Lone Hearts (Lines in the Sand Book 6)

by Lindsay Detwiler

  I look up at her. “I’m fine.”

  Harper raises an eyebrow. “Don’t lie to me.”

  I sigh. “Look, I’m fine. I just… I’m pissed. Pissed that I let everyone convince me this whole love thing was going to work.”

  “Damn. Love. I haven’t heard you throw that word around since… well, ever.” Harper sits on the sofa by me, leaning in for a hug. “I brought you some wine and some ice cream. But I don’t know. We might need something stronger.”

  Tears start to fall, and I hate myself for it.

  “Hey, come on. It’s going to be okay. Talk to me. Let’s figure this out.”

  “There’s nothing to figure out, Harper. I let my guard down like an idiot. I fell for him. And now he’s leaving like none of it mattered.”

  “Well, you knew he wasn’t staying forever, right? He has his job to think about. Imagine if roles were reversed.”

  I hate that this had made sense. I hate that I had opened my heart, and now the fairy tale is crashing down. Why couldn’t it work out like the movies? Cash, giving up his life in Texas to be with me. Isn’t that how it was supposed to work out? Doesn’t love conquer all?

  And is that what this is? Love? How dumb was I, how weak, throwing that word around?

  I swipe at my tears. “I’m fine. I’ve cried it out of my system, cried him out of my system. We’ve got the new line to think about. I’m ready to get back to work.” I stand from the couch, but Harper pulls my arm and yanks me back down.

  “Stop it. Stop it right now. I know you can’t just shove him aside that easily. I know how he made you feel. Sage, I know he hasn’t been around for long. But you were different when he was in your life. A good different. These past few weeks, I’ve seen a more vivacious, more dedicated, happier woman than I’ve ever seen. Don’t let that go just because you’re scared now.”

  “I’m not scared, Harper. I’m being realistic.” Monticello jumps on the couch, and I stroke the cat, thinking about everything that’s danced in my head for days. Thinking about all the missed calls and knocks at the door I’ve ignored.

  “Realistic? Since when are you realistic? Think about Evermore. Everyone told you to be realistic, and what did you do? You went full charge, said screw the doubters, and look what you’ve built. You’ve never prided yourself on a cautious life. Why are you changing your ways now? Why are you afraid to give it a chance?”

  “With him in Texas? Harper, he’s a player. So am I, quite frankly. Do you really think we’re going to be able to stay committed, to make it work, with so much distance between us?”

  “What’s the alternative? To cry yourself into a coma in your condo and then pretend like none of it happened? It seems to me like you don’t have a choice but to give it a try, really.”

  I sigh. How would it work? This is new territory, something I don’t want to face.

  “I’m fine, Harper. I don’t need him. I’m fine without him.”

  I stand and head to the kitchen to get some coffee.

  “Now let’s talk about the design plans for the next launch,” I say, shoving all thoughts of Cash aside. I’ve had my fun, entertained the idea that my heart could settle down. But that’s over now. I’ll be fine without Cash or love or any of those other stupid sentiments everyone thought I needed.

  I’ll be fine on my own, just like I’ve always been.

  At least that’s what I tell myself as I work away the day and climb into the cold sheets at night, praying that sleep will come quickly and that the tears will fade with time.

  Thirty-Two

  Cash

  “About damn time you show up. Honestly, this new generation. Do any of you know the first thing about work ethic?”

  The man rubs his graying moustache as he hobbles inside the door of his apartment, holding open the door just wide enough for me to sideways scramble into the place he calls home. His face seems permanently frozen in a scowl. I carry my sad excuse for a toolbox, hoping I can remember the steps that Levi had walked me through over the phone.

  “And don’t you think for a second I’m leaving you alone. I’ve got plenty of valuables in here, so don’t get any ideas.” The man practically barks the words at me as he shoos me towards the back room where the broken washer rests. I inhale. This is going to be a long, long, long afternoon.

