Coward, a sly voice in my head whispered as I hurried down the path.

I wasn’t being a coward, I insisted. I just had…things to do.

And I did. I always had things to do here, and with Millie turning the place over to me, I had so much I still had to learn and figure out. I didn’t have time to stand around with Liam while he…

While he did what, I wondered.

Why was he here?

I shoved the thought away.

It didn’t matter why he was here.

It had nothing to do with me, did it?

After all, if he wanted to talk to me, he could have called me anytime in the last three weeks.

He hadn’t.

He hadn’t called, hadn’t texted, hadn’t come by to see me. Nothing.

Whatever he was doing here now had nothing to do with me.

I heard him behind me and put extra speed into my steps as I rounded the next corner in the path.

I was walking so fast, I almost ended up crashing into the couple veering off the path that led to their private bungalow.

“Oh…I’m sorry.” I brushed my hair out of my eyes, giving them a polite smile. “Excuse me.”

“No problem.” The guy, a tall, leanly built blond, gave me an easy smile while the woman with him, a cute redhead, nodded.

I was a second away from making my escape when the redhead asked, “Do you know where we can get some food?”

Mentally, I wanted to scream, but I was no longer just here as my grandmother’s guest. In a very short time, this island would be mine, and I needed to remember the resort guests were my guests.

“Just get to the island?” I asked, forcing a smile.

“Yes.” The redhead nodded and glanced up at the man with her. She leaned against him, a smile curling her lips. “We’re getting married here this weekend.”

“Oh!” This was the couple Millie had been telling me about. “Congratulations…and welcome to Pleasure Island.”

I was keenly aware of the fact that Liam had been jogging after me, and now, as he came to a stop a few paces away, I determinedly ignored him as I gestured up the path and offered directions to the main part of the lodge.

“There’s always food, so don’t worry about that,” I finished with a smile.

Liam continued to hover.

“Hey, Liam, we’re going to get something to eat. Do you want to come? Michelle is starving.”

I swiveled my head between the blond guy and Liam, understanding starting to dawn.

Shit. They were all here because of the wedding.

The redhead poked her guy in the side and muttered, “You said you were starving.”

I barely noticed the interaction.

No, I only had eyes for Liam, who, at the mention of his name, had come closer. “I’m not hungry, Jake. But you two go on.”

Great. That was just great.

“Mila!” my grandmother called out from behind me. “I see you’ve met our soon to be newlyweds!”

I bit back a grimace as I heard Millie drawing closer. I eyed the path, tried to figure out how to politely make my getaway.

Liam had moved closer to me as if he was sensing my thoughts.

Millie joined us on the path, beaming at me and I focused on her. “Yes, I was just telling…” What was her name? It came to me in a blink. The blond had called her Michelle. “I was just telling Michelle where they could find some food up at the lodge.”

“I’m heading that way myself,” Millie announced. “I’ll walk the two of you there. We can chat about the wedding.”

I took a half-step toward them. Millie gave me a telling look, then glanced at Liam.

Her message was clear.

That didn’t mean I planned on doing whatever she wanted.

Liam and I were done.

He’d made that pretty clear by his silence over the past three weeks.

As Millie turned to lead the engaged couple off, I darted a look at Liam.

He had that intent look on his face.

Huffing out a breath, I turned on my heel and headed in the opposite direction of the lodge. My personal bungalow was in this direction although I wasn’t consciously heading there.

I just needed to move.

To walk.

To do something.

Liam fell into step next to me. “Can we talk?”

I wanted to tell him no.

But I gave a stiff shrug.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said softly.

“Same goes.” I didn’t look at him.

“I…well, it’s a weekday. I figured you’d be in the city, working,” he said. He sounded as stiff and as awkward as I felt.

I remained quiet, but Liam didn’t seem too interested in doing that for once. He kept talking.

“Jake…the guy you just met…he’s my cousin.”

I processed this and figured out just why Millie had agreed to help this rush-along wedding. Liam had asked her.

I didn’t say anything though, just kept on walking.

He lapsed into silence.

I reached the bend in the path and turned to face him. “Why do you want to talk to me?” I asked bluntly.

“For starters…” He blew out a breath, his gaze straying from my face. But only for a second. He looked back at me before he spoke again. “I need to apologize for how I acted that last day.”

I swallowed but said nothing.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I was an asshole. I was just…hell. I was humiliated, okay? It’s not something I handle very well, and I didn’t handle it well that day at all.” He took a hesitant step toward me. “I’m sorry. I just…after what happened and knowing I’d lose my job, I didn’t deal with it well.”

The sincerity in his voice got me quicker than anything else could have. I rolled my eyes and made a point of not looking at him although I was starved for the sight of him.

A strained silence stretched out between us. Normally, silences didn’t unnerve me, but this one did. Desperate to break it, I asked, “Did you lose your job?”

“Yeah.”

That pissed me off. There was only one way he could have lost his job, and that was if my father had complained to the company. I certainly hadn’t said anything that would have cost him his job.

“I’ll call them,” I said stiffly. “I’m sure it had something to do with my father. I’ll get them to give you your job back.”

“No.”

The calm, steady tone of his voice had me looking back at him.

Liam shook his head. A dull flush settled across his cheeks, but he met my eyes levelly. “I did something I knew was wrong,” he told me. “Sleeping with a client isn’t just unprofessional, it can be dangerous. I know nothing ever happened, but if there was a threat to you and I was distracted because I was with you…” He stopped and shook his head, his mouth in a flat line. “I fucked up. I deserved to lose my job.”

We stared at each other, and I realized I had a decision to make.

I could either accept Liam’s apology, and we could see what happened next.

Or…I could just walk away.

Slowly, I took a step toward him. “I’m not a client now.”