“We liked each other for a while.”
Her sad tone was like a twist of a knife in his gut. He clenched his teeth against the feeling, and held his body back against the urge to haul her up against him, hold her, shake her, tell her she deserved better than a bastard like him.
“We’re just from different worlds. We don’t fit.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “I thought from everything you said about your mom and dad that you didn’t buy into that class bullshit.”
Realizing she’d taken his words the wrong way, Vaughn opened his mouth to explain and then stopped.
Maybe it was better to let her think he thought she wasn’t good enough.
“I’m not my parents,” he said. “I understand where my grandparents were coming from.”
Her reaction was unexpected.
Maybe he’d thought she’d fight a little harder considering this was Bailey and she tried to save fucking everyone from themselves.
Maybe he’d thought she’d decide he was right and just let him leave.
Maybe she’d yell at him.
What he hadn’t expected was the pain that flashed across her face like he’d physically punched her.
And then she just closed down.
He witnessed it.
Bailey Hartwell, the most passionate woman he’d ever met, just went blank.
Cold.
Her eyes turned flat.
And it scared him.
“You can see yourself out.” Her words were toneless, her face expressionless as she shimmied off the bed. “I’m going to shower you off of me.”
Vaughn stood frozen as she passed him, Bailey but not Bailey, and disappeared inside the bathroom with the soft click of the door.
As he reached for his sweater and jacket he noticed his hands were trembling. He curled them into fists to make it stop. But as he left the inn in the wee hours of the morning, he walked on legs that felt shaky, unsure.
Staring up at the inn, Vaughn knew with nauseating realization why he was so off balance:
He’d thought walking away from Bailey would mean they’d return to their usual antagonistic banter, and he could live with that. He’d look forward to it, because it meant, selfishly, he’d always have that from her. She’d always be a part of his life.
But apparently alluding to the idea she wasn’t good enough for him had possibly severed their tie for good.
And to his frustration, confusion, and horror, Vaughn realized that the thought of losing even that small piece of Bailey Hartwell scared the absolute shit out of him.
Bailey
I scrubbed at my body, not wanting to smell or feel any traces of Vaughn Tremaine on my skin.
The sheets on the bed would have to be washed, too.
So much for wanting to smell his expensive cologne on them.
I didn’t want the reminder. The flashes of memory from last night were bad enough. I could still hear his voice in my head, his groans in my ear, the thrust of his hips against mine.
“We’re just from different worlds. We don’t fit.”
“I’m not my parents. I understand where my grandparents were coming from.”
I squeezed my eyes shut against his voice and scrubbed harder. It was just like last time all over again, not good enough for him, never good enough!
And just like last time I’d convinced myself that Vaughn actually cared about me. What an idiot. I hadn’t seen tenderness in his eyes as he moved in me. I’d seen smug satisfaction. He’d finally gotten one over on me. Bailey Hartwell was good enough for sex but not good enough for a relationship.
I wasn’t his kind of people. He was a total asshole commitment-phobe.
And I’d just gotten rid of one of those.
So I wasn’t going to fight Vaughn on this one; I wasn’t going to wear him down and make him see that there could be something special between us. Vaughn made me feel bad about myself and I hated him for it.
Finally I was ready to do better by myself again. Being burned in the same way twice made me a fool. But I wouldn’t be a fool again.
I had to say it and maybe if I said it, I would start to believe it.
“You deserve better than Vaughn Tremaine,” I said aloud as I stared into the mirror.
The door to the inn blew open during breakfast and like a gust of gale-force wind, Jessica and Cooper stormed inside. I strode out of the dining room and into the reception area. Jessica threw her arms around me and hugged me tight.
“Vaughn called. He told us what happened!”
“He what?” I squeaked.
“I’m going to kill the fucker,” Cooper snarled.
Oh, crap. Did Vaughn have a death wish? What was he thinking? “Look, it was nothing—”
“Stu Devlin breaking into your inn and attacking you is not nothing,” Jessica snapped as she pulled out of my hold. “Don’t pretend to be cool about this, Bailey. This was crossing the line. Again!”
Oh. Right. The break-in.
Vaughn had called Jessica and Cooper to inform them about the break-in.
I was unappreciative of the kind gesture. I didn’t need any kind gestures from him.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “It was crossing the line. I didn’t expect the asshole to attack me.”
Cooper’s face darkened.
“Calm down, Coop. Sheriff King is dealing with . . .” My voice trailed off as a deputy from the sheriff’s department walked into the inn right at that very moment.
And not just any deputy.
Deputy Freddie Jackson.
My least favorite deputy. Deputy Jackass, as I called him. Not just because he was a sneering, superior little shit, but because he happened to have grown up best buds with Kerr, the youngest Devlin son. The two of them thought they were owed respect from the moment they were born, and they’d acted like assholes from that moment, too.
Great.
“Miss Hartwell.” He bypassed Cooper and Jessica, ignoring them. “The sheriff has sent me along to take witness statements from your guests about the alleged incident last night.”
