Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  “Me sitting here like a chump waiting forever for you to come back when you probably have no intention of ever coming back.”

  “I never said that. I just asked for a little time to figure things out.”

  “Well, now you don’t need it. I’m letting you off the hook.”

  She closed the distance between them and rested her hands on his chest. “I don’t want to be let off the hook. I love you, Travis.”

  “You don’t belong here, and I don’t belong anywhere else.”

  She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but his face was unreadable. “Did you think I didn’t belong here when you asked me to work here with you? I thought we made a good team.”

  “We’ve had a taste of what our life together could be like, and you don’t like the life you’re leading now. What’s left to decide?” Travis grasped her shoulders and seemed to be making a huge effort not to shake her. “You say you love me, you like working here with me, your family lives in town, you hate modeling. What is there to think about?”

  “It’s just . . . I can’t . . .”

  With a deep sigh he dropped his hands from her shoulders and took a step back. “We had a good time, and I appreciated your help with the weddings. You did an excellent job. I really hope that working here showed you what you’re capable of. But let’s not torture ourselves by wishing for something that can’t ever happen between us. I think it would be best if you went to your mother’s tonight.”

  Tears rolled down her face. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Why are you forcing me to decide everything right now?”

  “Because it’s better we face facts now rather than months from now. I just can’t put myself through the agony of waiting for something that’s not going to happen.”

  “If that’s how you want it . . .”

  “It is.”

  “Do you love me? Or was that just fling talk? I’m sorry if I don’t know the difference. I’ve never had a fling before.”

  “I loved you.”

  His use of the past tense wasn’t lost on her, and even when she reached up to caress his face, his expression didn’t soften. “I had a wonderful time,” she said. “Thank you.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him one last time before she went inside to get her bags. In his bedroom, she was struck by the memory of her first time in that room, when she had been desperate to get out of the horrible bridesmaid dress.

  She brushed away tears, put the keys he had given her on his dresser, and squatted down to hug Dash. “Be good, sweet girl.” She kissed the dog’s pretty face and, grabbing her bags, went to summon the elevator. As the doors closed she took one last look at Travis on the patio, his head bent and his shoulders stooped.

  Leaving her bags in the garage, she walked over to the club to find Beck and asked him for a ride to her mother’s house. She was grateful when he didn’t ask any questions about why she was leaving a day early.

  They drove through the North Point gates, but Liana didn’t look back. “How’s Jessie?”

  “A little better.”

  “Thanks for coming in tonight. I know you didn’t want to leave her.”

  “She insisted I come. She refuses to be fearful.”

  “Good for her,” Liana said in a dull, flat tone, wishing she could be as fearless as her courageous friend. Liana was relieved to find no reporters at her mother’s house. They had apparently given up on finding her there.

  Beck pulled into the driveway and turned to her. “Your new security team will meet you at the airport in the morning. I think you’ll like them.”

  Liana reached out to squeeze his hand. “I appreciate all your help with that.”

  “I was happy to do it. You’ll be glad you have them.”

  “I know.” She hated to even think about the major change in her life that their presence would represent.

  Beck helped with her bags. At the door, he rested a hand on her arm. “He can be really stubborn. I don’t know what happened tonight, but he loves you—really loves you. I just thought you should know that.”

  She kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Beck, for everything. I wish you and Jessie all the best. It was a pleasure knowing you.”

  He hugged her. “The pleasure was all mine. Take care of yourself, Liana.”

  She nodded and went inside.

  Except for quick trips to let Dash out, Travis didn’t leave his apartment for two days after Liana left. He wanted some time to prepare himself to face the rest of his life without her, but it didn’t take long to realize her essence had permeated every corner of his world. The home he had once loved was now a storage place for painful memories. He had a sick feeling he would encounter the same problem on the boat, in his office, and throughout the club when he finally ventured back to work.

  Late on the second day, he went into his bedroom and stretched out on the bed. Turning on his side, he came face to face with the box of condoms on the bedside table. Pulling open the drawer open to put them away, he discovered the panties he had taken from her in the movie theater. As he reached for them and bunched them into his fist, it finally hit him.

  “Oh my God,” he whispered. “What’ve I done?”

  Dash jumped on the bed, curled up next to him, and rested her head on his chest.

  Travis welcomed the comfort and rolled his face into the dog’s soft coat. “I sent her away, Dash. I was so awful to her.”

  Dash whimpered and licked his chin.

  “What am I supposed to do without her? Everywhere I look I see her. I can still smell her perfume on the pillow. How long do you think that will last?”

  The dog nuzzled his face.

  “I messed things up with her, and all because I was so afraid of losing her. Well, now I have, and let me tell you, it hurts every bit as much as I thought it would.” He ran his fingers through the dog’s fur. “I wonder how she’s doing.”

  Travis took a deep breath. “Do you think she misses us? Nah, probably not—not after the way I treated her. I wanted to be different, you know? Different from all the guys who are so caught up in her fame and her beauty. So what did I do? I got her to fall in love with me, and then I turned her away. I really blew it,” he whispered. “Big time. But there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

  Dash lifted her head and whined.

