by Marie Force
“I still can’t believe you’ve got six kids,” the guy said in a booming voice that could be heard throughout the crowded bar. “You’re one smoking-hot mama!”
On that, he and Adam agreed.
Only when she started toward their corner table was Adam able to tear his gaze off her and close his mouth, which had fallen open when she made her entrance. He glanced over to find his parents watching him very closely.
“Just hanging out, my ass,” his dad muttered the second before Abby arrived at their table.
The dress was way too much for drinks with the McCarthys. Abby had come to this conclusion about halfway down the stairs to the lobby. She’d known a moment of hesitation when she put it on, but after the time she’d spent with Tiffany today, she was determined to be a newer, better version of her old self. Even though the dress was too much, Adam’s reaction to it had been absolutely perfect and worth every cent she’d spent at Naughty & Nice.
“Self-confidence is the key,” Tiffany had said. “If you feel confident, you’ll project that to others.”
The red dress made Abby feel confident about walking into that bar to meet Adam and his parents, who must be wondering what they were doing together. Would they disapprove? And if they did? Would she care? Would he?
Stop it. That’s not helping your confidence.
What did wonders for her self-confidence was the greeting she received from Les—or was it Len?—one of the guys she’d met the night before who made a big deal out of her when she walked into the bar. He greeted her with a hug and a suggestive smile.
“You look amazing, baby. Are you sure you’re married?”
“Afraid so,” Abby said, relieved to rely on the cover story Adam had concocted for her. “My husband is right over there with his parents, and he’s the jealous sort.”
“If I had a wife who looked like you, I’d be the jealous sort, too.”
“That’s kind of you to say. It was nice to see you again, but I’d better go join my family.” Thinking of the McCarthys as her family reminded Abby that she’d once expected to be a McCarthy, but that hadn’t happened.
As she walked away, Les—or Len—called after her. “Still can’t believe you’ve got six kids. You’re one smoking-hot mama!”
When she realized the McCarthys had heard what he said, her face got very warm as Adam stood and held a chair for her. Big Mac also stood in a show of respect that Abby found charming. She’d always had a great big crush on him.
“You look gorgeous,” Adam said when he returned to his own chair.
“Thank you. I went shopping today. Time for something new.”
“I saw something just like that dress in Tiffany’s store,” Linda said.
“That’s where I got it. She’s done a wonderful job with the store, and she’s exceptionally good at getting her customers to part with their money.”
“That she is,” Linda agreed.
“What the heck have you bought there, Mom?”
“None of your business, honey.”
“Oh my God,” Adam muttered.
“Just because there’s snow on the roof doesn’t mean the fire’s out, son,” Big Mac said with a wide grin, making Adam groan.
Abby couldn’t help but laugh at his distress.
“So you’ve got six kids now?” Linda asked, winking at Abby. “You work fast.”
Abby glanced at Adam, uncertain how she should respond.
“That guy was hassling her last night,” he said, “so we made up a little story.”
“Is that right?” Big Mac said, eyebrow raised in inquiry as he studied his son.
Chelsea came over to take Abby’s order.
“Saved by the bartender,” Adam said. “I’ve never been so happy to see you, Chelsea.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear. What can I get you, Abby?”
“White wine, please.” She’d learned her lesson with tequila. While it supposedly made some women take their clothes off, apparently it made her confess her deepest darkest secrets. She still couldn’t think about the things she’d told Adam last night without wanting to die, so she didn’t allow her brain to go there.
“What’s your pleasure? Pinot? Chardonnay?”
“I’ll try Pinot, please.” Truth be told, she had no idea what the difference was between the various types of wine, so she’d have to experiment and find one she liked. She used to drink Chardonnay once in a while, mostly to be sociable when she was with Grant, but she’d never really tried anything else. Well, until she started swilling tequila.
“Coming right up.”
“Another round for us, too, please, sweetheart,” Big Mac said.
Chelsea seemed to melt a little when Big Mac called her sweetheart, but then again, she was only human.
“It’s so nice to see you, Abby,” Linda said. “We’re sorry to hear things didn’t work out with Cal.”
“I was sorry, too.” She hesitated to say more but could tell from the earnest expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy that they were interested in what’d happened. “It was different in Texas. We didn’t… It didn’t work there.”
“That’s too bad,” Linda said. “But better to find out now than after the ‘I dos.’”
“Yes, that’s true.” Anxious to turn the conversation away from her sorry love life, Abby tried to think of something else they could talk about. “You must be excited about being grandparents again. Congratulations.”
“We’re thrilled for Janey and Joe,” Big Mac said. “Can’t wait for August.”
“She’ll have a lot on her plate with the baby and school,” Abby said.
“If anyone can handle it, she sure can,” Linda said.
“That is so true,” Abby said.
The conversation seemed to lag a bit, making Abby wonder why Adam was being so quiet. Couldn’t he contribute something? But no, he sat there fiddling with his beer bottle and sneaking looks at her as she talked to his parents. And why did he keep looking at her? Was there something on her dress? She glanced down to find nothing other than a little more breast than she normally showed, but nothing obscene.
