Tina glanced at her, chastened. “Sorry. I was just wondering.”
Riley spoke up. “Let’s not talk about it, okay?”
“Okay.” Tina put the crackers and cheese in her mouth and chewed morosely.
Jacinda searched around for a new topic. “The kittens are growing.”
It was the perfect choice. Riley immediately went gooey.
“Ooh, I want to come and see them.”
Kerry nodded. “Me too. Have they opened their eyes yet?”
“Not yet. But it must be soon. I read that they start opening them from about a week old, and they were born on Tuesday. Or maybe Monday night.”
“What color are they?” Tina asked.
“Two of them are all black, and one’s tabby, and one’s kind of a mix-up,” Jacinda said. “I guess Velvet’s baby daddy was a tabby.”
The others laughed, and Jacinda thanked God for the successful change of subject. The conversation went off in other directions, and she put away a couple more glasses of wine. Lucky home was downhill.
Mid afternoon, they started packing up. Jacinda wandered toward the edge of the hill as she folded the blanket, drinking in the view of the sea and beach below.
Riley came over. “Hey…is that Liam?”
The other two joined them, peering down. At the base of the mountain, cut off from the main beach, a man in swim trunks was standing on the rocks. Even from up here they could see the breadth of his shoulders, the cut of his muscular back, and the tattoos running across his golden skin.
“It is,” Kerry said.
Tina shaded her eyes and squinted down. “That’s Ethan’s brother? Wow.”
They watched as he ran a hand through his hair, then linked his hands behind his neck and dropped his head, making his muscles flex. At that, Tina said what they were all thinking. “He’s hot.”
Jacinda couldn’t tear her eyes away. Only a few hours before, that body had been in her bed, under her hands, between her legs. Watching him now, she couldn’t bring herself to regret that part of it—their aching, desperate collision, unexpected but maybe inevitable from the moment they looked at each other over the gate.
Then he dived into the sea, a perfect arc that hardly left a splash, and started to swim. Was that the bay he and Ethan had played in as kids? The place that took Ethan back, the same night she took herself away? She turned and went back to the tree, and grabbed up her backpack, aware of Riley watching her as the others gathered up their things too.
“Whew,” Tina said as they started to head down the hill. “If that’s his brother, I’m starting to see why Ethan was so legendary.” Kerry frowned at her, but she shrugged as she adjusted her sun hat. “Just saying.”
She and Kerry set off, but Riley hung back a little, leaving a gap between them, and Jacinda matched her pace.
“What happened with you two?” Riley asked.
“What?” She stumbled on a loose rock. “Nothing.”
“I saw your face. Something happened.”
“What are you, psychic?”
“Just wise beyond my years.” She laughed, but Jacinda wasn’t off the hook. “I always thought he liked you. Tell me I was right.”
“Fine.” She snatched a leaf from a tree as they went past. “You were right.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Yeah. He told me.”
There must have been something in her tone, a hint of something unsaid, because Riley stopped and grabbed her arm. “Wait. He told you, and?”
“And nothing.”
“And you slept together. I knew it.”
She felt her cheeks go hot. “No you didn’t.” She walked on, and Riley followed, looking satisfied.
“But you did.”
Jacinda pinched pieces off the leaf as they went down the track, leaving a trail of green fragments. “Okay, we did. But we shouldn’t have. So don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“I won’t, I promise.” She clapped her hands together silently, in repressed glee, loving the secret. “I told you I always wondered if he liked you, back then. And I was right. So what are you going to do now? Is this, like, a thing?”
“Oh, it’s not a thing. No way.” She scrunched up the leafy skeleton and threw it on the ground. “It was definitely a one-off.”
Riley looked disappointed. “Damn.”
“No, not damn. It’s wrong. Ethan died because of me. How sick is it that his brother and I are screwing around, while he’s—” She kicked a stick out of the way, and walked faster on the grassy track.
“Stop it,” Riley said. “It wasn’t because of you. We don’t even know how he died, so how can you say that?” Then she paused. “Wait, is that what Liam told you? That it was because of you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly in a good way, or a bad way? Because you guys might have a chance at something here. Think about it. It’s not a coincidence that you both decided to come back at the exact same time, after all these years.”
“Well, sometimes coincidences suck.” She stopped and turned to look at Riley. “If I hadn’t come that summer, Ethan would still be alive. There’s no way I can have anything with his brother, not this summer, or ever. And he doesn’t want it either.”
“He wanted it enough to sleep with you.”
God, she was so determined to put a positive spin on it. “Riley, we both know that doesn’t mean anything. It’s just sex. And maybe punishment.” At Riley’s shocked expression, she shrugged, even though she hated saying those words herself. “Whatever it is, it’s not right. My cousin Danielle is coming tomorrow, with her son Sam. Once they’re settled in, I’m going to go.”
“But you just got here!”
“All the easier to leave then.”
She pouted. “Well, I don’t want you to go.”
“Oh…thanks. It has been fun hanging out again.” That was true. “You’ll have to come to LA.”
As she said it, she realized that would mean revealing her ‘real’ life. But that would be okay—she’d just wanted this one undercover summer, to catch her breath, reassess. And it would be fun to show Riley around.