  Thank goodness I’ll be going back to Texas, away from this phony career and miserable life here. Thank goodness I’ve regained my wits and haven’t let my heart dictate my future. Right?

  I shove down the pangs of guilt and heartbreak that have been keeping me up at night. I shove aside the image of Sage’s smiling face, the thought of her body moving under mine in perfect harmony—

  “Well, boy, hop to it. I don’t have all damn day to watch you fart around.”

  Back to reality it is.

  I sit down, reminding myself to stay calm and confident. I am a brilliant lawyer who passed the bar. I can handle a messed-up hose in a washer, can’t I? I try to walk back through Levi’s instructions. Why hadn’t he just come over and taken care of it? That’s what he should have done. In a few weeks, he’d have to take care of it, anyway.

  I set to work removing the cover, listening to Mr. Crenshaw bark orders and complain and swear at my incompetence.

  And that’s when it happens. The water sprays everywhere when I loosen the hose much too quickly, getting Mr. Crenshaw soaking wet. I sit there, confused about what to do next, and convinced that it’s all just hopeless. Hopeless indeed.

  “Don’t worry, brother. We can’t all be expert handymen like me,” Levi teases as we head back to my office after he came in and saved the day with Mr. Crenshaw. The washer was mercifully fixed, and all is right again.

  Except my pride.

  “That man’s a nightmare. How do you deal with him?” I ask. The cantankerous renter apparently had been living in the apartment since Grandad first bought the place.

  “Well, I feel sorry for him, actually,” Levi murmurs as we walked into the office.

  “Why?”

  “Grandad said he’s lived alone all those years. Never married. No kids. Just all alone. I think it’s made him sort of grumpy.”

  I look at Levi to see him giving me a matter-of-fact look.

  I exhale loudly, heading to the window. “Go ahead. Say it, brother.”

  “Say what?”

  “You think I’m being a fool.” My hands are in my pockets. I stare out over the lawn of the apartment building, looking into the vast ocean view in the distance.

  “Hey, I didn’t say it.”

  “You don’t have to,” I respond, turning to look at my brother’s know-it-all face.

  “Well, if you don’t need someone to say it, then it must mean you already know it’s true.”

  “What am I supposed to do, Levi? Give up my career, my life in Texas for a girl I just met? Who is a player? What if it doesn’t work out?”

  Levi grins, readjusting his hat. I think about chucking it out the window, I hate it so much.

  “Here’s the thing about that question, Cash. There’s always another side. Because what if it does?”

  What if it does. It’s a thought I’ve been tossing around since Sage stormed out of the Coffee Hole, since I realized exactly how she felt and what she was thinking. Not that I’d admit that to Levi.

  But love is complicated. It’s why I’ve always avoided it. And two players can never really play for keeps, can they? Not with distance and different careers and doubts between them.

  I was always meant to go back to Texas. This was never permanent. I was never meant to settle down.

  These are the mantras I chant to myself as I head back to my place for the night, thinking about how empty the bed is without her—and wondering if I’m making the biggest damn mistake of my life. Wondering how it will feel to go back to my bachelor pad in Texas, alone with booze, women, and a broken heart bigger than Texas.

  Thirty-Three

  Sage

  I sling b
ack the second margarita, my eyes glancing about for the prey I’m looking for. There’s a guy in the corner, a redhead who has an Ed Sheeran vibe if I squint a little bit. But a brunette comes slinking up to him and kisses his cheek. Dammit. Taken.

  I peruse the dance floor, looking for a lonely guy on the outskirts. I come up blank. I see a blond at the bar wink at me, but he’s wearing an outfit that screams country and also not my type. His boyish face says he’s a boy who plays for keeps, not just to play. Been there done that. I need something else tonight.

