“If you’re having a bachelor party tonight, you won’t be able to commit to anything later, either. I wouldn’t want—” She cut herself off. Wouldn’t want to wait up all night for you again. “Well, I imagine we’ll both be at the rehearsal tonight.”
He reached out and touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Not quite what I had in mind.”
After a pat, she moved his hand away. “Can’t be helped. Good luck with that breakfast. It’s great you’re working through these family issues.”
“Thank you. But maybe—”
“Sure. See you around.” Forcing a smile, she gestured up the path. “You know where I live.”
But only for the next forty-nine hours.
* * *
As she walked past her cabin on the way to the West Trail, Lucy ran into Alex.
Eyes lighting up, he stood directly in front of her. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you. Have you had breakfast?”
Lucy glanced past him through the trees. Mist sank through the branches, coating the air with dew. The sun hid behind a thick layer of morning fog.
She looked back at Alex. He had an uncertainness about him that hadn’t been there before. Dark circles under his eyes. Unshaven jaw. Wrinkled button-down shirt, half undone, with a faded T-shirt hanging out underneath.
“I’m sorry, but I have.”
He glanced behind her, his gaze drawing a line between her and Miles’s cabin. “Right.”
“But I was just about to go for a walk out to the beach. Would you like to join me?”
“A walk?”
“We won’t get a chance tomorrow. The wedding’s early.”
He nodded. “I’d like that.” He stood up taller, gestured down the path. “Shall we?”
They hiked in silence for ten minutes until the buildings of the resort were out of sight behind them. The fog grew heavier with each step. Lucy walked ahead, wishing she’d chosen a shorter hike. She’d imagined Miles at her side. All night she’d wanted him, and now she ached to reach out and take his hand, feel his big palm in hers.
When they got to the stream that had soaked her before, she stopped abruptly, and Alex bumped into her. Poor man, she’d almost forgotten he was there.
“I’m sorry about how things turned out,” she said.
“Sorry, as in you regret it?”
“If I hurt you, yes.”
He studied her. “That’s nice of you. I’m sorry if I hurt you, too.”
How would he have…
His laugh sounded forced. “Can I help you get over to the other side?”
Disconcerted, she turned her attention back to the shallow, ten-foot wide ribbon of water at their feet. Flat stones formed a bridge that a toddler could cross.
“I’ll be fine.” She stepped across easily. “I think I was just nervous before.”
“Funny, I wasn’t nervous until right now.” Alex came across behind her and jumped onto the bank. “I need to tell you something.”
Oh, lord. He’s going to tell me about Krista. “Please don’t. You really don’t have to.”
But he was reaching into his pocket. “I didn’t realize how little time we’d have to get to know each other, or I would’ve told you sooner.” He pulled out his wallet. “I thought it might make you uncomfortable, so I didn’t. Now I wonder if it might’ve helped me… stand out, so to speak. Though it’s foolish to speculate.”
Lucy frowned at the square of paper in his hands. Slowly and carefully, he unfolded it to reveal a page from a glossy magazine. He handed it to her.
A photograph. Fawn getting into her Volvo in Berkeley, paparazzi swarming around her—and Lucy at her side. She wore her usual black and was jabbing one of the photographers with an umbrella.
“I thought you were beautiful,” Alex said.
Oh. “You noticed me?” She looked back at the photo, wondering how that could be possible. The red hair did stand out, of course, and she was looking straight at the camera. She looked pissed off. Fawn was a blazing beauty who lit up the picture like an angel in a Renaissance painting.
“Huntley gave me that to show me how beautiful his new girlfriend was, but all I could see was you.”
“Alex.” Lucy put a hand on her chest. Her mind went blank. “I’m—”
“Sorry. Yeah, I got that.” He took the paper back from her and folded it just as carefully as before. “You don’t owe me anything, Lucy. I just wanted you to know.”
“I’m still not sure what happened, but it wasn’t something I planned.”
He nodded, not meeting her eyes. “Being away from home can make us forget who we are. Especially in a place so”—he waved his hand at the lichen-draped trees—“primordial.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“You probably heard I spent the other night with your friend Krista.”
Damn, he sounded so casual about it. Like they’d shared a pizza. “Yes. She’s…” She tried to think of something flattering to say but was still too annoyed with her. “An old friend,” she finished lamely.
“And you spent the night with Miles.”
She nodded. She wasn’t going to talk about that.
He held out another piece of paper. She looked at it. His business card. “This whole week is already starting to feel like a dream,” he said, pressing it into her hand and putting his other hand over it. “I’d still like to be friends. We’ll be seeing each other occasionally, I’m sure, given our close friendships with the bride and groom.”
She looked up into his face. A nice face, with kind, patient eyes. Even now, even though he possessed emotions she hadn’t expected, he was determined to approach the situation calmly.
He really was the type of man she’d been looking for.
So why didn’t she want him?
“Lucy!”
She swung away from Alex. Miles stood on the other side of the creek.
After what Alex had just said, Lucy felt like an impulsive child. Although her body twitched to jump across the creek and climb up into Miles’s arms, her mind, for the first time that week, had a grip on the situation.
