by Lucy Ivey
“I’m fine.”
The whisper was all I could manage having him so close to me. He released his hold and softly touched my chest. Having his hand so close to my breasts sent a warming sensation throughout my body that left me unable to move, staring into his flaming blue eyes.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
His voice was stern but his touch was soft. As he gently caressed my skin with the tips of his fingers, the beating of my heart sped up.
Watching the soft brushing of his fingers across my chest was a slow burning torture. Watching the intent build in his eyes when he moved his fingers closer to the lace of my bra delivered an anticipation I’d never experienced. I wanted him to continue touching me. I wanted him to continue looking at me the way he was, so passionate and protective. But when our stares met, I took a step back.
“Justin, really, I’m okay.”
I quickly found a shirt to put on from my closet. I hesitated to turn around to face him. I couldn’t meet his stare again.
“I just needed to make sure you were okay.” When I finally turned around, he was leaning his head against the frame of the closed door. “I should have done a better job of protecting you. I know how he is. How strong he is and what he is capable of doing.”
His eyes drifted away from mine. Some other thought had entered his mind. When he realized, he looked back at me. His smile was kind, but fake.
“I’m sure he thought I would be the one he was running into, which is why he came at you so hard.”
He was trying to protect his brother and take the blame for his cruel, intentional actions.
“I won’t let him hurt you again.”
The one thing very clear to me now was that the two of them were nothing alike. I walked back over toward him. “It’s not a big deal, really.”
He reached his hand over to my face and gently moved a piece of hair from my lips and placed it behind my ear.
“Karley, he won’t hurt you again.”
There was a seriousness in his voice. Dedication maybe. A promise perhaps. The truth hopefully.
I wanted him to stay, but whatever I was feeling needed to stop. Whatever it was, he felt it, too.
“I’ll see you downstairs,” I whispered.
He let his hand fall slowly and closed the door behind him leaving me breathless again.
I leaned against the closed door. My head no longer throbbed but every other inch of me did, bringing a smile to my face. A few seconds later, a light knock at my door interrupted my thoughts. I opened it quickly thinking it was him again. I wanted it to be him.
It wasn’t.
It was Joe.
The smile on my face quickly disappeared.
I was startled by his lean, muscular body standing shirtless in front of me. He said nothing as he stared. His jaw was hard and his lips were narrow.
“If I hurt you, it’s not what I wanted,” he said in a low, unconvincing voice.
I didn’t even think he believed what he was saying and I definitely didn’t. His apology was insincere. His father was making him apologize.
“Really? Because you looked like you enjoyed hurting me!” I snapped.
My challenge amused him.
True to his character, his blazing blue eyes locked as his jaw tightened slowly into place. I expected him to say something inconsiderate that would penetrate me below the skin. He didn’t. He remained silent. I would need to make the next move.
“Look, I know your dad told you to come up here and I wish he hadn’t, but you can go tell him I said not to worry about it.”
We stood face-to-face in silence.
“Fine,” he agreed backing himself away from my door. “But so you know, I came up here on my own. I wanted you to know hurting you wasn’t the plan.”
His emphasis on the word filled me with just as much fury as it did confusion. There were so many things I wanted to say to him. Asking him what his plan really was with me was the only answer I wanted to hear. Unfortunately, the musical voice of my mother calling us from the kitchen interrupted our conversation, and I walked by him without saying another word.
By the time everyone left for the evening, I was exhausted. My mother had plans to wake me up at four-thirty in the morning so we could truly experience Black Friday but I really didn’t want to go. I was exhausted and my head was throbbing from hitting the cold, hard ground.
“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” I said after I helped my mother clean up the kitchen.
“Okay, honey. I’ll wake you up around four-thirty, okay?” This was something she really wanted and maybe, in some way, I wanted it, too. “Okay.”
Before I reached the top of the stairs, I heard Justin and Joe arguing in the nearest room. I couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but one of them told the other one to stay away from me, that I wasn’t supposed to be part of their game in the first place.
I could only assume it was Justin trying to protect me again by telling his brother to leave me alone.
“Too late,” the other replied.
Is Joe seriously that fucking pissed because I played football with them?
This guy was unbelievable.
Fucking asshole.
The door flung open and my wide eyes met Joe’s stare. He paused for a split second before closing the bedroom door behind him. He walked slowly to the top of the stairs and stood above me.
Everything about him was uncomfortably beautiful … especially the way he was looking at me now.
It took my breath away.
I walked past him feeling the intense stare of his blue eyes following me again.
“Good night, Karley.”
The haunting words of his sweet voice echoed inside my head. When I closed my bedroom door, I was finally able to breathe again.
Chapter 4
The Decision
I hardly recognized myself in the mirror. My dark brown hair was gone. My makeup was much darker than I normally applied it. I looked older. I had to admit, I liked it.