  “Believe me, girl, if I thought she’d want to see me I’d go after her. But I was a jerk to her, and she’s through with me. She can have any guy she wants. She doesn’t need one who treats her like crap.”

  Dash barked sharply to express her dismay.

  “You’ll never leave me, will you, girl?”

  Dropping her head to his chest, Dash sighed. She’d done what she could.

  Travis was attempting to get some work done in his office when Chloe came in to tell him he had a visitor.

  “Who is it?”

  “Horse face,” Chloe whispered.

  Travis groaned.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Show her in, Chloe. Thanks.”

  “Good luck,” Chloe whispered on her way out.

  Enid breezed into the office, bringing with her a cloud of French perfume. She tossed her alligator purse onto the chair in front of his desk and stood with hands on bountiful hips.

  Travis raised an eyebrow. “Something I can help you with, Mrs. Littleton?”

  “You’re an ass.”

  Travis kept his expression neutral. “Anything else?” He shuffled some papers on his desk. “I’m kind of busy here.”

  “I repeat: You. Are. An. Ass. Do you think I’d let just any man get near my cousin?” She rested her hands on the desk. “I thought you were worthy of her.”

  “I guess you thought wrong.”

  “No, I didn’t. I thought exactly right. So what the hell happened?”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard the whole story.”

  “Travis North, you’re going to tell me what happened.” She moved her purse and flopped down in the chair. “I�
�m not leaving until you do.”

  “Suit yourself.” He picked up the phone.

  Enid launched out of her seat and pressed the hook. “Tell me what changed, Travis. One night you want to marry her, and the next night it’s over for you. Why?”

  Travis’s jaw ached with tension as he passed the phone receiver back and forth between his hands. “I heard her talking to the bride.”

  Enid nodded. “And she said if she had a man who looked at her the way Ben looked at Lucy, she’d marry him.”

  “She had a man who looked at her like that.”

  “She knew that, you idiot.”

  “Then why did she say what she did?”

  “She was doing the job you asked her to do. Let me ask you this: Did that bride go through with her wedding?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I guess whatever she said to that poor girl worked. The wedding went perfectly, and you have Liana to thank for it, but you’re too stupid to see that.”

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming into my office and calling me every name you can think of.”

  “I’ve got plenty more where they came from. Liana tried to tell you she only said what she thought Lucy needed to hear, but you didn’t let her.”

  Travis hung up the phone and sat back to brood.

  “There must’ve been something else.”

  He sighed when he realized she wasn’t going to give up. “There were these two girls talking in the kitchen,” he said, aware of exactly how stupid this was going to sound to her. “They were saying they couldn’t wait to get out of here when they graduate, and that if they had Liana’s life they’d never come back to a town that doesn’t even have a McDonald’s.”

  Enid rolled her eyes. “And of course Liana’s known for her love of a good Big Mac. So let me get this straight. You let a couple of disgruntled teenaged girls convince you to walk away from the love of your life?”

  He grimaced. Her words were like a dagger in his heart.

  “You’re an even bigger idiot than I give you credit for being.”

  “I’m starting to agree with you,” he murmured. “I just needed her to want me as much as I wanted her. Is that so unreasonable?”

  “She did want you that much. Why was it so impossible for you to give her a little time so she could feel like she was making an informed decision rather than an impetuous one?”

  “Because I couldn’t bear the idea of being without her for even that long,” he confessed.

  “So is this better?”

  “No,” he said sadly. “This is hell.”

  She stared at him for a long, disconcerting moment.

  He finally wilted under the heat of her glare. “What?”

  “I’m trying to decide if you deserve a second chance. You so totally blew the first one.”

  Travis got up and came around the desk. “Enid, please. I want to fix this. Help me.”

  “You look like shit.”

  “I haven’t slept in more than a week. Please.”

  She picked up her purse. “You broke her heart, Travis. Into a thousand pieces. If you hurt her again, I’ll kill you. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  “My Aunt Agnes always knows where she is. Don’t make me regret telling you this.”

  “You won’t.”

  She headed for the door.

  “Enid?”

  Turning back to him, she raised an eyebrow.

  “Thank you.”

  With a curt nod, she left.

  Travis flopped into his chair. He sat there for a long time letting the music from the club’s sound system lull him as he thought about what Enid had said. He tuned into the unmistakable sound of Neil Diamond’s voice, singing “The Story of My Life.” Travis had heard the song a hundred times before on the loop they played in the club, but this time he was riveted by the haunting words about a life that began the day a certain someone walked into it and ended the day she left.

  In that moment, Travis understood that losing Liana would ruin his life and no amount of time would ever be enough to fix it. He reached for the phone to call Agnes.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Liana’s feet burned in the hot sand, but she didn’t move a muscle as the makeup artist reapplied her lip liner for the third time—and it was only nine o’clock. The Costa del Sol, known for hot sunny days, was living up to its reputation on this morning, and Liana began to droop from the heat. She wanted nothing more than to dive head first into the foamy waves that crashed against the sugar-white sand in the south of Spain.

