Sinful Ever After (Romance Collection)

by Vivian Wood

  Luna

  I walk up the dock toward the yacht club, hand in hand with Gabe. I’m riding right now. Feeling the endorphin rush of our win plus the crazy, head over heels, shout it from the rooftops kind of love for Gabe…

  Love that is reciprocated. Before today, I barely dared to whisper the word in my head.

  But then Gabe, staid and buttoned up Gabe, said it to me…

  And my heart soared.

  He squeezes my hand as we reach the first people outside of the yacht club. They are all standing around and drinking champagne in their formal attire, looking very out of place on this blustery late summer morning.

  “Congratulations!” a man says, raising his glass. “You beat the other yachts by quite some time, it seems. It looks like you’re the best yacht by a mile.”

  Gabe gives the group a small smile. He grips my hand. “Thanks.”

  “Come on inside,” a woman says. “We are throwing a little party to celebrate and you two are now the guests of honor.”

  Buoyed along on a wave of good feelings, I follow Gabe up the steps and into the club. I haven’t been here before but it is exactly what I thought a yacht club would look like inside; heavy maple paneling on the walls, a nautical theme to the wall hangings. We are ushered into the portion of the club that serves as a restaurant and seated at a round plush booth. Several people slide in the booth around us, boxing us in.

  “Here, let me get you two a glass of champagne,” an older blonde woman says, snapping her fingers at the waitress. The woman wears a white dress with a pink bolo jacket, and her nails and hair are so fake. I cringe a little at her treatment of the staff, but I don’t make a fuss. It’s not my place and it isn’t the time.

  As the waitress comes over with two glasses of champagne, the blonde woman smiles. “I’m Veronica. This is Charles,” she points to an older man in a gray suit jacket. “And Melanie, and Antony.” The redheaded lady and young man in all black bob their heads in greeting. “We’re all glad to meet you, dear. What was the name of your yacht?”

  Gabe shifts in his seat and clears his throat. “The Arctic Light, ma’am.”

  “Oh, he calls me ma’am!” Veronica says with a chuckle. “So polite. But please, call me Veronica. What are your names?”

  “I’m Gabe. This is Luna,” he rumbles, nodding his head to me. Underneath the table, Gabe puts his hand on my knee.

  “Did you have a company you were racing for, young man?” asks Charles.

  Gabe tenses, but I slip my hand under the table and cover his hand where it rest on my knee. He looks at me gratefully for a second.

  “Aurora Borealis Charters,” he supplies.

  Charles nods. “Mhm. A newer company, then?”

  The tension in Gabe seems to increase. He frowns. “No. We’ve been a family owned and operated business for over thirty years.”

  “Is that right?” Charles asks.

  Before Gabe gets a chance to answer, Dr. Montgomery strolls in the yacht club’s restaurant, his gaze sweeping the entire place. He finds me and Gabe and then smiles cruelly.

  I can feel all the blood drain from my face. God, how did I forget that he would be here?

  Gabe stiffens as he sees Dr. Montgomery approaching. He slides me a look, but I’m paralyzed where I sit.

  I grip his hand under the table and his expression darkens even further.

  Please god. Please just let Dr. Montgomery not tell Gabe about my intent to betray him. I can’t breathe as Dr. Montgomery comes up to our table, a curious smile on his face.

  “Are these the winners of our little yacht race?” he asks.

  The blonde gives him an arched brow. “Fletcher, you should meet Gabe and…” She pauses. “I’m sorry, dear. What was your name again?”

  My lips are pressed into a firm line. Before I can speak, Dr. Montgomery smiles.

  “Oh, Luna and I know each other pretty intimately.”

  My face heats and my mouth opens as Gabe’s eyes find my face. “Dr. Montgomery works at the University of Washington. I’m one of the med students under his purview.”

  It comes out rushed, making me sound childish. Dr. Montgomery’s smile widens.

  “Do you mind if I have a seat?” he asks.

  “Sure,” Veronica says, waving a hand like a queen. “Sit, sit.”

  Gabe holds my hand so tightly that I almost cringe. “We have to go soon,” he says.

