“He got engaged to a girl he met in college,” she explained, reading the wine list. “Her name is Sara. She’s sweet, I guess.”
“Do your parents like her as much as they did Caroline?” I asked.
Caroline and Griffin had been high school sweethearts. Everyone thought they would end up together, married with ten kids. However, the fateful night of the senior party, Caroline and Griffin broke up. I suspect I knew the reason why, but would never tell Ashton.
The waiter swung by and took our order. I requested a bottle of Spottswoode Cabernet for us to share, and Ashton ordered the scallop linguine. I got the dinner special of blackened grouper, but with how excited and nervous Ashton made me feel, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to enjoy it as much as usual. Being this close to the ocean afforded a spectacular selection of fresh fish.
“I guess they thought Griffin and Caroline would be together forever. But he seems happy with Sara.” She picked up a piece of roll and slathered it with butter. “She is a little more settled and family-minded than Griffin. I think she’ll be good for him though. In the long run.”
I let my eyes roam over her dress, appreciating the neckline and the way the lace skirted around her ample cleavage, lifting it as if it were on display for my hungry eyes. I imagined trailing a finger down the line of her collarbone, hooking it inside the fabric and pulling. Baring her perfect breasts for my eyes and tongue.
I found myself wishing we were having dinner at her hotel room instead of out in public. I wanted some real alone time with Ashton. Privacy, where we could talk candidly and tell each other what was really on our minds. Her words were like birdsong, and soon I wasn’t even making sense of them. I got so lost in the beat and rhythm of her sweet voice.
“…a bridesmaid at their wedding. It will be interesting to see if Caroline shows up. I know she’s invited.” Ashton took a sip of her wine. “You and your family are invited, you know?”
While I hadn’t received an official invitation to Griffin’s wedding, my mother had reminded me about it a million times. During our last conversation she told me that it was time for Griffin and I to mend fences and move forward with our lives. I wasn’t so sure I was ready to forgive Griffin for what he’d done to me. Not only had it sent my world into a tailspin, it had destroyed any chance I’d ever had of being in a real relationship with Ashton. One where I was allowed to cherish and adore her other than in my own private thoughts. However, if I wanted a relationship with her now, then I needed to make amends with her brother too. It was something that I would definitely consider.
“How are your parents?” I asked.
“Dad is retiring next year,” she said with a smile. Her parents were the best. So kind and loving. “They are still talking about the Keys.”
I laughed. “Your mother never liked the beach. If I remember correctly, she was more of mountain girl. How did he win that war?”
“Yeah, she’s not convinced yet.” Ashton shrugged. “So he hasn’t raised the victory flag yet. I think they’ll compromise and end up in Arizona or something.”
“My parents will probably stay in Georgia forever.” They liked their routine that was for sure.
“I love the beach. I wouldn’t mind waking up to sand and sun every morning.” Ashton winked at me.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of Ashton moving to Destin. Thoughts of us cuddled together on the beach, basking in the warm spring sun, floated across my mind.
“The beach definitely has its perks,” I agreed. “Except when you get sand in your underwear.”
“I won’t ask you to elaborate on how that happened,” she said with a fake scowl. “What do you love most about living here?”
“Everyone is on island time, for one. No rush. Just laid back and casual.” I clicked off more reasons on my fingers. “Two, the weather is almost always sunny here. Three, you get this view every day,” I said pointing out the window and leaning back in my chair. “The defense rests. What more do you need? Heaven.”
“It is very nice here,” she said, taking as sip of her water. “I’ve always loved coming to the beach on vacation.”
I grabbed a piece of roll and took a small bite. To occupy my mouth before I shouted out how much I wanted her to stay. I needed to hear more reasons why Ashton loved it here. If she could see herself living here, then half of my battle was already won. She just needed to forgive me and learn to trust me again. No problem, right?
“How is your grandmother?” Ashton asked.
“Nanna is doing pretty good. You know that my grandfather passed away right before I graduated college?”
Ashton reached across the table and touched my hand. “I heard about that. I’m so sorry. I know you were close.”
I stared at the spot where our skin was intimately connected. The place electrically charged.
“Thanks,” I said. “It’s been hard on my grandmother. That’s why I moved back here permanently. Nanna was diagnosed with dementia shortly after Papa passed away. My mother wanted to put her into full time care, but I couldn’t do that to her. I convinced my parents to let me move in and take care of her.”
Ashton’s eyes started to well up with tears. She wiped the corner of her eyes with the cloth napkin.
“While I’m at work or out of town on business,” I continued, “I have a full-time nurse that takes care of her. It’s heart wrenching when I’m with her and she doesn’t remember who I am. She is always confusing me with my dad or Papa. I guess it’s good she doesn’t think I’m a stranger. She still knows I’m family, just not her favorite grandson.”
Ashton put her hand on top of mine again. “It’s so sweet to see how much you care for your Nanna. She’s lucky to have you.”
The waiter came back with our dinner orders and set them down in front of us. I was a bit disappointed the food had arrived to distract us from each other, but damn, did that food smell delicious. My stomach rumbled.
