Second Chance on Cypress Lane--Includes a Bonus Novella

by Reese Ryan

Looked like they’d be taking a cab home. Two drinks was her limit, and Sin was definitely well over hers—whatever that might be. For a tiny little thing, the girl could drink her weight in alcohol.

  “Yes, ma’am.” She’d let Sin win this battle. Then maybe her friend would give in easily when she insisted they take a ride share home. “Be back in a sec.”

  Dakota turned around and collided with a hard wall of muscled man.

  She tottered on her heels, but Dex placed his large hands at her waist to steady her. Dakota inhaled the notes of cedar, patchouli, and citrus in his cologne, which she’d caught the faintest whiff of when she’d been seated next to him at the bar. The heat radiating from his tall, muscular body enveloped hers. Dakota’s pulse quickened and her skin tingled beneath his touch through the thin fabric of her dress.

  “You all right?” Dexter’s voice was sexy—low and gruff, the way it had sounded on those late-night telephone conversations where neither of them wanted to be the first to hang up. His voice had done things to her then. And she could feel her body reacting to it and the nearness of him now. “I didn’t mean to surprise you like that.”

  “I’m fine.” She took a step back, prompting him to drop his hands from her waist. “You know I’ve always been kind of a klutz. I should’ve looked where I was going.”

  Dex shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled. “The band is on dinner break. If you don’t mind, I thought I’d grab a quick bite with you and Sin.”

  “You’re welcome to join us,” Sin interjected. “We’re about to place an order.”

  “Thanks, Sin,” Dex responded, but his eyes never left hers. He seemed to be seeking her permission.

  “Like Sin said, you’re welcome to join us. Be right back.” Dakota headed to the restroom, hoping Dex hadn’t noticed the beading of her nipples through the thin material of her dress.

  She made her way to the washroom, trying to calm her breath and reminding herself that Dexter Roberts was her boss and that she absolutely did not have feelings for him. Despite the fact that every part of her body was screaming otherwise.

  * * *

  Dex watched as Dakota walked away, her sashay sexier than ever. The string bean he’d dated in high school was gone, replaced by a woman whose body was tight and toned, yet voluptuous and sensual. His fingers curled instinctively beneath the table as he recalled how it felt to grip her waist, even briefly.

  His only thought at the time had been to prevent her from falling. Now all he could think about was how it would feel to slide his hands a little lower and cup that—

  “Tonight’s going well, right?” Sin jogged him from his less-than-pure thoughts.

  He cleared his throat and turned his attention to her. “Dakota seems to be enjoying herself. I get the feeling she needed a night like this.”

  “Me too. I know there’s something going on with her, but she won’t talk about it.”

  “Even best friends deserve some privacy, Sin,” he said kindly. “Don’t take it personally. If something is wrong, I’m sure she’ll talk to you when she’s ready. In the meantime, just be the friend she needs.”

  The server suddenly appeared, distracting Sin from further discussion on the topic, and they both placed their orders.

  “Look who I found.” Dakota finally returned to the table with his little sister, Em, in tow. “She was at the bar all alone, so I invited her to join us.”

  Dakota was evidently determined not to let Sin leave them alone again. She’d brought reinforcements. Smart woman. And with Nick sitting at another table with the blonde and her friend, Em wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

  “I see your friend is otherwise occupied.” Sin nodded toward Nick and the two women.

  Em seemed oblivious to Sinclair’s undue emphasis on the word friend.

  “You know Nicky.” Em shrugged. “He always goes for the out-of-towners. I’m pretty sure he’d rather cut off his big toe than be involved in an actual relationship.”

  “Every man believes that, honey. Until the right girl comes along and knocks him flat on his ass.” Sin slapped the table for emphasis. “He’ll be head over heels and he won’t even see it coming until he’s been toe-tagged and body-bagged.”

  “Dramatic much, Sin?” Dakota laughed.

  Emerie snorted. “I’ll have to see it to believe it. But it’d be good for Nick. So I hope he does eventually fall hard for some girl. Anyway, I normally bring my friend Kassie to these things. But tonight she went to a formal dinner off island with her boyfriend’s family. Ooh…is that fried calamari?” Em pointed as a server floated past with another table’s order. “I want that.”

  Dex couldn’t help laughing. Sinclair was completely outdone by the fact that Em couldn’t care less about Nick’s love life. She narrowed her eyes and kicked him under the table, which only made him laugh harder.

  “What is it?” Em’s gaze shifted around the table.

  “Nothing. These two are clowning, that’s all,” Dakota said quickly. “The waitress walked past. You should catch up with her and place your order.”

  As soon as Em was gone, Dakota gave Sin and Dex the same look his mother had leveled at him and his brothers when they’d gotten fidgety in church as kids. “What’s wrong with you two? You’re going to give the poor girl a complex.”

  “Seems like Em is blissfully content with the situation,” Sin said. “I hope she feels that way when some woman comes along and puts it on that boy. Then she’ll sit up and take notice, only it’ll be too late.”

  “Either way, it’s none of our business. So lay off the matchmaking, all right?” Dex pressed. “As much as I like and respect Nick as a friend and coworker, I don’t know how chill I’d be if he and Em ever became a thing. The guy isn’t the settling-down type.”

