Tides of Time (The Legacy Book 1)

by Luna Joya

  Sam stilled. She’d been right. Half-naked and post-orgasm right after their first time together probably wasn’t the best time to talk about this, but he needed to know. She looked like someone had sucker punched her. “Sweetheart, what did he do to you?”

  Her head dropped, and she pushed back her plate. She struggled to pretend nothing had happened, but it was all an act.

  He couldn’t stand to see her hurt like that. He shoved back his chair and hauled her into his lap. He wrapped both arms around her and only relaxed after she settled against his shoulder. She fit perfectly there. Her personality was so big, sometimes he forgot how small she really was.

  He rubbed her back. “How’d it start?”

  She sighed. “He followed me around campus and asked me out until I couldn’t say no. He was tall, blond, and a preppy kind of handsome.”

  Sam frowned. So far her ex was his exact opposite.

  “He started making comments about little things at first like my weight, my hair, my clothes. It changed so gradually that I didn’t realize how bad it was when he checked my phone every day and followed me to make sure I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”

  Sam breathed in the scent of her curls. At least there hadn’t been any physical abuse. Not that verbal or emotional abuse was okay in the least, but he hadn’t hit her. Had he? He needed to know. “Was your ex ever violent with you?”

  She tensed in his arms. Damn, he ached to punch anyone who’d touch her and marked that gorgeous skin. He wouldn’t pressure her. He waited until she started talking.

  “It wasn’t much at first. He’d pull my hair and of course it wouldn’t show with all my curls. I wore it long back then. Down to my waist.” Her voice trailed for a moment. “He started pushing. Or sometimes he pulled on my arm, grabbed, pinched. Nothing that left much of a mark. It got worse. Especially when I tried to leave him.”

  “He beat you.” Sam said it out loud, needing her to know he understood.

  “I hid it. I couldn’t let my sisters see. They would’ve taken care of me, but they would also have wanted to retaliate. We handle our own.” She didn’t sound angry, simply matter-of-fact.

  Sam could easily imagine the vengeance angle. No man in his right mind would screw with the Donovan sisters. They were a force.

  “I didn’t want a hero,” she explained. “I got myself into the mess. I wanted to get myself out.”

  “So you left him?” His hold tightened on her.

  “I did. Finally. After I caught him cheating on me.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Sam hated this guy.

  She laughed a dark, hollow chuckle. “Want to know the worst part of it? I was glad he’d been unfaithful because it gave me the excuse I’d needed to leave him.”

  “You didn’t need any excuse to leave him.

  “I know, but I blamed myself.”

  “Why?” He soothed hands up and down her back.

  “I picked the wrong man. An obviously wrong man. I had to make sure I didn’t do that again.” Her voice rasped on the last words.

  “That the reason for your life plan?”

  She nodded.

  “Your ex didn’t just let you go, did he?”

  She rubbed the heel of her hand against her chest. “We had a fight down on the beach. I ran there from the apartment in the middle of the night because the water makes me feels stronger. He chased me. At the water’s edge, things got ugly. He threatened to go after my sisters, my mother.”

  She paused a few seconds before whispering, “I got really angry. I did things I regret, and I vowed not to do it again. To stick to a plan that’s kept me out of situations like that one.”

  Sam didn’t think she could do an ugly or regretful thing in her life. She was so sweet and strong. “Was I in your life plan?”

  “No.”

  Her soft denial shot straight to his gut. When she shifted, her bare ass against him had him clutching her in place. “Then why are you here having dinner with me after crazy good sex?”

  “Because I can’t stop thinking about you,” she admitted. “Because I need to be here with you more than I need my life plan.”

  With those simple words, Sam felt pieces of his heart fall into place as though watching the perfect wave peel along the shoreline like a zipper before taking off on the ride of a lifetime. This woman. How could he have ever fallen so hard so fast? And how would he ever keep her?

