Drew blocked the walkway in an obvious effort to shield her from the conversation.
V-neck Boy didn’t seem to miss it. His gaze zinged past Drew to Ti before slithering back to its primary target. He curled an arm around the brunette at his side, his grin feigning confusion. “We’d love for you to clear something up. For the life of us, we can’t figure out why you’d turn down my offer to buy your struggling shop.”
“Not now, Marcus.” Drew clipped the guy’s shoulder on his way past him.
“Time’s running out.” Marcus turned. “I know you don’t want to go another tourist season barely breaking even. Especially with your little girl needing—”
Drew was up in the dude’s face in two seconds flat.
Without thinking it through, Ti sprang forward and wedged between them. “Easy, boys.” She warned Marcus away with her best you-don’t-want-to-bring-out-the-New-York-in-me look. “Drew must not’ve told you yet. I’m a consultant here to help his business.” Consultant? Um, okay, this could go bad fast. What am I doing?
Drew’s raised brows obviously had the same question. She darted him a go-with-it expression. They’d figure it out later. Right now, they had to get V-neck Boy off his back.
“A consultant?” The guy looked her up and down and then dipped his chin. “Good luck with that.” Without the slightest bit of concern on his face, he prodded his date forward.
The minute they disappeared inside, Drew glowered at Ti. “What was that?”
“Um . . .” She twirled her earring around. “An intervention?”
“Thanks, but I already told you, I’m fine.”
Ti rubbed bits of gravel off the bottom of one foot while contemplating ten different ways to rid Mr. Enigma of his pride.
His guarded stance didn’t budge.
“Okay, fine. I’m not really a consultant, but I have my own business. I know what it takes to make things run. Let me at least offer some suggestions.” A project to keep her mind occupied would be a lifesaver right now.
“You don’t even know what kind of shop I have.”
Ti peered around the small beach town. “I’m gonna go with souvenirs for $500, Alex.”
Drew cocked his chin. “I thought you were here for work.”
“Sort of.” She switched hands and let her slingbacks hang from her fingers. “I’m visiting a friend for a while.”
“What’s a while?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
He edged in, as if proximity would burn a hole through the wall keeping her from telling him the full truth. Face right below his, Ti begged the heat mounting her body limb by limb to stop below her neckline.
Drew stretched a palm against the siding behind her. She glanced from his eyes to his ringless left hand and back. If he noticed her quick appraisal, he didn’t show it. “And you can just walk away from your business for an indefinite amount of time?”
This close, an unruly section of hair above his ear stole her focus. Probably an overlooked result of bed head. Ti pushed the visual away and accomplished another swallow. “Like I said, I know how to make things run.”
His hand dragged down the wall, his countenance with it. “I can’t pay you.”
“I wasn’t asking.” She matched his backward stride. “It’s fine, really. My business is pretty self-sustaining. And I happen to have some money saved up from another life.”
“Another life.” His mouth quirked. “Do I want to know?”
“You could guess.”
He turned to leave, bait untaken.
A group of four-wheelers zoomed down the beach with whoops and hollers trailing them. Slightly redneck-ish, maybe, but at least those guys knew how to have fun. Unlike some people.
All right, so the guy obviously wasn’t the playing around type. Fine. Ti caught his arm. “Relax, Yoga Boy. I was just trying to feel you out. Look, I’m here for . . . a while. I need inspiration for new art pieces. Your shop obviously needs some new inventory—”
She didn’t give him the chance to interject when he balked. “We’re talking about a mutual benefit here.” Along with a diversion. If she could keep the nightmares at bay for a few weeks, maybe she’d have a shot at figuring some things out.
Offering her best disarming smile, she swayed from side to side. “No harm, no foul.”
The look on his face begged to differ.
“Drew.” A shirtless guy in board shorts jogged up from the beach, carrying a surfboard with a strap hitched to his ankle. “You’re not bailing already, are you? We’re just . . .” A glance from Drew to Ti sprawled into a Cheshire Cat smile. “Sorry, hoss. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Drew looked like he was suppressing an eye roll. “You weren’t. Cooper, this is . . .”
