Finding Haven

by Foster, T. A.

  “Yes.” She moaned and arched against the wood of the table. She wasn’t sure what she was yessing, but she liked that he was touching her and he wasn’t being gentle. He was taking what he wanted. Like she was.

  His broad shoulders loomed over her as he pushed the fabric covering her nipples out of the way and seized her with his mouth. She writhed under the torture. It was hot and sent a rush straight to the sensitive spot between her legs.

  She reached around his waist and found the button to his shorts. Pressed against him like this, she could tell he was just as turned on as she was. She slipped a hand along his stomach and reached below his waist.

  “Oh, God.” He moaned, biting harder on her nipple. Haven whimpered.

  And just like that he stopped. He stepped away from the table and turned his back to her.

  Her shirt lay ripped open, her breasts wet from his mouth, and her chest heaving from hotness she had never known. Everything in her was aching for more. It hurt. Her body hurt.

  “Why-why did you stop?” she whispered.

  His forehead was pressed against the wall. Flashes of moonlight rippled across his back.

  He sighed. “Dammit. I promised myself I wasn’t going to do that to you again.”

  Now she was totally confused. Since when did guys stop in the middle of a hot hookup? It was like the Travis fiasco all over again, but so much worse. “But I want you to.” She tried to close her shirt without buttons. It wasn’t that easy.

  He turned to face her. “Yeah, I liked it too.” He kissed the top of her forehead, a gesture she didn’t know whether to interpret as sweet or condescending.

  “So, what’s the problem?” It was meant to be a rhetorical question. She could answer all the possible issues with two people having crazy, off the charts sex after knowing each other for only two days, but she didn’t really want to hear it after a bottle and a half of wine.

  “Darlin’, we need to slow this down. You are sexy and beautiful, don’t misunderstand.”

  Haven refrained from pouting, but really that’s all she wanted to do. She was completely worked up. Each nerve in her body was on fire and ached. There was no doubt what she wanted from him. If he would only let her, she could show him it would be ok.

  “Ok, so explain some more.” She decided to let go of the grip she had on her shirt. The fabric fell to the sides, and she heard him sigh as her breasts heaved against the exposure. It wasn’t fair to do to him, but her body was working in survival mode. It needed him.

  “My life is complicated right now. It’s not a great idea to start jumping into bed with pretty girls. Ok?”

  Pretty girls? The way he said it made her wonder how many others there were. Was there a waiting list? Of course he was gorgeous and no doubt could flirt his way into any woman’s bed, but she didn’t want doubts to start fogging her mind. They had something real. She could feel it.

  She closed the distance between them. “But what about kissing? Is this ok?” She traced the side of his face, pulling him to her lips, the sides of her shirt open as she pressed into his chest, making sure he felt the hardness of her nipples grazing against him. He exhaled.

  She felt him react as his tongue moved deeper in her mouth. She kept her hands along his smooth jaw. Slowly, he eased one hand along her back and the other crept along her chest, resting along her breast. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to stay away. Careful not to whimper this time, she moaned lightly as he massaged the center of her breast. Her mouth parting, sucking, and eager for him.

  They stood stroking, teasing, and kissing each other against the wall until Haven heard the crickets on her alarm chirp.

  “Dammit,” she murmured. Her lips were swollen, and her legs unsteady from standing all night. However, she didn’t want to move; she didn’t want to stop kissing him.

  Two seconds later, a second chorus of crickets started. “You too?” She looked at him.

  “Yep. Crickets.” He braced himself against the wall and played with her hair.

  “So, we found a way not to have sex all night long.” Haven giggled and traced her fingers over his chest.

  He kissed her again on the mouth. “Looks like we did.” He closed his eyes. “What would my boss think if I called in sick today?”

  She laughed. “Uh-uh. No way. You kept me up just as much.” Even though they were both still wearing shorts, she had lost her shirt some time during the make out session. It was next to her on the floor. She reached to pick it up. It would need a full button repair.

