“Gracias, Luis.” He helped her out of the boat and handed up her bag. “I won’t be long. I just need to get a few things and I can meet you at the Bitter End.”

“Si, señorita.” The young man nodded and smiled, the smile that was almost always on his face these days. It must be love. Both he and Camila had the same smile. It made Heather happy inside. It also made her wonder. Did she have that same smile? Ash certainly made her happy. In so many ways.

She could do without him taking off with her boat unannounced, though.

Speaking of her boat…as if she’d conjured it, there it was. Tied up at the far end of the dock was, in fact, her boat. Which meant Ash was in Bocas Town. Not that there were many other places for him to go. Her curiosity flared again but it would have to wait. She had business to attend to.

Heather picked her way down the broken dock before she glanced at her watch. She was earlier than expected. Luis had made good time in his boat that had a larger engine than her own. She hadn’t expected to be there so quickly, but it worked out well because she’d have time to say hi to Mick and maybe he’d have some coffee on. She hadn’t been back to see him except for one other time after that first day she’d arrived in Bocas. It was past time for a visit. The fact that he might know where Ash was only played partly in her decision.

Just as she’d expected, the front door was open. Security was pretty much nonexistent in Bocas Town. A fact she was slowly getting used to. So early in the morning, the place was pretty quiet, and Heather started to make her way down the hall but she was stopped by voices.

Ash’s voice.

She backtracked. The voices came from upstairs. A feeling of dread washed through her, making her fingers numb, but she couldn’t turn back. Her mind instantly played through a million scenarios. Each of them worse than the next one. She put a foot on the stairs and froze.

You’re being ridiculous, Heather.

She was. She was being stupid. If Ash was upstairs, it was probably because he’d gone into town for some reason, and it was too late to get back. Mick would have given him a room and that was probably it. Nothing more sinister than that. It was likely quite simple. Still, she needed to know. Besides, it’s not as though she could ignore the fact that he was there. Especially not since he had her boat.

Having reasoned it to herself, Heather took the rest of the stairs two at a time and followed the voices to the room at the top of the stairs.

“Put some clothes on.” It was Ash’s voice.

“I think I like what I’m wearing just fine.”

Heather’s stomach dropped at the sound of a woman’s voice. No. No. He wouldn’t.

But he had said that he’d vowed never to have a relationship again. Maybe that’s what this was? Maybe she’d just been naive thinking that she could change things for him.

No. She’d been naive.

“Ash…” The woman’s voice was pleading and nauseating for Heather to listen to. And she wasn’t about to stand there and listen to another word. But she was going to get her boat back. Anger rose up inside her and she flung the door open.

If there had been any doubt about what she thought she’d see when the door opened, it vanished. The door slammed against the wall and Ash spun around. The look on his face went from anger to shock to concern. All in a flash.

“Heather.”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out, so she shook her head and bit her bottom lip. Hard.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

Heather laughed then because it was about the most cliché thing he could have said. The sound came out as a cross between a choke and a cough. He reached for her, but she shook her head, warning him off. She didn’t think she’d be able to survive his touch. The betrayal was fresh and raw and…damn it hurt to see him standing in a bedroom, the bedsheets rumpled, with a beautiful half-naked woman next to him.

It hurt all right.

A lot.

She couldn’t stand there for one more second. With the image burned in her mind, Heather turned and ran down the steps.

* * *

“Heather!”

He started to run after her, but Sara stopped him.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

He turned and stared at the woman. “What?”

“She obviously doesn’t want to talk to you right now. She’s mad.”

“No shit.”

“She won’t hear anything you have to say right now. You should wait.”

“Wait? Why the hell would I wait?”

He was done listening to her. He grabbed his things from the table and was ready to chase after her, when Sara said, “She had a reason to turn and run, Ash. What was it?”

“What are you talking about?”

Sara stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking bitchier than Ash ever remembered her looking. Was it possible she’d always been a bitch, and he’d just never seen it?

“Women don’t just run off like that without a reason. If you’re sort of seeing her.” She used her fingers for air quotes. “Don’t you think she would have stuck around to hear what you had to say? Don’t you think she would have believed you when you told her it wasn’t what it looked like? Nice line, by the way. Very original.”

Yes. Maybe she’d always been a bitch and Ash just hadn’t seen it before. But she did have a point. Why would Heather just take off without listening to his explanation?

He knew exactly why.

Because he’d told her that he’d vowed never to have another relationship. And now he was demonstrating that.

“Dammit.”

“No shit.”

