She still couldn’t believe the man in the online articles was the same man she’d gotten to know over the past few days.
“Would the real Gavin please come forward?”
Crazy as it sounded, she wondered if Gavin even knew which one of him was the real deal. He seemed offended when she said he didn’t look like a farmer, and he was proud of the work he’d done this afternoon at his grandfather’s. He hadn’t exuded the same sense of pride when he talked about his job, and after everything she’d read, it was no wonder.
The sound of the television and snoring greeted her as she pushed open the kitchen door. Gavin’s work boots were in a heap on the floor, and he was stretched out on the sofa. His head listed to the side in an awkward and uncomfortable-looking position, while his arm hung off the edge of the couch with his hand resting on the floor, palming the remote.
She found him so damned adorable tears stung her eyes. A person couldn’t help what the heart felt, but it seemed ridiculous to care so much for him after such a short time. It would be impossible to continue sleeping with him and not get more attached. She wasn’t even sure she could be in the same room with him, fully clothed, and not get more involved.
What was she going to do? And not just about tonight. What about tomorrow and the day after?
If she woke him and invited him to bed, she feared playing out the part of a sex-starved maniac. But she didn’t want to go to bed without him, either. Settling on the safest route, she took the remote from his hand and powered off the television, sat on the floor, and rested her head on the sofa next to his chest.
Her eyes were tired and gritty, and in a matter of seconds, her lids slammed shut. You wanted a wild, tumultuous fling that would knock your world off its axis… You got it.
***
Gavin blinked several times in rapid succession, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes and the fog from his brain. His bed was lumpier than normal. His body felt like it had been put through a blender. This wasn't his ceiling. And something soft was tickling his arm.
Finding the strength to move, he rolled his head to the side and blinked a final time. Sunny. He looked around the room and let the pieces fall together.
He’d come up from the bar to wait for her and must have fallen asleep watching television. When she got home, she didn't wake him. Instead, she sat on the floor next to him and fell asleep.
He looked at his watch. Four thirty? Shit, how long had she been like that? And most importantly, why hadn’t she left his ass where he was and gone to bed so she could sleep comfortably?
Fighting against the aches and pains—which really pissed him off because they served as a reminder for how lazy and out of shape he was—he pushed to a sitting position, then scooped her up in his arms.
She came awake fighting. The kicking and flailing caught him off-guard, and he nearly dropped her. “Shhh… Shhh… Sunny, you’re all right. It’s me Gavin. I’ve got you.” She looked around frantically, then took a deep breath and settled her head on his chest. “You fell asleep by the couch. I’m taking you to bed.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Sorry. I was having a nightmare.”
“Want to tell me about it?” he asked, gently laying her on the unmade bed.
She unzipped her jeans and shimmied out of them. “In my dream you weren’t really who you say…” Her words trailed off, and she momentarily froze. She bit her bottom lip and yanked off first one pant leg, then the other. “It was nothing.”
Bullshit. Whatever was bothering her in the bar was now haunting her dreams. Four-thirty in the morning wasn’t the time to harass her about it, but tomorrow morning… later this morning, he would get to the bottom of it.
He stepped out of the bedroom and checked Robby’s room. “Robby didn’t come home. Can I trade in the couch for your bed? I’ll set an alarm and move back out there before he comes in.”
Her eyelids slid shut, and for a minute, he didn’t think she would answer. But then she patted the sheet next to her and said, “Shut my bedroom door. He won’t be home until later in the afternoon, and even if he does come home, it’s okay. He’s expecting you to be here.”
He kicked off his jeans, pulled his shirt over his head, and crawled into bed beside her. For the first few minutes, she remained as rigid and unmoving as a piece of concrete. But when he wrapped his arm around her head and rubbed her scalp, she made a soft mewling sound, then relaxed and scooted over against him. She propped her head on his shoulder, and within seconds, she’d gone back to sleep.
***
For the second morning in a row, Sunny woke to the mesmerizing sight of Gavin lying next to her. She liked having him in her bed, sharing her space. She liked the way his long lashes curled and how his features softened with sleep. The stubble on his face was sexy, and the way he rested with one hand over his heart was sweet.
The major difference between yesterday morning and today was her mood. Yesterday, she’d awakened with a smile on her face, filled with happy on the inside. This morning, she had a headache and was filled with hurt and confusion.
Gavin stretched and rolled onto his side, facing her. “Good morning,” he said with a smile and a wink.
She tried to smile but found the task too difficult. She also didn’t believe the morning, or the day for that matter, would bring anything good, so she gave a non-committal, “Morning,” and left it at that.
While she’d been lying there watching him sleep, she’d been thinking. Using him for mindless sex while she figured out his tactics for acquiring her building sounded great in theory. But it would be impossible for her to pull off. She was terrible at acting, especially when it came to faking her feelings. Gavin had even commented on the way her expressions gave away her thoughts. She’d never make him believe something she didn’t believe herself.
