“Didn’t Bobby Roberts live in these apartments? I think you and I made out once between buildings B and C. It was cold as heck that night, but you let me reach under your shirt anyway.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “And who names their kid Robert Roberts, anyway,” he rambled.
She glanced at him. Was he seriously joking right now? He’d always been a jokester, often to the point of annoying her, but it seemed like his current motive was nerves. Good. Let him be nervous. He deserved it.
She let him follow her into the building and to the second floor because she couldn’t think of another option. She figured it might be easier to get rid of him after she’d changed clothes and could look him in the eye without worrying about him seeing every outline of her bra.
And why on earth did it matter if he saw her bra or not? He’d seen every bra she owned ten years ago, most often on the floor of her childhood bedroom. He’d seen her naked more times than she could count.
But that was then. This was now. She wasn’t interested in sharing an inch of her skin with Cole Landry today.
When they reached her door, she pulled out her key and opened it with shaking hands, the jacket parting so she could do so. Once again, she tried to blow him off, and once again, he ignored her, pushing her door open and guiding her inside.
He seemed bossier than he had been ten years ago. A man who got what he wanted, and apparently he wanted to enter her apartment.
“Go change,” he insisted. “I’ll wait here, and then I’ll take you to lunch.”
She flinched as she looked at him again. “That’s not necessary.”
“I know it’s not, but it’s the least I can do after ruining your coffee.”
“Cole, you don’t have to do this. I’m fine. You drove me home. I don’t need lunch.” She had no interest in sitting across from him at a restaurant making small talk today or any other day. In fact, she cringed inwardly at the memory of the last time she’d seen him, the time he’d told her he would pick her up at seven to take her to dinner. He hadn’t shown up that night, and she’d never forgiven him.
He closed his eyes for a moment as if he needed to rein in his frustration. Good. She didn’t care if she totally pissed him off. “Go change, April.”
She humphed as she spun around and headed for her bedroom. As soon as she closed the door, she leaned against it and took several deep breaths. What a disaster. On top of the fact that she now had to entertain her ex-boyfriend on this shitty April Fool’s Day, she still needed to grab some clean clothes and walk back into the hallway to get to the bathroom. She would need to wash the sticky latte off her skin before she put on clean clothes.
Her apartment only had one bath and one bedroom. It was small, but it was hers. She’d been scraping by month by month for a while now, but she’d done it somehow.
Shoving off the door, she headed for the closet, grabbed a pair of jeans and a pink tank top, and then spun around to snag a clean bra from her drawers. Tucking all of this under her arm while still wrangling the jacket, she emerged from the bedroom and aimed straight for the bathroom without glancing toward the living room.
Once she was safely ensconced in the bathroom, door locked, she finally let out a breath and hooked the jacket on the back of the door. Her fingers were shaking as she removed her blouse and skirt, kicking off her heels at the same time. The bra was last, leaving her in white lace panties.
A glance in the mirror made her wince. Her skin was pink from the hot liquid. Luckily, it could have been worse, but it felt good when she wet a washcloth with cold water and soothed her skin.
Something about being nearly naked within a few yards of Cole made her pick up the pace. It was unnerving to think he was on the other side of this door. Her nipples were stiff peaks from the cold cloth; at least that’s what she told herself.
Why did the man have to be even better-looking than he had been when they were eighteen?
She finished dressing, grabbed his jacket, and exited the bathroom with the intent of looking him in the eye and getting rid of him as fast as possible. Her steps faltered as she entered the living room slash kitchen.
Cole was across the room, standing at the counter, stirring a steaming cup of coffee. She could smell it immediately. He turned around when she approached, lifting the mug toward her, a half-grin on his face. “It’s not The Bean Stop, but I figured you needed caffeine since your last cup never made it to your lips.”
She took the mug from him, careful to avoid touching his fingers. “Thank you,” she muttered. It was hard to be angry with a man who made her coffee.
He lifted the French vanilla creamer and put it back in the fridge. “I figured you liked a vanilla latte when I found this creamer and spotted your Keurig on the counter.”
She took another fortifying sip, wishing it would cool off faster so she could gulp it down. “Observant,” she whispered.
He wandered to her couch and dropped onto it with a sigh even though she wished he wouldn’t make himself comfortable. Clearly, he wasn’t leaving.
She shuffled toward her armchair and lowered onto the edge of it, back straight, coffee carefully between her palms. “What are you doing here, Cole?” Her voice sounded bitchy. Maybe that wasn’t necessary. After all, he’d done her a solid this morning. Two, if she counted making her coffee. She took another drink, grateful for the caffeine finally flowing through her veins.
He smirked. “Trying to apologize for spilling coffee on you.”
She shook her head, frustration growing. “Not here in my apartment. What are you doing here in town?”
“My dad died. I’m here to settle his affairs.” He said this so matter-of-factly that April’s eyes were huge saucers of shock.
She swallowed, lowering her half-empty coffee mug to her lap, glad that she hadn’t dropped it and dumped yet another coffee on herself. “Oh my God, Cole. I’m so sorry.” She felt like a world-class bitch.
