Ex on the Beach

by Kim Law

  Celeste’s laughter rang out with unadulterated happiness. “Five. Jonathan has three and Ryan just had his second. They’ll all be down next weekend. I can’t wait for you to see them.”

  The back of Andie’s nose suddenly burned as if she were about to cry. She’d seen her life going in such a different direction at one point. But it would be terrific to see everyone again. They had all done their part to make her feel welcome.

  The door opened again and this time, instead of the kids’ parents, Mark stood there. Andie’s breath caught. The man knew how to wear a suit. She’d seen him in one plenty of times before, of course, but he carried himself a bit differently now than he once had. More mature, assured. Sexy.

  He wore no tie tonight, but a black shirt with a deep blue suit. He looked dark and dangerous. She gave thanks for the fine work of whatever tailor he used. From his broad shoulders all the way down to his black wingtips, everything fit him to a tee.

  So perfect, in fact, that she wanted to take it all off of him.

  “I hope you don’t intend to treat these shoes to the same behavior as the ones the other night?” His rough baritone jerked her attention away from where it had landed, on his feet, and she couldn’t help the flush that rose.

  She glanced at Celeste before looking back to Mark. “Hopefully, I won’t have cause to toss this pair in the ocean.”

  “Oh.” The soft sound came from Mark’s mother as she rose from the sofa. “That’s a story I do want to hear, but I’m afraid I’ll have to beg another time.”

  “Please don’t leave, Celeste.” Andie, too, stood from the sofa. She wanted to reach out and stop Celeste for fear she was about to be left alone with Mark. Because Andie already felt her resolve weakening. She just might find herself naked and horizontal if he so much as looked at her the right way. “No need to run off.”

  “Yeah,” piped up Max. “Don’t leave yet. You were better than Miss Andie.”

  Andie shot the child a look. “Hey,” she said. “Be careful who you’re making fun of, mister. You might have to put up with me again while you’re here.”

  Anna giggled and Max merely rolled his eyes. He glanced over at Mark. “Will you play? I could use another guy in the room. It’s been only me and girls all night long.”

  The way the kid said girls made it sound as if he’d been forced to play dress-up and wear pink all evening.

  Celeste gave Mark a light kiss on the cheek and turned back to Andie. “I do need to go — Wayne is waiting on me. We’re taking a romantic stroll along the beach. But I hope we’ll have time to catch up more while I’m here? I wanted to drop in tonight just to say hello.”

  “Absolutely.” Andie nodded. “There should be plenty of time.”

  The elder Kavanaugh disappeared through the doors, and Mark was left standing there, watching Andie, and she suddenly felt underdressed in her simple summer dress.

  “Will you play?” Max asked again.

  Before she could point out that Mark surely had more important things to do, he’d planted himself where his mother had been sitting. “Absolutely. What are we playing?”

  “Charades!” Anna squealed. “We’re beating Miss Andie a lot.”

  “Is that so?” His eyes were blue and calm tonight as he sat peering up at her. It made her feel not so calm. “I’m pretty good at charades,” he said. “I hope you two are ready.”

  When Andie didn’t move to sit back down, Mark patted the seat beside him. “Come on, Miss Andie. We have a game to play.”

  She looked at the chair perpendicular to him, but he quickly stretched out a leg and scooted it out of the way. He then patted the spot on the sofa again.

  With an ungrateful attitude and an unladylike noise, she returned to her seat. She’d very much enjoyed her evening — first dinner with the kids, then Chutes and Ladders, and now charades. Somehow she didn’t think she’d enjoy it the same way with Mark there.

  But she was wrong.

  Forty-five minutes later, the kids’ parents showed up — the mom clearly having had a glass of wine or three and the dad wearing the kind of smile a man wears when he’s just gotten what he wants from a woman. And Andie had to admit that she’d had a really good time with Mark. Plus, he’d managed to pull them back to within a respectable point range of Max and Anna.

  “I’m sorry we’re so late,” the mother hurried to say. “We … uh … took a walk on the beach when we got back. It’s such a lovely night.”

  “No problem at all,” Andie assured them. “We’ve had a wonderful evening. And that’s why we offer child care for those special occasions. So the parents can make some memories of their own.”

  Andie watched the dad, who looked at his wife with so much love that Andie wanted to turn to Mark and point out that he’d never looked at her like that. But when she glanced at him, she remembered the past with clarity. He had looked at her like that. Many times.

  He’d loved her. She’d always thought so until he hadn’t shown up for their wedding.

  Maybe his not coming to the church had been as difficult for him as it had been for her? Especially if he really believed she’d been using him for his name.

  When he’d accused her of that other night, she’d felt the shame of it on her face. Yes, she’d been tossing around the Kavanaugh name to her potential client, but only because she’d been desperate. If she didn’t win the contract, she was out. She’d made too many mistakes before having that deal come to the table. It had been her last chance. And having learned how much power the Kavanaugh name wielded around Boston, she’d lowered her standards and used it.

  She was pretty sure simply marrying Mark would have gotten her the deal. But the wedding didn’t happen, her clients didn’t meet any Kavanaughs, and her boss had had enough. She was done. After moping around Aunt Ginny’s for a couple weeks, she’d realized she was thrilled not to have to go back to Boston. She’d hated every second of that job.