I narrowed my eyes at the word “alleged.” “You mean the incident that did in fact happen in reality. The incident that was witnessed by Vaughn Tremaine, an extremely reliable witness considering everyone knows he would never lie for me.”
Jackson sneered. “Right, well . . . Mr. Devlin has a solid alibi for his whereabouts last night.”
Unease moved through me. “Of course he does.”
“Just show me to the guests, Miss Hartwell.”
“They’re in the dining room.” I gestured behind me. “They’re expecting you.”
Without another word he brushed past me, walking leisurely into the dining room to begin his investigations.
“Oh, wonderful,” I hissed, turning back to Cooper and Jessica. “They sent me the asshole.”
“I’ll make sure he’s asking the right questions.” Cooper marched past me before I could stop him.
I shot a pleading look at Jessica. “Please stop him from hassling Jackson. I need that little asshat to help me.”
“I think we both know Jackson’s going to be no help at all. He will deliberately ignore any facts that prove Stu attacked you last night.”
“Yeah, well, now that Stu has an ‘alibi’ I think I’m screwed out of justice either way.”
Jessica stared at me in concern for a long moment. I gave her a tired smile. “I’m okay. I just haven’t slept very well. All that adrenaline.” And the sex with Vaughn that led to my humiliation.
“I could kill Stu for this. Although Cooper might beat me to it.”
“As much as I love that I inspire that kind of loyal violence, I’d really rather you didn’t. I quite like not having to visit my friends in prison.”
“Yeah, well, i
f Devlin keeps pulling crap like this, one of us is going to end up incarcerated for retribution.”
“Ian Devlin didn’t put Stu up to this.”
“I know. Cooper and I said as much. He’s smarter than his son. I wonder who Stu’s alibi is.”
I thought back to only a few days ago when Tom and I were confronted by that particular Devlin on the boardwalk. “Oh, I think I might know who.”
“Who?” Cooper said behind us.
“I saw him with Dana the other night. They looked pretty cozy.”
Cooper shook his head in disgust. “And I wouldn’t put it past her to cover for him.”
I wouldn’t, either. Dana Kellerman didn’t exactly like me very much. With a sigh, I reached up to push back hair I hadn’t had time to style this morning from my face and found my wrist captured by Jessica. “You’re hurt.”
“What?” I pulled it away from her and stared at it. My God. It was bruised.
An ache flared down my arm, as though acknowledging I’d hurt it had finally awoken the pain. “Shit.”
“Stu?” She glowered at me.
I remembered the way Vaughn had pinned me to the bed last night and I glanced at my other wrist. There wasn’t a mark on it. “It must have been Stu.” I flinched at the memory of him slamming it against the floor so I’d release my phone. “Yeah, it was.” I prodded it and winced at the throb of pain.
How the hell had I not noticed the pain?
Adrenaline.
And all the sex would have helped distract me from it, too.
“I am definitely going to fucking kill him,” Cooper vowed.
A throat cleared behind us and we turned as Deputy Jackass stepped into our little group. “Try not to threaten to kill someone in the presence of a police officer, Lawson.”
Cooper tensed at his threatening tone. “Are you so deep in the Devlins’ pockets that you, an officer, could give two shits a woman was attacked last night?”
Deputy Jackson flushed, his eyes darkening with impulsive anger that made him look like a spoiled little brat who had just been admonished in class. “Watch your mouth.”
Jessica stepped in between Cooper and the deputy. “I assume you finished what was a thorough interview of the witnesses?” Sarcasm dripped from every word.
“Yeah, I’m done.”
“Well as Bailey’s doctor I will check over her injuries. Would you like me to take photographs for the incident file?”
“Not necessary.”
My friend narrowed her pretty hazel eyes on Jackson. “I think Sheriff King will disagree, so I’ll call him and ask him personally.”
“I’m done here.” Deputy Jackass shot them each a filthy look before walking out of my inn without another word.
Cooper watched him depart with a look of calculation. “I think I need to have a word with King about that little son of a bitch.”
“The little creep is an idiot,” I agreed. “He couldn’t have been more obvious about where his loyalty lies. He has to be taking payments from Devlin, right?”
“Probably regularly,” Jessica mused. “Maybe even passing information to him all the time.”
“But that’s just us drawing a conclusion based on speculation.” I sighed.
“Nope, that’s us drawing a conclusion by intelligent deduction based on fact,” Cooper said.
My wrist throbbed and I rubbed at it, disbelieving it had taken me this long to realize how much it hurt. “Sometimes I really love this town.”
Jessica eyed my wrist. “You need to get someone to watch the inn so I can wrap that up and check you over for other injuries. Why didn’t King send for an ambulance last night?”
“He asked me if I wanted medical attention while we were in the office going over everything, but I thought I was fine and insisted he didn’t send for one.”
Jess did not look happy about it. And Cooper seemed to agree. “This whole thing has been bungled. King should know better.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong, Coop. Don’t take Deputy Jackass out on the sheriff.”
“Deputy Jackass,” Jessica huffed with laughter. “That’s cute.”