Ashton dug right into her scallops, swirling the pasta with her fork. “This is really good,” she said, stopping to savor each bite. “Too bad Mr. Albertson missed it.”
I had a feeling Mr. Albertson was just fine with the fact that I was alone here with Ashton, enjoying his restaurant of choice. Taking a bite of my own dinner, I agreed. “They only serve the freshest seafood.” I held up a bite of grouper. “This big guy was swimming along earlier today, happy as can be, until a fisherman came by and hooked him.”
Ashton giggled, holding up another scallop on her fork. “Just like this little guy?”
“They were probably best buds,” I teased her.
I glanced up and caught her eyes with mine. It felt so right. So natural to be here like this enjoying a meal and conversation. Like we’d never been apart from each other. Ashton was nothing like the usual pretentious women I’d dated since living in Destin. Most of the women here were trust fund babies or divorced divas looking for another sugar daddy. All they wanted to do was sit on the beach and collect an allowance. No determination. No drive. Ashton was hard-working and fun-loving, used to having her own thing going on. And that was hotter than hell. I watched her lick her lips before taking another bite of the creamy pasta.
I wanted to kiss her so badly. Lean across the table and capture those luscious lips, brush them against mine.
“How’s work?” I asked, trying to snap out of my persistent daydream. It niggled at me constantly like a gnat swirling my head.
“Well, let’s see,” Ashton started, “I work way too many hours and spend more time on the road than in the office, but I’m sure you do the same. I’m up for a promotion, especially if this deal goes through. I never thought I would make this kind of money at my age. Most of our childhood friends are waiting tables or bartending,” she said, face glowing with pride.
“You deserve it all,” I said. “You’re fantastic at your job and I can tell you love what you do. It’s written all over your face.”
She blushed. “Thank you. That means a lot, Quinn.�
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I poured the last bit of wine in her glass. “Should I order another bottle?” I wondered if Ashton was getting a little drunk. We’d each had three glasses of wine and she’d never been much of a drinker. At least then. He realized as much as he wanted to know everything about this new version of Ashton, it would take time. And I was at war with the clock.
“I think I should quit while I’m ahead,” Ashton answered. Her cheeks were flushed as she loosened up even further. But I didn’t want her getting too inebriated. I wanted her to remember tonight.
“Probably a good idea,” I said.
She pushed her plate away. “That was the best dinner I’ve had in a long time.”
“Same here,” I agreed.
The busboy came by to take our plates away. We declined dessert when the waiter offered. We finished off the wine and Ashton finally dropped the bomb. Even though I’d been expecting it, part of me had hoped she’d forgotten.
“I want to know why.” She met my gaze and held it until I answered.
“Why?” I stalled. I knew what she wanted to know. I just wasn’t ready to answer. It was the one thing standing between us, the night that had ruined everything. “You want to know what happened that night?”
“Yes.” Her eyes never left mine.
If I was going to earn her forgiveness I knew I needed to finally tell her what happened. Even at the cost of tearing her family apart.
“I will tell you everything,” I said and looked around. Couples were dining within a few feet of us and what I had to say was private. “But not here.”
She nodded. “Okay, where?”
“Let’s go back to my house. Nanna will be asleep and I need to relieve the day nurse. It’s a beautiful night to chill on the patio.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and fidgeted, but in the end she agreed. We rode back to my beach cottage in silence. I only lived a few blocks away, so at least the ride was short. After checking on my grandmother, I made a pot of fresh coffee for us.
“I love your place,” Ashton said.
An old Florida beach cottage that was built in the 1970’s had been home to my grandparents for years. My grandfather had it renovated a couple years before he died. My grandmother lived in the main cottage and I resided in the guest cottage, which sat at the rear of the property by the swimming pool.
It was nothing special, but it met my needs for the time being. The beach was a five-minute walk, but close enough for us to hear the waves collapse against the shore and feel the salty breeze. We sat on the edge of the pool, our feet hanging in the cool water. I handed Ashton a cup of coffee.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said, dipping her toes in and out of the water. She took a careful sip from her mug. “I always sensed there was more to your leaving than you just being a typical male asshole satisfied with getting laid.”
“I made a mistake.”
She huffed. “Which part? Sleeping with me or leaving me without as much as a goodbye?”
“First off, I don’t consider sleeping with you a mistake.” I tried to put my arm around her, but she scooted away from me, almost upending her coffee into the blue waters of the swimming pool. “I’ve told you how much I cared for you. Ever since we were kids. However, I broke the Bro Code when I had sex with my best friend’s sister.”
Ashton gave a sarcastic laugh and rolled her eyes. “Who gives a shit about the bro code? Really? We’re talking about a real connection. People’s feelings and futures. You can’t tell me that this is what it’s been about all this time. My brother didn’t even know what we did.”
I squeezed my eyes shut in humiliation. After baby monitor gate, I’d been afraid to have sex without sweeping the bedroom for bugs. “Yes, he did. That’s what started all this. Your brother heard us on the baby monitor.”