  So far, she’d worked easily into his own plans, never demanding or too needy. He’d managed to juggle restaurant and romance without much work. He’d take it. He certainly was more than an upgrade over the abusive coward who’d done a number on her.

  He didn’t want to be that controlling prick, but the possessiveness was hard to beat back. He wanted her, and she needed to know that because she was worth it.

  “I’m glad you picked me. I can be a control freak about the restaurant and an asshole in general, but I take care of mine.” He stroked her thigh. “And you’re mine as long as you want to be.” He leaned back. “So tell me again what you could’ve possibly failed at, because attracting everyone including a spineless shit doesn’t count.”

  Cami blinked at him. “That was it. The failed relationship and the bad way I ended it.”

  “Sounds like any way you end that would’ve turned out bad, and if you hadn’t ended it, things would’ve been even worse.”

  “Probably, but it cost me leaving town before graduation. I had to cut off my friends and connections there to make sure he didn’t follow me.”

  She gnawed on her lip, and he couldn’t resist. He leaned in for a kiss. One of appreciation and tenderness. A more dangerous kiss than those that had come before.

  They’d gone from sex to serious conversation way too quickly. He teased her to ease the sadness from those big golden eyes. “They can’t all be a catch like me.”

  He was a total catch. She tilted her head, doing the considering quizzical look he liked so much before she realized he was watching knowingly. She straightened. “You are a catch. Why are you still single?”

  He gave an evasive shrug. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and rose with the movement.

  “I tried,” he told her. “Sort of. Women wanted my money. Saw me as a piece of property in Pacific Palisades with a trust fund.”

  “You have a trust fund?”

  “A small one. Dad’s a jerk, but he’s loaded. Entertainment lawyer. Eats small studios for breakfast. He’s that guy. He set up a trust the minute he had kids to avoid taxes and other loopholes. He may hate me, but he hasn’t written me out as far as I know. I don’t have access to the principal right now, and I don’t need it. That still doesn’t keep people from knowing what I stand to inherit.” His grip tightened on her.

  “Which is really sad.” She traced a finger down the back of his neck. “But what’s it got to do with women?”

  Sam blinked at her. “Money.” He blurted the two syllables like his meaning had been obvious. It hadn’t been.

  “So?”

  He laughed. “And this is why I need you. A woman who would say ‘so’ when I talk about money.”

  “That the only thing that held you back? That you’re hot and loaded?”

  “You think I’m hot? And loaded can mean so many dirty things.”

  She started to pull away and then overcame the embarrassment. Instead, she shoved at him and nodded to the bedroom. “I think you know I’m attracted to you, and we’ve talked enough about me. This is about you.”

  “I’m not over six feet tall.”

  “Seriously? I don’t think real women keep a scorecard on stats of the men they date.”

  “You don’t because you’re miniature sized.” He ducked to avoid the scrap of his bread she snatched from the table to toss at him.

  “Lame excuse. What’s the real reason?” She tipped his beer bottle for a taste, but he’d drained it.

  He huffed. “They wanted to be first priority over the restaurant. They didn’t understan
d why I worked all day, every day.”

  “Want another beer?” She stood when he nodded. “You worked hard to build a business. You have goals.”

  “I do. Which is why we work so well. You have your own goals.”

  Cami considered her life plan again as she opened the fridge and wondered where amazing sex was scheduled in. Maybe she should’ve planned for more of that. Perhaps somewhere between finishing vet school and the residency and board certification. Or every single day of her entire life. That sounded pretty good.

  “We both have ideas about what we want in life.” She heard herself say it, but did she mean it? Right now, she wasn’t sure at all about her plan. She popped the bottle cap off.

  “Exactly. And we don’t get in each other’s way.”

  She let the cap roll between her fingers. She was uncertain how she felt about Sam liking her for not getting in his way. Was that all she could hope for?