  “Fine. I was only trying to help.” Sin huffed. “Anyway, I see a man I need to talk to about some commercial space I’ve had my eye on.” She was gone before Dakota could question the wisdom of talking real estate while completely buzzed.

  “Looks like it’s just us. Again.” Dakota glanced around the room as she took a sip of what looked like club soda.

  He winced, remembering how they’d once lived for moments like this.

  They’d both been busy, overscheduled high school kids. Between school, football practice, family obligations, and their after-school jobs, it’d been tough to make time for each other. Which was why they’d treasured every single moment they’d spent together.

  But that was a lifetime ago. Now that their only option was friendship, taking a stroll down that part of memory lane wasn’t the wisest move.

  The server brought the order of calamari to the table, and Dakota nibbled on a piece.

  “So when did you become a concert-worthy saxophone player?” she asked.

  “I’m flattered you think so.” Dex couldn’t help smiling at the compliment.

  “You know I started playing when I was about ten because my mother insisted that we all take up an instrument. She played the piano, but that didn’t appeal to me, and they wouldn’t go for the drums.” He chuckled. “My dad was a professional sax player until my mom got pregnant and they settled down to start a family.”

  He shrugged, as if it were a minor detail to the story. But that decision had been the first domino to fall in a long succession of them.

  He was grateful his parents had chosen to have him and to start their family. But his father had spent most of his adult life saddled with regret over a life interrupted. His mother loved each of her children. But she’d endured an unhappy marriage in order to keep their family together. His parents’ misery, for the sake of him and his siblings, had always plagued him with guilt. He was the reason that both of them had spent so much of their lives unfulfilled.

  Most adult children would be upset about their parents divorcing. But for Dex, the news had actually caused him to breathe a deep sigh of relief.

  Better late than never.

  His parents seemed happier
since they’d filed for divorce immediately after Em had graduated from UNC. In fact, they’d never gotten along better.

  “So you picked the sax because it was the instrument your dad played,” Dakota prodded.

  He hadn’t delved deeply into his family dynamics when he and Dakota were together. But she’d known that his father had been a stoic man and that they hadn’t been close.

  “It was a way for me to hang out with my father while also satisfying my mom’s music requirement.” Dex thanked the server who’d brought out his meal. “There were two things my dad loved. Pro football and the saxophone.” Dex shrugged. “I did my best to excel at both, but I couldn’t play quarterback and be in the marching band. I went with football because it gave me the best shot at a college scholarship.”

  “And the best shot at collecting groupies like Ms. Brunette in the Red Dress over there. She’s staring at me like she’s considering giving me an appendectomy with a fork.”

  “Dakota, I’m spending my dinner break here with you because I have zero interest in her.” Dexter didn’t turn to look at the woman. Despite their current employee-employer status, he had eyes only for Dakota. And it pained him that she failed to see how important she still was to him. “I’m much more concerned about repairing our friendship.”

  She stared at him, blinking. As if she was unsure whether or not to accept his words at face value. Dakota dropped her gaze and nibbled on more of the calamari.

  “I wish you had let me hear you play back when we were…friends. There were a lot of topics you never seemed to want to talk about.”

  “That’s something I regret,” he admitted. “But playing the sax and being into jazz weren’t the kinds of things the high school football team captain bragged to his buddies or his girl about.”

  “Not much demand for sax players in high school garage bands, I suppose,” she agreed. “Still, it’s cool your dad taught you to play the sax. And for the record, if you’d trusted me with that part of your life, I would never have laughed at you about it.”

  Her warm smile melted his heart.

  Tagged and bagged? Yeah, this woman did that to him and more. She had since the first day he’d laid eyes on her. Warmth filled his chest and he fought back the urge to touch her hand.

  “Openness and vulnerability…that wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing in my family,” he admitted.

  His father was closed off with his emotions, except when he was commiserating about the missed opportunities of his past or projecting his own wishes onto his children’s futures. Dexter’s mother, on the other hand, had always been warm and open. They’d never doubted her love for them. But she walled off her own pain and loneliness.

  So it was no surprise that he’d built a stone wall around his own deepest thoughts and feelings, suppressing them and keeping them to himself. But it was as if Dakota had sensed something deeper in him and been drawn to it.

  She’d been like an insistent dripping of water with the power to carve a path through those hardened walls over time. He’d liked having someone to share thoughts with that he kept from the rest of the world. Dakota had been his safe space. But more importantly, he’d treasured being hers. That she’d trusted him with her own raw, unfiltered emotions.

  “You taught me the beauty of being open and letting people in, Dakota. Still, I wish I’d been even more candid with you. In fact, there are a lot of things I wish I’d done differently.”

  “Thank you for saying that, Dexter, but like I said earlier, maybe it’s best if we focus on the present and keep the past behind us, where it belongs.” Dakota sighed softly. She gestured toward an older man beckoning her from the dance floor. “I’d better go. I still need to hit the restroom, and my unofficial dance partner for the night is calling. But it was nice catching up.”