  I sashay around the Marooned Pirate wearing my sexiest dress, desperately needing to get back on my game. I need a good lay to get Cash Creed off the mind. I need to go back to the Sage Everling I was at the beginning of summer, before he ruined my whole game. I need to go back to the love him and leave him mentality that has served me well all these years.

  But that’s the thing about opening your heart up. It’s hard to close it back up again.

  I find a corner booth, and a few men come over and offer to buy me a drink. One is too short and one is too arrogant and one is just not my type. None of them stir any sort of attraction in me, not even the one-night kind of attraction. I sit in the booth, sucking down another margarita, realizing it’s all for naught. I’m ruined. I’m destroyed. I’m never going to play well again.

  Because, as I finish my final drink and head out of the bar, I realize the hard truth.

  I can’t play the game because none of them will be Cash. I’ll never find another one like him. And beneath my player’s heart, the truth rings.

  I don’t want to play the game anymore unless it’s with him.

  A woman on a mission—and I don’t back down from a mission—I stomp towards the curb, order an Uber, and realize what I have to do.

  It’s not too late. I can still play—and win. I can win this game after all.

  Thirty-Four

  Sage

  I’ve never been this nervous. Focus, Sage, I tell myself. Get your A-game on. You’re confident and sexy, and you’ve got this in the bag. But even the margarita in my hand and Levi’s help last night isn’t making me very reassured. I’m out of my element. This isn’t my typical game.

  But it’s too late to back out because when I look up, he’s walking through the door. Just like last time, the whole crew is with him. Levi’s ushering him in. I notice his face is a little sullen, and he’s not as confident as last time. He looks like he’s been forced to come here. It’s okay, though. I can work with this. He’s here, that’s what’s important. And even if I lose this round, I’ve got to try. I’ve just got to try.

  So I do the thing I never imagined I would do. I strut up to the man who I want to claim as mine, who I can see forever with. I walk up to a man with more than a one-night stand in mind. I walk up to him with the hopes of not seducing him, but of winning him back. It’s a risk, but one I have to take.

  He’s wearing some nice designer jeans and a button-up shirt, just like last time. But there’s stubble on him, the kind that he wears well. Just like the first time I saw him, his look screams business professional, and there’s still that familiar touch of arrogance I’ve come to appreciate as reserved confidence. He’s scoping the place out, and he glances over at me, staring for a little bit longer than a friendly appraisal. His eyes study mine, and this time there’s no doubting it.

  He sees me. He wants me. He’s interested.

  I give him a coy smile as I sip my margarita. He’s here to play, and so am I. But it’s a different kind of play this time, one we’re not completely familiar with but will learn to be.

  I fluff my hair strategically, tossing my head to the side as I walk over as confidently as possible, my stilettos leading the way. Cash doesn’t take his eyes off me. It feels good.

  I amble up to the tall, handsome stranger and say, “Hi, I’m Sage. Can I buy you a drink?” There’s a pause, and I wonder if maybe it’s not going to work out like I thought. But that stoic face turns into a full-on grin.

  “Cash Creed. And how about we do things the other way around? What are you drinking?”

  I smile confidently up at him, his eyes making my heart flutter in the familiar way I’ve come to love. “Mr. Creed, that’s not how I do things. I don’t need any man to take care of me.”

  “Is that so?” he asks.

  “I can take care of myself. So how about I buy you a drink, you tell me all about yourself, and then you ask me to dance?”

  “Forward much?” he asks, teasing me with his eyes. I get a whiff of his cologne, and it’s the one that drives me crazy.

  “Always. Life’s too short for anything else.”

  “Jack and Coke, then,” he says, and I smile, brushing past him to flag down the bartender.

  I get his drink and we find our way to a table.

  “So,” I begin as he says, “Listen.” I shake my head.

  We’re really much better at being forward.

  “Cash, here’s the thing. When you first walked into this bar, I was a player without a mission. I was determined to keep my walls up and to protect my heart. I didn’t think I needed to let anyone in. And then you came along. Everything changed.”

