Awake in Cheshire Bay

by H. M. Shander

“Ember?” His voice was soft and genuine.

  “God damn it. Why now? Why come back?” I dropped my head and took a breath.

  This wasn’t the time or place. Hands in a death grip around the beer boxes, I stormed between the houses and onto the beach, wrapping back to Eric’s back porch.

  We stacked them there where Eric was dumping in bags of ice to a couple of coolers. His head perked up as I climbed the stairs and set the cases down. “Great. This really should do…” He stopped and stared, so I spun around.

  Antonio was right behind me carrying the final two cases.

  “You have a lot of nerve showing up here, buddy.” Eric’s narrowed gaze shot daggers towards Antonio. “Who do you think you are?”

  “I guy who came long way for bun-fire.” His voice had an icy edge.

  Eric stormed closer, and I immediately thrust up my hand and pushed against his shoulder, speaking in the calmest, but most collected voice I could conjure. “I will handle this.”

  Arm fully extended, but not locked, I shook my head, trying to ignore the sexy, jerk of a man whose exotic cologne ticked my nose with its spicy scent. Instead, I lavished attention on Dale.

  “Eric, have you met Dale, my short order cook? He was gracious enough to bring over some more drinks.” I patted Dale’s arm for effect, which was probably a low blow as I worried Dale would misinterpret it and think I was sending out some truly mixed signals. I was the worst person in the world. No wonder karma bit me in the ass so hard.

  The tension in the air between the four of us was thick as mud.

  Eric shook Dale’s hand but failed to remove his glare from Antonio. “Dale, grab a beer and join the party. Food is next door, nicely spread out on the back porch, and there’s lots of it, so don’t be shy.” He flipped his gaze between Antonio and me. “You need my help to handle this?”

  “No.” It was terse and full of spite.

  There was so much anger flowing through my veins, all directed at me because I’d allowed myself to have feelings when I damn well knew better. However, I wanted to hear the man out.

  “I’ll be right next door grabbing another plate if you need anything.” But he didn’t move, rather, Eric hung on the porch, leaning against the railing.

  Out of the shadows, Mitch and Jesse approached.

  “I’ve got this.” It was meant for all the men currently staring, and as unnerving as it was, in many ways it was a small comfort knowing my surrogate family was ready to protect me.

  However, I wasn’t going to let the wolves circles any longer, and I motioned for Antonio to follow me away from the gathered testosterone, over to someplace with a modicum of privacy. Whatever we needed to discuss, this was between us.

  He kept his distance respectable though, staying a few feet behind me.

  I stopped at a part of the beach where the air was crisper since we were further away from the bonfire, but we were safely out of earshot. The overhanging moon cast shadows of us on the sand, illuminating a log to sit on.

  “Ember?” His voice was soft and pleading for me to face him, but I kept my back to him. “Why you angry?”

  “Because I’m confused.” I dug the toe of my shoe into the sand, burying it deep.

  Antonio stepped around me. “I do not understand.”

  Did I start with how he just abruptly left and failed to find a way to contact me? Or did I mention the feelings that suddenly and overwhelming bloomed in me, and how I’d never felt like that with another guy, even though it had been less than twenty-four hours, and how utterly ridiculous it was to feel those emotions so quickly?

  I went with the latter. “I told myself over and over how you meant nothing as you were just a guest here and how whatever happened – not that I expected anything to happen – it was just going to be a one-night thing. But sometime between giving you a lift in the truck and the sun rising, something changed.”

  He tipped my chin and looked into my eyes. “What changed?”

  I twisted out of his touch, and for a moment my focus sprang to the deck where the three guys stood.

  “It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head.

  They were only feelings, stupid girly, over-reacting feelings. I had tried to convince myself it had only been a dream, but over the past few days, I couldn’t get the final images out of my head. As much as I enjoyed splashing in the bay, and kissing him, and having sex with him, those last images were of her contorted face and venomous words.

  “Was I just another notch for you? Sorcha said so. Said you did this at every layover.”