She reclaimed her hand and the business card from Alex’s grip but didn’t move away from him. “Thank you,” she told him softly.
Alex nodded.
“Lucy!” Miles yelled again.
“What?” Lucy asked him.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? You just came by and asked me to go for a walk!”
“What about your breakfast with your stepmother?”
But Miles wasn’t looking at her. Face flushed with color, he glared at Alex as he strode over the stream to join them, completely ignoring the rocks or the water, the way he got soaked up to the shins. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“We were walking,” Lucy said. “What’s your problem?”
“You weren’t walking just now.”
“For God’s sake!” Lucy looked Miles over, disgusted to see his chest puffed up and his hands balled into fists. As if preparing to beat Alex into the muddy bank. Poor Alex—his body mass was probably fifty percent smaller.
Maybe she didn’t want the guy who’d just told her she was beautiful to be pounded into the ground.
“I came as fast as I could,” Miles continued. “Guess I should have run faster.” He loomed over Alex with a snarl on his face.
“What is the matter with you?” Lucy poked him in the ribs. Hard.
But Alex looked eager to take him on. Shoulders back, hands fisting, he mirrored Miles’s aggressive posture. Lucy could smell the testosterone flying through the air like aerosol sunscreen at a swimming pool in July.
“If you think this is attractive, acting like violent, macho idiots, you’re wrong,” she said.
They ignored her.
“I think it’s time you gave up,” Miles growled at Alex, no hint of his usual gentleness in his eyes. “She doesn’t want you. Stay the fuck away from her.”
“She invited me, big guy. Wrap your l
ittle brain around that.”
“She felt sorry for you,” Miles said.
Alex paused, then shoved him in the chest with both hands.
Miles, unmoved, lifted one of his fists and pulled his elbow back to swing.
Chapter 21
“NO! FOR GOD’S SAKE, NO!” Lucy flung herself on Miles. “Hit him and I’ll never touch you again!”
Frozen, not looking at her, Miles said to Alex, “Hear that? All I have to do is not beat the shit out of you and she’s mine. Mine.”
Lucy shoved Miles as hard as she could. “You arrogant bastard!”
He didn’t budge, but her choice of insult made an impact. He looked down at her, pain at the edges of his eyes.
“You heard me.” To hell with his sore spots. “Get out of here. Alex and I are going to finish our walk.” She took Alex’s arm. It was rigid with tension but she forced him to hook it through hers. “Without you,” she told Miles.
“One night was enough, is that it? Think you had your fun and now you’re ready to settle for this pompous little shit?” Miles flung up his hands. “Am I the last person in the world who believes in monogamy?” He spun on his heel and splashed through the creek to the other side.
Lucy watched him storm away. What was she supposed to do, just let him beat Alex up?
Macho idiot. He stood her up, didn’t make time for her, and now he wanted to control her? To hell with him.
She wished she hadn’t called him a bastard, but she didn’t mean it in the offensive, archaic way. She had to find better insults that weren’t politically loaded. If only she’d brought her smartphone so she could look up good words on her thesaurus app.
“You care about him,” Alex said. He made no effort to walk alongside her, so she had to stop and stare at him.
“I’m pissed, that’s what I am. Can you believe the way he freaked about us taking a walk?”
He untangled his arm from hers and held onto her hand for a moment.
Lucy’s mind still raced through her mental thesaurus. Oaf. Bully. Dorkbutt. That’s it. She’d make a spreadsheet with her ideas and title it “Miles Dorkbutt.”
Alex squeezed her hand before releasing it. “You’re not quite what I expected.”
Reluctantly she set aside her mental spreadsheet to give Alex her attention. “How so?”
“I mean no criticism. More of an apology.” He stepped back. “I’ve never been attracted to dramatics. It’s completely my fault for assuming that a woman in your profession would be of a particular personality type.”
“What the hell kind of type were you expecting?”
He sighed, smiling. “See? There you go again. You’ve got a temper. I hate to say it, because it implies such a stereotype and I certainly don’t mean it that way, but you’re kind of… hotblooded, aren’t you?”
“Like a typical redhead, you mean?”
“Please don’t be offended. I’m just sharing an observation. And it’s totally my fault for being so eager to settle down that I ignored the obvious.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “You’re not ready to settle down.”
“Just because I didn’t jump at the chance of being with you—”
“It has nothing to do with me.” He pointed down the path to the resort. “You picked the most immature, commitment-phobic male you could find and went to bed with him.”
“You are way out of line.”
“Fine. Maybe so. But if I’m wrong, you’re about to get hurt. And that would be a shame.” He held out his hand. “I only wish you the best.”
He was just trying to soothe his ego, imagining how badly she was going to get hurt by liking a guy he didn’t approve of. Accusing her of being a hothead. Lucy Hathcoat, the number-crunching databot. If only her friends had heard him.
She didn’t really want to touch him again, but he was right about having to see each other again over the years. Reluctantly, she squeezed his hand quickly then folded her arms over her chest.
“See you around.” He turned to go back over the stream.
