Shooting For Love - A Standalone Novel (A Suspenseful Bad Boy Neighbor Romance Love Story) (Burbank Brothers, Book #2)

by Naomi Niles

  “Enlisting was a dream of mine,” I admitted. “But it didn’t end up being what I wanted; not in the long run, anyway.”

  “So what do you want?” Tyler asked.

  “I want … I guess I don’t know what I want, really,” I admitted. “But I do know that it’s not what I have now.”

  “Then change it,” Tyler said. “Do what you have to do and get the life you want.”

  “You know you can benefit from your own advice,” I pointed out.

  Tyler sighed. “I’m not that kind of guy.”

  “Sure you are,” I nodded. “You built a business from scratch, a successful one at that. You need to stop focusing on my life and start focusing on yours.”

  “And how the hell do you propose I do that?” Tyler asked defensively.

  “You could start by going on a date,” I suggested. “Mom mentioned that you haven’t had a relationship for a while.”

  “It hasn’t been that long.”

  “How long has it been?” I asked pointedly.

  Tyler looked uncomfortable. “I went on a date a few months ago.”

  “A few months ago?” I repeated incredulously. “Seriously?”

  “It didn’t work out.”

  “I gathered,” I said. “Seriously, man, you need to get out there. You’re in a rut and you need to claw yourself out of it.”

  Tyler smiled. “It’s not quite as bad as that.”

  “When’s the last time you had sex?” I demanded.

  “Ok, ok,” Tyler said holding his hands up. “I will admit that I’m in a semi deep rut. I’ll work on it.”

  “Good,” I nodded.

  “What about you?”

  “What about me?” I asked.

  “You’ve been seeing Lizzie, right?”

  It was my turn to feel uncomfortable. I swallowed hard and shook my head. “Not anymore,” I replied.

  “You ended it?”

  “There was nothing to end,” I said. “We had the unspoken agreement that things would come to an end, romantically speaking, when I left.”

  “Does that mean you’re still going to keep in touch?”

  “I’m hoping we still will,” I nodded. “I don’t want to lose touch with her again.”

  “And yet you’re not pursuing a relationship with her?”

  “In my experience, long distance relationships don’t work out too well,” I said. “I’m going to be deployed soon and I don’t want to leave all my baggage with her. I don’t want her worrying about me or fearing for my life. She needs to move on and live and be happy.”

  “That’s very selfless of you.”

  “Not really,” I sighed. “I’m protecting myself just as much as I’m protecting her.”

  Tyler nodded and we sat there for a while, savoring the feel of a silence that wasn’t marred by underlying tension and hostility. It was nice to feel as though we were brothers again and not strangers butting heads over things that didn’t really matter anyway. I wasn’t fool enough to think that it would always be easy between us, but at least it was a start.

  “What time do you need to leave to the airport?” Tyler asked, breaking the silence.

  “Half an hour from now should be fine,” I said.

  “I’ll drive you,” Tyler said as he stood up.

  “I was going to take a cab,” I said.

  “I’ll drive you,” Tyler said insistently. “I’ll just go have a shower and meet you here in ten.”

  He left me by the lake and walked up towards the house. I sat where I was, wishing that Lizzie were sitting there next to me. I wished I had kissed her more and touched her more and made love to her more. It felt strange knowing that I wouldn’t see her again for months, perhaps even years.

  I had moments of weakness when I was sorely tempted to call her up and suggest that we try the long distance relationship thing but I always backed out at the last minute. I didn’t want to complicate her life and things always looked so different when I was over there surrounded by war and death.

  I took out my phone and stared at it for a moment but then I decided I shouldn’t call. I settled for writing her a text. “I’m leaving soon, Lizzie,” I wrote. “I just wanted to thank you for the last few weeks. I’ll miss you.”

  A minute later I received a little beep that told me I had just received a message. I looked down at it and read Lizzie’s reply. “I’ll miss you too,” was all she had written.

  I took a deep breath and wrote the thing that I most needed to say. I knew that I couldn’t leave town without extracting some kind of promise from her. I needed it for my own peace of mind. “I know this is probably not my place, Lizzie,” I wrote. “But I need to know that you will make sure that Paul stays away from you. Don’t try to protect him and don’t let him back into your life.”

  “I won’t,” she wrote back.

  “Promise?” I asked.

  “Promise,” she replied.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and put my phone away. It was time for me to get back to my life.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Elizabeth

  Two Months Later

  “Lizzie, get your butt over here!”

  I glanced up as Maddie’s voice reached me but I stayed where I was. It was nice to sit beneath the shade of the trees and observe. I was humming under my breath distractedly as I watched Maddie and Tyler splashing about by the lake. Their relationship had developed unexpectedly, but it was probably only unexpected to me because I hadn’t been paying attention.

  Maddie was so much happier these days and I could see an obvious change in Tyler too. He was less surly and much more talkative. I had never thought to pair the two together before, but now that they were a couple, it seemed to make perfect sense. Maddie walked up and collapsed down beside me.

  “What are you doing back here?” she asked.

  “Just thinking.”

  “You think too much,” she said shaking her head.