“Ti Russo.” She extended a hand.
The door behind them opened, and her friend Livy joined them on the walkway. “Oh, brilliant. I get to introduce you all at once.”
Hearing the random British vernacular Livy had picked up while living in the UK would’ve been funny if Downer Drew’s expression weren’t ruining it.
“You know this girl?” he deadpanned.
“We modeled together in London.” Liv curled an arm around Ti’s. “Been friends ever since.”
Drew rolled up his sleeves. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a friend coming?”
“Didn’t know. She surprised me last night.”
That was one way of putting it. Ti chewed her lip. Couldn’t they talk about anything else?
Obviously not.
Skeptical eyes led Drew a step closer. “You really did just pick up and leave your job.”
Ti raised a nonchalant shoulder. “Everyone needs a breather now and then.”
“Sure you’re not running away from something?”
Her heart thudded against her chest, but she kept her voice casual. “Aren’t we all?”
“Some of us have responsibilities.”
The pavement burned into her skin almost as much as his attitude. “Thanks for clearing that up. I always wanted to meet a real-life Paris Geller.”
Intense green eyes roved over her until a visible ache creased his face. Yet rather than respond, Drew backed up farther, turned, and walked away.
“Good talk,” she called to his retreating backside. Uptight much?
Livy squeezed Ti’s arm. “Don’t worry. It’s not about you.”
Could’ve fooled her. Didn’t matter, anyway. Her offer to help him was a means to an end for both of them. Plain and simple.
Cooper peeled off his surfboard’s Velcro strap from around his ankle and looked her over again as though assessing the situation. “Why don’t you crash at my place while you’re here?”
Livy let go of Ti and whacked him in the bicep. “While you crash on Drew’s couch.”
His dimples sank in as he rubbed his arm. “Of course.”
“Hold on a sec.” Ti looked from Cooper to Drew’s distant silhouette, their similar features just then hitting her. “Are you two brothers?”
“I got Dad’s charm. Drew got his . . .”
“Anal retentiveness?”
Cooper laughed. “You pick up quickly.” He rubbed the back of his hand under his scruffy chin, looking hesitant to say more.
He didn’t have to. She’d already gotten a good enough picture. Which meant she probably shouldn’t make things worse by being all up in Drew’s space. Especially if she was going to follow through on this consultant deal. “Liv, you sure I can’t stay with you?”
“Only if I want an ear-bashing. I already told you. Mr. Fiazza will flip if he knows I snuck you into my flat last night. No one but waitstaff is allowed in those quarters.”
“Then I’ll get a room somewhere else.”
“Not this time of year, you won’t.” Livy shared a knowing look with Cooper. “Every motel on the island will be booked solid through August.”
Fantastic. Ti peered across the sleepy town, the fear of going home closing in.
�
��We’re your best option.” Cooper dragged a piece of wax over his surfboard. “I have a trailer on Drew’s property. It’s not huge, but you’ll have your own space. And we’ll be close enough if you need anything.”
Ti studied him. Good-looking? Definitely. A charmer? Probably. But he carried a hint of the same integrity she saw under his brother’s armor. “If you’re positive you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” An assuring smile warmed over her.
“Smashing.” Livy stretched with a yawn. “Because I’ve got to call it a night.”
Ti peeked at her cell. “When did you start going to bed so early?”
“When I started having to get up at the crack of dawn to wait tables.”
Though playful, her tone hid a note of sadness. Regret, maybe. They’d kept in touch after Ti left London when her best friend, Cassidy, needed help with a camp she inherited, but Livy never explained why she ended up leaving, too. How’d she go from a high-dollar model career overseas to barely scraping by as waitstaff in North Carolina?
Maybe Ti wasn’t the only one with secrets to hide.
