Page 68 of Uncharted Desires

“Like you need it.”

“I need everything from you.”

And with that, the door closed leaving Kat staring at the empty space, his words circling around in her head.

After her shower, Kat sat on her balcony sipping coffee, reading a book on her Kindle, and watching the traffic drive by. The book didn’t keep her attention. Romance had been a terrible choice, but she wanted to get lost in something happy. Instead, she was left thinking about her own love life and all the possibilities ahead of her.

West talked a good game, that was for sure. It was entirely too late for her heart. He owned it, but she didn’t know what to do.

What was he going to ask her?

She should have made him tell her before he left, but now she was left sitting on the balcony alone and dying to know what he wanted from her. Sick of reading about someone else’s happily ever after, Kat put the book down and finished getting dressed. West’s press conference would start in an hour, and she was going to watch it with her mother. They were going to meet in one of the hotel restaurants, but since she had time to kill, she decided to go for a walk around the grounds of the hotel.

Stepping out of her room, the sunlight filtered through the hallway from the large picture windows. She breathed in the fresh air that flowed through the many openings. Kat loved how much of Indonesia just didn’t have walls. Going back to the states was going to be a big shift.

She meandered aimlessly through the various outdoor gardens and hedgerows, taking in the scents and smells of the various plant life, all the while trying not to think about what she’d say to West during their lunch “talk.” On one hand, she was glad he wanted to define what it was they were doing, but on the other, she wasn’t ready to end it, even though that’s what her sense of self-preservation screamed at her to do.

That is, if she had the strength to do it. One look from his gorgeous blue eyes, and she’d cave in an instant. Kat was finding she had no backbone when it came to West, and she hated herself for it. So much for feminism.

Following the path, she almost ran straight into a tall blonde woman. “Oh excuse—” She stopped talking as she looked up into the ice-cold eyes of West’s ex, Gia.

Gia looked down her perfect nose as if Kat was nothing more than a speck in her way. “Oh, it’s you,” she drawled in her Italian accent.

Kat put her head down and stepped to the side, intending to walk around her, but Gia stepped into her path. Kat had never felt so small or insignificant in her life. Gia’s skin glowed in the sunlight, and she had a bone structure painters could only dream of. Looking up at her physically hurt Kat’s soul. Why West had chosen her over this goddess was still a mystery.

“He’ll get bored with you.” Gia was obviously just as confused by West’s choices.

Kat forced herself to look Gia in the eye, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m not going to fight you over a man, Gia,” Kat started, with much more bravado than she felt.

“That’s too bad. You know I would win.”

Kat shrugged. “Maybe. And you’re probably right, he will get bored with me, but at least I know when to quit the game.” She gave Gia a scathing look and turned, walking in a different direction, forcing tears back. She didn’t look back to see if her barb had landed or not.

Gia saw the writing on the wall just as clearly as she did. West would eventually realize that Kat didn’t fit into his world. She was too plain and too boring for him.

She turned onto one of the outer paths by the nightclub. As she walked closer she saw Luke and Declan talking at one of the tables, both sipping on something. Probably whiskey, even if it was ten in the morning. Kat ducked behind the hedge, hoping they hadn’t seen her. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to them, but . . . no, it was exactly that she didn’t want to talk to them. Socializing was not at the top of her list this morning, especially after her encounter with Gia.

As she went to turn around and head back the other way she heard Luke say, “I took care of it. He doesn’t have a clue.”

That was interesting. Kat’s mind began running a mile a minute. Who was he talking about?

“You better have. He knows someone’s been skimming funds. It’s just a matter of time before he figures out it was us,” Declan said.

“I told you, I took care of it.” Luke looked around surreptitiously.

Kat held her breath, trying her hardest not to make a sound. Why was she not shocked that Declan had been skimming money from West’s royalty checks? But that Luke was involved was surprising. Kat thought he was West’s best friend.

Declan’s voice rose slightly as he said, “So what did you do? Better not be over-the-top. I told you to keep it low-key.”

Luke didn’t answer.

“Luke, what did you do?

Luke groaned. “I told you I didn’t want to do this. I hired a guy; he said he’d take care of it.”

“Shit, you got someone else involved?” Declan cursed again as he kicked the barstool. “What’s this asshole going to do?”

Luke looked away from Declan before muttering something under his breath that Kat couldn’t hear.