Love Lost in Time

by Marie Higgins

  Lost Time

  Tales of the Lost

  C. A. Higgins

  LOST TIME

  COVEY PUBLISHING, LLC

  Published by Covey Publishing, LLC

  PO Box 550219, Gastonia, NC 28055-0219

  Copyright © 2018 by C.A. Higgins

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the writer, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design Copyright © 2018 Covey Publishing, LLC

  Book Design by Covey Publishing, www.coveypublishing.com

  Copy Editing by Covey Publishing, LLC

  Printed in the United States of America.

  First Printing, 2017

  Reprint, 2018

  Also by C. A. Higgins

  Lost Time

  To anyone that thought that their dreams were silly but did them anyway.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my friends who read my manuscript and pushed me to send it off to a publisher. And to Covey for taking a chance on a little story that was written exclusively in the passive voice by a person who didn't even know what that was.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Note from Publisher

  More from Covey

  Chapter 1

  “Shots! We’re doing shots!”

  “Katheryn Florence Smith! There’s no way we are letting you do shots. We learned our lesson last time we let you con us into that nonsense,” Patty huffed.

  Katie crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Patricia Lauren O’Connell! You are the worlds’ worst birthday girl. You only turn thirty once.”

  “True. And I would like to remember it tomorrow!”

  Letty smiled into her drink as two of her favorite people in the whole world continued to playfully bicker with one another. She knew Patty would eventually cave, and the four of them would be doing shots. But the thing she found amusing was the ridiculous way they usually got there. Katie always found new and interesting arguments to convince Patty to shed her good girl persona and do the shots. The last time Katie convinced Patty to do shots, they ended the night dancing on tables at a bar they were no longer allowed to visit.

  “But you promised we would do fun things when you got old because you wouldn’t remember any of it anyway. You’re old now!” Katie whined.

  Sonia laughed and quickly looked away when Patty turned her green-eyed gaze on her.

  “Give me the damn shot,” Patty growled.

  Katie clapped her hands together and jumped up and down. “Lemon Drops for everyone!”

  “Whoa. It’s my birthday. We’re doing shots of tequila.”

  Letty glanced over at Sonia. Tequila? She mouthed.

  Sonia smiled and shrugged.

  Apparently, it was going to be one of those nights. Letty shook out her hands and gave herself the pep talk she always gave herself when Patty wanted to get messed up and mentioned her go-to drink.

  You’re a big girl. You got this. You won’t try to keep up with Katie and Patty. You’ll be responsible and pace yourself. You’ll not let tequila make you its bitch.

  “Reciting your pep talk, babe?” Sonia leaned over closer to Letty. “You know it never works. Don’t you remember the last time we did tequila shots? You lost your underwear. How you managed that when you were wearing pants will forever be a mystery.” Letty and Sonia smiled at each other as Sonia sat back.

  The last time they drank tequila shots was the night Letty broke up with her ex, Scott. A great decision for her, and one that took her entirely too long to come to. Both domineering and condescending, Scott managed to accomplish the one thing Letty’s mother insisted she never allow to happen. He made her feel like less. Her job didn’t pay enough. Her cooking wasn’t fancy enough. The house wasn’t clean enough. She wasn’t pretty or thin enough. It was easy for him to continue to add on to his endless list of complaints about her from his semi-permanent position on the couch. He decided since he made more money he shouldn’t have to contribute to maintaining the household. And she allowed it.

  The final straw came when she realized he tried to isolate Letty from her best friends. It started off slowly, with him wanting to spend time with her the one time a month when she normally would meet up with Sonia, Katie, and Patty for dinner and drinks. Then, he started in on how they were bad influences on her. But only when he called Katie a useless slut and forbade Letty from hanging out with her anymore did she realize what was really going on. She packed all of her stuff into a few bags and threw it in her car. He laughed at her as she walked out of the house they shared for five years. He promised Letty she would come crawling back once she realized what she gave up.

  But she never did.

  Her beloved Civic took her to Sonia’s house. Sonia didn’t ask any questions. She threw Letty’s bags into her spare bedroom and called Katie and Patty to meet them at a new bar in town. Two bottles of tequila later, and Letty was telling them why she left Scott. Tearfully apologizing for allowing someone toxic into their lives and vowing never to let anyone come between her and her besties again. And lost her underwear. They still didn’t know what happened to them.

  The next morning, she woke up and wished she could curl up in a hole from the tequila hangover. But even through the hangover, she was determined to not be the version of herself she allowed herself to become around Scott. She would be the version of herself she had been with Lan… No. Letty couldn’t go there. In the six months since she left Scott, she quit her administrative job, started working as a graphic designer, and gotten her own place. She joined a gym and lost those same 20 pounds he always complained about.

