Unsung Hero

by Barbara Ankrum

  She felt her face heat as he continued to sing, sounding like a blues version of the J-piano man himself. The sound threaded through her and pulsed inside her as he sang it.

  Some secret thrill ran through her. Here she was, out on a date—was it a date?—for the first time in three years without the rat bastard, and it was with Nio of all people. And in all that time, never once had the goosies raised on her arms for any man like they did for this one.

  That had always been true, she realized with something of a start. And what Lana had said to her this morning about having never gotten over him? Well, maybe she hadn’t. But that didn’t change things. Not really. He was in town for the wedding and probably to see his father. And tomorrow or the next day, he’d be going home. Without her.

  When he finished, the audience roared their approval and she thought she saw him color as he walked offstage, having conquered the beast. Warmth bloomed in her chest and spread outward.

  He sank down in the chair beside her as the women in the crowd continued to gawk at his beauty. She couldn’t hide her proud smile. “Wow.”

  “So, can we go now?”

  “Let’s do a duet.”

  “Let’s do it in private.”

  “Would you really?”

  “We’ll see.” He stood and grabbed her hand as she stole the last sip of her beer. “Let’s go.”

  He tugged her with him through the throng of tables and people. When they got to the parking lot and his truck, she tightened her hand on his and they collided together. An unbearably sexy heat hummed from his skin and swirled around her. She swallowed hard, feeling a little dizzy beside him. Like she might just fly away if he let go of her hand and untethered her.

  “I’m gonna kiss you,” he said, threading his fingers into her hair at the back of her head.

  “Is that…a warning?”

  “Definitely.”

  Chapter Five

  His kiss was soft at first, testing…tasting, even. As if he didn’t want to scare her. But then he deepened it, finding her tongue with his, slanting his mouth against hers. His arms curled around her and he pulled her closer against those hard chest muscles that had mesmerized her this morning, stunning her with a stab of heat.

  His tongue moved against hers, sampling, seeking. She’d forgotten what it felt like to lose herself in a kiss like this. How a kiss could pull her under like a wave and spin her upside down. If Steven’s kiss had been a watermark she’d settled for, Nio’s was a riptide.

  She wrapped her arms around him to anchor herself. She thought she might fall if she didn’t. His back was strong and she remembered it now—the corded muscles along his spine, the slender dip of his back where it met his waist—though all of him was bigger now, more manly. She felt his hardness press up against her like an electrical charge. All the while, his tongue explored her mouth as if he were reacquainting himself with the very essence of her. And she, with him. He tasted of beer and salty air and something indefinably Nio. And she wanted more.

  Even as that thought evolved, another warned her that kissing him was a mistake. Allowing herself to feel like this again, for him, was a mistake.

  With her head spinning, she pulled back from the kiss. Her breath came in shaky gulps. He let her go reluctantly, seeming equally shaken by their kiss.

  “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…just because, Nio.” A girl’s gotta watch out for herself.

  Above them, the clouds cleared a space in the black velvet, revealing a smattering of stars and moonlight that cast shadows around them, and the nearby ocean beat a rhythm as steady as a pulse.

  “Did you ever think about me?” he asked. “All those years?”

  Only every time she looked at another man and thought what her life might have looked like if he’d stayed and given her a chance. Only every night in the dark when she wished it was him holding her and not any other man. And only now—now that she’d tasted his kiss again and felt the things she’d felt in his arms—did she admit to herself that she never had stopped thinking of him, comparing him to every other man she’d ever known. It was damned unfair, really, that one man could hold such power over her. She should resent him even now, but all she could do was wonder how she’d been without him for so long.

  “Once in a while,” she admitted. “Did you?” she asked, echoing his question.

  “Always.”

  “If that’s so, why did you go, Nio? Why no word? Not even a goodbye. Not a peep for years, even though you must have known I was still here. That I would have come to you if you’d only called. At least…in the beginning. I couldn’t believe you were capable of hurting me the way you did of your own free will.”

  His lips parted.

  “But you didn’t call,” she rushed on. “And I let you go. I had to. I had to move on.”

  He nodded, staring at the cracked pavement of the parking lot. “I left years ago because I had to. I had no choice. But you deserved better.”

  “Yes, I did,” she said. “I still do. And what do you mean, you had to?”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “Let me take you back to your place. Where we can talk.”

  “No. Steven said he was going back there to get some things. He’s probably waiting for me there. Thank God I left Milo with my mom, so I don’t have to worry he’ll take him. But I can’t—”

  “Okay,” he said. “Okay. I know another place. A quiet place. Just to talk.”

  She canted a look at him. “No more kissing?”

  He grinned. “The next kiss—if there is one—will be entirely up to you.”

