by Brooke Page
Chapter Nine
Lauren
We moved from our special spot to the public beach. Tessa loved taking the man-made trail from our self-declared picnic area. We’d have to climb over branches and hop over puddles, balance on tree roots and swat at bugs, but she loved every minute of it. She loved the outdoors.
Vance tagged along, never complaining or arguing about the trek. He even carried my bag the whole way there.
It was impossible to fight the rise of emotions while spending time with him. My heart raced at his attentiveness toward us, his ever watching eye and subtle smile. It was as if I were nineteen again by how my stomach was doing backflips. He was so good with Tessa, too. Who knew Vance Everett would have a soft spot for kids?
I couldn’t get ahead of myself. Vance left a deep gash in my heart, and the scar was still fresh. For all I knew, he could be the same liar from seven years ago.
I checked the time on my phone. “Gosh, I’ve taken up most of your Saturday. The sun is setting.”
We were leaning on the railing that overlooked the tiny beach where Tessa played in the sand.
“I didn’t have anything planned.”
“Doesn’t mean you wanted to spend it with a single mom and her six-year-old.”
Vance nudged me with his elbow. “You weren’t that boring. I mean, I did get dinner out of it.”
“A hodge podge of food,” I laughed. “Although, I know peanut butter and jelly is pretty classy.”
“The dinner of kings.”
We both looked out at the water, the calm breeze kissing our faces. I was entranced by it, relaxed and brought to ease from the familiarity of the water, even though it was a lake and not the ocean.
“I love coming here,” I murmured.
“I bet the sunset will be beautiful, and if I had to guess, you come and watch it often.”
When I opened my eyes and turned to look at him, he was gazing at me. “You know me well.”
He grinned, watching my mouth, and I instinctively tilted my head upward. My body wanted him to kiss me, to be swept away and into his bubble, but I couldn’t.
Clearing my throat, I looked back to where Tessa was playing. “At least you used to know me well.”
He fidgeted on his feet, standing tall from the railing and stretching his back legs. “Yeah, but being out here, spending the day with you, it sure feels like old times.”
I pushed off of the railing and crossed my arms. “Old times die hard.”
Vance let out a deep breath, and he knew what I was referring too. Did he think I’d just forget?
“Come on, Tessa, we should be getting home.”
I waited for Vance to tell me we could stay longer, but he was silent, following behind me as I took the steps to the beach. Tessa stood, brushing the sand from her leggings and reached for my hand. Even she wasn’t putting up a fight to leave. Was I giving off the annoyed vibe? Because I didn’t mean to. Yes, I was hurt by Vance, and I wasn’t going to hold it against him, but I also wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.
“Can we go see Daddy?” Tessa asked on the way back to the truck.
I blinked for a long moment. “No, baby.”
She didn’t beg or prod during the walk back to the truck. The silence was good and much needed. I had enough running through my mind, I didn’t need any more noise to complicate my thoughts.
I opened the door, and lifted her up, then followed her inside. Vance started the truck and drove out of the parking lot.
“You seem tired, Tessa,” Vance asked when she yawned. Tessa only shook her head.
“She had trouble sleeping last night,” I admitted, stroking her hair. She leaned into my side, cuddling next to me.
“Did she not feel good?” Vance asked.
“No, she misses Colby,” I whispered.
Vance nodded.
Tessa was asleep by the time we got to our house. I gently shook her awake. “Come on, baby.”
“I can carry her,” Vance offered, shutting off the truck and reaching for her. He had her in his arms and out of the truck before I could argue.
“Thanks.” I was momentarily put in a trance by the site of Tessa hugging her arms around Vance’s neck.
She missed her Daddy so much. I hated that I had no control over what had happened. I missed Colby, too.
“Where do you want me to put her?” he mouthed.
I waved for him to follow me, passing through the kitchen and down the hallway to her bedroom. Vance and I tip-toed across the toys. I turned down her comforter and Vance slid her into bed, taking off her shoes.
“Normally I’d clean off her feet, but I don’t want to wake her up.”
Vance smiled, stepping back from her bed cautiously while I tucked the blanket around her. She was out cold, and wasn’t going to budge any time soon. I kissed her head and stroked her hair, then maneuvered around the mess.
“Sorry there are toys everywhere. I was trying to get things done this morning and didn’t make her clean up.”
“I don’t know too many kids who have clean rooms.” He looked around the kitchen and into the living room. “You’ve got a nice place.”
“It’s cozy.” Colby wanted a bigger house, but I insisted on this one. It was small, but held character with its wrap-around porch and angled roof. The inside needed work, but that was right up Colby’s alley. He tore it out and replaced the entire kitchen with new cabinets, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances. He even built an entire wall of shelves where the fireplace and television were in the living room.
Vance set both of his palms on the island countertop. “I had fun today.”
Crossing my arms, I hugged my body. “Typical Saturday for us.”
“Minus laundry at the mat. Where’s your washing machine?”
“Down the hall. The repairman couldn’t fit us in for another two weeks. It’s hard to find help when you live in the middle of nowhere.”
Vance moseyed over to the hallway, “Maybe I could figure it out.”