She looked up, met his gaze and tried to challenge him to look elsewhere, but he kept his eyes locked on her, almost daring her to look away.
Chelsea arrived with their drinks, which gave Adam something else to focus on besides her chest.
It wasn’t lost on Abby that her entrance had bowled him over. That was ridiculously flattering and did amazing things for her self-confidence. If only his parents weren’t watching their every move, she might be able to enjoy his reaction a little more.
As she took a sip of her wine and pondered the deeper meaning of their attraction to each other, his hand landed on her thigh—under her dress. She choked on her wine, which somehow ended up in her windpipe. The coughing fit that followed was almost as embarrassing as telling Adam her sex secrets.
He patted her on the back until she’d coughed the wine out of her windpipe.
“Sorry about that,” she croaked, mortified as she dabbed at her eyes.
Linda pushed a glass of ice water toward Abby. “Have a drink.”
As she drank from the cool glass of water, she caught Adam giving her a smug smile and wanted to smack him. He knew exactly what he’d done to her—for the second time that day—and wasn’t the slightest bit sorry. Between that and stealing her clothes at the beach, he was batting a thousand today.
“They told me I might find you in here, darlin’.”
Abby froze at the sound of the familiar voice. This could not be happening. She looked up to find Cal gazing down at her, seeming perplexed by the glass of wine sitting in front of her.
His eyes slid over the front of her dress, stopping at her chest and then moving back up to her face. He greeted the McCarthys and shook hands with Big Mac and Adam. “Could you spare me a minute or two?” he said to Abby. “I came all the way from Texas to see you.”
She had no idea what to say. Was she on a
date with Adam? Would he understand if she left to talk to Cal? “I…um… We’re—”
“Go ahead,” Adam said. “We’ll wait for you.”
Only the tight set of his mouth told her he was unhappy with the turn of events. And was it wrong of her to be so glad that he was clearly dismayed by the appearance of her ex-fiancé? “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said to Adam, loud enough for Cal to hear.
“We’ll be here.”
“Excuse me,” she said to Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, who seemed intrigued by the drama playing out before them. She hated playing the starring role. She hoped they knew that. When had her life turned into such a three-ring circus?
With that question foremost on her mind, Abby got up on trembling legs and let Cal guide her from the bar with a hand on her back. She wanted to tell him not to do that. She wanted to remind him that he no longer had a right to touch her in that proprietary way, but she was more concerned about getting out of there without making another scene.
“Better watch out, pal,” Les or Len said. “Her husband won’t take kindly to you touching her.”
Cal’s normally amiable expression turned hostile in an instant. “Her husband won’t, will he?”
“Come on, Cal,” Abby said, pushing him from the bar into the lobby. She headed toward a somewhat secluded arrangement of chairs in front of the fireplace and took a seat. Her stomach ached as Cal’s reappearance reminded her of all the hopes she’d once pinned on him—hopes that had been dashed when she saw him with his ex-girlfriend and discovered they still had significant feelings for one another. Don’t forget that.
Rather than sit in the chair next to hers as she’d expected him to, he stood, hands on hips, fuming. “What the hell is going on here, Abby? What was that guy talking about? What husband?”
“It’s something I told him to get him to leave me alone.”
“Why’re you all cozy with the McCarthys?”
Grant had been a sore subject between them from day one. “They’re my friends.” She glanced around the lobby, worried about the formidable Gansett Island gossip machine. As Cal had once been the island’s only doctor, everyone knew him—and her. “Would you please sit down?”
“I don’t want to sit. I’ve been sitting all day trying to get here on three different airplanes.”
“People are looking at us, Cal. I’m asking you to please sit and have a civilized conversation with me.”
“Let’s go to your room.”
“No.”
“I don’t understand what’s happened to you.” He ran his fingers through his blond hair in a frustrated gesture that further ramped up her anxiety. “That dress… It’s not you, and were you drinking? You don’t drink.”
“I do now, and this dress is me. It’s the new me.”
He took a second closer look at the dress, his gaze lowering to fixate on the new tattoo on her ankle. “Are you kidding me? You’re gone one day and now you have a tattoo? You’re hanging out with your ex-boyfriend’s family, drinking and wearing low-cut dresses?”
Abby had to remind herself they were in public, that people were watching. She kept her voice low. “I have two tattoos.” That wasn’t what she’d planned to say, but the words came out of their own volition.
His eyes bugged. “Are you having some sort of crisis or something? I wasn’t paying enough attention to you, so you come home and go nuts?”
“I’m not saying another word until you sit down and be quiet.”
He flopped into a chair. “There. Happy now?”
“For the first time in a really long time, I am happy. Thanks for asking.” As the words came out of her mouth, she realized they were true. The months of indecision over what to do about another relationship that wasn’t working were over. She’d made her decision, and now she intended to stick to it. “I’m happy to be home.”
“Your home is in Austin with me.”