  Mark rose from the sofa and spoke with the father. He was one of the groomsmen in the wedding. In fact, this was the couple whose children apparently made too much noise for bridesmaid Wendy. Andie had come to the opinion that the children couldn’t have been better behaved. Just as she’d thought, Wendy was merely high maintenance and wanted to cause trouble. There was always at least one like that in the mix.

  With the family of four heading out the door, Mark turned to her and she instantly looked for something to do.

  “Thanks for helping entertain them,” she hurried to say. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got to clean up the kitchen.”

  She shot off in the direction of the other room, knowing she was being rude, but it was either that or risk falling under his spell again. And it had taken her too long to crawl out from under it four years ago.

  But instead of taking her blatant hint, he followed her into the spotless kitchen. Where there was nothing whatsoever to clean up.

  When she looked at him, he merely raised his eyebrows.

  “Fine.” Her shoulders sagged, as she admitted, “I was lying. I just wanted to get away from you. Does hearing that make you feel better?”

  It was nearing eleven, and the room was dimly lit by only a small light burning over the stove. The outside lights were off, too, as it was bad to leave them burning after dark. It confused hatching sea turtles, potentially leading them away from the sea instead of toward it.

  “Come on,” Mark said, holding out his hand.

  She tucked her hands under her arms. “I need to go to my room. I have a long day tomorrow.”

  Which was another lie. Kayla would be taking the entire group on a parasailing trip, leaving Andie with the day to herself.

  Mark crossed the room and untwined her arms, sliding one of his hands down to one of hers. “It’s time to talk.”

  “We can talk in here.”

  “No. I found the perfect spot outside. Come on.” He tugged and she took one step before pulling back.

  “I can’t get caught out there kissing you
again, Mark. Mr. Jordan already looked down his nose at me as if I were nothing but white trash. This is my business. I have to act businesslike.” Not to mention, she could still picture him with his arm around Wendy.

  That mouth that she liked so well curled up again, and the lower half of her body turned to melted butter. “I wasn’t planning on kissing you at the moment, Andie. I just want to talk.” He tugged again, and pulled her within a couple inches of him. “But I’ll be glad to kiss if that’s what you’d prefer.”

  She huffed out a breath. He could kiss Wendy. “You know you were thinking about kissing. We never have been able to be near each other without kissing.”

  “And more,” he said, his deep voice tickling her panties. “Yes, I was thinking about kissing you. I’ve done little else for …” He shrugged. “Too long.”

  What did he mean? He’d been thinking about kissing her before showing up there?

  “Then see? We can’t go out there. You want to kiss me.”

  “And you want to kiss me, too, sunshine, but that’s not what this is about. Right now I just want to be with you. I want to talk to you. Hold your hand if you’ll let me.”

  She looked down to where their fingers remained linked. “You’re already holding my hand.”

  He smiled. “Seems I am.” He tugged again, and this time headed toward the door. “Come on, babe. I promise not to bite.”

  She made a face behind him but followed along anyway. Maybe she wanted to be bitten. Maybe it had been far too long since she’d been bitten.

  And maybe she’d lost every last brain cell, because not only was she following him out into the dark of the night, but she wanted to go with him — whether he’d been kissing Wendy or not. And she wanted that no-strings thing he’d talked about. She wanted that a lot.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Mark kept hold of Andie’s hand until he had her beyond the walking paths, and up the slight hill where there was a fantastic view of the ocean. He’d found a swing there earlier, and he wanted to sit in it with her. If anyone had claimed it before he could get her out there, he would hand over all the money in his wallet to get whoever it was to leave. Immediately.

  He’d done a lot of thinking over the past few days, about both the present and the past. And he needed to figure out a few things. Like if what he was feeling was purely lust. He had the sneaking suspicion it wasn’t. No matter how bad he wanted it to be.

  Because like Ginny had guessed, Andie got to him.

  “Have a seat,” he said when they reached the spot, which was, blessedly, empty.

  The swing sat on a small ridge overlooking the ocean but was also completely hidden from the house by massive live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Instead of sitting, Andie looked up at him in the darkness, a small smile playing around her lips.

  “Do I need to beg?” he asked.

  “No.” She shook her head and then did as he’d asked.

  She waited for him to join her before pushing off with her feet to set the swing in motion. After a few minutes of silence, as he sat wondering just how they’d gotten there, she pointed out a light in the distance. “That’s Ginger’s dinner cruise boat.”

  “Ginger? Your other maid of honor?”

  She went still and he realized that had probably been a bad way to put it. Bring up the past immediately. Way to go, Kavanaugh.

  “So you remember who Ginger and Roni are?”

  “Yeah. I only met them the once, but the cold shoulder I got from Roni at the bar was a good clue. The follow-up that night when her look threatened to do me bodily harm sealed the deal.” He reached for her hand and held it, palm up. “Have they both always lived here?”

  “Only Ginger. Her father owned the ferry when we were growing up.”

