Page 49 of Lonely Heart

She was at the hotel tonight—there was that event she’d been working on for a few weeks—but tomorrow morning, I was going to go to her place and do it. I was going to stand in front of her and tell her how things had changed for me, how I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and how badly I wanted to pursue something with her.

Maybe that was risky, maybe I’d wind up creating a rift between Cooper and me, but I couldn’t stay away. I couldn’t deny the way I felt about her. I couldn’t pretend she didn’t mean anything, that she didn’t consume nearly every waking moment.

There was no longer any question about it. I’d already wasted too much time, and waiting any longer wasn’t an option. So, I was going to do it. I was going to tell her the truth and give her what she wanted, whatIwanted. All I had to do was get myself through one more night.

I’d gotten home from work a little while ago and had immediately hopped in the shower. In my line of work, it had always been the way of it. But recently, with all the work I’d been doing in the villas, taking a shower the moment that I walkedthrough my front door had become a necessity. And now, all I needed to do was grab myself some dinner before I’d spend the next few hours thinking about Ivy and everything that I planned to say to her.

But the second I made it to the kitchen and yanked open the door on the refrigerator, my phone rang. I picked it up and saw Cooper’s name on the display. “Hello?”

“Hey, Marco. I’m so sorry about this. I know you left not too long ago, but is there any way you can come back to the hotel tonight?” There was a strain in his voice, a mix of panic and frustration.

I closed the refrigerator and moved out of the kitchen. “Yeah. Sure. What’s going on?”

“I just got back here myself. Ivy has that event in the ballroom tonight, and she called me because there’s a leak. She’s panicking, and I think it’d be much easier to handle this if I’ve got an extra set of hands.”

I’d already made it back to my bedroom and had yanked off the sweats I’d been wearing. As I pulled on a pair of clean jeans, I said, “Give me ten minutes. I’ll be right over.”

The relief in his tone was undeniable. “Thanks, man.”

Regardless of the situation, I never would have refused going back to the hotel to help Cooper with something like this. But in this situation, it was different. Sure, I was technically going to be lending him a hand. But now it was like I was doing something to help Ivy. I couldn’t have stayed away if I tried. And I certainly didn’t tell Cooper that he didn’t need to thank me since him calling me would lead to being able to get another glimpse of his sister.

Instead, I replied, “No problem.

I disconnected the call, pulled on socks and a pair of sneakers, and was out the door in a flash. In the rush, I hadn’t even grabbed a sweatshirt as I flew out the door.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up outside the hotel. And the moment I walked into the lobby, my eyes landed on Ivy. Her expression was worried, panicked. Cooper hadn’t been lying.

She came out from behind the desk as I made my way in her direction, and then I got the shock of a lifetime. Her hands curled around my bicep as she stared up at me with pleading eyes. “Thank you so much for coming back here tonight. This is an utter disaster. I’ve never had anything like this happen before.”

It was a wonder I could think straight for the way she was holding on to me. But that look in her eyes, the panic I could feel radiating from her led me to feeling something I felt weeks ago in that hotel room, or even just a week ago in the villa—the desire to fix everything for her, to do whatever she needed me to do to make it better.

Instinctively, I placed my opposite hand over hers, brushed it over the skin on the back of her hand, and promised, “Don’t worry. We’ll get it figured out.”

Ivy gave me a nod of acceptance. She removed one hand from my arm, slid the other down toward my wrist, and tugged on it. “Okay. Come on, I’ll show you where the problem is. Cooper’s probably already losing his mind.”

We made our way down the hall toward the ballroom, and though I was prepared to do whatever work I needed to do to help Cooper fix the leak, there was a part of me that wished the corridor was longer. I didn’t want Ivy to let go of me. I didn’t want to lose her touch on my skin.

We came to a stop in front of the closed ballroom doors, and my time to enjoy her, even if not how I had envisioned it, was over. I used my opposite hand to reach for the door. And when I pulled it open, I ushered her in ahead of me.

The moment I stepped inside, my body locked.“Surprise!!”

My eyes scanned the space that was filled with so many of my friends and family. They’d all shouted that single word, but it was the one beside me that came through loud and clear.

I turned my attention to Ivy, my brow furrowed with questions. Ivy was beaming at me, practically bouncing on her toes. She threw her arms over my shoulders and hugged me. “Happy birthday, Marco.”

Seemingly unbothered by the rest of the people in the ballroom, I hugged her back. “What did you do?”

After she released her hold on me and took a step back, she answered. “There’s no leak. We’re celebrating your birthday tonight.”

My birthday was tomorrow. And while I’d grown accustomed to the Westwoods throwing birthday parties—they always had something special for me every year—something of this magnitude was completely unexpected.

I didn’t get a chance to respond to Ivy, to say even a fraction of the words that had popped into my head, because the crowd all but rushed forward. Everyone on my side of the family—my parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins—were all here. Each of them had stepped forward to wish me a happy birthday, and just when I thought I’d gotten through it, the Westwoods stepped forward followed by many of my coworkers and friends.

With each person who stepped forward, it was like the sea separating me from Ivy. Before I knew it, I’d looked to my right, and she was nowhere to be found. And as much as I might have wanted to go in search of her, there was no way I could do that and not insult every other person in attendance.

Ivy’s parents had walked up, and I had no choice but to stay right where I was. Malcolm clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Happy birthday, son.”

“Thanks, Malcolm.”