  I smiled. “You and Tyler make a nice couple.”

  Maddie’s grin grew wider. “Who would’ve thought huh?”

  “It’s crazy the way things work out.” I said distractedly as my thoughts flitted half a world away.

  “You’re thinking about Dylan again, aren’t you?” Maddie guessed correctly.

  “Has Tyler heard from him lately?” I asked casually.

  “I’m sure he has,” Maddie replied. “But I haven’t really asked; would you like me to?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “That’s all right.”

  “I thought you said he wrote you?”

  “A couple of weeks ago,” I nodded. “Just after the deployment; he’s probably busy now.”

  “Lizzie, you need to move on.”

  “I know,” I sighed.

  “I thought you were done waiting around for Dylan?”

  “I thought I was too,” I sighed. “But I can’t control how I feel.”

  Maddie nodded and looked towards Tyler. “That’s true; it’s weird, you know. I always thought of Tyler as this, well, this boring, straight laced, uptight guy …”

  “Well you’re not so far off,” I teased.

  Maddie laughed. “I guess that was all I saw…”

  “And now?”

  “Now I can see so much more.”

  “You’re lucky,” I said. “It’s all happening at the right time for you.”

  “It will happen for you as well,” Maddie said firmly. “You just have to be willing to do the work.”

  “What work is that?” I asked with interest.

  “Stop all this moping introspection, stop constantly thinking about Dylan, and go out there and meet people, have fun, live your life, and eventually the right guy will come along.”

  “You’re right,” I nodded, but I knew I was just telling her what she needed to hear from me.

  I sat up a little straighter as my stomach turned suddenly and I felt a wave of nostalgia hit me. I froze for a moment wondering if I had just imagined it.


  “Something wrong?” Maddie asked looking at me with concern.

  “I … just felt a little strange for a second, but I think it’s passed.”

  Tyler joined us a few moments later and he settled down beside Maddie while she rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her softly on the cheek the way that Dylan used to kiss me. I turned my eyes away from them and towards the pristine lake in front of us.

  “Today was a nice day,” I said.

  “Some of the boys are getting drinks tonight,” Tyler said. “Why don’t you two join us?”

  “You don’t mind?” Maddie asked.

  “Not at all,” he said. “There might be a few people from high school that you’ll know, and anyway, I want my friends to meet my new girlfriend.”

  We ended up lounging by the lake for another hour before we headed into town. The sun had just set and lights were flickering on around us. Maddie and I stopped at one of the vintage dress stores while Tyler took a call outside. Then we walked over to one of the newer pubs in town and got a table in the corner. We were there for about an hour, drinking and laughing, before Tyler’s friends showed up.

  “This is Max and Lacy,” Tyler introduced as they came up to our table.

  Max was shorter than Tyler was, but he was well built and well dressed. He had light-brown eyes and strawberry-blond hair and I saw Maddie’s pointed expression, as she looked him over. Lacy was short with a head full of wild, black curls and dark eyes. I remembered her from school, but Max was completely unfamiliar to me. We shook hands and then sat down together.

  It turned out to be a more enjoyable evening than I had anticipated and I ended up having fun. When I excused myself to visit the restroom, Maddie excused herself as well and followed me to the ladies room.

  “Well?” she demanded the minute we were alone.

  “Well what?” I asked her in surprise.

  “Max!” she said. “He’s cute, right?”

  “I guess so. Does it matter?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Isn’t he with Lacy?”

  “No! They’ve been friends forever and Lacy’s engaged to marry some British guy,” Maddie said excitedly. “I asked Tyler already and he said that Max is completely single and … he’s looking.”

  I rolled my eyes. “This is not a setup, is it?”

  “No it isn’t,” Maddie replied. “It’s kismet. Come on, Lizzie, you said it yourself: this guy is cute, he dresses well, and he went to Stanford.”

  I laughed. “He seems really nice,” I had to admit.

  “I’m glad you agree; now it’s time to kick it up a notch,” Maddie said wiggling her eyebrows at me.

  “What does that mean?” I demanded.

  “Aw, come on,” Maddie said with a sigh of frustration. “You’re not exactly turning on the charm.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked defensively.

  “Flirt a little, Lizzie!” Maddie exclaimed.

  I sighed. “I hate flirting; I was never any good at it.”

  “That’s what happens when you have one, steady boyfriend throughout high school,” Maddie teased. “Well, there’s no time like the present to learn.”

  I was about to say that I wasn’t sure if I was ready yet but I knew that Maddie wouldn’t accept that as an answer. Plus, she would know immediately why I was being so reluctant and I didn’t want to give her more of a reason to be annoyed with Dylan.

  “Fine, fine,” I sighed. “Let’s get out there.”

  We got back to the table and sat down. Maddie subtly orchestrated out seating positions so that I was sitting next to Max. He was a good-looking guy and I noticed that he seemed to have kind eyes. I knew that if it hadn’t been for Dylan’s image in my head, I would have been able to muster up some form of interest. Still, I did my best to try and focus on Max and the conversation at hand.

  “So, Elizabeth,” Max started as we drifted off into smaller, individual conversations. “Tyler told us that you are a teacher?”