  “You, too.” He forced a smile, his jaw tight and his voice strained by the constriction of his throat. Dex wanted to beg her to stay there with him. To tell her that he’d be content to sit there and reminisce about their past all night. That he wanted her to be part of both his present and his future. But that would only push her away when they were finally making some progress. And it would feed his desire to be more than just friends with Dakota. Something he couldn’t afford given the probationary status of his promotion at the Holly Grove Island Resort.

  Dexter tried his best to divert his gaze from the smooth brown skin of her thighs, revealed when she crossed her legs to remove one shoe, then the other, before sliding them beneath the table.

  “Save a dance for me later?” he asked.

  She studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure. You’re about the only person in the room I haven’t danced with tonight. Might as well go home with my punch card full.”

  It wasn’t an enthusiastic acceptance, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  Dex shoved a bite of steak into his mouth and chewed as he watched her dance with someone else, wishing it were him instead.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dakota thanked Gerald—the older man who’d been her dance partner for most of the evening—then made her way back to the table. She slid into the chair, happy but exhausted, and slipped her shoes back on.

  It was well after one in the morning. The crowd had thinned considerably, but there were still plenty of people on the dance floor, hanging out at the bar, and scattered around the tables and the sofas that lined the space. But she didn’t see Sinclair anywhere. In fact, she hadn’t seen her friend for a half hour or more.

  Pulling out her phone, Dakota called Sin. The phone rang until it rolled over to voice mail. She called the number again and got the same. The band had ended their set a little after midnight and a DJ had taken over. With the music blaring, it would be difficult to hear her cell phone ring, even if Sinclair had it with her.

  She checked beneath the table and chairs. Her friend’s shoes and purse were gone.

  “Where are you, Sin?” Dakota’s eyes swept the space again. She sighed. She’d have to hunt her friend down the old-fashioned way.

  Dakota made her way through the club, checking the dance floor, the other tables, the couches around the perimeter, the bathroom, and the patio. She checked with the bartender, who hadn’t seen her friend for a while, either.

  There was no sign of Sinclair anywhere, and now she was beginning to worry.

  They’d expanded the Foxhole, but still, the space wasn’t so big that she shouldn’t be able to find Sinclair. What if something had happened to her?

  When Dakota and her friends went out in New York, they’d always employed a buddy system. No wandering off alone. Don’t accept drinks from strangers unless you watched the bartender make it yourself. No hookups with random dudes who might turn out to be ax murderers. She and Sinclair hadn’t established any rules tonight. It was Holly Grove Island.

  When her father ran the island’s small police force, drunk and disorderly conduct or kids trespassing in an abandoned property were the most dangerous situations they’d encountered. So it hadn’t seemed necessary to establish rules of engagement. But now she wished they’d made the rules clear.

  Still, Sin was smart and savvy. She wouldn’t have left with someone without telling her.

  Something is definitely wrong.

  Panic gripped Dakota’s chest. Suddenly it seemed as if everything was moving faster. The music and the people talking and laughing around her seemed so much louder. Her heart thudded as she glanced around the room.

  “Sinclair, where are you?” Dakota whispered the words aloud as she typed them into her phone and sent the text message.

  No response.

  She glanced toward the door. Maybe Sin had gone out to her SUV for some reason. It was the only place she hadn’t checked. Dakota hurried toward the exit, when she heard her name being called. She whirled around.

  “Where’s the fire?” Dexter teased. “I was hoping to claim that dance you promised me.”

  “I…I can’t. I have to—”

&
nbsp; “Dakota, what’s wrong?” His teasing expression morphed into one of deep concern.

  “I…It’s Sin. I was about to call a ride share service to take us home because we’ve both been drinking, but I…I can’t find her anywhere, and I’ve searched everywhere,” she stammered, her hands shaking.

  “Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere? The place is a lot bigger than it was when we came here as kids.”

  “I know,” she snapped. “And yes, I’ve looked everywhere. The patio. At the tables. In the sitting area. The restroom. I even asked one of the bartenders if he’d seen her. I’m telling you, Sinclair isn’t here.”

  Dexter placed his large hands on her shoulders, commanding her attention and calming her down a little. “Just take a deep breath. I’m sure Sinclair is fine, but I’m going to help you find her. And then I’ll take both of you home myself, all right?”

  Dakota bobbed her head, her heart still racing. She’d never been so glad to see Dexter.

  “Have you checked outside yet?”

  She shook her head. “No, I was headed there next.”

  “Good. I’ll come with you. We’ll find her, Dakota.” The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice was so confident. “I promise.”

  She wanted to believe him. To believe that everything would be all right. But the image stuck in her head was a board in her old newsroom with photos of missing women, most of whom had vanished from local nightclubs. It was a story her team had reported on. They’d helped make a break in the case, giving the police crucial evidence in nailing the guy they’d suspected of human trafficking. But not all of the women had been found. And the ones who had been recovered would never be the same.

  She’d never forgive herself if she’d allowed the same to happen to her friend right under her nose, while she had fun out on the dance floor.

  “Dakota, c’mon.” Dex was already headed toward the exit.

  She joined him, and they scanned the large front porch. There were a few people milling around, including a couple canoodling on the porch swing. But Sin wasn’t among them.