  “What were you and Delia talking about?” Sam asked before she could think more about that. “Surely your older sister didn’t discuss my butt. She seems way too uptight for that.”

  Glad for the change in subject, she decided not to argue about his assessment of Delia. Most people saw Delia as uptight and for good reason. Cops and coworkers called her the “Ice Queen,” and she did nothing to dispel the reputation. “Mina isn’t sleeping well.”

  “Is she staying up because of your random calls? I will, now you’ve told me about your ex.”

  She ignored the last bit, taking a sip of the beer before handing it to him. “She’s worried about finals next month, a boy that she won’t talk about, Sunny Sol.” Magic. Lack of control over her time slips. Exposure of their powers.

  “Really?”

  Cami told him briefly about Mina’s belief the death hadn’t been as certain as the cops and coroner made it out to be. She didn’t add that it wasn’t a college project. Let him believe Mina obsessed over schoolwork. As far as her sister’s mystery maybe-boyfriend, the only information she had was the letter “J” engraved on a lighter. They had more leads about Sunny.

  “We both know what caused Sunny’s death was never clear,” Sam agreed. “It could’ve been an accident. Some people argued she committed suicide. The murder theory circulated from day one. Makes more sense why you’re interested in the violent men of her life now I know about the creep ex-boyfriend of yours. Only you’re completely different.”

  “Am I?” She stared at a scratch in the table’s surface.

  “Sunny went back to her controlling ex-lover.” Sam lifted her chin. “You’ve moved on.”

  Not wanting to dwell on that personal connection, she broached her sisters’ invitation. “Ama wanted us to come over. She wants to meet you. Puzzling out Sunny’s death is a bonus. Ruby and Delia’s areas of expertise can be helpful in any discussion, but talk about death is right in their fields, sadly enough. Plus, Mina will let us know if she finds something new.”

  “Sunny died decades ago. We’ve gone through most of the research. There’s been no undiscovered information in years. How exactly is your little sister expecting to find anything new?”

  She swallowed. “In her own way.” She couldn’t bring herself to say more about Mina’s powers. “She needs to go to Hollywood for a research trip next Saturday.” There. That was truth without revealing everything. “I can meet up with her after our surfing date.”

  “Where does she want to go?”

  “The W Hotel.” She took a sip. “Hollywood and Vine.”

  He made a noise of admiration. “Good location. Built where the old Brown Derby was.”

  “The Brown Derby is why Mina wants to go there.”

  “But it burned down years ago.” He looked confused. “Wait, she’s not researching the Felix Fortuno rumor, is she?”

  “That’s exactly what she is researching.”

  He rubbed his jaw. “She won’t find anything. Fortuno was in New York most of that fall.”

  “Mina still would rather see for herself.”

  “What’s she plan to do at the hotel?” He touched a fingertip to her hair.

  “She has her own methods.” She took her most assertive no-further-discussion tone. “She needs to be as close to the old site as possible.”

  He slid his finger through her corkscrew curl. “You and your kid sister will be chasing the Sunshine Sweetheart by tracking vibes at a hotel?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t know how right he was.

  “How can I help?” He took a sip from the bottle, and she watched his throat work. Why’d he have to be so darn sexy?

  “Delia actually volunteered you by teasing we could spend a night at the W Hollywood together and maybe invite Mina in the afternoon for drinks before we went up for the night.”

  “I’m liking Delia better every minute.”

  She shook her head at his playful cockiness. “I looked at the reservations page. The hotel is pricy. Maybe Mina and I could do dinner there.”

  He ignored her comment about money. “How long do you two need to work your magic?”

  She hoped her eyes didn’t betray how very close to the truth he had come. Not sharing the secret was tricky, but she hadn’t figured out how to do it. “It depends. Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours.”

  “Does Mina need company for it?”

  “We don’t like her to go alone. She can become very…” She searched for the word. “Introspective during her research.”

  He nodded. “Quiet space?”

