Page 28 of Stranded with the Resort Owner

When he finally speaks, his voice is flat. Calm. Professional.

"I don't do messy."

I look up. His expression is unreadable. Closed off. Like last night, like the elevator, never happened.

"I want to be clear about what happened back there. That wasn't me. That isn't who I want to be. I don't use sex to hurt someone."

I swallow, chest tightening. "Lucas?—"

"I let it get out of control. That's on me. And I don't like losing control. Not in business, and not with someone I'm supposed to be working with." He cuts me off gently.

His words land like ice cracking underfoot.

Clean. Final.

But it's what he doesn't say that guts me.

Not someone I care about.

Not someone I want.

Just… someone he's supposed to be working with.

A colleague. A complication.

Not the woman he held down and fucked like she was the only thing tethering him to this planet. Not the woman who let him inside in every way that matters.

And why should he? We were strangers before the storm. Two bodies and a blizzard. A few shared confessions and one brutal night that burned through every boundary I thought I had.

It's not supposed to be more.

But it feels like more.

And that's the real problem.

Because I'm standing here—skin marked, lips bruised, heart thudding out a rhythm that sounds suspiciously like stay—and he's already stepping back. Rewriting the rules. Reinforcing the line I shattered when I let him see the darkness I never share.

I should be grateful. Relieved.

But all I feel is cold.

"I think." He says, slower now, like it costs him something to say it. "We need to be clear with each other. No more sex. No more blurring the lines."

I nod, throat burning.

"Just work." He finishes. "You do your job, I'll do mine, and we make sure this wedding goes off without a hitch."

A beat.

"And when it's done." He says, voice soft, almost an afterthought. "We walk away clean."

Clean.

That word shouldn't feel like a knife. But it does.

"Okay." I manage, forcing the syllable out before my voice cracks. "You're right. It's better this way."

Lucas doesn't move for a moment.

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