“I love her.” The words surprised him because he hadn’t even allowed himself to think the words yet. He knew he cared about her. A lot. He knew he wanted to try a relationship with her. He knew she was the first woman since Carlie to make him feel anything. He knew all of that. And now, he knew he loved her. A smile crossed his face despite the situation. Saying it out loud felt good. So good.

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve never told her that before?”

He’d forgotten she was still there. He stared at her, unable to think of anything worth saying.

Her sigh was long and loud. “Seriously. Why are you still here? Go tell her.”

He shook his head and bit back the urge to scream before he took one more look at her and left her behind to find Heather.

* * *

She couldn’t think clearly.

Ash.

A woman.

In a bedroom.

Together.

The image kept flashing through her head as if it was on neon lights and she couldn’t turn it off. Is that why he’d gone off without telling her? To meet up with a woman? And ruin everything they had together.

No. They didn’t have anything together. He told her. He’d warned her. He wouldn’t let himself be in love again. But that didn’t mean he could stop her from falling in love. And she had. Oh, she had and now…

“Heather?”

She heard her name as she pushed out the front door of the Bitter End and stood on the porch. But she didn’t turn around. She stood on the steps and looked down the street. What was she supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go?

She couldn’t think straight and she needed to pull it together. Fast.

“Chica.” Mick appeared behind her. “I thought that was—whoa. Are you okay?”

She started to nod but shook her head instead. “No. I’m not okay. I need to go. I need…” She turned to look at Mick and got an idea. “I need the key to the engine lock on my boat. Do you—”

“Ash left the keys behind the bar last night. Let me grab them for you.”

She nodded. That would be good. If she could get the keys and get her boat back, that was a good first step. Ash didn’t need to be with her. He didn’t need to pretend anymore. That was fine. She didn’t need him. She could get her guests and get them back to Casa del Sol without him. But he had no right to take her boat.

She paced on the street in front of the hostel, letting her thoughts clear. She was no closer to understanding anything when she heard her name again. This time it wasn’t Mick’s voice. She turned slowly to see Ash in the door, the keys to the engine lock in his hand.

“Mick told me you were looking for these.” He took a step down, but Heather crossed her arms and he stopped. “Heather, let me explain what you just saw.”

“There’s no need.” She kept her voice as calm as she could, to the point where she knew she sounded cold and detached. She didn’t care. She couldn’t. She needed space. Or it would hurt too much to do what she was going to have to do.

“There is.” Ash took the steps down to the street and stood in front of her. “Nothing happened with Sara. Nothing.”

“Sara.” Somehow it made it worse to know her name.

“I went to bed last night and she just…she…well, she climbed into bed with me.” He must know it sounded bad because Ash closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I’m not interested in her. It’s not like that.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does!”

“No, Ash. It doesn’t. You told me you would never love again.” Heather had to focus to get the words out, but she needed to say them. She needed to hear it as much as he did. “And now you’ve demonstrated that. If you were trying to make the point, you did. Now if you’d please give me the keys, I have guests to pick up. Because you didn’t think of that either, did you? While you were running off into town to scratch an itch, you left me stranded when I have a business to run. I assume you’ll be able to find your own way back, or…wherever it is that you go when you’re not at Casa del Sol. But I don’t think—”

“Stop.”

She shook her head.

“No, Heather. Stop.” He gripped her upper arms, and forced her to look at him. “You need to listen to me.”

She shook her head again, harder, before she focused on his eyes. “No. I don’t.” She could feel the crack in her heart as she spoke, but she had to get it out. “It was nothing. We were just fooling around and I know it wasn’t anything serious. It’s fine.”

“That’s not true.”

“You tried to tell me, and I wouldn’t listen. But I get it now. I know who you are, Ash. I get it.”

He dropped his hands, his face twisted into a mask of hurt, but she couldn’t let herself care. “Here.” Ash held the keys out and she took them.

There was something final in his surrender and that might have been the part that hurt the most, but she took the keys and tucked them into her bag. With one more look and her heart breaking into a thousand pieces, she turned and walked down the street to the airport and her guests. She still had a job to do.

* * *

He let her go. Every fiber in his body yearned to go after her, pull her into his arms and kiss her until she listened to him. He needed to make her understand. Force her if necessary. But it wasn’t the right time because she was right—he’d said those things. He’d told her he would never let himself love again.

He’d been wrong.

Very wrong.

And he’d prove it to her, too.

Because as he watched her walk away, Ash knew one thing with complete certainty: he loved Heather Holt. And he wasn’t going to lose her.