Chapter 26

Daniel glanced at his wristwatch and growled in frustration.

He was fast running out of time.

He had been waiting at the airport for an hour now.

He needed to get to LA as soon as possible.

He'd missed his flight back home and had been rescheduled for another that was due in two hours but the two hours was fast becoming forever for him.

He should have taken his car.

He regretted not taking it.

He'd parked it at Bryan's place the day he'd come to Mexico.

Bryan had thought a flight would be better than driving all the way down.

He tapped his foot worriedly against the marbled floors.

'Have you seen the papers this morning?'

Bryan's words ran through his mind again.

Of course he'd seen the damned papers. Some idiot had had it personally delivered to his doorstep and that had driven him nuts.

Those people seemingly had no other job than following him around.

He could swear that there'd be a couple of them lurking around the airport right now.

'It's all over the place,Daniel. How could you?

I thought you had something going on with Macy. You even swore it was her or no one.

Kissing Lisa in a hotel lobby? Man, that was extreme. Whatever happened to staying clear of the media?'

'It was her who kissed me,dammit!'

He'd screamed.

'I really don't care.

You know what? Just find a way to fix this'.

Bryan had returned dryly.

He'd wanted to haul back a word or two but Bryan angrily cut the call.

He ran his hand through his hair as he painfully recalled the events of last night.

Last night had been his longest and craziest night ever.

Lisa had taken him completely unawares; Her presence and everything else that had followed.

When she'd kissed him the second time last night,begging him to come back to her,he'd stood there,stuck between pretending to enjoy the kiss and trying to assure himself that he no longer felt anything for the woman in his arms.

She'd reached for his shirt and had started unbuttoning it,the hurriedness of her movement, a sharp contrast to Macy's smooth carefulness.

Then he'd looked down at her and had known instantly that he wouldn't trade Macy for a thing like Lisa.

They would never have worked out and he was thankful that she'd left at the time she did.

Desperate for her to leave and knowing she wouldn't if he didn't give her something to hold unto,he'd confessed to her that he missed her and also wanted her back.

That had been a wrong move because she'd still refused to leave,pointing out that they needed to catch up on old times.

He then suggested a drink and she jumped on the offer.

He'd taken his time to provide the drinks.

By the time he came back to the living room,she was sprawled on the sofa,fast asleep.

Unable to leave her like that,he'd gotten a thick blanket and covered her. If she was going to catch a cold,at least let it not be under his watch.

Lisa might be a sly fox but she was still a human and so he'd treat her as one.

He'd gone to bed angry that they were going to spend the whole night together in the same space.

He didn't sleep a wink though. He was so desperate to see the light of the day.

Getting Lisa to leave this morning had also been another huge problem.

She had sulked and whined until he couldn't take her attitude anymore and he'd screamed at her, telling her she was a fool for showing up and expecting him to open his arms wide for her.

He told her she was a vomit that he didn't plan to go back to and that they were done and done for good.

He escorted her out of his suit and threatened her with a restraining order if he ever saw her face or perceive her perfume anywhere near him again.

She left with puffy eyes and a runny nose and he honestly cared less about that.

Until he'd seen the papers and had gone ballistic.

He should have told her something much more bruising than he'd done.

He should have said something that would damage her soul just like she'd damaged his, together with his reputation.

Lisa just had a way of wrecking things with her tiny little hands.

Now that he was on his way back to Los Angeles to explain things to Macy before she would see the papers herself and draw conclusions,he wasn't sure how to approach things if he got home to find out she'd seen the papers.

He prayed it wouldn't get that far.

If it did,he'd never forgive Lisa and her sick guts,ever.

His pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her number but she didn't answer him.

She never missed his calls.

He called again and again and when she didn't answer still,his heart sunk.

She'd seen the papers!

His head was throbbing by the time the taxi dropped him off in front of Bryan's apartment building.

Deciding not to go up to his friend's apartment for fear of listening to another round of 'how could you?'s',he rounded his car, entered and drove off.

He would get home first and face Macy.

Fear consumed him as he thought of what her reaction to this whole drama would be.

Would she be calm enough to sit and listen to him?

Would she lock herself in and refuse to talk to him?

Would she scream and tell him to go to hell?

Would she cry and beat his chest and tell him how much he'd betrayed her and her love for him?

He paused.

Did she care about him enough to be hurt by this?

Did she even love him?

She hadn't particularly told him she did,but somehow he knew. He knew she loved him.

The way she looked at him-like he was a piece of treasure-while they made love,told him so.

The way she'd looked at him while she told him she was going to miss him the morning he'd travelled suggested she really did care for him.

Would she ever look at him that way again?

Would she even believe him if he told her he felt absolutely nothing for Lisa?

Would she call him a liar if he told her that she meant the whole world to him?

Would she....

The sharp sound of a siren drifted into his subconscious and his line of vision focused on the road enough to sight an ambulance making it's way towards him.

When had he switched lanes?

He hastily steered his car to the right lane but realised almost immediately that he was already too late. A black SUV with tinted glasses was in front of him and a grey coloured Mercedes was right behind him.

Attempting damage control,he stepped on his brakes,closed his eyes and waited for the blast.

He heard the distinct screeching of tyres, followed by the deafening sound of shattering glasses.

Falling forward,he registered a numbing pain as his chest made contact with the stiff steering of his car.

Several minutes passed before he slowly let his eyes open and then began to hear voices that sounded like whispers.

He tried to get his brain to focus but it seemed like the planets were falling over themselves before his very eyes.

He opened his mouth to talk but instead tasted blood.

His legs were as stiff as a rock and his hands which were clutching the steering were trembling uncontrollably.

When the colours flying up and down his senses and the commotion in his brain became too much to bear, he closed his eyes again and welcomed the darkness.