  Her current life choices made her happier, and her confidence grew to match. Before, the outfit Katie talked her into wearing might require more confidence than she possessed, but now, she could grudgingly admit she looked fucking amazing. The skintight, black jeans made it appear like she had rolled around in paint, rather than getting dressed, but she could handle it.

  Katie tried talking her into a skirt that showed off her lady bits every time she turned around or bent over, but Letty flat out refused. Katie gave up on the skirt once Letty agreed to the low-cut, white shirt and knee-high, red boots. She claimed it showed off Letty’s dusky skin and rich chestnut hair, perfectly. The way the girls looked didn’t hurt either.

  She brushed her hair out of her face as Katie plopped a shot of tequila in front of her.

  “Glasses up bitches! Today, Patty turns thirty.” Katie turned and grinned at Patty. “Patty. I love you like a fat kid loves cake. May you have the best dirty thirties ever! Cheers, you old fart.”

  Letty smiled around the table, then poured the shot straight down her throat. She squinted over at Sonia as the burn passed through her chest. So, she caught the quizzical expression on Sonia’s face. It disappeared in a heartbeat, but Letty knew her best friend well enough to know something was up. She leaned over to question her as a second shot magically appeared under her nose.

  “No secrets,” Kati
e said. “Not tonight. Wait until your drunk enough to share all of your super-secret squirrel stuff with the whole table. Now drink. You’re already a shot behind.”

  Letty whipped her head around to stare at Katie and Patty. Sure enough, two empty shot glasses sat in front of each of them, but two full ones sat proudly in front of her.

  “You’re a big girl. You got this.” Sonia chuckled. “You won’t try to keep up with Katie and Patty. You’ll be responsible and pace yourself. You won’t let tequila make you its bitch.”

  “Why don’t they ever make you try to keep up with them?”

  “They aren’t that stupid. Even when they’re drunk.”

  Letty screwed up her face and poured the second shot into her mouth. She swallowed and started reaching out for the third one when she felt Sonia’s entire body stiffen next to her. She turned to her and watched recognition, fear, then resignation sweep across her face in quick succession.

  “Sonia? What’s wrong? What is it?” Letty reached out and brushed Sonia’s shoulder.

  Katie and Patty put down their drinks as they registered Letty’s tone of voice and turned towards them.

  Sonia shook her head and focused on Letty with sympathy in her eyes. “You’re a big girl. You got this. You won’t let this break you,” she whispered to Letty.

  Letty knew Sonia well enough to not bother asking a question. She tensed her entire body and started slowly counting down from ten in anticipation of whatever Sonia was warning her about. She reached six when the blow fell.

  “Scarlet?” The rumble of his voice raced across every inch of her skin. It hadn’t changed in the decade since the last time she’d seen him. If she hadn’t promised to stop lying to herself after Scott, she wouldn’t have acknowledged the way her entire body started to lean towards the sound of him before she was able to stop herself.

  She slowly unclenched her hands and stood up. Her hands convulsively smoothed down the front of the white shirt as she turned around to face the man she had loved before she even understood what love was.

  “Landon. How are you?”

  Chapter 2

  He looked downright delicious. Which seemed somehow unfair. His jet black hair spiked up into a buzz cut she instantly wanted to run her hands across. The last time she saw him, his hair flopped into his eyes as he told her he would give up everything for her. But the shorter hair suited him. It highlighted his strong jaw and showed off his adorable widow’s peak.

  Plus, now, she could stare directly into his royal blue eyes without brushing his hair out of his face. She had spent an entire afternoon one summer trying to figure out how to clip his hair back and not make him effeminate. The buzz cut worked a million times better than any clip.

  “Better now. How have you been?”

  Letty stared at him blankly for a second before realizing he answered her original question. “Great. Running amok. Wreaking havoc.”

  Landon’s lips quirked up into the half smile he always gave her when she acted silly, and he tried not to encourage her but failed miserably. “I can see that,” he said as he glanced back at the table behind her.

  Letty’s eyes dipped down to Landon’s shoulder as he leaned further to the side and glanced behind her. “Hey Sonia. How are things? Has she really been staying out of trouble?”

  Letty knew Sonia answered Landon because he chuckled and turned back to her, but none of what Sonia said registered.

  She quickly reminded herself she wasn’t in high school anymore, and his power over her was long gone. But the grown-up version of Landon Charles was even better than the teenaged version. In high school, he was tall, lanky, and more than a little awkward. The few times she saw him after they left for college, he filled out, but it didn’t really prepare her for the man standing in front of her.