Chapter Two
Intentions
Morning sunlight sifted through the bathroom window in Cooper’s trailer. Ti scrubbed a washcloth over her body, desperate to erase lingering memories left from the dream that’d awoken her. Saddest part was, she would’ve sworn she’d blotted out her nightmares for good.
Until two days ago.
Thirty seconds. Hearing the message on her home voicemail for thirty seconds was all it’d taken. She hadn’t stopped to think. She ran. What was new?
The haunting voice on the recording snaked to mind all over again.
Wings flapped right outside the window. Her shoulders hit her ears. Ti dropped the washcloth and squelched a gasp. Stupid seagulls.
Torn between fear and agitation, she got dressed and curled up on the bed Cooper had graciously offered her. The window A/C unit wheezed against the heat, memories against her chest. She jolted off the mattress and grabbed her cell instead.
A groggy version of her longtime best friend’s voice answered on the fourth ring. “Ti, it’s six a.m. Everything all right?”
Hard to blame Cass for asking. It’d normally take a Mack truck slamming into Ti’s bedroom wall to get her up this early.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine. Just having a hard time sleeping.” Before Cass could probe, Ti added, “I’m calling for a favor.”
“Of course. What’s up?”
Ti traced her fingers along a shelf littered with books on the stock market. “Would you mind keeping an eye on my bank account? Just pop online every other day or so to make sure there are no big withdrawals.” Cass was the only person on the planet Ti trusted with her finances.
“Um . . . o-kay.” Cass dragged out the word. “You want to fill me in on the reason why?”
Not really.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Ti thumbed through a book. “Nothing. I just need to go off the grid for a while. A mini vacation.” Sort of.
The charged pause from Cass’s end of the line stood in for the wary glare she’d give Ti if they were in person. “Where are you?”
Ti peeked out the window toward the harbor. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”
“Ti—”
“I’m fine, Cass. You don’t need to panic.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have led with ‘I need to go off the grid for a while.’ What’s going on? Is Murray looking for you?”
Her ex from London? Yeah, right. It’d taken him a whole week and five other chicks to get over her. No surprise Cass would assume Ti was running from one of her loser boyfriends. Story of her life. Probably better to let her think that. Ti didn’t want to get into it, anyway.
“Just check the bank account, okay? And give that sweet hubby of yours a hug for me. I’ll be in touch. Love you, babe.”
“Ti, don’t—”
She ended the call and powered down her cell. She didn’t need a lecture. She needed deflection. Fast.
After slipping on a pair of heeled sandals, Ti wound her hair up into a loose side bun and cast a quick glance in the mirror. It’d do for now.
Puddles outside stopped her in front of the door. It must’ve rained sometime last night. She traded her heels for her rain boots and left her cell on the nightstand.
Toting an easel and paint supplies, she bustled out of the trailer and into the one distraction that always promised escape. At least her past hadn’t robbed her of that.
Yet.
Drew shook the sand from his hair while jogging up to his house with his surfboard. The bright yellow smart car parked at the curb garnered a chuckle out of him, just like it had on his way out to the beach at sunrise. Somehow, it was exactly what he’d expect Ti to drive.
Not for the first time since leaving the party last night, a pang of mixed feelings lurched in his stomach. An ex-model, up and leaving her business without any forewarning? Something didn’t smell right. True, maybe he came off a little too defensive at times. But if it meant protecting Maddie, so be it. Someone had to look out for things around here.
“Part of being a man is knowing where to draw the line around your family. The harder part is admitting when you’ve crossed it yourself.”
Dad had been gone five years, and his words of wisdom still found a way to cut to the surface at the exact moment he would’ve said them if he were here.
Drew unwrapped a piece of saltwater taffy, bit off a chunk, and chewed on what he knew he had to do. As soon as Ti got up, he’d apologize for his behavior . . . and then free her of her consultant duties. Being polite was one thing. Being naïve was another.
