by Cathryn Fox
But why didn’t he ever tell her all this? Did he not trust her enough to tell her about his past? Or maybe he kept it to himself because he was too afraid she wouldn’t believe him? Either way, even if he no longer wanted her, she somehow had to do right by him, to show him that he was the best man she knew.
Chapter Eleven
“That’s all pretty fucked up,” Garrett said, before taking a pull from his bottle.
Luke nodded. “Yup.”
“So now what? You’re just going to sit here and mope about it.”
“What the fuck?”
Garrett twirled his bottle. “If I loved her I’d fight for her.”
“Did you not hear anything I said? She thought I took the money.” He scoffed. “I thought she was different.”
“No you didn’t.” He glared at Garrett. “If you thought she was different, you would have told her about your past, you would have opened up to her, and put your heart on the line. You didn’t do that because you didn’t expect her to be different than any other rich bastard who screwed you over.”
“And in the end she did screw me over. She believed her father over me.”
“Maybe she’s not the one with the problem. Maybe you are. Maybe you set yourself up for failure with her.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you have a goddamn chip on your shoulder, and deep down expect the worst from those on the other side of the tracks.”
“And I got the worst, didn’t I? She didn’t believe in me. So what’s your point?”
“You set her up for that, Luke.”
“How?”
“By not telling her what really happened, now or all those years ago. Jesus, are you really going to risk losing the best thing that ever happened to you because you can’t let go of the past?” Garrett placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “It’s tough, but you have to move forward, my man. Believe me, I saw the way she looked at you. She is different. And you’re going to have to lay your heart on the line and trust in her enough to believe she isn’t going to stomp on it.”
Luke pushed away from the bar. “I gotta get out of here.” He stepped outside, jumped on his bike and went for a long ride, his mind going over everything that had happened, especially his conversation with Garrett.
Was he right? Had Luke really set himself up for failure? After a long while he made his way back to his place, and when he spotted a female figure near the entrance of his building his heart raced.
He parked, and jogged to the door, but as he approached, his breath caught and his knees nearly went out from underneath him. He sucked in air, but could barely fill his lungs.
“Allison,” he whispered. He glanced around. “What…how?”
She looked up at him with those big gray eyes of hers and her voice sounded shaky when she said, “I heard you wanted to see me.”
His heart raced, pounded against his chest. “Allison,” he said again, pulling her in tight. Her arms wrapped around him, and he nearly sobbed as he buried his face in her hair. Her body shook and he held her tighter. After a long while he pulled back.
“How did you know where to find me?”
“Emery. She came to see me.”
Luke’s heart missed a beat. “She did? Why?”
Allison gave him an odd look. “Because she loves you.”
Oh, Jesus, he loved her too. He loved her so goddamn much and now he was going to lose her if he didn’t fix this.
He held his sister tight, afraid she would run away from him and he’d lose her again too. “Let’s go inside.” A few minutes later, they were sitting across from each other in his living room. He reached out and grabbed her hand and as he looked into her eyes, he knew he needed to tell her everything, just like he needed to tell Emery the truth. Garrett was right, he had set himself up for failure, never expecting anyone to believe in him. He believed in second chances, so maybe it was time he gave himself one.
They spent the entire night talking, Luke telling her the truth. In turn she told him she knew about the scholarship, knew it had come from him, and she wanted to be a lawyer because she wanted to ensure that what happened to her brother never happened to anyone else again.
As dawn approached, she stood and stretched. “I have to go. I’m working at Smith and Meyers and I don’t want to be late.”
Luke hugged her and walked her outside, insisting he drive her home. After dropping her off and making plans for dinner later in the week, he knew he had one more stop to make.
He circled his truck back around and made his way to the market, which was just beginning to fill with early morning shoppers.
He parked and climbed from the cab of the truck, and tried to quiet his racing heart as he entered, not knowing how Emery would receive him.
He walked to her office but found it empty. He made his way through the store, and when he found her juggling a load of watermelons, moving them to the sale rack, everything he felt for her had his heart squeezing to the point of pain. He couldn’t lose her. He just couldn’t.
“Need a hand with those melons?” he asked.
She spun around so fast, this time the melons fell to the floor.
“Oh, shit.”
“Luke,” she said breathlessly. He looked back up at her, and she opened her mouth to say something else but he stepped over the watermelon, and put his finger to her lips to cut her off.
“After going to juvie and doing a tour overseas I never thought I’d be afraid of anything ever again. But I was wrong.”
“You were?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, I’m afraid now. Afraid of losing the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
She went quiet for a long time, and his stomach turned over, worry gnawing at him. When she finally spoke, she said, “You know, the second I set eyes on you I knew you were a thief and were going to steal from me.”
He flinched, her words cutting deep, but he needed to explain, to make this right.