Riley gasped at the suggestion. “Ooh yes! That would be so cool.”
They started down the hill again, with Riley talking about all the Californian things she’d like to do. Jacinda nodded and smiled, but her mind was elsewhere. For one moment last night, she’d actually thought about staying. Imagined that the glimpse of wholeness she’d felt in his arms could last. Blame it on the oxytocin, or the pheromones, or the Jack Daniel’s, or the phases of the moon. Because from here on, she wasn’t trusting her emotions. Not when it came to him.
Chapter Seventeen
Her last night in Sweet Breeze Bay. She’d promised to stop in at Clarion Call tomorrow and say goodbye to Riley, but tonight her only company was the feline kind. She ate a late dinner with Velvet sitting companionably on the chair next to hers, taking a break while the kittens napped.
“You’re such a good mama,” she told the little cat.
Velvet winked back, but said nothing, watching the steadily shrinking piece of salmon on Jacinda’s plate. Jacinda gave her a little piece, and she daintily licked it up, then started to wash herself.
“I might have been a good mama too, you know.”
Velvet jumped down and walked away, flicking her tail.
“Fine, whatever.” She sighed, and got up to rinse her empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. Then she put on a long, light cardigan over her mini and t-shirt, took a blanket from the hall closet, and grabbed the Jack Daniel’s from the coffee table.
One last night. She knew where she wanted to spend it.
She went barefoot down the alley past Liam’s place. There was a light on inside, but she was pretty sure that even if he saw her go by, he wouldn’t be coming to look for her. He hadn’t wanted to see her this morning, after all.
She walked along the beach a little way and picked a random spot to spread out the blanket
. Then she sat down, wrapped the cardigan around herself, and opened the bottle. One last night under the South Pacific moon and stars. One last high tide to fill her up, before she walked away. She’d be back in the real, unreal world of LA soon—but for now, with the bottle in her hand and the warm, salty air in her lungs, she could let herself lose track of time. Whatever had happened between her and Liam last night, she’d move on. Two messed-up people added together could never equal something whole—his dead-of-night exit proved that. They’d each have to figure out their own way to heal from that one distant summer. She leaned back and looked at the star-scattered sky, and tried not to think about him.
“Jacinda?”
A voice interrupted her thoughts—pleasantly Jack-hazy by now—and she twisted around to see who it was. Standing above her were two tall, broad-shouldered men, with familiar faces. She got to her feet, putting the lid back on the bottle.
“Oh my God, look at you. Hi.”
“You look great,” Dane said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
Connor shifted the box of beer he was carrying to his other hip and gave her a kiss too. “Good to see you.”
“You too,” she said. And it was—not just because they’d both grown a foot taller and transformed from slightly nerdy teenagers into seriously handsome men.
“We’re going to see Liam,” Connor said. “Come with us.”
Uh, no. “Thanks, but I won’t.”
He frowned. “We can’t leave you sitting here drinking by yourself. It’s unsociable.”
She bent down to gather up the blanket. “That’s okay, I was just about to go home anyway.” She sure as hell wasn’t going to explain why she wouldn’t go with them. “I have a flight tomorrow.”
“All the more reason to enjoy your last night then,” Dane said.
Before she could think of an answer, Connor shoved the beer at Dane, then took her free arm and tucked it into his. “Come on. Don’t be a snob.” And he started to lead her back up the beach, Dane alongside.
“I really don’t—” she began as they went down the alley, but Connor interrupted her with a shout.
“Liam,” he bellowed, breaking the night-time quiet. “Liam Ward! Get out here.”
“Honestly, though,” she said, as they drew relentlessly closer to Liam’s gate. “It’s so nice to see you, but I really should get home.”
Connor just grinned. “No way. We don’t get to hang out with a superstar every day.”
Oh, great. Word was out. “I’m not a superstar.”
“You’re the closest thing we’ve ever met,” he said.
Dane reached over and unlatched the gate. “Come on. For old times’ sake.”
“Hey, Liam!” Connor shouted again, propelling her through. “Look what we found on the beach.”
Shit. This definitely wasn’t part of her plan for the night.
As they reached the bottom of the deck steps, Liam came to the door. When he saw her, his face twisted for a second, but then he grinned and shook his head.
“You guys are a menace.”
As he laughed, her morning humiliation washed over her again. His voice had the rough, joking tone that guys only seemed to use with each other, but she’d seen that flash of discomfort as he avoided her eye. Well, good. Let’s see how uncomfortable he’d feel with her in his house again.
She laughed too, and started up the steps. “They wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
He was gripping the sliding door, and for half a second she thought he’d close it in her face. But then he pushed it open and stood back, his unease obvious.
“Surprise,” she said as she stepped in. Then she smiled sweetly and stood by as the men shook hands and slapped backs.
“Amazing what you come across on the beach some nights,” Dane told him, gesturing to Jacinda.
“Yeah, amazing,” he said, looking directly at her now. “Nice to see you again.”
She couldn’t help herself. “Is it?”
