The Reunion by Jennifer Haymore Read Free Book Online Page A

curtains.
    Emotion rose from her core to her chest until her throat tightened with it and her eyes stung. Here she was, in the most beautiful place in the word, in the arms of the only man she’d ever really wanted, and she felt like she was going to weep.
    Because in the end, none of this was real. This wasn’t her life. Her life was with her fifth graders. She loved them so much. Much more than she loved Crappy Apartment and the lonely nights on her lumpy mattress. But those were part of her life too, and she was working her way up, saving money, planning to buy herself a little condo in Columbia Heights.
    That was her life. And she loved her life, damn it.
    But this…what Nathan had made her feel last night…physically, and deeper too. He’d made love to her all over, not only to her body. She’d felt adored, cherished.
    How could she do this again? Start thinking they actually had something when they both knew they didn’t. Nathan liked to live in the moment, she knew that. But she was more practical. She couldn’t spend a week on Sugar Cay, opening herself up to him over and over like she had last night.
    Because if she did that, when she had to leave him again, it would tear her apart. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t need him. And she already felt so close to needing him. One night with him was already way too much.
    It had taken her years to get over him the first time—if she even had gotten over him to begin with. But this time…
    She squeezed her eyes shut. This couldn’t happen. She had to get out of here.
    Over the course of several minutes and feeling like some kind of contortionist, she extricated herself from his grip.
    Ever so quietly, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Then she got her suitcase out of the closet and repacked her clothes. Nathan didn’t budge—he’d always been a sound sleeper. Especially after sex.
    Swallowing hard, she closed her bag.
    She straightened and looked at him for a long moment from across the room. She could only see his sandy hair bordering the slope of his cheek, rough from a day’s growth of beard. Parts of her body burned sweetly from where it had rubbed against her skin.
    Love surged through her. Love. For Nathan.
    Shit. Not again. He’d broken her heart once, and there was no way around it happening again. Except to leave before it was too late.
    She hefted her bag and slipped out of the bedroom. The house was silent—it was only a little after five, and everyone was still asleep. Besides her, Will was the only early riser in this crowd—sometimes he got up at this ungodly hour and went for a run. But she didn’t see any sign of him now.
    She had to let Jake know what was going on, at least a bit of it. She went into his office, found a pen, and took a piece of paper from his printer tray.
     
    Dear Jake,
    I’m sorry, but I have to leave early. I am so sad I didn’t get to spend more time with you and everyone else. But I can’t stay. I just can’t. I’m so sorry. Thank you for your hospitality… As always, you are amazing, and so is Sugar Cay. I’ll call you next week.
    Love,
    Zoey
     
    She left the letter on the desk, knowing they’d all realize she’d left because of Nathan. She wished she could keep from dragging them into this yet again, but there was no way around it.
    No, she corrected herself, she wasn’t dragging them into anything. She was getting out before she created anything to be dragged into.
    Now all she had to do was wake up Mason Quinn, Jake’s boat captain, and ask him for a humongous favor. If he said no… She couldn’t even think of what she’d do then.
    Maybe there was a cave she could go hide in for the next several days. Maybe she could find a rowboat and row to Tortola.
    No, Mason was her best bet. She’d have to beg him. He was a nice guy, and she had to bank on that little bit she knew about him.
    The sky grew lighter as she walked toward the cottages on the other side of the cay. The clouds had