  “Did what?” That sexy accent got under my skin like an itch I couldn’t scratch.

  My breath hitched and as I sat on the log, my voice fell to a near whisper. Only the rolling waves were louder. “Made someone fall for you.”

  A smile inched along the edges of his lips, and even with his face in a soft shadow, it was easy to see. “You fell for me?”

  I jumped off the log when he reached out for me. “How could I not? You’re a smooth business guy. Wasn’t that your plan? Wine, dine and be everything I thought I needed, and then close the sale and disappear without a word.”

  “No. Not all. You were…” He circled his hand through the air. “What the word is?”

  As I waited for him to spit it out, I added my own descriptors, because they were so close to the surface in how I felt. “Pathetic? Weak? Easily gullible?”

  He narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on my shoulder. “No. You amazing lady.”

  “Save it, pal.” I pushed his strong hand away. “I fell for your charm once, but I’m not doing it again. I can’t. It wasn’t real.” I stepped away only to feel his hand wrap around my wrist. My instinct was strike out, but I reigned it in. “Let go of me.” My strongest, bar-crowd breaking voice rolled out of me.

  He dropped my hand like it was on fire, and I stormed away. “Please, Ember, hear me. I go long way to be here.”

  I double stepped and stopped. It was true. He was here, and he didn’t live anywhere near the island, hell, he didn’t even live on this side of the world. Slowly, I turned around, emotions swirling in my gut, bubbles of anger popping in the boil.

  “God damn it, Antonio.” My foot slammed into the beach. “I live in the real world, and I know that this whole thing, and all these feelings, it’s all on me but it wasn’t real, even if it felt like it.” My voice pitched. “It’s my fault for believing in the magic of…”

  I tossed my hands out to the side and paused. Had it been a smidgen of what falling in love was like? I didn’t know.

  “I let my emotions control me and allowed myself to fall for you and let you into a part of me I try very hard to keep sealed off to the rest of the world.” Tears blurred my view as I covered my aching heart. If this is what a breaking heart felt like, I never wanted to experience it ever again. “So, thank you for coming all the way back here just to tell me I’m amazing.” I rolled my eyes. “I appreciate you taking the effort.”

  With that, I turned away so the tears could fall without him seeing. My focus went to the guys waiting for me, and I headed toward them.

  “Ember.” His voice was strong as it punctuated the air, silencing the general hum around me. “I not finished.”

  I stopped cold in my tracks but refused to turn around.

  His fancy shoes dug into the sand as he approached. “How could I not be with you?” Gently, he placed his hand upon my shoulder and spoke with a softness to slice through my pain. “Please turn and look at me.”

  Keeping my head down, I did as he asked, staring only at his dress pants.

  “I need more Ember. One night not enough.”

  How did he manage to say the things he did and melt my heart?

  “Ha.” Still, I wasn’t going to give him an inch, and I crossed my arms over my chest after wiping my hand over my face. “I don’t believe you.”

  He tipped his head. “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve seen the pictures, you with a different gir
l on your arm. It’s all over the internet. Plus, Sorcha said I was just a notch in your belt.”

  “What mean that?”

  I stepped closer. Even though we were out of earshot, no one needed to know I’d slept with a guy within hours of meeting him, although they probably all knew anyway. Small towns and all that.

  “I was just someone to have sex with.” I made a circle with one hand and poked a finger though. Wasn’t that the international sign?

  “Oh, no, Ember. You more. In here.” His strong hands covered his heart.

  I sent a spray of sand flying, wanting to believe his words. “I’m sure you say that to all the girls. I’ve seen the pictures.”

  A deep furrow formed between his brows. “Pictures? Ladies? Only ever have picture with four, and I know. I agree. Maia, Emelia, Genevieve…” He counted them on his left hand.

  Maia was his sister. Emelia was the fiancée. “Who’s Genevieve?”

  “Emelia’s sister. Head of regional department of charity protecting battered ladies.” He inched his way closer.