  “Oh, sit and enjoy some champagne,” Charles says, chuckling. “We have to get to know the man who is going to be sailing us around on his yacht.”

  Dr. Montgomery sits, looking between me and Gabe. “You two look cozy.”

  Gabe’s eyes narrow to slits. I can practically feel his need to say something nasty to Dr. Montgomery vibrating within him. “What do you want, Fletcher?”

  Instead of answering Gabe’s question, Dr. Montgomery waves the waitress down. “I need a glass of champagne. You don’t mind, do you Gabe?”

  As the waitress brings another flute of wine over, Veronica makes a toast. “To the Harbor Pointe Yacht Club! And to our winners. May we get to know you and then love you.”

  She raises her glass a little too suddenly and splashes some over the rim, then giggles. I release a silent sigh as everyone cheers her, making direct eye contact with Dr. Montgomery.

  He sips his champagne, a little smile on his lips. I start to sweat. Gabe is staring daggers at him, but it just seems to roll right off him like water off a duck’s back.

  “You know, Gabe,” Dr. Montgomery says, not taking his eyes off of me. “When I first met Luna here, I asked her for a favor.”

  My heartbeat begins to race. I claw at Gabe’s hand. “I need to get up!” I blurt out. “I have to go!”

  Gabe casts a suspicious look at me, but Charles and Melanie are already moving out of the way. Gabe scoots out of the booth and offers me a hand up. I take him hand, looking at his with wide, nervous eyes.

  “Come with me,” I say softly.

  His brows descend and his forehead creases. “What?”

  He slides a look sideways to Dr. Montgomery, then scowls. I tug on his hand.

  “Please?” I ask.

  He looks back and me, then shakes his head. “I’m good here.”

  Dr. Montgomery stands up with a smirk on his lips. “I think it would be for the best if the three of us stepped outside for a moment. We don’t want to cause a scene, do we?”

  I glare at him. Gabe has a look on his face that is a mix of suspicion and hatred. “Let’s go.”

  Gabe leads the way with me right on his heels. Dr. Montgomery follows, his expression so clearly self-satisfied I can barely look at him. Gabe pushes open a balcony door, letting us out onto the yacht club’s stately balcony. It looks out over the sea and because today is so blustery, no one else is out here.

  I gulp as Dr. Montgomery closes the door behind us. My pulse is racing. I turn to Gabe, a plea on my face and in my voice. I reach out to him, touching his forearm with my cold fingers. He tilts his gaze down to look at me.

  “What?” he asks me. “Just tell me.”

  I open my mouth to explain, but Dr. Montgomery cuts in. “I’ll explain. You see, I asked our little Luna here to spy on you in exchange for advancement at the university. And she agreed.”

  I blush furiously. Dr. Montgomery grins, looking back and forth between us. Gabe turns to me.

  “Is this true?”

  I hesitate for a moment. “I didn’t go through with it, obviously. I felt like I couldn’t just tell Dr. Montgomery to take a hike—“

  “You should’ve seen her agreeing with me,” Dr. Montgomery cuts me off again. “She was actually excited about the opportunity to get ahead! I asked her for the route map you guys would be working on…”

  “I didn’t actually give him anything!” I blurt out. “You said I’ve been acting weird for the past week… I’ve been trying to figure out a way out of this whole thing without betraying you or hurting my career!”

  I’m so
worked up that I’m on the verge of tears. I inhale a long, shaky breath.

  Gabe’s expression is suspiciously neutral. He folds his arms across his chest. “Fletcher, you can right fuck off. Do you hear me? Run along and play your nasty little games with someone else.”

  My heart lifts. Maybe Gabe sees D’s play for what it so clearly is. Maybe he believes me when I say that I was not going to spy on him.

  Dr. Montgomery sneers at him. “Whatever, Gabe. We both know that you’re a fucking loser who cheated to win today.”

  Gabe cocks his head at Dr. Montgomery. “You’re just lucky that there are so many witnesses here, Fletcher. Because given the chance, I would beat the living daylights out of you.”