  Jay stepped toward the kitchen table and picked his T-shirt from the floor.

  “Hey, would you mind if I jumped in the shower before work? Won’t be longer than seven minutes.”

  Haven smiled. “Yeah, sure. It’s right through there.” She motioned to her bedroom. They hadn’t made it past the kitchen wall last night.

  She wasn’t really complaining. It was a first. Having sex was an intimate experience. To share that side of herself with someone was personal. It should be special, but the night with Jay felt more intimate than anything she had experienced in her entire life. She brushed her finger across her lips. They would certainly be bruised from his kisses, but she loved how they felt. Every tender, rough, possessive, and gentle one he gave.

  EVAN PLACED beer bottles into the racks inside the walk-in fridge. It was forty-five degrees in the freezer, and since he didn’t get a cold shower this morning, this was doing the trick. He needed to be cooled to the bone.

  If he looked through the rows of brown bottles, he could see Haven at the register ringing up one of the beach customers. She was smiling at a mother and her three children loaded with plastic buckets and sandcastle molds. It looked like the kids were squabbling over who got to carry the shovels versus the sand pails.

  Last night was a first, an absolute first. A flat tire turned into something he couldn’t describe. The wine on her lips, the music floating off her tongue took hold of him like he was a man gone crazy. He was going on three weeks at the campground. Maybe he couldn’t handle lonely like he thought he could. He tried to remember the last time he had spent the night with a girl and only made out with her. It was probably high school. He closed his eyes, and for a second, he felt her skin under his hands, warm and soft.

  “Son?” Evan jolted upright at the sound of a man’s voice.

  “Yes, sir.” He stacked empty boxes on the dolly. There were at least half a dozen more to unpack.

  “My daughter tells me you’re the new hire. Welcome to Owen’s.” The white-haired man Evan recognized as the one who got into the argument with Haven stepped into the cooler to shake his hand.

  “Yes, I am. This is my third day.” He wondered why he hadn’t seen the store’s owner before now. “You have a great business here. Thanks for having me on.”

  “I’m real surprised Haven was able to find someone so quickly. Where are you from?”

  Evan had been careful to dodge as many questions as he could, but he knew the more he immersed himself in Perry Island life, the more likely it was that people were going to keep asking normal get-to-know-you questions.

  “Originally from Texas, sir, but most recently I’ve been living in Atlanta.”

  “Is that right? I’ve always wanted to take a trip to Texas. Been to Atlanta before. What part?”

  “East Texas, a small town called Brees. Funny, Perry Island reminds me of home a lot.”

  “How so?” Mr. Owen opened one of the cardboard boxes for Evan and started passing him a few of the beer bottles for the next section.

  Evan grabbed a handful from the man. “It has the same kind of small town feel. Everyone is friendly like back home.” Regardless of how standoffish he had been, the hospitality of the island wasn’t lost on him. Shug and Harry had been nothing but kind to him despite his two-week beer binge. Every one of those beers had been filled with a memory or a regret he needed to put behind him. They were necessary, but he felt like he had visited all of his disappointments—some
a few times too many.

  “Nice to know you like the island. There are a lot of good people here.” He smashed an empty box. “How long you thinking about staying?”

  “I have a place at the campground through the end of the summer. I haven’t thought much past that to be honest, sir.” Evan stopped the stacking process and looked at his boss.

  “You know, we need to have you over for dinner.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t impose like that.”

  “No imposition. My wife loves to entertain. I’m sure we could convince Haven to join us for supper. How about tomorrow night?” He smiled at Evan.

  Evan knew when he had been cornered. “Sure. Sounds good. I appreciate that.”

  Mr. Owen turned. “We’ll see you at seven. And again, welcome aboard.” He saluted his newest employee and exited the cooler.

  The man he had carried on a conversation with didn’t resemble the angry man he witnessed the other morning on the docks. He seemed friendly and warm like all the other residents of Perry Island. It made Evan wonder why Haven disliked him so much. Then he thought of the unspoken rift he had with his father, and knew the layers in a family went much deeper than what anyone could see from the outside.