  “Well, that’s an honourable position.” It was great he kept in touch with his former fiancée’s family, but still, it didn’t explain the other. “What about the redhead?”

  “Sorcha?” It came out like a weak laugh.

  Of course, like a mental smack to the head I saw it. She looked different when she wasn’t in a flight uniform with her hair braided.

  “Sorcha was girlfriend, now just friend. She is - how you say? Jealous? Especially now.”

  I listened and flipped over everything he said. The nasty way she glared at me when we connected at the motel, the cruel way she whispered her words. Yeah, jealousy described her well.

  “You weren’t just using me?” Because I still didn’t believe him.

  “Ja, but only to fill ache in heart.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, so we were face to face. “You made me feel good. Alive. I happy with you.”

  “And I was happy too.”

  He stepped close enough to brush a strand of hair off my face. “That why I fly around world to see you.”

  All my life I’d wanted someone to pine after me and make me feel important enough to be with. Hearing Antonio say it and follow it with actions, my heart went into overdrive and my brain turned to mush – the rest of my thoughts vacated their logical resting place.

  “You think I crazy?” His chin tucked into his chest. “Maia says no, says is something more. Something I not have since Emelia.”

  I reached for his hand and wrapped my own through it. “Maybe a tad crazy, since we only met by happenstance, and we live in two different worlds. Two. Very. Different. Worlds.” Regardless, my heart swelled, and a sensation of butterflies took flight. “But it’s not completely crazy either. When I was with you, I was totally happy. You make me feel things I haven’t felt before.”

  He waited, but the smug smile on his face said it all. He just wanted to hear it. “Feel?”

  “Strong feelings. Powerful feelings, but all good.”

  “Oh, Ember.” He cupped my cheeks and brushed his lips across them. “I sorry I made you mad.”

  “Never make me sad again.”

  “I will promise.” He bent down, but before I allowed those sweet lips to touch mine, I had something else on my mind.

  I pushed his shoulder gently. “I need an explanation first.”

  His gaze locked with mine. “Anything.”

  “Why were the Captain and Sorcha in such a hurry to leave that morning? What was with the sudden urgency, and where the hell did you go? I went to the airport and you weren’t there. I checked with the helipad in Port Alberni, and you never left from there either.”

  “Is long story.”

  “I have time.” Let my friends pace on the deck a little longer.

  He sighed and motioned to come and sit beside him on the log. “I had problem.”

  I sat and dug my feet into the sand, turning to give him my full attention.

  “Forgive my bad English while explain.” He sighed and there was a long pause. “After plane accident, CEO was to lead at meeting. I cannot say about what.” It was okay to not know the details on that, as it was something I understood. “He call many times over night.”

  “That’s who that was.” I nodded my understanding. Whatever deal was going on, clearly it was a big one.

  “I sorry for interruptions.”

  “It’s okay. Trust me, I understand business.”

  “Ja, thank you.” He shifted. “In morning, I ignore CEO message by mistake. He had ‘mergency with daughter and sent meeting to me from Seattle but only early hour work, not late afternoon.”

  “In Victoria?” It was starting to make a little sense. If the time got changed, and he wasn’t expecting it, yes, it could explain most of it.

  “Ja.”

  However, it was only part of the answer. “But after that, you never called me, or even tried to get in touch. You knew where I worked and lived, it would’ve been easy to get a hold of me.”

  “I did.” His brows knit tightly together.

  I tipped my head. “When?”

  “Guy took call. Left number.”

  My jaw unhinged and I gaze around the rolling ocean. “You what? When?”

  Where had that message gone? Someone at work had a ton of explaining to do because all this time, I’d been hoping he had tried.

  I shook my head, as a dull ache settled over my chest. “I’m sorry, I never got that message.”

  “That why I come to see you, Ember.” He reached for my hand. “I could not leave you without answers. You here.” His free hand pointed to his heart. “I need you.” With a gentle pull up with the pad of his finger, he once again slowly pressed his lips to mine, this time with power, with desire, and with a feeling it was real. “I want you.”