He set his board on the porch and brushed the rest of the sand off his feet before stepping inside. Their Jack Russell, Jasper, soared down the stairs as if guarding the White House. In less than thirty seconds, his expectant pant turned into a pout when Maddie didn’t waltz in behind Drew.
He rubbed the dog’s bristly brown and white head. “I know the feeling, buddy.”
Jasper moped into the living room and lolled on the carpet with an exaggerated sigh. Drew stifled a laugh. He probably looked just as pitiful. The thought of Maddie without supervision from the few people he trusted with her health had kept him up half the night.
A snore rang from the couch. Cooper.
Drew’s gaze zipped from his brother to Jasper, a grin following. “Want a treat?”
Jasper’s ears perked up. Drew grabbed a Milk-Bone from the kitchen and dangled it above Cooper’s snoring body. Jasper rocketed three feet across the room straight onto Drew’s intended landing zone.
Cooper flung forward at ninety degrees and sent a drool-soaked throw pillow onto the carpet. A sleepy gaze zeroed in on Drew. “Real funny, hoss.” Cooper chucked the pillow at his head.
Dodging it, Drew laughed. “That’s what you get for drooling on my couch.” He patted his leg, and Jasper flew to his side with the prize treat in his mouth. “Good boy.”
Unimpressed, Cooper fell back against the cushions and dragged a palm down his face.
“Shouldn’t you be shacked up in your trailer with that hippie girl?”
Cooper glared through his fingers. “I’m not like that.”
“Right.” Drew leaned against the doorway between the two rooms. “What? Ti’s not your type?” Like he had to ask.
“She seems . . .” Cooper sat up and swayed his head. “Complicated.”
“And yet, you have no problem letting a complicated stranger stay in your place?”
Cooper shrugged. “She’s a friend of Livy’s. That’s all I need to know.”
Ignoring the inkling of truth in that tiny detail, Drew headed into the kitchen. Tea was calling. No telling what he was in store for today.
Cooper stumbled toward the fridge while Drew got the teakettle going. “Was the sun still there today?”
Drew ignored his brother’s sarcasm. Cooper didn’t get why he neede
d the sunrise each morning, and Drew wasn’t about to bother explaining it.
At the sink, he opened a Tupperware container and recoiled at the rank odor oozing out of it. He slammed the lid back on and fought a dry heave. “Jeez, Coop, did ya let something die in here?” Even Jasper wrinkled his nose while retreating into the living room with a whimper.
Cooper took a swig from a leftover cup of coffee in the fridge and flashed a sheepish look. “I might’ve left it in my trunk . . . for a week.”
“Yeah, well, you left your life of luxury a year ago. There’s no maid service here.” Drew thrust the container into Coop’s stomach. “So, do us all a favor next time, and pitch the whole thing in the garbage, huh?”
The moan of the front door opening intercepted whatever witty remark was about to leave Cooper’s mouth.
“Jasper?” Maddie tossed her backpack to the side and knelt to the tiles.
The dog reached her in seconds. With his front paws propped on her knees, he licked her face to his heart’s content. That Milk-Bone had nothing on the excitement of seeing his best friend. Apparently, the feeling was mutual.
Maddie squealed, falling backward while Jasper slobbered her with a night’s worth of overdue kisses. “Did you miss me, boy?”
As if that was even a question. Barking an energetic Yes, the dog zipped around the living room, stopped to lick her face again, and sprinted in another spastic circle.
Two red French braids bobbed to the rhythm of Maddie’s laughter.
Drew’s throat closed as it did every time he saw his girl come to life like that. How was she ten years old already?
He dug for a playful tone. “Hey, no love for your dad?”
One glance at the half smile that looked way too much like her mom’s finished off his heart.
“I missed you, too,” she said on her way into the kitchen.
Hands on his hips, he tilted his head. “How much?” She’d outgrown this bit years ago, but she graciously still humored the tradition he wasn’t ready to let go of.
Maddie stretched her arms as wide as they’d go and flung a glance at both ends. “This much!”
Begin Again (Home In You Book 2) Page 2