“Emery—”
This time she put her fingers to his lips to silence him. “You stole my heart.”
“Emery… I…” he began, not really understanding what she was saying to him but wanting her to know the entire truth, wanting to lay his heart on the line and trust in her.
She gave a slow shake of her head. “I don’t want to hear it.”
He ran shaking fingers through his hair. “Please, Emery.”
“No, you don’t have to say anything because I know the truth. I know everything. I came to see you last night. But I found you with Allison. I didn’t want to interrupt. You two needed time together.”
At the mention of his sister his heart swelled. “Thank you for that.” Then he realized what else she’d said. “Why did you come to me?”
“I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. You didn’t deserve that from me. And I wanted to tell you that you are the best man I know.”
He cupped her face. “And you are the best woman I know. Which is why I should be the one apologizing.”
“I don’t understand.”
He blew a slow breath. “Emery, sweet Emery. You reacted the way you did because I set you up for it. I didn’t tell you the truth. I walked around carrying my past like it was a badge of honor. I want to move past it, put it behind me, and move forward with you.”
She swiped at her eyes. “Luke…”
“I want you in my life. I don’t want to spend another day in my bed without you in it. Please tell me you want that too.”
“I’ve always wanted that.” A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Ever since you helped me juggle my melons.”
As his heart soared, he held his arms out to his sides, not caring who in her upscale market heard him, or whether they believed him or in him. All that mattered was what Emery thought. “So you can love a thief?”
“Like I said, Luke, the only thing you ever stole from me was my heart, and I’m hoping you’ll trust me with yours.”
“There is
no one in the world I’d trust more with it, sunshine.”
She stepped into his open arms and, despite the crowd, he kissed her with all the passion inside him. “I love you, Emery Vincent-Taylor.”
“And I love you, Luke Phillips.”
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cathryn Fox is a wife, mom, sister, daughter and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie), pizza and red wine. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never-ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed-martial-arts fan. Cathryn can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter, and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.
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Look for these titles by Cathryn Fox
Now Available:
Blood Ties
One on One
Dance of the Dragon
Pleasure Inn
All Tied Up
All Worked Up
All Lit Up
Whispering Cove
Wet in Whispering Cove
Brazen in Whispering Cove
Silk in Whispering Cove
Flirty in Whispering Cove
Boys of Beachville
Good at Being Bad
A Lick of Flame
Bad Girl Therapy
In the Line of Duty
His Obsession Next Door
His Trouble in Tallulah
His Strings to Pull
His Taste of Temptation
Coming Soon:
In the Line of Duty
His Best Friend’s Girl
A summer fling so hot, it can raise spirits…
Flirty
© 2014 Cathryn Fox
Whispering Cove, Book 12
Home renovation specialist Alexis Miller thought snapping up an old Victorian fixer-upper in podunk Whispering Cove would put her on the fast track to proving herself to her brothers.
She can handle cooling her heels to wait for the right permits. It’s the ghosthunter claiming he needs to spend the night to check out the “cold spots” that’s got her body temperature fluctuating.
When Sam Doherty responds to an emergency phone call to cleanse a haunted house in Whispering Cove, the first thing he notices is how Alexis hides her femininity behind baggy coveralls—and how she wants to cover up the old home’s beauty with modern frills. As a guy who “sees” things others can’t, he sets out to teach her to appreciate the hidden beauty, inside and out.
Scary noises soon send Alexis into Sam’s arms, and when a kiss leads to passionate lovemaking, Alexis wonders if it’s possible to find common ground in this small town. Or, once the house is “clean”, if Sam will disappear faster than a ghostly apparition.
Warning: Contains enough sexual tension to raise spirits and turn any cold spot into a sweltering vortex of heat and passion.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Flirty:
Since the last thing Lex believed in were ghosts, and despite the fact that her traitorous body was urging her to invite this gorgeous man inside to explore her…house…she opened her mouth, completely prepared to tell him that she didn’t need his help, only to find herself blurting out, “I think the noise came from the upstairs bedroom.”
Sam’s lips twitched. “Would that be your bedroom?”
“Yes, just temporarily, until I can get the place restored and on the market.”
He slanted his head, his eyes moving over her face. “So it’s odd to hear noises, or even screaming, coming from your room.”
When she caught the teasing glint in his dark eyes, her pulse leapt, totally knowing where he was going with this. Feeling a bit flustered as he stepped closer, his mere presence overwhelming her senses, she answered with, “Well yes… I mean no… I mean…”
“Well, what is it, Alexis? Is it or is it not normal to hear screaming coming from your bedroom?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Now that’s a damn shame,” he murmured under his breath as he turned his attention to her house.
Before she could respond, Errol poked Sam with his cane again and said, “Why don’t you grab your gizmo thingies and check it out. You did bring them with you, didn’t you?”