  She leaned back, crossed her legs. “It helps. We wanted to walk around the lobby, maybe sit and have drinks.”

  “I can do better than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll reserve a room.”

  “What? No. You don’t need to do that. That place is expensive.” Probably worth every penny with the luxury it advertised, but way outside budget.

  “I have money, remember? Plenty for a night with you alone in a hotel. I’ll have to make sure I get a room with a city window view. You don’t seem to mind open balcony doors or window blinds.”

  She felt her cheeks turn pink.

  He laughed. “There’s that blush. I wondered how long you could keep from turning all shades. I’ll have to see what else I can come up with to see just how red we can make you.”

  She cleared her throat. “I can handle it.”

  “Can you?” He smiled. “Don’t worry. The trip is only for research purposes.”

  “Exactly. To research Sunny.”

  He chuckled, and her belly tightened beneath his shirt at the sound. “Sure it is.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  With his restaurant and her work schedule, Sam hadn’t seen Cami in almost three days. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her responsiveness to his touch, her vulnerability in how she’d revealed her asshole ex-boyfriend, and her honesty all undid him. He’d almost never sent a text in his life outside of work and quick answers to Lottie. Now, he couldn’t control the constant urge to check his phone to see if Cami had texted or called.

  The phone in his pocket vibrated with a local number he didn’t recognize, but he answered anyway. Maybe she had gotten a new account to deal with the random calls. He walked into the hall behind the busy kitchen to answer.

  “Bro!” Sam battled the urge to press “end call.” Joe didn’t know how not to yell. “Bro, you know why I’m calling, right?” He didn’t, but his brother only called when he needed something. Without waiting for him to answer, Joe blathered on. “I heard you met up with Marilyn.”

  He winced. Talking about Joe’s ex-girlfriend was even worse than him calling for research help. “I saw her at the library. I was researching a historical project with a friend.” There. He’d been truthful, but vague enough not to invite questions.

  “A hot friend?” Apparently, he hadn’t been evasive enough. “I hope she’s either paying or putting out if she’s got you helping with her homework. Does she know how much your historical knowledge of Los
Angeles is worth?”

  Yep, there it was. His brother was a Hollywood asshole. “Do you need something, Joe?”

  “Actually, yeah. It was the reason I called.”

  Of course it was. Sam waited, trying not to hold his breath.

  “Listen, I’ve got a new project coming up. A film noir type thing with maybe characters from the mid-thirties or early forties I pitched off-the-cuff to some rich jackasses for a movie project. They bit. Who’d have thought?”

  Only Joe would have such pull to mouth off about a script he hadn’t even started and turn it into a funded project because of recent awards. “Anyway, I’m going to need to meet up with you in a couple weeks to get historical perspective on my ideas. I’d push for sooner, but I’m butting up against another deadline.” Joe sounded like he was yelling down a tunnel. He probably had the top down on his convertible. “How’s Marilyn? Did she ask about me?”

  And now they’d gotten to the only question Joe probably cared about but was too self-centered to understand why Marilyn hadn’t asked about him at the library or when she called earlier.

  Marilyn had tediously sorted through a collection totaling eight linear feet of scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, and documents to find newspaper clippings on reports of Sunny Sol’s death. The librarian had invested her time because it mattered personally to him and Cami. She wouldn’t be so patient with one of Joe’s projects.

  “Your name didn’t come up in conversation.”

  “Huh. Well, I guess you had other things to discuss, with you looking into Sunny Sol.”

  How the hell did Joe know who he and Cami were researching? Sam opened his mouth to ask, but Joe paused only to breathe.

  “Sam, you know I always appreciate you thinking ahead on projects for me. I did you a favor since you don’t seem to know making reservations for the hottest celebrity restaurant or table service at a club is the easiest way into a woman’s panties. Because it is. But if you’re trying to impress some girl with your brain, I’ve got an exclusive for you while you research Sunny Sol for me.”