I followed him. “Who are you, Mr. Fix It?”
He grinned, finding the washing machine with a pile of clothing beside it. “I’m a man of many talents.”
I leaned against the wall, watching him tinker. “I guess you can’t make it any worse.”
He fussed with it for another ten minutes while I cringed, but then to my surprise, he shut the door and hit start. When the machine buzzed, he glanced at me, a crooked grin spreading across his face.
“What?” I squinted, marching to the machine and looking inside. Sure enough, water was dumping inside while it spun. “What did you even do?”
He held up both his hands. “Magic.”
I smacked his shoulder, then pushed the stop button so I could load the remaining clothes inside.
“I guess I’ll take that as a thank you?” He chuckled.
Throwing in the laundry detergent pod and slamming the door shut, I hit start, half expecting it to explode, but it didn’t. I shook my head in disbelief. “You really did fix it, didn’t you? Thanks.”
“No problem.” He cleared his throat. “Did make me a little thirsty.”
I smirked at him. “I guess I should offer you a drink then.”
“I’d love one.”
I laughed under my breath and strolled back to the kitchen, opening the fridge and rummaging through it. “I’ve got juice boxes, water, and a local beer that Colt left here God knows how long ago.”
“I’ll take a beer. Colt always had good taste.”
I grabbed the bottle from the back and handed it to him. “We could go out on the porch?”
He nodded, pulling out his keys and popping off the bottle cap.
The porch was my favorite part about this house. It had a built-in swing, something I’d always wanted. It made for a great place to watch the sunset over the trees.
Vance stopped by the railing, looking out into the woods and taking a swig of the beer. “It’s quiet out here.”
> I curled my legs into my chest, the swing gently swaying back and forth. “Yeah, you can’t hear the bad mufflers with the trees blocking the road.”
“What mufflers?” Vance laughed, then came over to the swing, taking a seat beside me.
I closed my eyes. He smelled so good. It was like the ocean breeze had struck my face.
He rolled the beer between his hands, his feet helping the swing keep its motion. “Are the sunsets better here, or are the sunsets better at the lake?”
“Neither,” I whispered.
“I have a gut feeling we have similar tastes in sunsets.”
Setting his beer down between his feet, he stretched his arm along the back of the swing. I could feel the heat of him across my shoulder blades, and I fought my body’s urge to lean into his side. He was so inviting, so relaxed. I hadn’t seen a tense bone on his body since he’d been in Harris. That wasn’t the Vance Everett I remembered. He was always looking over his shoulder, paranoid and on edge.
“Country life fits you.”
He tilted his head toward me. “Why is that?”
I swallowed, well aware of how close he was. I could see the stubble along his jaw. I blinked, trying to gain back my focus. “You seem different than before.”
“Good different?”
I set my chin on my knee. “I haven’t decided.”
“A lot has happened in seven years,” he hummed, his eyes never leaving me.
“You’re telling me.”
His thumb grazed along the back of my neck, and I was suddenly aware of the change in his breath and rise and the fall of his chest. He was staring at my lips, my own gaze finding his mouth. Flashbacks of how perfectly his lips molded to mine were rocking my senses, recalling how they’d skim down my jaw and along my neck sent goose bumps along my shivering skin.
“One thing hasn’t changed,” His fingers brushing a lose strand of hair from my forehead. He was squinting down at me, his jaw tensing.
My eyelashes fluttered closed, my hand finding my chest. “What’s that?”
“How beautiful you are.”
My breath hitched, and before I could exhale, his lips were pressed against mine.
I sat still as a statue, only my heart throbbing inside of my chest. He was cautious, his hand clamped onto my shoulder, his mouth hesitant.
The moment I moved my lips with his, a switch flipped inside of him, and he turned hungry.
His kiss became more passionate, sucking harder on my bottom lip. He cradle my face, guiding it where he wanted. I moaned when his tongue swiped between my lips, opening my mouth for him to devour me.
He grunted, running his hand down my side and to my hip, cupping the outside of my thigh. I helped him, rotating and finding my knees on either side of his thighs, straddling him.
The awkward motion of the swing didn’t stop my feral advances.
His palms skidded underneath my shirt like hot stones, massaging along my spine, one traveling to my shoulder, the other tightly wrapping around my waist.
His hair was so short that I could hardly grab a hold of it. He always loved when I tugged on it.
My body awakened to his touch as if it had craved it. I’d dreamed of kissing him again, of being held by his dominant hands. I was haunted by the sound of his hot breaths against my ear, his tongue tracing my earlobe and nipping at the tender shell. He was recreating my fantasies—an experience I thought would only be a delusion.
But he was here.
This wasn’t a figment of my desires. His touches weren’t ghosts giving me goose bumps. The heat of his breath wasn’t the warm spring breeze kissing my cheek. The bulge in his pants that I was shamelessly grinding on top of was most definitely not a pillow or a vibrator.
Vance was as real as the day I left The Shore seven years ago. The day I got the call that my mother had overdosed and died because I had abandoned her.
I chose Vance over my mother, when he chose his business and another woman over me.
He shattered my hope.