But he didn’t reply, just leaned in to kiss her cheek. She bit the inside of her lip and ignored the flicker of heat that sprang up when the stubble on his jaw grazed her skin. Her eyes closed of their own accord as he stayed there just a millisecond longer than the standard friendly kiss. Was he breathing in…breathing her in? She broke away and went to sit on the sofa, her heartbeat skittering.
If Dane and Connor noticed anything off, they didn’t let it show. Dane sat next to her, and Connor and Liam took the oversized armchairs opposite. Lit only by lamps, the room was cozy—unlike the vibe running between her and Liam. Bottles of beer were passed around, and she accepted one too, leaving the Jack on the table. No more of the hard stuff for her tonight. She curled her legs up and sipped slowly from her bottle, listening to the jokes and jibes shooting between the others—the years they spent growing up obviously provided a ton of material. She glanced at Ethan’s guitar, still standing in the corner. No one mentioned him.
“So what brought you back after all these years, to mingle with the common people?” Connor asked her, tempering the question with a wink.
“Stop it now,” she told him.
“Just wondering. It’s a long way from the bright lights.”
She nodded. “Exactly. I just needed a break. So…can you keep it on the down low? Not tell anyone? I’m trying to keep Cin Scott under the radar for a while.”
“Sure,” Dane said.
Connor leaned forward. “Your secret’s safe with us. It must be full on in that business.”
“Thanks. And yeah, some of the stuff that goes on…it’s sink or swim.”
“I’m not cut out for fame,” he said, stretching back lazily in the chair. “Fortune, though…I’m fine with that.” He grinned.
“What kind of stuff?” Dane asked her.
Ugh, this wasn’t where she wanted the conversation to go. But okay, since he asked. “Like…they want me to take it up a level. You know—be sexier.”
Suddenly all three men were looking anywhere but at her, and she tried not to laugh. Well, they had gone there.
“Apparently sex sells,” she added, looking at Liam, who kept his eyes fixed on the opposite corner of the room. “You might have heard.”
Dane rubbed the back of his neck and concentrated on his beer, clearly sorry he asked.
“That’s nuts though,” Connor said. “Look at you. How much sexier do you have to be?”
Liam took a swig from his bottle, apparently riveted now by something out the window.
“What about you?” Connor asked him. “You’re a sexy guy. Keen to see your name in lights?”
Dane laughed, the tension broken, but Liam shook his head. “Not me.”
“You’ve got some decent talent though,” Dane said. “You wrote—”
Liam shut him down with a narrow glare. “No. It wasn’t me who had that dream.”
There was a sudden silence in the room, and Liam looked at Jacinda. “He would’ve killed for the chances you’ve had. For the things you’re complaining about. Sounds like a charmed life to me.”
“They weren’t chances,” she told him, her blood pressure instantly rising. “I’ve worked for everything I’ve achieved.”
“Lucky you. Some people never had that opportunity.”
“So I should’ve never done anything ever again? Thrown my own life away?”
He shrugged, not meeting her eye, and took another shot of his beer. She wanted to slap it out of his hand, but she kept her voice steady, and put her drink down on the table. “I didn’t even know what had happened. You know that.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other two look at each other, and Dane gestured to Connor.
“Ah…so, we might go, I think,” he said, standing up.
“Yeah, better make a move.” Connor cleared his throat and stood up too. “It was nice to see you, Jacinda.”
She looked at Liam, expecting him to protest, but he didn’t try to dissuade them
, just got up and went to the door. So she got up too and said goodbye to them both, ignoring Liam as they each kissed her on the cheek. How he managed to have such nice friends was a complete mystery.
“So…we’ll see you tomorrow, maybe,” Dane told him.
He nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
Then they went out, each of them giving him a slap on the arm as they went. Without saying anything, she started to follow them. She’d come in ready to stand her ground, but that was enough. She wasn’t going to apologize for her entire life. Not to him. Not after that. And not after last night.
But he grabbed her arm, and slid the door shut.
She shook him off. “What are you doing?”
He stood in front of her, his expression dark and unreadable. “I have no fucking idea.”
Then he took her head in his hands, and kissed her.
Chapter Eighteen
“Get the hell away from me.”
Hissing the words, she planted her palms on his chest and shoved him, with surprising strength for someone so petite. He took a step back, but said nothing. Seeing her about to walk out the door, his only instinct had been to stop her. And the next instinct after that was to kiss her. Because there was something about angry Jacinda that erased every bit of sense he had. There were spots of color in her cheeks, and fire in her eyes, and all he could think of was the night before, when she’d been alight for a different reason. Now her breasts rose and fell with her rapid breathing, and he couldn’t help but look, remembering how it had felt to bury his face in those incredible curves. But she huffed out a breath and pulled her cardigan around herself.
“Nice. You’re all class, Liam.”
He looked at the ceiling, trying not to think about how she was wearing the same short skirt as the day she got stuck under the house, and whether the red lace panties were underneath. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his loose cargo shorts, hoping to obscure the growing evidence of his thoughts.
But she wasn’t fooled. She looked pointedly at his crotch, then back at him. “This is exactly the kind of shit I left behind in LA.”
One Distant Summer Page 12