He shrugged. Shrugged? “It is what it is.”
She licked her dry lips. “When is the funeral?”
“Tomorrow.”
Now she cleared her throat. “Is your stepmom okay? Your brother?”
He shrugged again and blew out a breath. “Honestly, April, I don’t give a fuck if they’re okay or not. I wouldn’t have even come at all if I hadn’t needed to deal with the shop.”
Landry’s. The mechanic shop his dad owned.
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of what else to say. He was so stoic and nonchalant about the death of his father. “Did, uh, did something happen between you and your family to create a riff?”
He stared at her a moment and then half-chuckled, rubbing a hand down his face. “I’d rather not discuss my family if you don’t mind. Tell me about you. What are you doing these days?” He leaned back and made himself comfortable, crossing one leg over the other.
She was shocked by his intent to change the conversation abruptly from the fact that his dad died to her stupid boring life.
“I assume you were on your way to work when I ran into you?” he prodded.
She shook her head. “I’m a realtor. My client for the day canceled on me after the first showing.”
“So, you’re free? We could do lunch?”
She frowned. “Why, Cole? Why would you want to have lunch with me?”
He chuckled. “You’re cute and seem like a fun girl. I could try one of my one-liners on you. How about, hey babe, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”
She did not laugh. She just stared at him. Was he seriously trying to make jokes right now? Again?
“I’m kidding, April.”
“Does that still work for you? Do you still make jokes out of everything? Your dad died, and you’re here for a funeral, and all you can think to do is joke around?”
He held her gaze, sighing. “It’s what I do, April. It’s how I cope. How I avoid reality sometimes.” He hesitated and then continued. “Go to lunch with me because we were once close. Because I don’t kn
ow anyone in town anymore. Because I don’t have anything to do until after the funeral when I meet with the lawyer.”
April took another slow drink of coffee. Ten years ago, this man had broken her heart into ten million pieces and he thought he could just waltz into town, take her to lunch, and catch up like old times?
Part of her wanted to shout all of this at him, demand that he explain why he’d ghosted her and left town without a word. She wanted answers to all the questions that had plagued her for ten years. But something about him was off. His dad had just died. Even though he acted like he didn’t give a fuck, even that was strange. Now wasn’t a good time to pick a fight with him. It would be insensitive.
“Do your parents still live in the same house?” he asked, making small talk like there weren’t two giant elephants in the room.
She hesitated and then responded. “Yeah. They haven’t even changed my bedroom. When I sleep over, I still crawl into that same twin bed with the same comforter covered in those gaudy red cherries.”
He chuckled. “Those were gaudy, but you loved red. I remember when you got that bedding for your birthday. And that bed…” He sucked in a breath and glanced down.
She pulled in a breath at the same time. Yeah, that bed. The place where we had sex for the first time on a Friday night when my parents were out of town. The place where we often had sex any time my parents were both at work or on a date. That bed.
Cole must have been having similar thoughts because he didn’t say anything or look up again for a while. “Why didn’t your parents ever turn your old room into a guest room or something?”
She shrugged. “They seem to feel nostalgic about it. Plus, my mom thinks it’s the perfect room for a grandchild. She hints at that often.”
He laughed. “I can see your mom doing that.” There were tiny wrinkles around his eyes that hadn’t been there ten years ago. They were only twenty-eight, but she knew he’d been through a lot in the last ten years. The man wasn’t just in the Navy. He was a SEAL. She knew this because her mother sometimes mentioned it.
“What do you say, April? Lunch?”
Chapter 2
Cole couldn’t believe he was sitting in April’s living room staring at the woman he’d loved more than anything in the world ten years ago. Maybe they’d just been kids. Maybe he hadn’t known what real love was. But seeing her today was pulling at his heartstrings.
She was colder somehow. Jaded. Angry even, though he wasn’t sure why. She clearly didn’t want to reconnect with him, and he couldn’t blame her on that front. He had walked away from her without a word and never looked back. She had a right to be angry, but something was odd about her reaction to him. Something more than a high school resentment.
He hadn’t meant to see her this week. He’d intended to come to town, handle his father’s affairs, and get back to base in San Diego as fast as possible. One week. There was no reason why he would run into April.
Now he had a new problem. This grown-up version of April was smoking hot. She’d been the cutest girl in high school as far as he was concerned, but now she’d filled in. She had a more hourglass figure with fuller boobs and a fucking nice ass. Her blond hair was a shade darker, but not much. Her brown eyes penetrated just as they had back then. In the overlapping circles of Zig’s strange Venn diagram, April definitely fell into the smoking hot, curvy, improved-with-time circle.
April had always been able to control him with hardly more than a look. He would melt into a puddle when she shot him the you’ve-gone-too-far glance. Truth was, she’d been a savior to him, taming him when he got carried away.
She’d gone to her bedroom to get some shoes, leaving him staring at the open door, wondering what her grown-up bedroom looked like. He had no right to look so he remained seated on her sofa. What he could see of her apartment suited her. Red was obviously still her favorite color, and he smiled when he noticed a porcelain ladybug sitting on one of the shelves.