  I gazed into his eyes reflecting the bright sphere of the full moon, a smile thinning my lips. “I want you too.”

  Threading my fingers through his soft hair, I pulled him close, breathing him in. From the tips of my fingers to the depth of my soul, I needed the connection with Antonio, and he did not disappoint. As he brushed his lips over mine, a longing and desire surfaced in me, and I allowed myself to fall.

  It was the greatest feeling in the world, as the waves lapped against the shore and the moon illuminated the pair of us as we kissed on the beach. Dreams couldn’t hold a candle to the reality.

  I leaned my head against him as he wrapped his arms around and held me close. My senses told me we were being watched so I scanned the shadows until I saw them, over by Lily’s deck. Eric, Lily, Jesse, Mitch, and Cedar all stood on the stairs.

  A gentle heat crawled over my chest and face. “Well, Antonio. Now that we’ve cleared the air, there are a few people you need to properly meet.”

  “Ah, yes, your family.”

  We rose, walking away from the log and rolling surf. He stopped me mid-step and planted another, knee-weakening kiss upon my lips.

  As much as I wanted to continue to melt into his arms, I sensed Cedar was ready to jump off the deck. It was time to join the group and introduce the man of my dreams.

  Hand in hand, I walked him over to meet my buddies and to give me even more reason to be thankful.

  Epilogue

  Fourteen months later

  I wiggled beneath the satiny sheets in his luxurious bedroom, in the bow of his yacht, a far cry from the standard rooms I’d travelled in the before times – the times before meeting and falling in love with Antonio. Brushing the flattened curls off my heated face, I rolled over to gaze into his handsome face.

  “That’s a helluva way to wake up.” It was hard to wipe the perma-grin away.

  “Ja, indeed.” He kissed the tip of my nose.

  We were south of Cheshire Bay, somewhere near the Oregon coast, enjoying a romantic week-long vacation, the third one in the past year. Outside on the expansive dock, the sun was nice, but the air was a bit cooler, and we preferred our private
time in the bow, even though the three-man crew were like ghosts – I rarely saw them.

  Having grown up on the poorer side of life, the wealth and expense of the places Antonio flew me to always took me by surprise. I felt like royalty, and at every destination, I’ve been treated that way too. It’s surreal, but the break was nice, even if I missed my seaside village with all its small-town charm.

  My phone pinged on the nightstand, and I stretched over my loving man to reach it, the weight of the new rock on my finger dropping my hand quickly to the table. Scanning the messages, I quickly typed back a response and set the phone back down.

  “Everything all good?”

  “Yeah.” I curled into him and placed my head on his shoulder while staring at the sparkling ring. “It was Eric confirming numbers for his wedding. And giving me a heads up that Mona is coming too.”

  In two weeks, on Christmas Day, Eric was marrying the woman of his dreams, and I was supplying the alcohol for the event. However, it was the sister’s impending arrival that rattled my nerves, more than the final head count.

  “Mona?”

  I sighed. “Mona is Lily’s older sister. If Lily was considered a bad ass, Mona was on the opposite end of the spectrum, a goody-two-shoes to the core. She never coloured outside the lines, and apparently grew up to have the perfect life; a doting husband, a high-ranking job, everything she ever dreamed she’d get.”

  He rolled me over him, so he could gaze up into my eyes. “Why you sad?”

  Yeah, why was I suddenly feeling like a deflated balloon?

  I straddled my naked fiancé and placed my hands on his firm, rippled chest, grinding my hips. “As one who had her ear to the ground in terms of where the parties were going on, Mona enlisted in my help to find her sister and drag her back home.”

  “You her tour guide?” He chuckled.

  “Yes and no. With Mona it’s complicated. She’s from a time in my life that I’d rather not focus on as she was so perfect, so put together. So motherly.”

  The giant diamond on my left hand sparkled under the beam of sunlight peeking in through the heavy drapes. I moved my hand and let the mini rainbows dance around the king-sized bed.