How could a man so perfect in so many ways be so completely annoying?
“Hey, Alex!” she called, just as he stepped onto the first rock.
He glanced back.
“Don’t hurt Krista,” she said. When he frowned, she added, “After all, you don’t like it when I lose my temper.”
* * *
“This is pointless,” Heather said, getting up from the table. She wore a white sleeveless blouse, skin-tight white jeans, white sandals with white bows around her ankles. She should have blended into the pale decor of the Snowy Egret, but somehow, with her toned and tanned skin, her blond hair, all the gold jewelry, she made heads turn. “I told him you wouldn’t be capable of this.”
Miles let her walk away, past the newly arrived wedding guests having breakfast. Every table was filled with the young and the old, the bright and the beautiful. A few looked familiar, perhaps from movies or TV. Perhaps from a random game of basketball with Huntley. Perhaps both.
He didn’t get up to follow her until she’d reached the door. Then, deciding he had been rude, arriving late and then barely speaking two words during the meal, he got up and strode after her.
“Sorry. I’ve got something on my mind.” He flinched at the bright sky as he stepped outside. “And I’m a little hung over.”
And depressed. He wasn’t quite sure, but he thought he’d screwed up out there at the stream.
But she’d been standing there holding hands with him. Looking deeply into his eyes.
You screwed up.
He knew she didn’t want Alex, would never want Alex. He knew, just like he’d said, that Lucy just felt sorry for the striving twit. She was trying to let him down easy.
“Lady trouble?” Heather asked.
They stood outside the restaurant facing the trail west. Alex and Lucy would come back that way if they hadn’t already.
His head ached. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“How’s that working out for you so far?”
He gave her a warning look.
“Because from where I’m sitting, not talking about what’s bothering you has caused a lot of problems. For everybody.”
“You’re the last person who should be giving relationship advice.”
“Is that what you’ve got with her? A relationship?” Heather patted him on the chest. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks a little early to be calling it anything at all.”
Heather didn’t know anything; she was just fishing. Looking for weak spots. He made a show of looking at his watch. “Actually, Lucy is expecting me now. Sorry to eat and run.”
“Your father told me how you stood her up last night.” She patted his chest again, this time leaving the fingers splayed across his heart. “Is she the forgiving type?”
Why had he told his father about Lucy? And why had he shared that with this vindictive woman? “She is, actually. I already explained.”
“That you preferred drinking an elderly man under the table?”
Miles stilled. “He’s not that old.”
“He’s seventy-three, Miles. Way past middle age. In fact, who could say how many years he has left?”
He wasn’t going to admit how concerned he’d been the night before about his father’s age. After their fourth drink, his dad tripped over the bar stool and would’ve fallen if Miles hadn’t caught him. Not many people could stop a Girard man from hitting the floor—they were big suckers.
He captured her wrist and squeezed. “We had a really nice time. You got a problem with that?”
“Why should I? Now I’ll get to see you more often.”
Miles pushed her hand away from his chest. “Why can’t you stop being such a bitch?”
Heather’s eyes lit up as if given a precious gift. “Now who’s giving advice?” She smiled at the sky, inhaling deeply and arching her back. “Such a lovely day. The cold takes a little getting used to, but I’m starting to like it. Maybe I can t
alk your father into moving out here.”
“You’d hate it.”
She laughed. “It is so nice seeing you again.” Before he could step back, she went up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Son,” she whispered in his ear.
He recoiled instinctively. “Stay away from me.”
She was still laughing as she strode away.
* * *
Miles went immediately to Lucy’s cabin and banged on the door. His conversation with Heather had shaken him more than he’d like to admit. That woman was poison. His father needed to see her for what she was.
He corrected himself. His father’s choice was none of his business. Certainly nothing he could do anything about. If he was going to have a relationship with his dad, he couldn’t dive in being critical of Heather. His dad had already shown whose side he would choose.
He knocked on the Ceanothus cabin door again. No question he owed Lucy an apology.
But it was Fawn, not Lucy, who answered the door. “Hey, Miles! Just the man I wanted to see.”
“Not Huntley?”
She pulled him inside. “Not at the moment.” She shut the door and pinned him with a serious look. “What did you do?”
Every transgression Miles had ever committed flashed before his eyes. “Do?”
“To Lucy.”
He lowered his voice. “I thought you knew about what we did.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not that. Give me a break. This morning.”
“We had a fight.”
“Like I said, what did you do?”
Miles sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “I screwed up.”
“That’s what I thought.” Fawn went over to the mini-bar and pulled out a diet energy drink. “How are we going to fix it?”
“We?”
“Tell me what happened.”
“She was getting all lovey-dovey with Alex, and I flipped.”
“She was what?”
“They were holding hands.”
“Brother. You think that was her idea?”
“I admit I overreacted.”
Fawn sighed. “Here’s the deal. I don’t know you well, Miles, but I knew from the way Huntley talks about you that you’d be perfect for Lucy. Sure enough, right away she’s all hot and bothered. A great sign.”
The Supermodel's Best Friend Page 23