  “He’s being kind,” I smiled. “I’m the librarian, actually.”

  “Are you hoping to teach one day?”

  “That’s the dream,” I replied and had a pang of sadness at how small my dreams had become. “I’m working up to it. What do you do?”

  “I’m a doctor,” Max replied. “A surgeon actually.”

  “Wow,” I said impressed. “What’s your specialty?”

  “I specialize in pediatric surgery.”

  “Geez, I would imagine that can be difficult,” I breathed.

  “More than you know,” Max said with a sigh. “It’s emotionally draining, but when it works out, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

  I smiled as I watched his eyes light up. It was obvious that he was the kind of guy that wanted to make a difference. “I can imagine,” I nodded. I was about to ask him a question but at the last moment I changed my mind.

  “What?” he asked, picking up on the question I hadn't asked.

  “Nothing.”

  He laughed. “Go on,” he said. “Ask me anything, I don’t mind.”

  “Well, I guess I was wondering how much your work, especially your line of work, affects you. I mean, it must be hard to see all those kids come in everyday with all kinds of terrible problems. Does it ever sour you?”

  “Sour me against the thought of having kids myself you mean?” Max asked hitting the nail on the head.

  “Yeah,” I said. “If that’s too personal a question, feel free to ignore it.”

  Max smiled. “No it’s a valid question,” he said. “My mother asked me the same thing when I told her what I was going to be specializing in. I guess the answer is no. I mean, it does affect me sometimes and there are days when I bring it home with me, but it still hasn’t taken away my desire to have kids. I would love to raise a family one day.”

  “That’s great,” I said, feeling myself warm to him more and more.

  “That was actually the reason my last girlfriend and I split up,” Max said abruptly. “She didn’t want kids and I did.”

  “How long were you together?”

  “Almost two years,” Max admitted. “It got to the point where we started talking about our future and I happened to mention the white picket fence and the kids piled up in the land rover and she … well, she had a different image in mind.”

  “That’s sad,” I said honestly. “It must have been a painful decision to make.”

  “It was,” Max nodded. “But the thing is, I have a stressful job and I need something normal to come home to, you know?”

  “I do know,” I nodded. “It’s just heartbreaking when you think you’re at the finish line and you realize the person you’re with is not the right one for you.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?” Max asked pointedly.

  “I am actually,” I nodded. “I’m divorced.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I said with a shrug. “It was the right thing for me.”

  Max nodded and we relaxed into a comfortable conversation. He was easy to talk to and it seemed he felt the same way about me. He opened up about his job and his past relationships and by the end of the night, I felt I knew him as well as I knew Tyler.

  The five of us left the bar together, but Max pulled me aside while the others were saying goodbye to one another.

  “Elizabeth,” he said. “I know this might be sort of a weird question but … would it be ok if sometime in the future I ask you out.”

  I raised my eyebrows and smiled. “I … well sure … that would ok,” I nodded at last.

  He smiled. “I would have loved to ask you out now, it’s just that I’m doing this fellowship at the hospital that takes up all my time and I don’t think it would be fair to you to start a new relationship and then disappear suddenly.”

  “I get it, Max,” I smiled, touched at how thoughtful he was. “Say no more. But hey, if you ever have a stressful day and you can’t stand your silent apartment anymore
, you can always give me a call.”

  “Thanks,” Max nodded. “I just might take you up on that offer.”

  He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, we said goodnight, and Maddie and I headed back home. The moment we were in her car, she rounded on me.

  “Well?”

  “He’s nice,” I said. “More than just nice actually.”

  “I had a feeling you two would hit it off,” Maddie said with glee. “He asked you out didn’t he?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Not exactly?” Maddie repeated in confusion.

  “He’s busy with his fellowship at the moment,” I explained. “And he didn’t want to be an absentee boyfriend at the start of the relationship so he said he’d ask me out later, when he’s schedule is a little more free.”

  “Oh,” Maddie said in disappointment.

  “But I did tell him he could give me a call anytime he needed to talk.”

  Maddie’s eyebrows went up with interest once more as she turned to me. “Is there a hidden meaning in there?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean like, you can call anytime you need to talk is really code for you can come over anytime you’re horny?”

  “Eww no!” I said trying to stifle my laughter. “Geez, Maddie.”

  “What?” Maddie asked defensively. “I don’t think it’s the worst idea.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Totally,” Maddie said. “You’re both young and hot and single; why shouldn’t you fool around when you have a moment to spare?”

  “How is that not a relationship?”

  “Because there are no expectations place on either one of you,” Maddie said. “At least until things become more official.”

  “As usual, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” I said.

  “And as usual, you refuse to just let go and live a little.”

  I rolled my eyes at Maddie and turned towards the empty road ahead of us. But I had to admit, it didn’t sound like the worst idea in the world. He was cute and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Which was why I could not understand why my mind still fell back to Dylan.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dylan

  The club was dimly lit and filled with intense plumes of smoke that held different scents. The waitresses were especially attractive and I noticed that they all wore the same, alluring wrap that bared their naked shoulders and the tops of their breasts.