He rose from the couch and stepped closer to look at her trinkets, his breath catching in his throat as he picked up a picture from the Halloween when she’d dressed as a ladybug. An entire group of their friends was smiling and laughing in the photo, including him.
His heart rate accelerated as he set the frame back in its spot. She had a picture of him. Granted, they weren’t alone or anything, but still.
He was holding the porcelain ladybug in his hand when she emerged from her bedroom. She had on shoes now and a light sweater over her pink tank top. She’d brushed her hair. It wasn’t quite as long as she’d kept it in high school, but he ached to reach out and run his fingers through it, remembering how soft it was and how she’d always sigh when he stroked her head.
“I see you still like ladybugs,” he pointed out as he set the trinket back on the shelf.
She shrugged, eyeing him speculatively. “You’re not going to make some sort of joke about it?”
He winced. “No.” He hated that she didn’t trust him to be serious. Though he also couldn’t blame her. “Ready?” It was time to get out of her apartment. It smelled like her. Exactly as he remembered. Vanilla and cherries. She’d used that flavor of lotion and perhaps even shampoo in high school. Now, he suspected it was a candle.
“Yeah, but I need to call someone about my car.”
He shook his head. “Already shot a text to one of the guys at the shop. Someone is going to go take a look. We just need to drop off the keys.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She was fidgeting. Why did he make her nervous? This was new. He’d never made her nervous when they were young.
She rode next to him in silence, sitting with her hands tucked under her thighs as he dropped her keys off at the shop and then jumped on the highway. He could have chosen something right in town but decided he didn’t want to risk seeing someone they knew.
It shouldn’t matter. It wasn’t like he couldn’t take April McKay to lunch or anything. It was selfish on his part. He didn’t feel like sharing her. He didn’t want to be interrupted and have to speak to anyone else.
She didn’t comment on his choice as he pulled up to a Mexican restaurant he used to take her too, glad it was still around. But she was looking at him as he parked, her brow slightly furrowed.
Maybe he’d crossed the line bringing her here. Too nostalgic.
Finally, she jerked her gaze away and opened the door, jumping down from his rental.
God, this was hard. Unexpected emotions welled up inside him as he led her into the restaurant and then chose a two-person table near the back where it was quieter.
“Tell me about your dad,” she murmured as soon as they had their drinks and a bowl of chips and salsa. “What happened?”
“Heart attack.” He didn’t want to talk about his damn dad. In fact, he had to suck back the next words threatening to spill from his lips. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
He shouldn’t be surprised that she was staring at him in confusion. He’d never shared much about his home life when they were in high school. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know, not even April.
“I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
“Listen, April…” He drew in a deep breath. “The man was an asshole. Can we talk about something else?” For some reason, he didn’t mind sharing that detail now. He hadn’t back then, but it no longer mattered.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Are you still in San Diego?”
“Yes.” At least she knew that much about him. “Except when I’m on a mission. It was my own damn luck that my father chose to die while I was in the continental US.”
She flinched and looked down at her lap, smoothing her napkin as if it were important. “What’s going to happen to the shop? Is your brother going to take over?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I haven’t spoken to him personally. I’m not sure if he’s interested. It’s complicated.” He’d gone by the shop first thing this morning. In fact, it was the only place he’d been so far, his second stop being The
Bean Stop for coffee. Jacob hadn’t been at the shop this morning, and from what Cole gathered from his father’s right-hand man, Bart, Jacob rarely came to the shop.
Cole wasn’t surprised. Jacob had been the laziest child Cole had ever met. He’d been twelve when Cole left town, but it would have shocked Cole to find out Jacob had ever switched gears and put forth any effort. Why should he when his mother babied him?
“Oh.”
He felt like a dick not answering her questions. He needed to give her more. “It’s just that technically I suppose the shop belongs to both of us. But I’m obviously not going to stay in town and run the family business, and I somehow doubt Jacob has the collateral to buy out my half, so, see, it’s kind of messy.”
“I get it.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, reminding him of all the times he’d done that for her. The times when they’d been alone. Just the two of them. The times when he’d been serious with her.
“Have you looked up any of the old gang?” she asked. “Rodney or Billy?”
He shook his head. “Nah.”
“I bet some of them will show up at the funeral. I’m sorry I hadn’t heard the news.”
“It’s okay.” What would she have done if she’d heard? Call him? Send flowers?
“Well, I’ll be there. I can rearrange some of my clients. I only had two appointments tomorrow anyway.”
“You don’t have to do that.” He hesitated. “But thank you. I appreciate it.” Why did she have to look so appealing? And he hated that she’d turned off her snarky attitude once she found out his father died. She was being nice out of respect after making it clear that he made her blood boil.
“So…you like the Navy?”
“I do. It’s intense at times, but I’m incredibly close to my team. They’re like family to me. What about you? Do you like selling houses?”
She chuckled. “Hate it.”
He lifted his brows. “Seriously? Why do you do it then?”
She sighed. “I worked hard to get my license and I don’t have the funds to go back to college, so I do it. I’m not great at it, but I do well enough to pay the bills most months.”
Hot SEAL, April's Fool Page 2