  Families were like glaciers, bound together from an original formation, but each family member carrying unique layers. Those layers were deep and formed from the same storm, but even though one layer might melt for one person, it didn’t mean it melted for everyone or anyone else. The melting and healing was all up to you—how quickly you could face the sun and let it all go. Evan decided he wasn’t here long enough to get involved in the Owen’s family issues. By the end of the summer, he would be on his way somewhere else. He couldn’t stay on Perry Island forever.

  Evan finished unloading the beer and sauntered over to the register. He had the afternoon shift at the rental booth, but he couldn’t pass by without snagging one smile from Haven. He had, after all, gotten lost in those lips all night.

  “Hey.” He strolled to the counter. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

  Haven jumped and dropped a stack of magazines in her arms. “Crap!”

  “Sorry, hold on.” Evan hopped across the counter like it was the General Lee and he was one of the Luke boys. He dropped to the floor and shuffled the magazines in his arms.

  “I’m a klutz today.” She began collecting the dropped magazines in a pile. “Look at this garbage. Why do people even read this stuff anyway? I don’t get it.” She held up a cover of Celeb Watch.

  Evan’s throat tightened and he felt the familiar stabbing sensation under his lungs.

  “I mean, really, do we care who Emmy Harper is dating? Personally, I’ve never seen any of her movies but I don’t care. It seems like there are more pressing issues going on in the world than her love life.” Haven rolled her eyes and continued to retrieve the pile she had jumbled.

  Evan knew the magazines were at the front counter. There was a line of them that came up to his knees, but he also knew not to look that low. He didn’t want to see. He didn’t want to know what was going on with his old Hollywood friends, especially Emmy. Now those magazines he had been so careful to avoid were scattered at his feet.

  “Jay? Are you ok? It’s not a big deal. I know you didn’t mean for me to drop them.”

  He held the glossy photo in his hands. Emmy had made the cover for the umpteenth time. Who could count that high? Her hair was blond again.

  Hollywood heartache

  Harper says she’ll do what it takes to get Carlson back

  Under the picture of Emmy was a broken heart with Evan’s face split down the middle. Evan blinked. Emmy had done an interview with the magazine. He flipped open to page twenty-two.

  “I want Evan to know how much I love him. He has every right to be mad at me. I know what I did, but everyone deserves forgiveness. I know I broke his heart, and I’m going to spend every day making it up to him and showing him that I would give him my last breath.”

  Evan choked on his next inhale. She was insane. What in the hell was she talking about? They were done. Settled. And they were never in love. Son of a bitch.

  “Jay? Seriously, you look like you saw a ghost.” Haven reached over and rested her palm on his wrist.

  “Can I take a break?” He knew his voice was sharp, but he had to deal with this situation.

  “Sure. I guess so.” Her mouth formed a frown.

  “Ten minutes. I’ll be back to take over for Nell in the rental stand.” He stood and shoved a rolled copy of the magazine in the band of his shorts behind the apron tie.

  “Doing a little reading?” Haven teased.

  “I’ll be back.” He turned on his heels and headed for the screen door. He kept his phone in the glove box of the Jeep. There wasn’t any reason to have it on him at work. He turned the lock on the compartment and pulled the phone out. He had Allan’s number up in two seconds.

  “Hey, man. Good to hear from you. How you feeling?” Allan sounded happy.

  “Good,” he huffed. “No, not good. Emmy did some kind of expose article on us for Celeb Watch. I need to know what her angle is.”

  “Celeb Watch? That rag’s a piece of shit. No one reads it, Evan.”

  “Yeah, well I read it. She granted them an interview, and it wasn’t because she’s in love with me.”

  “Maybe she is. She wouldn’t be the first, brother.” Allan chuckled on the other end.

  “Allan. Just find out. Leave me a message if I don’t answer, ok?” Evan nodded at a fisherman walking in the store.