She shook her head. “No, it isn’t. I’m sorry, but this is where I belong, and I’m not leaving again. I’ve done that twice now, and it hasn’t worked for me either time. Lesson learned.”
Mentioning her past with Grant was never a good idea where Cal was concerned, but history couldn’t be rewritten. “It doesn’t matter at all to you that I love you? That I want to marry you?”
Abby took a moment, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t believe you love me as much as you think you do. I believe you love the idea of me, waiting patiently at home for you to fit me into your busy schedule. I believe you actually love Candy. You’re in love with her.”
He stared at her, incredulous. “I can’t believe you’re still telling me who I love! I came all this way to see you. I love you. I want to marry you.”
As he repeated the words, the same words he’d said over and over and over again to her, Abby knew she didn’t love him anymore. Not the way she once had. Not like she had before she saw him with the other woman he loved, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He was very good at saying what he thought she needed to hear, but his words and actions were in sharp contrast. She wanted more out of love than what she’d found with him.
“How many nights did I make dinner for someone who never came home? Who never even bothered to call? How many nights did I go over to your mom’s, hoping for a few minutes with you, only to find you hanging out with Candy? Fifteen? Twenty? When was the last time we made love? Do you even know? I do. It was in December. It’s May now. Does that sound like your idea of a loving relationship? It’s not mine.”
“Abby—”
“My life is here,” she said before she could lose her nerve. “Yours is in Texas. We tried, Cal, and for a while it was great, but then it wasn’t. I can’t go back there again. It wasn’t easy for me to leave, but I did what was best for me. For the first time in a very long time—maybe ever—I’m focused on what I want. Our relationship isn’t what’s best for me. It’s not what I want.”
“What about me? What about what I want?”
“You need to think about what that is.”
“No, I don’t.”
Abby glanced at the doorway to the lounge, wondering what Adam and his parents were talking about while she was out here with her ex-fiancé. What a mess.
“Somewhere more important to be?” Cal asked.
“I was in the middle of something. I didn’t know you were coming.”
Elbows on knees, he leaned forward, blond hair falling over his forehead. She’d once found that adorable. “Let me ask you something.”
She wanted to say no, but after more than a year together, she owed him some closure at the very least. “Okay…”
“Why’d you leave without talking to me?” he asked in a soft tone that tugged at her emotions. “Didn’t I at least deserve the chance to ask you not to go?”
“I was afraid you’d talk me out of leaving, and it was what I needed to do.”
“You’re giving up on us too easily.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I fought long and hard to make this work, but I couldn’t do it by myself anymore. I’ve already been through that once before, and I couldn’t do it again. I’m sorry.”
“You know I hate when you compare me to Grant McCarthy.”
“I know.” She refused to apologize for the apt comparison to what had happened between her and Grant.
He reached for her hand. “I admit I didn’t handle things well in Texas. I spent more time than I should have with my mom—”
“That wasn’t the problem, Cal. That’s not what this is about.”
Releasing her hand, he rolled his eyes in frustration. “What do you want me to say? I’ve known Candy all my life. We’re friends the way you are with the McCarthys. That was over a long time ago.”
“I stand by my belief that you have unresolved feelings for her.”
“How do I convince you otherwise?”
“You can’t.”
He shook his head in what seemed to be astonishment. “This is insane. You know that
, don’t you? I’m right here, Abby. I’m here with you. I’m telling you I love you, and you don’t believe me? Why would I be here if I didn’t love you? Why would I have come all this way if you weren’t the one I want?”
The pain she heard in his voice had her doubting everything, which was what she’d gone out of her way to avoid before leaving Texas. Then she thought of Candy, of all the times she’d seen her and Cal together and how often she’d seen the truth of their relationship, even if he couldn’t see it.
“I’m sorry you came all this way, but I’ve made my decision, and I intend to honor it.”
“You’re throwing away a good thing.”
“It wasn’t a good thing for me. I’m sorry if it hurts you to hear that.”
He stared at her for a long moment before he got up and walked away. That was when she noticed her hands were shaking. So much for self-confidence.
Adam spent an excruciating fifteen minutes alone with his parents waiting to see if Abby would come back. A staggering array of unsettling possibilities passed through his overactive imagination. All the while he attempted to make small talk with his mind occupied elsewhere.
What if Cal convinced her to give him another chance? And why did that possibility make Adam ache? What the hell was wrong with him? Until a few days ago, he’d barely given Abby a thought since she broke up with his brother. Now she was all he could think about? What was up with that? How did that happen so fast, and what was it about her that was so damned attractive to him?
Everything, if he were being honest. She was a beautiful woman on the inside as well as the outside. It pained him to watch her trying to turn herself into someone new when there wasn’t anything wrong with who she already was. He liked that she was sweet and sensitive and maybe a tiny bit naïve when it came to sex. He found her extremely refreshing after being with sleek, sophisticated Sasha the last few years. How could he have thought that was what he wanted in a woman? Now he knew better.
“Adam?”
He looked up to find his parents watching him expectantly. Crap. “Yeah?”
“Did you hear what your mother said?”