I was glad for her moment of amusement because it defused some of Cooper’s anger. Giving her a tender look, he slid an arm around her waist, drawing her into him like he just needed the weight of her against him. And I think he did, because his whole body seemed to relax as soon as he held her close.
Envy spiked through me. I couldn’t believe that there had been a moment last night when I thought I could have what Coop and Jess had . . . with Vaughn Tremaine.
It was hard to imagine Vaughn ever reaching for me just because my presence brought him peace.
For a start I wasn’t exactly the most calming person to be around. In fact, I pissed him off more than anything else.
Stop thinking about him!
“I’ll . . . uh . . . get one of the girls to watch the inn while we check this out.” I waved my wrist at Jess.
Something in my demeanor seemed to bother her. “Are you sure you’re really okay?”
“I’m fine. Pissed as hell. But fine.”
After a phone call to Sheriff King, in which he said he did want photos of my injury, and was more than a little mad now that I had refused medical attention because it harmed my case if we managed to get Devlin to court, Jess wrapped up my wrist. She also checked me over for other injuries, and except for more bruises on my arms and back, I didn’t have any to write home about. Jess had a full day of appointments, so there was no time for me to linger and be subjected to the curiosity that was blazing in her eyes as she fixed me up.
She wanted to know what had happened in my own words, and I was pretty sure she wanted to know why the hell Vaughn had been at the inn to come to my rescue.
And I didn’t want to talk about that.
Not. At. All.
I was just leaving the doctor’s office when I got a hankering for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I kind of craved chocolate and candy when I was particularly stressed and right now was definitely one of those occasions. So instead of heading back to the inn, I headed to the market on Main Street.
It wasn’t a good idea.
It wasn’t a good idea because I binge-ate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and always felt sick afterward. But it also wasn’t a good idea in hindsight.
Of course, I didn’t know I would bump into a Devlin.
I was musing over the candy selection, wondering if I should add peanut M&M’s to my stash, when I caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye. Looking up, the usual awful regret I felt in my chest flared at the sight of Jack Devlin.
Once upon a time I thought Jack Devlin hung the moon. He and Cooper were once a hot good-guy package deal and I loved them both.
I stared into Jack’s dark blue-gray eyes wishing the devil weren’t so handsome, wishing those eyes of his weren’t fathomless with secrets. Secretive though they were, I’d always thought Jack had kind eyes. His mother’s eyes.
Tall, taller even than Cooper, Jack was strong—lean but muscular. He had thick dark blond hair that he wore swept off his face, and these days his style was more Vaughn than Cooper. I missed his jeans and plaid shirts. The shirt-and-trousers look made him seem more distant. So did the whole cheating on his best friend thing and hanging out with a dad and brothers he used to look down on with contempt.
I didn’t like unsolved mysteries. I didn’t like the mystery of Jack’s turnabout. And in my fragile state of rejection and fury, I looked into those soulful eyes of his and saw red.
Before he could pass me with his stoic nod of hello, I got in his face. His brows drew together as he stared down at me, standing mere inches from his body, but that was the only reaction he gave to my crowding his personal space.
“You and your goddamn family!” I yelled, more than likely drawi
ng the attention of everyone else in the store. “I am done. Do you hear me, Jack Devlin? You tell Stu I don’t care if he paid a dozen whores to give him an alibi last night, I know it was him who broke into my inn and attacked me in my office!” I waved my sprained, wrapped up wrist in Jack’s face. “I’m not stupid! I’ve known the little prick my whole life and wearing a ski mask didn’t hide his identity from me while he jumped me, broke my phone, and he would have broken my face if it hadn’t been for Tremaine!” I screeched, barely paying attention to the fact that Jack’s gaze was focused on my injured wrist. “And I don’t like being rescued by Tremaine, Jack! I don’t like it one little bit,” I seethed. “So you tell that asshole brother of yours, and that swine you call a father, that if they want a fight, I’m ready for them, because Stu just took this one step too far. If there are no longer any lines, if the lines cease to exist, it goes both ways! Come at me, and I will sure as hell come back at you twice as hard!” My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath.
I was pretty sure my face was scarlet red.
But Jack . . . well . . . Jack didn’t even flinch. Instead he lowered the basket of food he’d been carrying, walked calmly around me, and strode right out of the grocery store.
“It was nice talking to you, too!” I yelled after him.
And that was when I became aware of the other customers staring at me. Thankfully, all of them in concern and not in a I’m terrified of this crazy lady, get me out of here way.
Huffing in annoyance at myself for my little outburst, I grabbed my Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
The cashier, Annie, stared at me wide-eyed. “God, Bailey, did Stu Devlin really attack you?”
Oh, damn.
“Look, I really shouldn’t have said anything.”
“That family.” She tutted, shaking her head. “They go too far.”
And now so had I, because I’d bet everything I owned that it would be all over town that Stu Devlin had attacked Bailey Hartwell in her inn.
Sheriff King was going to kill me.
Every Little Thing Page 13