  “Got it, boss. I’m on it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s good to know you still need me for something.”

  “Allan, you’re the best out there. Of course I still need your help.” Evan realized that his new career decisions would affect Allan and everyone else on his team. They were still on his payroll, and he wouldn’t cut them loose until they found other jobs. Their families depended on those salaries—on the income his name and fame brought to them. “Thanks again.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Evan tossed the phone into the glove box and twisted the lock. He glanced around the parking lot before pulling the magazine out of his waistband. He leaned against the tail of the Jeep, opened the magazine, and picked up where he left off on the biggest web of lies he had ever read.

  IT WAS Thursday. Haven’s day off. She pushed off on the deck and drifted across the porch in her hammock. The problem was that on her one day off she couldn’t focus on the one thing she waited six days to do—write songs. Instead, her stomach was in knots thinking about dinner tonight with Jay and her parents.

  The dinner invitation reeked of her father’s manipulation. She had probably smiled a little too brightly when she described Jay to him. He was using that to get her to the house.

  Jay acted so weirdly at work yesterday that they didn’t make plans to get together last night. However, they weren’t at that stage, yet. They weren’t at any stage. Haven sighed. Two make out sessions did not equal a stage status. She couldn’t very well let him go to dinner at her parents’ house alone. That would be the opposite of showing her southern hospitality, and let’s face it, she wanted to see him again.

  It didn’t seem to matter that he was leaving at the end of the summer. She was too. It didn’t matter that he was a practical stranger that appeared on the docks out of nowhere. It made him mysterious. Mysterious and hot.

  The other night in her kitchen she could tell he was holding back with her. There was a bad boy in there somewhere, and she was ready to know more about him. As soon as he was about to take her to the brink of something naughty and dangerous, he would pull back, leaving her breathless and wanting more.

  Haven stepped from the hammock with her guitar and today’s lyrics. With an hour before dinner, it was time to start bracing herself for a meal at her parents’ house.

  MOST PEOPLE would use their day off to fix their broken bike or run other normal people errands, bu
t Haven readily accepted she wasn’t most people as she pulled up behind Jay’s Jeep.

  She looked down at her sundress with the deep V neckline and embroidered sailboats. It was an attempt to catch Jay’s eye. She hoped it would. There were a few ways she could rescue him tonight from the family gathering.

  “Hi, Mom.” She pecked her mother on the cheek, and inhaled the smell of Old Bay and shrimp. “We’re having shrimp tonight?”

  “Why, don’t you look cute? Spin around in that for me.”

  Haven obliged.

  “Where is— Where are the guys?” They weren’t in the kitchen or the adjoining sitting room. Like Haven, her parents lived on the cove, but their cottage was on the opposite side of the semicircle. They only had a view of the marina near their house, but it was one you could take in from almost every room in the house.

  “Your dad already has that boy in the study. He’s showing off.”

  “Mom, he’s not a boy.” Haven hadn’t asked him yet how old he was, but he definitely wasn’t a boy.

  “You know what I mean. Jay, the new clerk at the store. They are looking at photos and heaven knows what else.” Haven watched as her mother dumped the pot of shrimp into a colander. “He’s got a captive audience, so they could be in there for hours.”

  “Do you mind if I join them, or do you need me here?” Haven knew her mother had the kitchen under control, but she didn’t want to leave her without the customary offer.

  “Go, go, go.” She sprinkled an extra dash of the red seasoning on the shrimp. “Hey, he’s cute,” she whispered to her daughter before Haven darted down the hall in search of Jay.

  Something was up. Haven just couldn’t put her finger on it. The dinner, her mom’s comment—it made her uneasy, but she knew her guard was up the minute she stepped under the same roof as her father. Maybe it was her mistrust in him that made her feel this way.

  She stopped in front of the hallway mirror for one last touchup. The freckles on her nose were mostly covered with makeup, but she grimaced at them. You couldn’t avoid some things no matter how much sunscreen you wore.