“I swear I saw them come this way,” she muttered under her breath as she passed in front of our tree. I held my breath, afraid that she might hear it and find us. She continued on down the path, her mumbling growing quieter with every step.
We waited for a long time, silently pressed against one another until he was sure we were safe. Thoughts ran through my mind. Why was he hiding? Who was that woman? And of course, my mind went to the darkest places it could while we waited. Maybe he's a wanted criminal and she's a bounty hunter. It's his wife. It's his boss. He owes her money. She was his last girlfriend and she followed him here and she'll kill me out of jealousy. Each thought was more absurd than the last, but in the quiet of my mind, my imagination ran wild.
The sun began to touch the horizon, deepening the shadows of the branches. Noah stepped onto the path, motioning me to stay put while he checked it out. He took a few steps and then smiled and waved me back to the path.
“I think she's gone. The path loops around past the house, but she shouldn't have a reason to turn around.” He reached out his hand for me.
“Who was she?” I didn't immediately take his hand. “Why were you hiding from her?”
Noah ran his outstretched hand through his dark hair, the muscles in his arm stretching the fabric of his shirt. “Danica Lewis. She's a reporter.”
“A reporter?” That possibility had not been one of the billions running through my mind as we hid behind the tree.
“Yeah.” He sighed and took a step toward me, his eyes honest as he spoke. “My company just went through a big lawsuit. We won, but we weren't popular because of it. She wants an interview. I think she believes that a scathing interview with the 'Devil of Real Estate' will jump-start her career. I told her no. I have no idea how she followed me here.”
“They call you 'The Devil of Real Estate?’”
He gave me a small smile. “Figuratively speaking.”
I nodded, and he reached for my hand. I let him take it, his large hands wrapping my smaller ones with his warmth. I loved the way his hands felt.
“I'm sorry if I scared you.” His thumbs caressed the back of my hand. “I just don't want my vacation ruined by an over-eager reporter. She's not exactly a nice person.”
“Have you interviewed with her before?” I asked. Noah tucked my arm into his elbow, starting us down the path again. The setting sun glimmered through the tree branches and made the world into gold and silver shadows. We walked slowly, not wanting to risk catching up to her.
“She covered the lawsuit.” The corners of his mouth went down in disgust. “I dreaded walking past her every morning because she had the most bitter things to say to try and get a good soundbite.”
“She sounds like a lovely human being,” I cracked. Noah snorted and gave me a small squeeze. “You know, this does tell me that you actually are successful and not just good at stealing cell phone minutes.”
“I was afraid you might come to that conclusion, but why do you think that?” Noah asked, his eyes on the path.
“One, reporters don't hound unimportant people. Two, you have multiple billionaire friends. And then three, the fact that you have a functioning phone on an island in the middle of the ocean.” I ticked off the reasons on my fingers.
“All right,” he said slowly. “I might be a little important.”
“You aren't going to tell me, are you?” I asked. He shook his head. “Well, then I'll try and figure it out. What was the lawsuit about?”
Noah stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “You really don't know? It was all over CNN for a good week.”
I shook my head from side to side. “I don't have much time for TV, and we don't have cable at the research facility. If it isn't about an approaching hurricane, then I don't follow it.”
A soft, slow smile came over Noah's face. His eyes danced as his smile grew. “Well, isn't that something...”
“So, are you going to tell me, or what?” I asked impatiently. His smile just grew wider.
“If you don't know, I'd rather not tell you. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and it's really nice to talk with someone without constantly being reminded of your failures.”
I thought about that for a moment as we started walking again. I thought about my own failures and how much it would suck to have a reporter hounding me for more. Having some of them reported in the local newspaper when I was a kid had been bad enough, but the idea of having them broadcast to the world was terrible.
“I understand.” I gave him a squeeze and leaned into his strong arm. “Failures suck. I know they're supposed to teach you some sort of lesson, and that it can work out for the better, but they still suck. They leave a bitter taste in your mouth. I guess that makes success that much sweeter, but ugh.”
Noah chuckled at my disgusted noise. “Between the lawsuit and the wedding, I've had enough failures.”
My heart sunk to my toes and threatened to continue on down through China. Wedding? My brain rebelled against the word. He's married. He's been leading me on this whole time. I kissed a married man. A panic went through me and I dropped his arm and pushed him away. No wonder he was so charming. He had a wife to practice all his lines on first.
“What do you mean, 'wedding?'” I asked coldly.
Noah's shoulders slumped, and his face fell. The shadows of the trees crossed his features, darkening them. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked at the ground, his eyes following a small stone on the path.
“I forgot you don't know about that either.” He looked up at me, his eyes full of hurt and his brow pinched to almost pain. “I was recently left at the altar.”
“So you're not married?” I mentally slapped myself for being tactless as relief flooded my voice. I wasn't the other woman after all.
Noah gave a bitter chuckle and kicked the stone again, sending it spinning into the roots of a tree. “Nope. She didn't even bother going to the church. She came from a big society family, so it was supposed to be the social event of the year. Even the mayor was there. She made one of her poor bridesmaids walk up the aisle and tell me she wasn't going through with it. In front of the whole congregation.” A spiteful smile danced briefly across his face. “I don't think they're friends anymore.”
My hands went to my mouth in shock. I’d always thought that kind of thing only happened in movies. “That's terrible! I'm so sorry!”
He shrugged, obviously trying to pretend that he didn't care despite the pain etched all over his face. Whoever she was, she had hurt him. I was halfway surprised he was even willing to talk to another female again.