  His facial expressions and the way he tilted his head as he watched her still belonged to her childhood best friend. And the boy she fell in love with fifteen years ago stared back at her when she finally made eye contact. But the breadth of his shoulders and the hard angles of his body were all new to her.

  “Hi.” He smiled softly at her.

  “Hey.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at his friends. “I’m here with my buddies for a bachelor party. We came in to get a few drinks before we move on to the next place.”

  “Ok.”

  His hand came up and brushed her hair off her shoulder. They both stilled as his hand touched her. It was a move he had made a million times before. He loved her hair. Every few years she threatened to cut the wavy strands off, and he always talked her out of it. Her favorite memories involved them on the couch together. She would read a book while he watched sports on TV, but his hand always ended up in her hair.

  He pulled his hand back far enough to stroke her cheek with his fingers. “How are you here?”

  Her friends hadn’t moved since she got up from the table. Sonia stared into her glass while Katie and Patty openly watched her.

  “It’s Patty’s thirtieth birthday. We came here to celebrate, Letty leaned into the fingers still stroking her face. She pulled back as soon as she realized what she was doing.

  “Thirty? That’s a big deal. Which one is Patty?” Landon glanced over her shoulder again as he slid his hand under her hair and began caressing the back of her neck.

  “The redhead watching you like a hawk right now,” Letty shoved her hands into the back pockets of her pants.

  “She really is. What does she think I’m going to do?” Landon’s hand trailed back up to her cheek as Letty desperately tried not to notice.

  “Break me,” Letty whispered as the little voice in the back of her head reminded her not to let him walk all over her.

  The fingers on her cheek stopped moving. “Scarlet…”

  “No. I’m sorry. It’s fine.”

  “No. It’s not. Please tell me you aren’t married.”

  She shook her head.

  “With someone?”

  “No. I’m single.”

  His hands slid down until he cupped the back of her neck, and his fingers curled through her hair. “Dance with me.”

  “I can’t. I won’t leave them when we came out together to be with Patty.”

  “I’m not asking you to. I can’t bail on my buddy’s bachelor party either. I’m simply asking for a dance. So, I have an excuse to keep touching you.”

  One dance. She could handle one dance. And then, she would go back to her friends and celebrate Patty’s birthday by getting incredibly drunk. Tomorrow, she would remember this through the haze of alcohol, and it wouldn’t hurt so much.

  Letty glanced back at her friends to ground herself in reality. Katie nudged Patty as she gave Letty a huge thumbs up. Patty nodded back at her, but it was Sonia’s small smile that forced her to turn back to Landon. “Okay, one dance.”

  His hand disappeared from the back of her neck, and she watched as he walked over to the jukebox and made a selection. The slow strains of Me and You spilled out of the speakers as he strode back over to her.

  She sighed as his hands slid around her waist and pulled her into him. Their bodies fit together the same as always. His left hand pressed into her side while his right hand stroked the small of her back and brushed the top of her ass in such a familiar way, it hurt. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest to feel his heart thump as he moved with her.

  Their senior year in high school, they ended up going to the Homecoming dance together as friends, and she spent most of the night jumping around the dance floor with him. They broke into every ridiculous dance move they could think of until the first slow song came on. They tentatively put their hands in the right places, but there was still a solid two feet between their bodies.

  Until someone bumped into Letty from behind, the move pushed her entire body up against him and caused him to swing her around to protect her from the jostling. By the time it was all said and done, one of his hands grasped her hip, and the other rest
ed squarely on the top of her ass. All of the space disappeared. Every time they danced together since then, his hands always landed in the same place.

  She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then sighed when she realized he smelled exactly the same: sandalwood with a hint of aftershave.

  “You still wear Old Spice?” she asked, surprised the man in front of her still used the aftershave she remembered from the boy she loved.

  “I never stopped wearing Old Spice.”

  “Why not?”

  “You liked it.” His answer was so simple; it took her a moment to understand what he said.

  She lifted her head to look him in the eye. He didn’t make it easy for her by loosening the arm behind her, but she managed.

  “How did you know you would run into me tonight?”

  “I didn’t. I never stopped wearing it, because I knew you liked it.”

  She pulled out of his arms all together and took a step away from him. They both stopped moving and stared at each other. His arms started to reach for her before he pulled them back down to his sides.

  She forced herself to remember why they weren’t together and why they could never be together as the little voice whispered that she was better than this. She had loved him, and he left her completely broken.

  Her life was just getting back on track from Scott, and she wasn’t going to throw it all away on Landon Charles, a man who already proved he was adept at decimating her. No matter how sexy he looked, smelt, or felt sliding against her.

  “Scarlet.”

  “No one calls me that.” She hardened her heart.