“You look beautiful,” my mother said standing behind me. I smiled at her through the mirror’s reflection.
“I like it, too.”
And I did.
My honey-colored hair lay flawlessly against my shoulders. And the shiny peach lip gloss tasted good on my lips. I looked a lot older than I did when I walked into the salon three hours ago. But it was worth the wait. And with my makeover, I actually looked like I belonged in the Osborne family. Not sure how I felt about that.
It was only one o’clock and already my mother and I had shopped at several stores, eaten breakfast at the local diner, gotten manicures and pedicures, and now, we were both blondes again. “Are you sure you like it?” my mother asked running her hand down my hair.
“Yeah.”
“Good! You look so beautiful, Karley!” She lightly squeezed my shoulders.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Well, you were beautiful when you walked in, sweetie,” my hairdresser said. “I only made you more stunning.”
I smiled shyly as I tilted my head down.
“Be careful,” she continued. “All the boys are gonna be after you now!”
My mother suggested we visit Bill at work. Her suggestion didn’t bother me as much as I thought it should. I was more worried about interrupting the investigation. But I didn’t mention it and after we left the salon we made our way across the resort’s parking lot to his office. Surprisingly, there were no police cars or news vans. It didn’t even look like there was an investigation taking place. From the looks of it, it was business as usual.
When we walked into the large building, almost everyone we passed greeted my mother.
“Good morning, Mrs. Osborne,” one woman said as she carried a box of Christmas decorations in her arms.
“Good morning, Mary,” my mother replied. “This is my daughter, Karley.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Karley,” the woman said smiling up at me
.
“Hi,” I replied.
My mother smiled taking my arm in hers and continued leading me down the long hallway. Several other employees greeted us on our way to Bill’s office, and she proudly introduced me to all of them every step of the way.
“Wow,” I said looking back at the last employee I was introduced to, “everyone seems to know you.”
“I’m here a lot,” she said taking my hand. “Bill and I eat lunch together every day.”
To my surprise, that didn’t bother me very much either.
“Oh, if you want, I can find something to do while you guys eat,” I said looking back at my mother.
“Don’t be silly. This is our day.”
It had been a long time since I saw my mother this happy. Well, since I allowed myself to see her this way. Bill had made her happy for years. She seemed to not only love her new life and everyone in it, but everyone in her new life seemed to love her, too.
For the first time in a long time, I was glad to be part of it.
At the end of a seemingly never-ending hallway, she gave two quick knocks on the large wooden door before opening it.
“Hi,” she said popping her head inside. I followed a few steps behind her into his office. He looked exhausted but genuinely happy when he saw her.
“Hey, there are my girls,” he said from behind his desk.
It still felt a little awkward to me how much Bill seemed to accept me as one of his own, especially after all I had done and said to my mother and him. But then I remembered Joe. If Bill still loved and accepted him after everything he had done, I guess accepting me wasn’t too hard.
He walked over and gave my mother a hug before looking at me.
“Wow!” he said smiling, staring at me a few more seconds before he began to speak again. “You look beautiful. Older.”
I noticed how his eyes sparkled like his youngest son’s and it caused the same reaction in me. With blushing cheeks I smiled back, turning away from him shyly.
“Really. Absolutely beautiful.”
My eyes turned to him again. Handsome in his looks, genuine in his words. I understood how she fell in love with him. He made the decision easy for her.
The only thing interrupting the sparkle in his eye was the wink he gave to me.
“So, what have my girls done today?” he asked sitting on the edge of his huge mahogany desk and taking my mother’s hand in his.
“We shopped and went to breakfast,” she said gleaming over at me. “Then we got manicures and pedicures and as you noticed, our love, Karley, got her hair and makeup done.”
I blushed again under his approving stare.
“It would be hard not to notice her beauty,” someone else said.
I turned around to see Justin standing behind us. His words echoed in my mind. As he stared at me, the intense blue of his irises sent a rush of heat throughout my body. I turned to see Bill smiling at his youngest son.
“Well, I was just getting ready to show Karley around the resort,” my mother announced proudly. After a moment’s hesitation, I said, “Do you want to go with us?”
My decision to invite Bill was unexpected to everyone. The small smile now formed on his lips reminded me of how silly the question must have been to all of them. He was a busy man. An important man with more important things to do.
“I mean, you don’t have to,” I said quickly, trying to save what little pride I had left. “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I just thought—”
“No, no. I would love to walk my beautiful girls around and show them off,” he said charmingly. “But unfortunately, I can’t.”
His warm blue eyes staring into mine assured me he truly appreciated the invite. The intensity of his stare was overwhelming, and I felt immediate rush of heat explode over my face again. Now, he reminded me of Joe.