Despite her agreement with Robby, she needed to revert to plan B: confront Gavin. However, she couldn’t do that while lying in bed with him, so when he reached for her hand, she slipped out of his grasp and climbed from the bed.
He narrowed his eyes and pushed up onto his elbow. “Okay, Sunny, spill it. What’s going on?”
She gathered her hair at the nape of her neck and used a Scrunchie to hold it in a ponytail, then pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt—a barrier of protection in case he denied everything and tried to seduce her back into bed.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were second-in-command at Holden Enterprises?”
She watched his face for signs of surprise, but he didn’t react in any way. He simply held her gaze and shrugged. “What’s it matter?”
“You make millions of dollars every year and stand to make even more when you take over.”
He had the audacity to look perplexed. “I don’t understand what my income has to do with anything.”
She waved her hands in frustration. “You told me you’d help protect my property.”
“And I will.” He rubbed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not following this conversation at all.” He threw the sheet off and climbed out of bed with a moan. “Can we get some coffee and talk about this over breakfast?”
She forced her eyes to stay on his face, rather than granting them permission to take in the hard planes of his chest and stomach, as they desperately wanted to do. “You lied to me.”
He swiveled his head in her direction and arched an eyebrow as he pulled on his jeans.
“Well, you didn’t exactly lie. You just didn’t tell me the whole truth.”
His frustration with her was obvious as he pushed his fingers through his hair. Without verbally responding, he shuffled—barefoot and shirtless—to the kitchen.
Sunny’s mouth fell open in disbelief. How dare he act like he already owned the damned place. She stormed into the kitchen, intent on giving him a piece of her mind, but he’d already popped the top on the coffee can, and the aroma filling the air mellowed her out.
Coffee was good. And she couldn’t deny she enjoyed h
aving him fix it for her. It would be even nicer if he brought it to her in bed like yesterday morning.
Dammit, Sunny, focus.
Annoyed with herself as much as him, she crossed her arms over her stomach and tapped her toe. Those kinds of thoughts were the reason she’d crawled out of bed and gotten dressed. Hell, he didn’t need to do anything to seduce her. She did a fine job of getting lusty on her own.
Once the coffee was brewing, he turned and rested a hip against the counter, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, let’s start from the beginning… which seems to be sometime after I left yesterday.” He glanced to the ceiling, as if he would find the answer tacked up there, then looked back at her. “Does this have anything to do with how angry Robby was when he got home yesterday?”
She diverted her gaze and grabbed a sucker. She didn’t want to bring Robby into it, because this was between her and Gavin. But Robby had been the one to find the information. Without his research, she’d still be blindly following Gavin’s lead, allowing him to pull the strings and work her however he wanted.
“While Robby was at his friend’s house, he searched your name on the Internet. That’s how we found out who you really are and what your position is.” He looked more intrigued than anything, which threw her off-balance and caused her to lose her stride. “I don’t believe you’d risk your career in order to save…” Robby’s words came back like a slap across the face. She turned away from Gavin and stared out the window. “There’s no way you’d risk all of that to save this bar.”
“Sunny, I never said I’d risk anything. I said I’d figure out a way to fix things.” He stepped up behind her, then turned her to face him. His eyes were soft and concerned and he seemed so damned sincere she couldn’t meet his gaze. “If anything, having me as second-in-command should make you feel better. That gives me more leverage.”
Well hell, when he put it that way…
She was so confused and wrapped up emotionally, she didn’t know what to think or believe anymore. “I guess the problem is that I don’t know which Gavin is the real you. And if I don’t know you, how can I trust you?”
He let go of her arms and turned his attention to the hissing coffee pot. “What do you mean, the real me?”
“It’s like you’re all these different people. The rich guy—although I didn’t realize you were that rich—who came in here that first night and swept me off my feet.” By the time Gavin left for the second time that night, she hadn’t given his social status another thought. “When you came back the next morning, you were a business man, but you were still the same Gavin that… ummm…” She smiled against the blush heating her face. “You know.”
She reached for the cup of coffee he offered and took a sip. “Then you dressed down in Robby’s clothes and talked about being a farm kid. You were laid back and relaxed and seemed to fit in perfectly with the crowd around here. I guess I forgot who you’d been when we first met.”
He sipped his coffee and patiently listened to everything she had to say. Although he wasn’t verbally responding, his facial expression and body language said a lot. His brow was furrowed, his jaw popped, and his shoulders were tense and battle ready.
“Robby hits me yesterday morning with all these articles of you with Max Holden, looking very much like his protégé… you know, the ruthless guy who won’t stop until he gets what he wants. There were pictures of you with socialites and at social events costing thousands of dollars to attend.” She flopped down in the kitchen chair. “Then you came into the bar last night wearing those worn-out jeans, a T-shirt, and work boots, and I lost track again. Which Gavin is real?”
A series of emotions crossed his face as he seemed to carefully consider his words. Finally, he said, “I don’t know what to say.” The light in his eyes dimmed, and he shrugged. “I could stand here all day and give you reassurances, but you won’t believe them.” He pushed off the counter, dumped his coffee into the sink, then put the cup in the dishwasher. “I guess my actions will have to speak for themselves. I’ll go back to Myrtle Beach and work on things from there. I’ll keep you posted.”
