His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he swerved at the last minute to avoid a stumbling drunk who shouted incoherent obscenities at him as he drove away. It terrified him to think of Anna out here by herself all the time. The moment she let him, he'd move her operations to Old Town at least, if not onto Sunset Key itself even if he had to knock down a couple of buildings to build her a warehouse.
But he'd have to get her forgiveness first.
May take a while. I royally screwed up.
And he'd have to forgive himself, too, which would be far more difficult. He'd flown nearly twenty hours straight to get back to Key West and had hardly slept. Every time he closed his eyes, he'd seen that stricken look on Anna's face when he'd told her he was leaving and dismissed her. It crushed him to think of what he'd done so thoughtlessly.
But he wasn't about to give up. He couldn't. She was his person, his soulmate. He wouldn't stop until she listened to him and accepted his apology and took him back.
The last gift his mother had left for him in her apartment added to his anxiety. After the message she had written, it served to highlight just how big his mistake had been in how he’d handled things with Anna.
He firmed his jaw and dodged another crater.
I will fix this.
James spotted her classic pickup parked under a group of trees and released a sigh of relief. She was here. He took a deep breath as he parked behind the behemoth.
A large splattering of bird shit decorated the middle of the hood. From the looks of it, she hadn't moved the truck in a while.
There also weren't any floral arrangements thrown out here. That was a good sign. It had been an extravagant gesture, but he’d been desperate being so far away.
The shop owner had relayed how irritated and difficult Anna had been when he'd delivered the flowers, but that she'd finally relented.
James snorted. That sounded exactly like his Anna.
His Anna…I hope she’s still my Anna. Iwillmake this right, whatever it takes.
He knocked, then tested the knob. It was locked. Thank god! He hated the thought of her being unprotected out here.
There was no answer, so he knocked again. Nothing.
He leaned his ear against the hot metal, listening for any signs of activity, then finally caught it: the buzzing sound of a saw. She was cutting wood pieces. He waited until the saw stopped a minute later then banged loudly.
"Nobody's here!" came the shout from inside.
James grinned at the borderline hostile response and banged again.
Not getting rid of me that easy, Kitten.
"Go away!"
He pounded his fist against the door, undeterred. He could do this all day.
Finally, he heard the click of the lock and he'd barely had enough time to stumble out of the way of the outward-swinging door.
"Somebody better be dying. I've had it with all these interruptions," Anna snarled as she marched out, still wearing her protective glasses.
Her beautiful aquamarine eyes widened when she spotted him. She pedaled back several steps.
"Hi, Kitten." His chest constricted at the brief flash of heartbreak in her gaze.
"You don't get to call me that anymore," she whispered in a broken tone. She held a shaking hand to her chest as if she could protect herself from him. It was like a knife to the gut.
"You'll always be my Kitten." And she would, whether she allowed him back into her life or not.
Anger flashed on her face, and he watched as she mentally pulled herself together. Her eyes narrowed as her jaw firmed, her chin tilting up. She was a beautiful elfin goddess armoring herself for war…against him.
"What are you doing here?" she spat. "I thought you were busytraveling." The sneer on the last word almost brought asmile to his face. But he didn't dare show that emotion when she was so obviously hurting.