  “Feet,” she said without moving her lips.

  “What?”

  “Feet burning.”

  “Oh! Why didn’t you say so?” The makeup woman hustled Liana to the cooler wet sand. “Sorry about that.”

  A wardrobe assistant followed them and readjusted Liana’s white string bikini. When the woman grabbed Liana’s breasts like they were two hunks of meat, it was all Liana could do not to smack her. Instead she did what she always did—she stood still and let them manhandle her. Whatever it took to get the job done so she could get back to her hotel and be alone.

  Usually, she looked forward to the Sports Illustrated shoot. Often she saw other models who had become acquaintances over the years, and in the past, she had enjoyed the camaraderie. But this year there were a bunch of fresh new faces, many of them so caught up in their own hoopla Liana couldn’t be bothered with getting to know them. That, like everything else since she left Rhode Island, would take too much effort.

  She was in hotter demand than ever after all the media attention her relationship with Travis had generated. Artie had her heavily scheduled well into next year, and that was fine with her. She had discovered being busy was preferable to idleness, which gave her too much time to think.

  Artie had finally told her more about the “tidbit” he had mentioned during her vacation. He was in negotiations with the world’s top cosmetics company to make Liana “The Face of L’Élégance.” Artie was ecstatic about it, most likely because he would make a fortune in commissions on the deal. He was disappointed by her lackluster reaction to the plum offer, but Liana told him to work it out. She didn’t care about the details.

  Standing on the sidelines watching Liana intently as the makeup artist gave her face one last thorough inspection were two of the four men who now accompanied her everywhere she went. They were nice enough and did their best not to be overly intrusive, but Liana was always aware of them. The media had been so relentless in their pursuit of her, first in Milan and now in Spain, she’d been grateful to have the bodyguards. She knew the paparazzi were salivating for just a scrap of information about the status of her relationship with Travis, but she wasn’t talking and was confident he wouldn’t either.

  As she did so many times every day, she thought of him and wondered if he missed her anywhere near as much as she missed him. Over and over again she replayed that last conversation with him, asking herself each time why she couldn’t have just given him the guarantee he’d needed. But then she remembered how unyielding he had been, and she got mad all over again.

  She hadn’t appreciated his ultimatum. I wasn’t ready to make a commitment based on just two weeks together, and it wasn’t fair of him to pressure me the way he did. But after spending more than a week without him she wished she had that last night to do over. Right about now she’d give him anything he wanted if it meant she could be with him again.

  “Are you ready, sweetheart?” the photographer called.

  A spike of white-hot pain seared Liana. “Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

  Unaccustomed to such a sharp tone from her, the shocked photographer, makeup artist, and wardrobe assistant stared at her.

  “Let’s get this done.” Liana walked to where the surf met the sand and struck the pose the photographer wanted, pretending not to hear him mutter, “Fucking bitchy models.” She didn’t care what any of them thought of her. Not anymore.

  By
the time the day finally began to wind down, Liana ached everywhere. She dreamed of a hot bath, room service, and her king-sized hotel bed.

  “Okay,” the photographer called. “That’s a wrap for today. Noon start tomorrow. Thank you, everyone.”

  Liana relaxed her pose and bent in half to knead her burning calf muscles. Her feet were wrinkled like raisins from the hours of standing in the surf, and her neck had kinks that might be permanent. She took a last yearning look at the surf, wishing she had the strength to dive in the way she’d wanted to all day. But even that would take too much effort.

  Her personal assistant handed her a robe.

  “Thanks.” Liana tossed the robe over her arm as she walked slowly up the beach to where she’d left her flip-flops and tote bag.

  Stopping for one big stretch before she continued on to the car that waited to return her to the hotel, Liana looked up and gasped when she saw Travis watching her from the top of one of the huge hills that lined the beach. Her heart began to beat faster, and her breath got caught in her throat as he made his way down the rocky path. Wearing khaki shorts and a long-sleeved white shirt rolled up over his tanned forearms, he had never looked better to her.

  As he approached, Liana’s bodyguards closed ranks around her.

  “It’s all right, you guys,” she said softly, and they backed off. Liana resisted the urge to jump into his arms. “What are you doing here?”

  “I, uh . . .” He glanced over his shoulder to where everything had come to a complete stop with all eyes focused on them. “Is there somewhere we can talk? Without an audience?”

  Liana studied his handsome face for a long moment and was struck by how exhausted he looked. “I have a car and driver waiting for me. Do you want to come with me?”

  “Yes,” he said with visible relief. “I very much want to go with you.” He took the robe that still hung over her arm and held it for her.

  She turned back to him as she tied it around her waist.

  He freed her long hair and let it slide through his fingers.

  The longing on his face was almost enough to undo her, and had there not been so many people watching them she would have reached for him right then and there.