That’s it? No argument? No trying to justify anything?
Too numb to move or even think as he turned and walked away from her, Sunny sat glued to her chair. She held her breath, waiting for him to come back for more conversation, but he didn’t.
She heard him moving around the bedroom, and several moments later, he returned, dressed, with his overnight bag slung over his shoulder. He opened the door, and, without turning around, said, “I’ll let you know what’s going on sometime tomorrow.”
She wanted him to leave, right? She couldn’t trust him, and she couldn’t keep seeing him without falling even deeper under his spell.
So, if this was what she wanted, what she believed was best, why did she feel like a piece of her ripped from her chest and walked out the door with him?
Chapter Twenty-One
“God dammit!” Gavin grabbed the file he’d been analyzing from his desk and launched it across his office. He pushed his fingers through his hair, then shoved back from his desk and began pacing the floor.
He’d spent the past four hours going over every scrap of information he could find on the Anticue property, only to find the situation worse than he thought. Online tax records indicated, just as Max claimed, he owned all the property surrounding Sunny’s.
For the past several years, he’d been buying up property as it became available. Some of the parcels were in Max’s name, some were in Cynthia’s, and two, including the old fishing pier, were in Callie’s.
He’d probably also used that time to fund several county commissioners’ campaigns, ensuring he had his people in place to vote for the required ordinance changes. Gavin tried to figure out a way to incorporate the bar into the resort, but Max would never go for it. Sunny’s whimsical style and the worn-down structure wouldn’t gel with the lavish opulence of a Holden Resort.
He dropped into his chair and let his head fall back. Beating his head against a brick wall for the past four hours had made him angry and frustrated and left him with a pounding headache. The headache, however, was nothing compared to the searing pain in his chest.
No matter how hard he worked to forget, his mind insisted on replaying the conversation with Sunny like a CD stuck on repeat. The problem was, her comments were painful because they were so damned accurate.
For nearly a year, he’d been unhappy with life. He knew it stemmed from job dissatisfaction and his disappointment with some of Max’s decisions. But he thought the feelings would pass once he stepped into Max’s shoes and could do things his way.
Then, months ago, he started to question if he had what it took to fill Max’s shoes. The Anticue situation was a perfect example. He’d never have the heart to ruthlessly pursue the purchase of Sunny’s land. And the idea of raping Anticue’s pristine beaches made him sick.
Sunny assumed that in order to help her he’d have to give up his career. He hadn’t thought about it in those terms until she mentioned it, but now, he wondered if she might be right. Was he willing to make that sacrifice? Was he willing to forfeit not only the career he spent the past twelve years building, but his grandfather’s farm, as well?
Granddad couldn’t afford to keep the farm without Gavin’s financial assistance, and Gavin promised to do everything possible to make sure his grandfather never had to move. Without his job, Gavin wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.
Fuck. His head spun like a damned whirlpool, sucking him down into the drowning blackness. Maybe getting out of the office for a while would help him find some perspective and, God help him, a solution to this clusterfuck.
He reached into his pocket and fingered Callie’s bracelet. Max was probably on the golf course, so Gavin would have the chance to talk to her privately. Then, after Max returned, Gavin could meet with him.
He wasn’t counting on changing Max’s mind, but he needed information. The names of the
commissioners on Max’s payroll would be helpful. He also needed to find out when Max hoped to break ground, so he’d know the timeframe they were dealing with. Actually, at this point, any information he managed to gather would be useful.
He looked at the clock and wondered what Sunny was doing. He’d looked forward to spending a nice, relaxing day doing whatever she wanted. Returning Callie’s bracelet, then spending the rest of the afternoon with Max wasn’t a good substitution. But it was what needed done, so he might as well get on with it.
He pushed to his feet, flipped off his lights, and headed across town.
***
After two minutes of conversing with Angelina, Gavin confirmed Max was playing golf and Callie was in the pool house. Alone. Thank God, Lady Luck finally decided to toss him a penny. Although he was sure Jen and Tiffany had been with Callie in Anticue, since she never went anywhere without them, he still preferred to have this conversation without her friends eavesdropping from the bedroom.
He knocked on the guesthouse door and waited. The front of the house was floor-to-ceiling glass, so as soon as she stepped through the bedroom doorway, she saw him. Her steps faltered briefly, but she quickly recovered, then walked to the front door with an uncharacteristically confident stride.
“Hi.” He didn’t really want to know how much she saw the other night, but based on the way her eyes bounced around, looking at anything and everything but him, he figured she’d seen more than enough.
“Can I come in for a minute?”
“Uh…” She shuffled her feet, then took a step back and opened the door wide enough for him to enter. “Sure.” Her flawless hosting skills kicked in and overran her discomfort. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
Last Call (Book #2 - Heat Wave Series) Page 18