  The next kiss. She allowed herself the fantasy of imagining that next kiss—the hows and the whys of it, still tasting the last kiss on her lips. But she pushed that thought from her mind. There would be no more kissing. Tonight or ever. Nio was on his way back out of her life again at the end of this weekend and she was not about to let herself in for that kind of heartbreak again. But never, in all the time she’d known him, had she been afraid to be alone with him. He was a protector at heart. At least, he had been once.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  *

  The drive they turned into was in an exclusive community near the one where Becca had grown up, and they passed through wide wrought-iron gates and a guard stationed in a little hut who tipped a salute at Nio and, without stopping him, opened the gate.

  Confused, Becca turned to look at him. “Where are we going? And how does he know you?”

  Nio just smiled. “It’s my dad’s place. It’s getting a remodel.”

  His dad? His dad the gardener could afford a place up here?

  They pulled up to the charming Craftsman, whose lights were dark, overlooking the ocean. Moonlight illuminated the yard. Stacks of scrap cut lumber still sat piled in the driveway but fresh landscaping graced a half-dozen gardens surrounding the house.

  “This is your dad’s place?”

  “It is.” He got out of the truck and opened her door for her. The sound of the ocean was near enough to practically touch.

  He unlocked the door, ushering her inside. The smell of new wood hit her, fresh paint and tile, too. He flipped on a light switch by the door and she lost her breath.

  “Oh,” she gasped, taking the place in. “It’s…perfect.” The beach bungalow had an open floor plan, marble-topped kitchen counters and gourmet appliances, and a view that during the day would be killer. “Ohh,” she murmured. “Nio.”

  “Nice, huh? Want to see the rest?”

  Speechless, she nodded and he toured her quickly through the rooms, which were all as pretty as the front. The baths had marble-topped bathroom vanities and spa-like showers.

  “You haven’t seen the best part yet,” he said when they’d seen the last bedroom. He grabbed her hand and led her outside through the double French doors to the huge deck and bougainvillea-planted pergola, the sweeping views of the ocean and light-dotted Laguna
coastline. The giant palm swayed in the nighttime breeze. She twirled in an arms-wide circle, throwing her head back under the stars. “He must absolutely love it here.”

  Nio strolled to the edge of the patio and stared out at the dark ocean. “He will. He doesn’t actually know about it yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This place is a surprise for him from me and Trey. I’m bringing him here day after tomorrow.”

  She stopped and stared at him. “But, Nio, how—?”

  “I’ve been working on it for a while now. Long distance.”

  “But…I mean, you…you’re—” she pointed out to the driveway “—driving your father’s gardening truck.”

  He laughed. “True.”

  “Do you flip houses for a living?”

  “No. This one is all for him. It took me a while, but I finally had the means to buy it.”

  “You must have saved every penny! I can’t imagine how you did it. And all these years, never coming home, I guess I thought you’d lost touch with him as you had everyone else.”

  “No, mija,” he said, turning her toward the ocean and wrapping his arms around her shoulders from behind. “He’s my dad. I owe him everything.”

  “And this is what you’ve been doing all these years? Saving to buy your father a home?”

  “In a roundabout sort of way,” he said, “I needed to…prove myself.”

  “To whom?”

  “To him. To myself, I guess.”

  “So where have you been hiding all these years?”

  “Seattle, for a while. Now Northern California.”

  “Starbucks?” she quipped, still not facing him. The ocean sparkled with starlight and the roughness of this morning’s ocean was all but gone now.

  He laughed. “No, but I drank enough coffee there to be their primary investor. I got into tech after. I worked on some specialized technology utilized in the medical field. Mostly in state-of-the-art long-distance coronary care and diagnosis.”

  “Wow.” Tipping a look up at him, she said, “Because of your mom?” His mother had died young of a heart attack, leaving his father and brother and him alone in the world. With proper medical care, Becca knew—they all knew—she might have survived that day.

  “Yeah,” he said. “It was the least I could do for her. For her memory anyway.”

  “What a lovely thing you’ve done, Nio. Your father must be very proud and very grateful to you.”

  “That’s not why I redid this place for him. I’m doing it because he deserves it.”

  “Of course.” Beyond them, the tide crept in with each wave. “Funny, isn’t it, that you and I are practically strangers now, but I know that about you? We know all the little particulars about each other that no one else knows. And yet, the rest is a big blank.”

  “You never looked me up, huh?”

  “No,” she said. “After I was sure you weren’t lying dead somewhere, I…thought it was better just to let you go. Try to forget you. Did you? Look me up?”

  He stared down at his hands. “I kept track of you.”

  Some emotion filled her eyes as she looked out at the sea. “A big blank space.”

  “We can fix that. Truth or dare?” he asked with a grin in his voice.

  She laughed. “What?”

  “I’ll tell you about me, you tell me about you. Three questions. You go first.”

  She looked up at him. A mischievous grin tipped her mouth. “Really?”

  “Why not?”

  “Okay. Truth or dare?” she asked.

  “Truth,” he answered.

  “Are you…involved? Married?” she asked.

  “That’s two questions, but no. To both. I never married. I won’t say I’ve never been involved with anyone. I have. But not for a while. And never seriously.”