  Dr. Montgomery makes a disgusted sound and starts to leave. He pauses with the door open partway to shoot his final arrow right at me. “You are done at the University of Washington, Luna. You’d better find another med school that will accept your ass.”

  A wrinkle of worry forms in my brow. My shoulders tense. But Dr. Montgomery is gone in the next second, slamming the door, leaving me and Gabe facing off in the bright sunlight. I look at Gabe with a sigh.

  His expression is so guarded that I can’t figure out what he’s actually feeling. He takes a long moment to study me. “I don’t even know where to start, Luna. I just… I thought I could trust you. I thought you could trust me too… and yet, there are still these secrets between us.”

  My heart jumps into my throat. My eyes mist over. “I swear, I wouldn’t have actually spied on you for Dr. Montgomery.”

  “That is not the point!” he shouts. His blue green eyes pin me in place. A muscle ticks in his jaw. “The issue is that you had a problem, maybe the biggest problem you’ve ever had… and you never came to me about it! Instead you deceived me, just like Michelle did.”

  “Gabe, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I reach out for him, but he steps back.

  His expression is tortured. “I can’t do this again, Luna! I won’t!”

  “But… but I love you!” I whisper. Tears fill my eyes and I do nothing to stop them from rolling down my face. “Please, Gabe…”

  He closes his eyes for a second, looking like I just punched him in the gut. “I’m sorry, Luna. You don’t know how much I wish I could trust you.”

  “Don’t let Dr. Montgomery win!” I beg him.

  Gabe shakes his head. “I think I should leave. And… you should start finding another summer internship. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

  And with that, he turns on his heel and walks away. I start sobbing, knowing that there is nothing I can do or say to bring him back.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Luna

  A Week Later

  I’m lying on my living room couch, staring at the television screen. The tv is on but the sound is muted. Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone pedal their foot-powered car across the screen. The doorbell trills and I pull a face, looking back toward the entry hall.

  I’m in my stretchy pants and a loose pink sweatshirt, my hair thrown up in a ponytail. This is definitely my moping around the house outfit, complete with a box of Kleenex beside my head and balled up tissues on the floor in front of me.

  I’m not interested in the intrusion of anyone or anything. It’s not like they could pierce the fog I’ve been in all week anyway…

  The doorbell trills again, insistent. I sit up with a groan, dragging myself off the couch and going over to the security panel. Cate and Harper stare up at me impatiently, and Harper pushes the doorbell button again. Exhaling a long breath, I type in my door code and the door buzzes, unlocking after a second.

  By the time that my two best friends let themselves in the apartment, I am already sinking back into the blue velvet couch.

  “Hello?” Cate says. “We come bearing your absolute favorite donuts…”

  I scrunch up my face and assume the position: curled in ball on my side, my face pushes up against the pillow that migrated onto the couch from my bed.

  “Okay,” Harper says, her tone businesslike. She marches over and finds the remote, turning off the television. “Enough of this. You’ve been avoiding us all week and moping around this apartment instead of having fun. This apartment is great, honey, but it isn’t that great.”

  Cate chimes in, her voice soft. “And I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but… you really need a shower.” She makes a sympathetic face. “Come on. Get up.”

  “Seriously. I’ll make coffee while you’re in the shower,” Harper says.

  I sit up, giving them both a look. “Are you sure I can’t just have a donut?”

  “Yes!” both my friends insist.

  Muttering under my breath and shooting daggers at them with my eyes, I get up and go shower. I’ll admit to staying under the steaming hot water longer than I really need to. And my beauty rituals, which I’ve basically been ignoring all week long… it’s nice to spend some extra time putting lavender-scented lotion on my whole body, brushing my teeth for a couple of minutes, and washing my face really thoroughly.

  When I get out of the shower, I find that one of my friends has already laid out a pair of jeans and a fancy blouse for me. It’s almost like I’m an invalid or something. Rolling my eyes, I dress myself and then pad out to see them in the kitchen.

  Harper wolf whistles at me.

  Cate cheers. “Yay! I have a best friend again. I knew you were there, under all those layers of grime…”

  “Yes, yes,” I grouse, taking a seat at the kitchen island. “I smell coffee.”

