmth bloomed in Zack's eyes. He crossed the room, pulling her into his arms. His lips brushed her forehead as he murmured, "I'm glad I can be that something good for you."
Dani melted into his embrace, breathing in his familiar scent. For a moment, she let herself bask in the contentment that washed over her. But that nagging voice of doubt crept in, whispering that it was all too perfect. She pushed the thought away, determined to enjoy this moment.
"I should get going," she said reluctantly, pulling back slightly. "Don't want to be late."
Zack nodded, releasing her with a gentle squeeze. "Have fun. And Dani?" He caught her hand as she turned to leave. "Remember, you deserve this happiness. We both do."
His words buoyed her as she made her way to the resort's beachfront restaurant, Bahamian Rhapsody. The familiar faces of her friends greeted her, and for once, Dani felt genuinely excited to join them.
"There she is!" Sadie exclaimed, waving her over. "We were starting to think you'd gotten lost."
Dani grinned and slid into the vacant seat. "Sorry, I lost track of time."
"Now from Sadie or Mia, I’d immediately think they’d gotten lucky,” Natalie teased. “But from you it probably means you were working on a Saturday morning.”
Dani side-eyed her assistant. “Well, maybe it didn’t, this time.”
Silence engulfed the table as her friend all looked at her, stunned.
“What?” Dani asked, raising her hands in askance.
“Did you hit the club?” Natalie asked, her mouth hanging open.
Dani frowned. “Of course not.” Why would they think that?
“Ohmygod!” Mia exclaimed. “Did you and Zack Kincaid…”
She trailed off and Dani felt her cheeks heat despite her tanned complexion. The others didn’t miss it, either.
“You did!” Natalie squealed, loud enough to have heads turning.
“Hush!” Dani admonished, looking around, self-consciously.
Natalie bit her lip and subsided slightly, but she was still almost bouncing in her chair.
It was Sadie who reached over and squeezed her hand. “Oh Dani, I’m so happy for you. When I found out Zack was here to help Saul and that whole thing with the mainframe was just a cover, I was sure you’d never give him another chance. I’m so glad you got past all that.”
There was a low buzz in Dani’s ears and the background noise of the restaurant seemed to fade into nothing as she tried to make sense of what Sadie was saying.
Her heart lurched and her stomach twisted into knots while her mind raced, trying to process this new information.
Zack hadn't come to update the mainframe, like he said. He'd been here to help Saul. Which meant... Zack hadn't been honest with her. All this time, he’d been lying to her, telling her what she wanted to hear. Making her think he was here to win her back.
Deceiving her.
Again.
She felt a sharpness in her gut, a jagged feeling that spread painfully through her veins at the revelation. Pieces started to fall into place, fragments of conversations and little omissions.Her own goddamned gut feeling. Did he think she would shrug and say, ‘oh well?’ That she was too desperate to care?
Dani swallowed hard, the lump in her throat almost choking her. Panic crept in, whispering cold truths about how naïve she’d been to believe in him again. Her breath caught, and she struggled to keep her composure in front of the others. Maybe the nagging voice in her head wasn’t just insecurity. Maybe she’d been right to be suspicious of this happiness all along; right to wait for it to all come crashing down.
Her cheeks burned with a mix of humiliation and anger. She felt exposed, laid bare in front of her friends who were now staring at her with wide, expectant eyes, unaware of the storm surging inside her. Was it all some kind of sick joke? Was she the joke?
Plastering a smile across her face so big it made her cheeks hurt, Dani turned to Sadie. “Don’t think you’re going to get out of telling us all about Saul Stevens after he stalked in here and stole you away at our last lunch,” she managed to say, proud of the way her voice sounded almost normal. “It’s your turn first,” she insisted, breathing a sigh of relief when the others agreed.
For the next fifteen minutes, Dani managed to sit and listen to the usually reserved and sensible Sadie wax lyrical about the new love of her life.
Thankfully the others asked enough questions no one seemed to notice how quiet Dani was.