He broke my spirit.
I wasn’t going to let him fuck me up again.
Chapter Ten
Vance
I’d found the solace I was searching for, sitting on a porch swing, holding the one woman who made me feel whole in my arms. I squeezed her to my chest, kissing her with reckless abandonment. Nothing could touch us, not this time. I’d keep her safe and wouldn’t fuck up. She was my first priority this time around, and my vision wouldn’t be blurred with revenge.
I kissed along her jaw, tasting her sweet skin, basking in being reunited.
We were perfect.
Until she jumped off of me, shoving at my shoulders and shouting, “No! No, no, no, no… NO!”
She hugged her chest and rubbed her forehead as she back peddled away from me. “I’m not doing this again.”
I stood from the swing, holding my arms in the air. “Lauren, please—”
She stopped in her tracks, her hand darting in front of her creating a stop sign so I wouldn’t come closer. “Don’t. Just, don’t. Do you really think you can come here and pick up where we left off?”
“Okay, okay,” I pleaded. “Let’s slow down for a minute.”
She sent me a glare and I clenched my jaw. I should have known her being nice to me didn’t mean she had forgiven me.
She smiled, but it wasn’t from being happy. Letting out a mock laugh, she grumbled. “Right, you don’t want to talk about it. You never want to talk. It was always physical.”
I waited for her to meet my eyes. I wanted her to see the sincerity in them. “That’s not true. I’ve told you more about me than I’ve ever told anyone else. I’ll talk about whatever you want to talk about.”
“The elephant in the room is a good place to start.”
I squinted. We had a lot of them. “I regret a lot that happened at The Shore.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning on the white railing. “Don’t we all?”
I shook my head and rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s not what you think.”
“What, you regret teaching me to kitesurf?”
“No.”
She narrowed her eyebrows. “You regret letting me work at your store?”
“No—”
“Paying me an outrageous salary?”
I scrunched my brows. “What?”
“Or was your biggest regret kissing me on the beach?” Her voice rose with each sentence. “When I let you finger me? Take my virginity?”
“God, no,” I defended.
“Then what was it? What is it you regret?!”
My mouth hung open, my chest ripping in half for my heart to fall out at the sight of her. Tears threatened in her eyes, her lip quivering as it did all those years ago when I let her down.
She pushed off the railing, storming toward me. She was a tsunami of pent up anger, her massive wave of emotions ready to destroy me.
But I was made of cylinder blocks, and nothing would take me down when it came to Lauren. Not this time.
She shouted. “What did I do!?”
Both of my hands where on my head now. “You didn’t do anything,” I begged. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“No, it was the other girl’s,” she snarled, taking another step toward me. We were only a foot away from each other now, and she was breathing hot fire like a dragon. “She wasn’t supposed to call and leave you messages about how bad she wanted you to fuck her while you were busy fucking someone else. She was supposed to stay quiet like all of the miserable girls you took advantage of—”
Now I was pissed, my own voice escalating. “Damn it, Lauren, that’s not why!”
“Then what was it?!”
“I regret not bringing you home!” I shouted back. My chest deflated, my hands falling to my sides. Her eyes were wide. My voice was softer now. “When your mom died, I should’ve brought you home. I should’ve drove and let you cry on my shoulder the whole way. I should’ve held your hand while maki
ng funeral arrangements, stood beside you when they buried her. I should’ve helped you pick up the pieces, because I know how shitty it is to lose your mom, even if she was a drug addict. You meant more to me than anything else going on in my life at that time, and I hate that I didn’t come after you.”
I sighed, turning and walking back to the swing and sitting down, a rush of air releasing out of my mouth. I’d been holding that in for a long time. She stood, shell-shocked, only watching me.
The sun was down now, her porchlight casting a glow. Hums from crickets stirred the night air, helping the silence between us not feels as awkward.
“What else?”
My brows pinched together, not understanding.
“You said, ‘more to me than anything else going on in my life.’ What else was going on?”
I closed my eyes, then opened them again to see she was patiently waiting for my response. She was more relaxed now, less rigid than before.
“I know about your dad,” she confessed. She leaned against the house now, her hands behind her back, our feet a few inches apart. “It was on the news.”
I leaned so my elbows were resting on my knees, holding my head in my hands.
“Did you know?” she asked. “Did you know he was doing that?”
I nodded.
“Did you… help him?”
I covered my mouth with my hand, my eyelids closing.
“Oh my God.” She slid down the siding-covered wall, sitting on the ground with her legs pulled to her chest. She hugged herself, curling into the ball she always did. “You were going to sell me.”
I removed my hand from my mouth. “Jesus, no. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
Her eyelids touched her cheeks. “What about the other girl?”
My head fell, and she gasped, covering her own mouth.
I slinked off the swing and scrambled to my knees in front of her, setting my palms on the wall on either side of her head. She had to listen to me.
“I made sure she was okay,” I promised. “She wasn’t sold.”
“Who the fuck are you?” She gasped.
“I was an informant. I couldn’t break my cover, and I hated my dad so much. He needed to be taken down. I had to stay at The Shore for that to happen.”