Ashton’s pale skin turned rosy everywhere it was exposed and her hand flew up to cover her shocked expression. “Oh my god! What? Are you serious? I’ve never been more mortified.”
“After it was over, when I left to get us a drink … Griffin came after me, screaming that he’d heard us on the baby monitor. I tried to brush it off and pretend it was sex with someone else but he’d heard your voice, Ashton. We had an argument that almost turned into a fistfight. He threw me out of the house by the collar. I didn’t want things to escalate, so I figured I would just drive around until Griffin cooled off. I ran into Caroline on my way out and she asked me for a ride home. Apparently, they hadn’t been getting along and she wanted to leave. My plan was to come back later and tell you what happened. But …”
“You decided to run away from your feelings?” Ashton asked. “Never come back and face the music?”
My voice caught, tears burned the back of my eyes but no way was I going to cry in front of her. “No, I would never run away. I’m not the type of person to run from my problems.”
“Then what happened?”
I hissed out a breath and steeled myself for what I was about to admit. Shame washed over me in waves. “I was arrested.”
“What?” she asked and stilled. “I don’t understand. Arrested for what?”
“While I was driving toward Caroline’s place, the police pulled me over. I was pretty damn sober by then, so I thought it was just a routine traffic stop.” I blew out a breath. “Then they found a few ounces of marijuana in my car on top of my blowing over the legal limit. A felony number of ounces of weed.”
This was harder than I’d ever thought it would be. The censure and fear in her eyes as they swept over me in judgment. I’d done a good job to not relive that night until now. Putting all that mess behind me and moving on felt like the right thing to do at the time. Now I know that wasn’t the best decision. I probably would have benefited from some therapy to work it through.
My arrest had ruined my relationship with Griffon and any possible relationship with Ashton. If I’d known the hurt it was going to cause her, I would’ve made a different choice and owned up to what happened. Nothing was worth losing her respect. However, I still struggled with telling her the reason why Griffin and I never spoke again. I didn’t want her to fault her brother for the things that had happened.
“I knew that you and Griffin toked up sometimes at parties, but why take the chance of having that much in your car? Transporting it?” Ashton asked. “Sorry, but that seems really stupid. And unlike the smart man I know.”
“It wasn’t mine,” I said, softly, looking out on the sun dropping like a giant orange ball below the horizon.
Chapter Seven
Ashton
Quinn Andrews had just hit me with a ton of bricks. As surely as if he’d razed a building, piled the debris in a gunnysack, and smacked me upside the head with it. He’d been arrested for felony possession of marijuana as well as OWI? That was just unbelievable. He’d never gotten anything less than an A minus, was captain of the football team, and had never even gotten a parking ticket.
“If it wasn’t your weed, then who left it in your car? Caroline?” I fired the questions at him in an attempt to pry out the truth. I knew he still withheld an important piece of information. The last piece to the puzzle.
“I don’t know. Someone at the party?” he shrugged. “I really have no idea. I know it sounds lame, but the weed wasn’t mine. The cops found it during a search of my car and I was arrested because I didn’t have any proof to the contrary.”
“Why not just tell them it wasn’t yours?”
“Denying that it wasn’t mine was an exercise in futility. It was found in my vehicle in a plastic bag with my fingerprints on it. There weren’t any other identifying characteristics to implicate anyone else.” He said with a shrug. “They didn’t believe anything that I said. So I went to jail. My parents bailed me out and as punishment, I was sent to Florida to live with my grandparents for the summer.”
“You still could’ve said goodbye,” I said, getting to the heart of the matter.
“I know, and I’m so sorr
y,” He said again, searching her face for any softening of her hard expression. “I was stupid. I should’ve come over and told you how much our night together meant to me. How much you meant. You don’t know how many times I’ve replayed that scenario in my head with a much different outcome. As a man, I’m not proud of how that teenage boy handled his first adult situation.”
I took his hand, threading my fingers with his. It was a start. He’d explained what happened, and apologized for his action. Quinn deserved a second chance. I pictured him scared and alone in a county jail cell. I wanted to mend our broken relationship and see where it would take us. When I went back home for the wedding I would deal with my brother then. Griffin should’ve never have interfered with me and Quinn. How dare he? It was none of his damn business who I liked or who I slept with.
Quinn gently squeezed my fingers with his. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
“I guess it does…” I mumbled.
“You guess?” he teased.
The last remnants of worry in his voice made me smile. The guy really was committed to mending the tears in our friendship.
“Yes, I forgive you,” I said and ran my fingers up the side of his face to thread into that thick head of silky, dark hair. For long moments, I simply held space and relished being close to him again. Drinking in his essence.
Forgiving Quinn felt as natural as breathing. Since we were kids on the playground, he had always been my kryptonite. Why had I waited so long to confront him? God. I could have been over this and moving on with my life ten years ago had I just had more courage. It was my fault just as much as it was his for procrastinating this long.
Forgiveness was inevitable and I felt silly for never accepting that. All it took was those ice blue eyes staring at me and I was done. Quinn still held my heart in the palm of his hand. When first love is that strong, it’s never forgotten. Never broken.
Sinker: Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 27