  He shifted on the swing to bring one knee up, keeping her hand in his. He wanted to see her face as they talked. It was too dark to get a good read from her eyes, but he’d once been good at knowing the facial expressions that went along with her thoughts. “I know you’d told me before that you visited Ginny here as a kid, but I never had the impression it was that often. Yet you two seem really close.”

  At her questioning glance, he squeezed her hand. She’d never been overly forthcoming with personal information.

  “Must have been more than the occasional trip?” he prodded.

  She glanced toward the water instead of focusing on him and finally answered. “Yeah, every year since I was eight. I spent summers here. About ten weeks each year.”

  “Why did I never know that?”

  Her gaze shifted to his. “Did you want to know it?”

  “Babe, I wanted to know everything about you. I only realized recently how much I didn’t know.”

  “Hmmm,” she answered, and he could see her realizing the truth of the statement.

  “What about your parents? I met them that one time at your graduation, and then again when they were in for the wedding. But you never really talked about them, either. And we didn’t go visit. Why?” He couldn’t understand why he’d never pushed for more details back in the day. She’d known everything about his family. Everything about him that had mattered.

  She shrugged, and he could tell this was not an easy subject for her as her shoulders pulled in, making her appear even smaller than she was. He turned her hand over and traced the length of each finger with one of his. He enjoyed the smooth, silky feel of her skin.

  “Tell me about them. Why did I never know much more than that they lived in Louisville?”

  “There isn’t that much to tell.”

  “Do you still see them? Are they together? Do you get along?”

  A soft laugh slipped past her lips. “Okay, fine. As you do know, it’s my mother and stepfather. I never even knew who my father was. I usually visit once a year but don’t stay more than a couple days at a time. Their choice as much as mine. And they never come here. Oh, and yes, they’re still married. Have been since I was eight. Both of them are retired now — Mom just last year — both from the same insurance company. We get along fine. Have never had what some would call a ‘bad’ relationship.”

  He studied her in the dark. “But you’ve never had a good one, either, or I would’ve known more about them. You’d see them more often.”

  At her silence, he pushed. “Am I right?”

  Her forehead scrunched in thought and he had a memory of the first time he’d asked her out. They’d been on the Harvard campus. He’d seen her in passing several times, had even talked to her the few times he could catch up with her. She had always intrigued him, always seeming to be focused on getting somewhere, as if whatever the destination was couldn’t wait. But that night, as he’d watched her, he’d been unable to let her go without asking her out. He’d wanted a shot.

  She’d been sitting in the library, talking with another guy — one who’d clearly been trying to pick her up by feeding her a line of total crap — and she’d simply seemed to want to get rid of him and get back to her studying.

  But what caught his attention was the bullshit meter he’d seen in her gaze. That’s what had always pulled him to her, her eyes. She had the most beautifully expressive eyes, and whenever she was talking to someone, he could read her thoughts as clearly as he knew she was thinking them. And he’d loved that her thoughts were often not as sweet and gentle as she appeared on the outside.

  It had been as intriguing as hell, and he’d wanted to be the one to bring out that side of her.

  So when the guy got turned down and left, Mark had gone over. He’d wanted to see what her eyes said about him. Of course, he’d gotten turned down, too, but he’d liked what those blue-gray depths had been whispering: she was interested. And she wanted him to keep asking.

  She hadn’t agreed to go out with him until after he was out of school. He’d been a year ahead of her. It had been December twenty-third, and he was working with his father and brother at that point. He’d gone back to the bar where he knew she worked. He and Rob and other class
mates had hung out there during their years on campus, but that night he’d gone because he wanted to take her a present. He’d wanted her to know that he was still thinking about her.

  It had been a sea turtle charm. He hadn’t seen her in months, but every time before, she’d always had on the ankle bracelet with the lonely single charm. He’d once overheard her mention sea turtles in a conversation with a customer, and he had watched her eyes light up.

  He’d wanted to give her something she could add to that bracelet. And to see if her eyes would light up for him.

  After she’d gotten off work that night, he’d ended up in her bed. They’d gotten engaged and moved in together two months later, which had surprised him as much as her. It had always been like that with them, though. Fast and furious.

  He realized he’d drifted to the past and turned his attention back to Andie, who sat waiting, a patient smile playing around her lips. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “I’ve missed you, babe. So damn much.”

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Her words were soft, almost as if she hadn’t meant to say them. Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth before she continued, “And yes. You’re correct. I’ve never had what you’d call a ‘good’ relationship with my parents. Not anything like you have with yours, or even like I had with yours. But we got along fine. They were just always so busy, Mom climbing the ropes in the finance department of the insurance company where she’d worked, and John already at the top. They worked really hard, and it was very important to them.” She grew pensive, staring off at the ocean again, then whispered in a soft, accepting voice. “Their careers were more important than me.”

  Her words shut off and he would have given anything to be able to see her eyes. Had she just realized that she’d done the same thing with him? They’d fought about her long hours so many times, but she’d never seemed to understand his issue with it. He’d wanted to be number one in her life. Just like she had been in his.

  She leaned in, tightening her fingers around his, and blinked up at him. “I did that, too, didn’t I?” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Mark. I didn’t even realize.”