  Cate beams, hurrying to pour me a cup of coffee. Harper opens the box of donuts and slides it over to me.

  “You look thin,” she says gravely. “Eat a couple of those, get some sugar in your system. That’ll jump start everything.”

  I take the cup of coffee and nibble on a donut. But honestly the donut tastes like dirt and the coffee just makes me antsy. After a few bites and a couple big sips, I put them both down. Harper tilts her head.

  “So what happened?” she asks.

  I close my eyes for a minute, summoning the energy to deal with this. “Well…” I sit back in my seat, making an angry gesture. “Gabe called me during the regatta. He needed someone to sub in for his sister at the last minute. So I did it, of course. And we won.” I look down, sadness filling me. “And he actually said he loves me, which was a huge reveal for him.”

  Cate covers my hand with her own, giving me a sympathetic smile. “I’m assuming that’s not the end of the story.”

  Shaking my head, I swallow thickly. “No. After we won, we went up to the yacht club… and D walked in. He wasn’t very happy with anyone, especially not me.”

  Cate’s eyes widen. “D told Gabe that you two had conspired against him?”

  I didn’t realize that my eyes had filled with tears until once breaks away and rolls down my cheek. I scrub it away with the side of my hand. “He did. But Gabe wasn’t even upset about that… he was really upset that I hadn’t told him my problem.” I sniffle. “His ex hid a lot of stuff from him, I guess. And because of that, he said we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

  Putting my head down on my hands, I suppress a sob. Not particularly because I don’t want to fall apart in front of Harper or Cate — they’ve both seen worse since we’ve been friends. Acted worse, too.

  No, I am trying not to cry because I’ve spent almost a week either crying like a toddler or exhausted from it, staring blankly at the television or wall. I’m just over it. Done.

  If only my heart would get the message…

  “Hey, hey,” Cate says in her most soothing voice. “It’s okay, Luna. Really. You had a life before Gabe. You will have a life after him too.”

  Wiping my face, I slowly shake my head. “I don’t think so, Cate. I don’t think he’s the type of guy you get over.”

  Harper makes a face. “Girl. Seriously. Gabe is just a dude. There a trillion more fish in the sea, especially the sea where you are located. Okay?
You’re white and privileged. You are gonna be all right. Trust me.”

  Drawing in a breath, I shake my head again. “I love him, Harper. That’s not an easy thing, considering my family history.”

  Harper pushes out of her cheek with her tongue and looks at me for a minute. “Have you tried to contact him since then?”

  My cheeks burn a little bit. “Yeah. His phone is off.”

  “You haven’t gone to his place though?” Cate asks. She wrinkles her forehead. “You would be a terrible stalker, Luna.”

  “Really terrible,” Harper says, gently teasing me. “For real. If it was me, I would be knocking on Gabe’s door, demanding another chance.” She puckers her lips. “If you love someone the way that you say you love Gabe, you can’t just let that go.

  “But what would I even say? I feel like everything has already been laid out on the table. He just rejected what he saw.”

  Harper rolls her eyes. “I swear, you are being so passive! You’re usually so hard-headed. Use some of that stubbornness to your advantage! Don’t just throw your hands up in the air, Luna.”

  “She’s right,” Cate says, nodding. “If he hasn’t closed the door all the way, there’s still a chance. And you won’t know if the door is closed unless you try to open it.”

  “Remember, you didn’t really do anything wrong.” Harper crosses her arms.

  Cate agrees. “Yeah, it sounds like he just has a personal hang up that really has nothing to do with you. It isn’t fair, blaming you for someone else’s mistakes.”

  I give them both a sad smile. “Gabe is damaged, plain and simple. He’s still wrapped up in the past. And I don’t know that any amount of loving him is going to fix that. Unless he comes around about things, I don’t see a future for us.”

  Glancing down at my lap, I try to quell the sadness that washes through me at the thought.

  Harper heaves a sigh. “It sounds like your mind is made up about that.”

  I cock my head. “It is.”

  Cate stands up. “Then we should go do something else, then. A little retail therapy, maybe? We could hit the Grove… followed by lunch at that sushi place you love so much?”