  “I feel the same way,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. “And I’m sorry. I should’ve realized that things have changed. It’s just… it got so complicated so fast. I didn’t plan on falling in love. I didn’t think when I made plans to return to Texas that I was going to meet you, that you were going to change everything. And now I’ve got a career and you, and you’re in two different states.”

  I shush him, putting a finger to his lips. “I know. And I have a career and you, too. The thing is, I don’t want you going back to Texas and us having to do long distance. But I also don’t want you giving your career up for me. That won’t do either.”

  Cash exhales. “What then?”

  I grin. “I’ve always thought I’d look pretty sexy in a cowboy hat, if you want to know the truth. And I could use a change of scenery for some fashion inspiration.”

  Cash raises an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”

  “My career is great because it lets me go anywhere. I can design for Evermore anywhere, and with technology, I can work with my employees from anywhere, even Texas. But I can’t have hot, nightly sex with you when we’re hundreds of miles apart. I can’t see where this relationship goes or continue feeling so damn happy with you in my bed if we’re miles apart.”

  “I was hoping you would say that.”

  “Then, Mr. Creed, I have a proposition.”

  “I like propositions.”

  “I hope you like this one. How about we skip the one-night stand tonight. How about we do a string of one-night stands? The kind that you move in together for?”

  Cash leans over and takes my jaw in his hands. He kisses me, warm and hard, a sensuous kiss I’ve been missing.

  “I think that sounds perfect.”

  “But it is against your rules,” I tease, winking at him.

  “Maybe it’s time we reinvented them, then,” he says as he pulls me out of the booth and to the middle of the dance floor, where we dance like the first night we met.

  Epilogue

  Cash

  Two months later

  Her fingers wrap around mine as we prepare for takeoff, the next stop home. In truth though, I’m already home in more ways than I can imagine, the beautiful woman beside me making everything just feel right.

  “So you really think your mama’s going to like me?” she asks, leaning her head on my shoulder.

  “Darling, she’s been calling me every few hours to make sure it’s for real and that you’re really coming with me.”

  “Well, I can’t blame her. Look at you. Hard to believe someone would willingly settle down with Woodville’s biggest playboy.”

  “Yeah, well, Mama doesn’t know that I’ve settled for Ocean City’s biggest playgirl. Guess there are some things just better left in the dark.”

  Once we’re in t
he air, we both look out Sage’s window, studying the clouds. “I still can’t believe you’re coming with me.”

  “You better not be regretting it. Because you’re stuck with me now,” she replies, and I lean in to kiss her cheek.

  “No regrets here. But what about you? I still feel sort of bad you’re uprooting everything.”

  She smiles. “I think it’s going to be an amazing adventure. A new boutique in Texas, bringing Evermore to an actual brick and mortar store. These are the things of my dreams, Cash. And more importantly, I get to do it with you.”

  When Sage decided she wanted to move back home with me, I’d called in a few favors with some friends in real estate back home. I had the perfect storefront in mind for Evermore, and they made it happen. We’ve got a lot of work to do in order to get Evermore up and running, but it’s going to be perfect. Sage is going to take Texas fashion by storm, and I can’t wait.

  She snuggles into me, and I lean on her head, thinking about how much things have changed. Thinking about how I headed to Ocean City not knowing who I was, not realizing what I was missing. And now I’m coming back with a whole new adventure ahead of me and a fiancée that makes me crazy in all the right ways.

  “So I fully expect you to give me the entire Texan tour when we get there. I need to see this place, to experience it in its entirety. I have no doubt you can pull that off.”

  She pulls back to look at me, giving me a wink. I kiss her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ve already been thinking of tons of places to explore with you. In all sorts of ways.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “And how are the women of Woodville going to take this? The most eligible bachelor off the market officially?” she asks, holding up her left hand, the diamond I put on it last month sparkling. When we play, we go all in, apparently. At least we do now that we’re playing a new game.