Sam ran his hands through his shoulder-length hair, humor in his voice when he asked, “My gizmos?”
Errol nodded. “Yeah, those gizmo things you use to trap ghosts.”
“Ah, you mean my state of the art, electrometric gauge, pulse meter, strobe light and cage?”
“Yeah, boy. That’s what I said, your gizmo thingies.”
“Yeah, I brought them.” He turned to Lex. “But first I need the lady’s permission to enter her house.”
A fine shiver moved through Lex, and she gave a breathless laugh. “You make it sound like you’re a vampire, not a ghost hunter.”
A sexy look came over his face and since she’d given him such a great opening, she was certain he was going to come back with another smart-assed comment. But then he looked at Errol and cleared his throat before explaining, “My team and I just don’t believe in doing anything or going anywhere where we’re not wanted.” He met her glance straight on before he added, “I need to know you want me, Alexis.”
Oh, God…
The guy was a big flirt, and every word that came out of his mouth was so suggestive, so sexy. Then again, maybe it was just her imagination, and she was simply reading him wrong, because everything about him made her think of sex. Either way, hell yeah she wanted him. But his teasing manner and easygoing nature told her he was a playboy and she wasn’t about to get involved with a guy who read comic books and hunted ghosts in New Mexico.
“Yes, you have my permission,” she said.
“Good, then I’ll go grab my gizmos and be right back.” He was about to leave, but turned back, real concern dancing in his dark eyes. “Will you be okay here, or did you want to come with me?”
Looking like the cat that swallowed the canary, Errol said, “Of course she’s not going to be okay. You need to keep her close, boy.”
Lex shook her head. She’d had enough coddling from brothers and didn’t need the men here doing it, too. “No, Errol, I’ll be fine.”
“You ain’t fine. You got yourself a ghost. And you shouldn’t be alone in that big old house. Especially at night. I hear ghosts are more active after dark.” He poked Sam with the cane. “I’ll have a cot sent over and my boy Sam here will stay with you until the house is clean. Won’t you, Sam?”
Dark eyes locked on hers, and his mouth turned up at the corner, a half smile that warmed her blood and curled her toes. “If it’s what the lady wants.”
“Of course that’s what the lady wants. And don’t worry, lassie. You’re in good hands with this one.”
She shook her head, knowing that if this handsome, hormone-stirring man was sleeping in the room next door a mean old ghost was the last of her problems.
“No. I’m fine. Sam, you go get your equipment and, Errol, you go and play with that sweet great-granddaughter of yours.”
Errol was about to protest, but she pointed toward the shore. He followed the direction and smiled when he spotted Katherine. “Well, if you say so.”
He seemed to have a new spring in his step, and a wide smile on his face as he walked toward the path. Lex watched for a second, and was pretty sure she heard him mumble something about a month’s worth of rum as he went.
When she looked back at Sam he was grinning. “I think that man’s losing it.”
Lex gave a slow shake of her head, sud
denly not so sure anymore. “I’ve got a sneaking suspicion he has all his wits about him, and then some. I also think he carries that cane so he can poke people with it.”
Sam pulled a face and rubbed his gut. “I think I’ve got internal damage,” he teased, and while she tried to focus on what he was saying, her gaze kept dropping to his bare chest. As heat moved through her body and she swallowed against the dryness in her throat, she hoped like hell that when he came back he had a shirt on.
Were all ghost hunters this buff?
“Are you okay?” Sam asked. “You’re getting really flushed.”
“I…uh…I was in the attic and it was hot and dusty. I just need to get a glass of water.”
He pointed to the house and gave a wink before saying, “Okay, you go get a drink and try to avoid a run-in with Ol’ Lady Landry before I get back.”
She thought about Errol’s ghost for a moment, then her thoughts shifted to the townsfolk and how they really didn’t want her messing with the Victorian house. Was it possible that someone was trying to scare her on purpose?
“Sam,” she said quietly when he turned to leave.
He twisted back around, and the smile fell from his face when his glance met hers. “Yeah, what is it?”
She shrugged. “You’re from this town and know these people better than I do…”
“And?”
“And I was wondering if someone could be trying to scare me on purpose. To drive me out of town. No one seems to like what I’m doing here.”
His face softened. “I don’t think anyone here would do that. But let me just get my gear, and see if Errol is on to something first, okay?”
After she nodded, he turned back around. As she watched him go, her gaze following his ass until he disappeared down the street, Lex walked back to the house. She opened the door and peeked inside. “Hello,” she whispered. “Is there anyone here?”
When her question was met with silence, she gave a hard shake of her head to get it back on right. Ghosts weren’t real! Shaking off her unease, she walked inside and glanced up the wide staircase as she made her way back to the kitchen. Even though she didn’t believe in ghosts, she thought it best to wait for Sam to return before she went up to check out her bedroom.