“There’s still some unfinished business with this girl that I need to take care of,” he said. “But maybe Justin could show you around and I could steal your mother away for a little while.”
I turned to face Justin again. Still standing patiently, waiting for whatever he came to talk to his father about before we’d interrupted their meeting.
“I’d love to.” The corner of his lip curled slightly. Another reminder of his brother.
“I don’t know, Bill,” my mother said. “I promised Karley today would be our day together.”
I wanted to spend time with her but the thought of spending time with Justin was intriguing. There was something innocent yet provocative about the way he was staring at me. He wanted me to say yes. I wanted to say yes. I needed her to say yes.
“Mom, its fine. Stay with Bill.”
I tried to sound as convincing as possible. She was the only one who believed it was for her to spend time with Bill.
Bill winked at my mother and she agreed.
A minute later, Justin and I were alone in the elevator. Being alone with him was intimidating. Exciting. I was sure if I didn’t break the silence, he would hear the rapid beating of my heart.
“So, your dad looked really busy.”
His elbows barely supported the weight of his body as he leaned back against the railing.
“Yeah, he’s always busy. Too busy sometimes to notice things happening right under his nose.”
The mirrored walls of the elevator refused to hide his staring at me. If the pounding in my chest hadn’t already given my nervousness away to him, my deep, quivering exhale did. Still, I managed to keep the conversation going.
“Everything all right?”
“Yeah, nothing he hasn’t had to deal with before. He’ll take care of it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s been on the phone all morning with calls about a girl they found a few days ago. She was an employee here a few summers back.”
“Kailani Rivas.” His eyes widened, surprised by my words. I felt the need to explain to him how I knew her name. “I saw a newspaper article about it on the way home from the airport.”
I surprised myself by using the word home. He didn’t notice.
“Yeah, I guess it was a pretty bad thing that happened to her.” He shrugged his shoulders seemingly indifferent about the details of her death or knowing any more about it. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. He held them in place with one hand while he waved the other in front of him to let me step out first. “My lady.”
I liked the sound of that.
I gave a playful curtsy to his gentlemanly gesture before stepping out of the elevator.
“And so, Miss Woods, our time together begins.”
Like the home belonging to Bill, the resort was also immaculate and over the top. I was sure if left alone, I would get lost, but over the next thirty minutes Justin navigated us around it with ease. He knew its history and how it ran probably as well as his father did, which was a good thing because he said Bill wanted him and Joe to take over the family business one day. “Do you think you will?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said holding the door open for me. “I guess if Joe wants to, I will.”
“If he doesn’t, then what?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess we’ll just have to find something else to do.”
He spoke of his brother as if they were partners. I didn’t know much about either one. They were both in college. Joe was a few years older. Justin couldn’t make coffee. Joe hated me. That was the extent of my knowledge about them.
As we finished looking around the dining area of the resort, he said, “Hey, can you wait right here for a minute?”
“Um, yeah, sure.”
I didn’t want him to leave me alone. I definitely wouldn’t go anywhere for fear of not finding my way back to Bill’s office.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to go clock out on break so we can talk for a little while … maybe get a cup of coffee or something? I mean I only have fifteen minutes left but … I’d like to share them with you.”
My face warmed again under his hopeful stare.
Whatever I was feeling, he was, too.
I nodded slowly feeling the heat traveling through me. He smiled before taking off quickly toward the back of the room through thick mahogany doors. Standing alone, I felt like someone was watching me. And that’s when I saw him … sitting at a back table.
Joe.
He saw me, too.
He didn’t break his stare. He didn’t wave. And a chill raced down my spine. I wondered how long he had been watching me. Watching us.
Our eyes held. Everything between us disappeared. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He wouldn’t take his eyes off me.
I felt frozen under his stare.
“Ready?”
I jumped at the sound of Justin’s voice behind me.
“Um, yeah.”
“Sorry it took a little longer. I ran into one of the maintenance guys I hung out with a lot last summer.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered. My stare carefully drifted back to where Joe had been sitting. He was gone. Nothing on the table where he was moments ago. No cup. No tray. Every trace of his ever being there, gone.
A few hours after we got back home, my mother called me down to dinner. The house was dark except for the low-burning fire in the massive fireplace and the small orange glow coming from the kitchen.
With slow, cautious steps I walked toward the glowing light in the kitchen.
In the darkness, lit only by the candles on the cake, smiling faces began to sing happy birthday to me. Everyone was surrounding the island and singing. I saw Bill standing next to my mother and Justin beside him, holding a camera and smiling as the words of the song came out of his mouth. As my surprised eyes locked on each face, I didn’t see Joe and wondered if he was even there.
But then I saw him hidden behind his brother, almost lost in the shadows.
Like the candles of the cake, his bright eyes broke the darkness and captivated me.
And when the singing finally ended, everyone including a reluctant Joe, clapped.