  She let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Admitting how relieved that made her was something she would never do. She wanted to ask more, but—

  “My turn,” he said. “Truth or dare?”

  She lifted her chin, bracing herself. “Truth.”

  “Do you still love Steven?”

  “Ouch.”

  “Too soon?”

  “No,” she told him. “I did love him. I think I did anyway. But we weren’t right for each other. I think…I guess we both settled for each other. But as I stand here tonight—” with your arms around me “—no. I don’t love him.” And he held her a little bit closer.

  “My turn,” she said, her hands resting on his forearms. “Truth or dare?”

  “Truth,” he answered.

  “Was seeing me at the wedding this weekend…just an afterthought?”

  He leaned close to her ear to answer this one. “No. You’ve never been just an afterthought, Bec. I wish I could have come sooner, but that would have had consequences.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My turn.” He swallowed thickly, forcing her to face the ocean again. “Why don’t you surf anymore?”

  “How do you know I don’t—?”

  He brushed some hair away from her face. “Just the truth.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Well…I’m embarrassed to tell you. Two summers ago, I went surfing on a particularly rough day. I thought I could handle it. I got caught in a riptide and undertow and got sucked out to sea. I lost my board and almost drowned. They had to send a lifeguard boat out to save me. Now I just take photographs of other surfers.”

  “You’re scared of the ocean?”

  “Let’s just say I have a healthy respect for the ocean I didn’t used to have.”

  He ran his hands up and down her arms. “You had scares before. I remember them.”

  “I know. Not like that. Or maybe they were. Maybe I’ve just lost my nerve. About a lot of things. And that was like three questions. Truth or dare?”

  “Truth.”

  “Okay,” Becca said. “If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?”

  He rested his chin on the top of her head. “That day,” he admitted. “I would have said goodbye.”

  A flicker of hurt knifed through her. He would have said goodbye, but he still would have left. She didn’t like this game.

  “Truth or dare,” he said.

  “Dare,” she said, a little too sharply.

  “Dare?” he repeated, a little wickedly. “Okay, then. Swim in the ocean with me. Right now.”

  “What? No. It’s dark and I—”

  “You did say dare,” he reminded her. “And I will be right there with you.”

  She hadn’t been in the ocean since that day. Oh, no, she couldn’t. Could she? The fear she had of the water was crippling and she knew it. Living in Laguna Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and being unable to stick more than her ankles in the water was almost criminal. But swim? At night? Her heart raced against the wall of her chest. She was sure he could feel every terrified thud. Why had she ever agreed to this stupid game?

  But in a fit of what-the-hell? and with the alcohol still having its say, she yanked her dress off over her head and tossed it down on the chaise lounge behind them and started down the steps of the deck to the beach in her lacy black underwear.

  Behind her, Nio was already stripping off his jacket, pants and shoes by the time she was down the steps and had reached the shore’s edge. The water was cool, as it always was in the Pacific, but the August sun had warmed it enough to make it tolerable. She edged her toes in as he joined her.

  “The water’s cold,” she complained, hardly daring to glance sideways to see him standing in nothing but his black boxer briefs.

  “That’s why we’re going to swim. Together.”

  A vee of dark hair arrowed down his chest and disappeared in a line beneath his briefs. It was unbearably sexy and she wanted to touch him there. “This is a terrible idea.” The tide was gentle, the waves nearly flat. She could feel no undertow tugging at her knees. No riptide, slinging her sideways.

/>   “You’re committed.” He took her hand and tugged her in beside him. Waves surged against her knees, her thighs and finally her waist. “Better to get in all at once,” he told her, letting go of her hand to dive under the next breaker. He surfaced, the water sparkling in his hair in the moonlight as he reached a hand toward her. “C’mon.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading it. Her breath came hard and fast. How dumb was it that one little incident could scare her out of this ocean? But then, so many things scared her now. So many foolish things.

  Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she dove under the next wave and came up in his arms. Bobbing against his chest, she clung to him, her breath still coming too fast. Wrapped around him, the intimacy of their touch heated her in the cool water.

  “You good?”

  She nodded. She didn’t want to let go. Maybe he’d just let her stay right where she was, in his arms.

  “You’re not gonna die. Not now. Not with me.”

  “Thank God. Lilah would kill me tomorrow if I did.” She smiled at him, brushing her wet hair from her eyes.

  “Let’s swim.”

  And they did, slow easy strokes up and down the beach in front of his father’s cottage. They swam until the water grew warm against their skin and they were breathless from the effort. Nothing bit her, or pulled her under, or sucked her out into the deep water. He was right. It hadn’t killed her. She was in the ocean again for the first time in two years and she wondered what had taken her so long. What was she scared of? That she wouldn’t have learned her lesson the first time? That fate would double-cross her again? The odds against it were huge. But then she realized that she’d managed to confine her life in many, many ways since the whole debacle with her family began. Ways that weren’t particularly clear to her until now, beginning with settling for Steven, a man she’d never really loved wholeheartedly.