Her Billionaire Heartthrob - Kaylee Baldwin Page 0,39

long. His mind raced with everything they talked about—people he’d need to call, reports he needed to go over still, stores that needed a visit from him. It all piled down on him, one brick after another, but he couldn’t see any other way it could be than this.

“Yeah,” he said wearily as Fiona grinned. “I’m back.”

Chapter 17

Viola checked her watch again, trying not to be too antsy.

He’s coming, Viola.

It had been an hour since she’d gotten back from the banquet. She kicked off her shoes first thing—they were killing her—and slipped into a comfortable outfit of worn jeans, a dark red long-sleeved T-shirt, and thick socks. She grabbed her boots and her coat to slip into once Liam arrived.

Filled with nervous energy, she paced the room before ending up outside on her balcony, watching the ever-moving city. Eureka Springs had a vibrant nightlife, but this was something else entirely. It seemed to be even busier after ten than it had in the middle of the afternoon. She glanced up at the sky, the stars obscured by the light pollution. She smiled, recalling Liam’s email about the stars. At the time, she thought it odd, but now she could understand how awed he could have been by a massive night sky full of them when it wasn’t something he saw in the city.

Viola forced herself not to check her watch every few minutes, but she could feel the time easing away, minute by minute. And then hour by hour.

She went back inside her room from the balcony, chilled, and sat on the edge of her bed, replaying their goodbye in her mind. Fiona coming by their table. How quickly he’d shifted into work mode. How he’d stayed instead of coming back to the hotel with them. How he hadn’t even glanced her way when she left.

He’s not coming, Viola. He’s forgotten you.

Nervous energy ran through her, making it impossible to just sit on the bed. Flashes of Hawaii rolled through her mind. How wonderful, how amazing, it had been to be with Liam that week, and how devastating it had felt when he never showed up to meet her on the beach that night. Then when she found out the next day that he had left to work, without saying a single word to her, forgetting her in a moment like that.

She closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. She would not be left again. She couldn’t do it. It hurt even more now than it had then.

In Hawaii, it had been mostly attraction and that zing you get when you connect with someone in an instant.

But now it was deeper. More real. Based on how she’d gotten to know him and how he’d gotten to know her, and it made the sting all the more painful.

She grabbed her suitcase and started throwing her clothes and shoes into it without stopping to fold anything. She took her nice dress from the hanger and shoved it into a corner of her bag, knowing she would never wear it again, so it didn’t matter if it was ruined with wrinkles. Finished packing, she searched flights on her phone.

There. A red-eye that left just after midnight. She glanced at her watch. If she got a cab, she could make it just in time. She cringed at the price tag, but paid it anyway.

The rest of the night flew by in a blur of exhaustion. She sent a text to Callie that she knew she’d see in the morning, letting her know she’d gone home. She didn’t want them to worry, and she felt bad about leaving her friend like this, but she knew Callie would understand.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at her phone every few seconds to make sure she hadn’t missed a call or text from Liam. But there was nothing.

Up until the moment her boarding number was called and she got onto the plane, she hoped Liam would call. Maybe he’d explain what happened. Apologize. Ask her to stay.

But that call never came.

She powered off her phone, placed it in her purse, and stuffed it all under the seat in front of her. The plane was mostly empty, so she had the entire row to herself.

Liam had called himself an idiot, but the real idiot was her, for believing that things would end differently this time.

Chapter 18

Liam rubbed the back of his neck as he unlocked the door to his hotel room. It was past one in