by Melinda Hale
Chelsea pressed her lips together. All that had been on her mind was Dean. She took a deep breath and tried to push him out of her mind.
“I’ll stay at a motel. Don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” Nicola insisted. Ryan’s annoyed glare at her via the rearview mirror didn’t go unnoticed. “Stay with us for a few days.”
Chelsea wondered why she’d offered. Perhaps it was out of guilt, knowing that she was Ryan’s former wife. The woman looked to be in her early twenties, her eyes wide with emotion. Chelsea shot a glance at her, recognizing the guilt on her face.
“Thanks,” she finally said. Nicola’s pleased grin lit up her face.
Remembering the house she’d inquired about, Chelsea knew she had to sort it out. This was her life now, and Dean was only a brief escape. A man she loved but could never have.
When they pulled up outside her former home, all of the old memories came rushing back. Each one hurt as much as the next. She didn’t care about staying with Ryan and Nicola. Home felt like being in Dean’s bed, falling asleep in his arms. Waking up to the ocean view, the grand Victorian style house. She would miss the daily walks out to the center of Spring Lake. Here it was too busy, the stores too plain and commercial. Nothing seemed the same.
Ryan’s new girlfriend set up the sofa bed for her in the living room, and offered to get a coffee from Starbucks. Before Chelsea could ask, Ryan added that they went to Starbucks every morning. She stared at him in disbelief. Months ago, he claimed he hated it. Maybe I was the one he disliked.
As midnight came and went, Chelsea reached for her cell phone, almost expecting to have missed calls or messages from Dean. But there was nothing. Mittens slept at the end of the bed, a warm ball of fur against her toes.
“Did you ever miss me?” Chelsea wondered. Mittens slept soundly, with not even a movement.
And in the dark, loneliness of the night, she knew her question had been for Dean. If he was lying in bed, questioning what had happened. If he longed to kiss her, to finally admit that he loved her.
Sleep came late, and she didn’t get much of it for the next three nights.
Eleven
Chelsea poured the steaming boiled water into the cup, the aroma of cheap instant coffee hitting her. She felt movement behind her, and for a moment she almost believed it was him.
“Thanks for letting me stay here,” Chelsea acknowledged. Behind her, Nicola seated herself at the dining table.
It felt so familiar living in her old place again with Ryan. She’d barely spoken to him, and had no interest in striking up a friendship. Nicola had been too nice for her to dislike, and she was grateful to have someone to talk to.
Andrea didn’t know about Dean. Chelsea couldn’t bear to tell her, not yet. Once she felt composed, stronger, then she would call.
“I really am sorry to hear about Dean,” Nicola announced. Chelsea felt her heart tug at the memory of his voice, the curve of his smile. She carried her cup of coffee to the table, and seated herself opposite Nicola.
“It would’ve happened eventually,” Chelsea murmured, even though she only partly believed that. As time had passed, she’d hoped her feelings for Dean would fade.
She loved him.
But she couldn’t know if he felt the same. If Dean genuinely cared for her, or if it was only to feel the chemistry between them. Even now, after days apart, she longed to see him. It had to be love. The fact that it wasn’t diminishing over time only affirmed her belief that she’d fallen for him.
But I can’t, she told herself. I can’t have feelings for someone like him. He hurt me. It’s over.
With Ryan, it wasn’t love. She never felt that burning attraction to have him close. Dean was the only man who’d given her that, but his lifestyle and his choices hurt her more than she expected.
As Chelsea recalled his statement to the media, her frown deepened. Perhaps it was all a façade. Dean told her it was only sex, after all. Before he’d made love to her so tenderly, as if afraid he was going to hurt her, to break the bond between them forever.
And their bond hadn’t faded, at least not to her.
“I haven’t known you for very long,” Nicola said carefully, interrupting her thoughts. “But I can tell you care for him. I hope he’ll realize what he had, and try to get you back.”
She bit her lip, glancing at Nicola as she absentmindedly tapped her cup. Chelsea tentatively took a sip of coffee, wishing she could be drinking espresso from Spring Lake.
“I know I’ve fallen for him,” she admitted quietly. “But I don’t know if it would’ve worked out.”
It felt strange to be discussing her innermost feelings to a stranger, and Ryan’s new girlfriend of all people. But the need to talk to someone overcame that.
“Did you tell him how you feel?”
A smirk curved her lips. “I guess I was too stubborn. Too afraid to admit something like that. I mean, he’s Dean Westley. I figured him to be the type to end up with a celebrity. Not me.” She hesitated before continuing. “And after what happened with Ryan, I don’t think I was ready for a relationship. Maybe, subconsciously, I was pushing myself away from Dean.”
Nicola sighed. “I’m sorry. And I know this must be uncomfortable for you. You don’t have to tell me anything, it’s not my place to be nosy.”
“Sorry about Ryan? Don’t be. It didn’t work out with us, and I’m glad it didn’t. But with Dean…”
Chelsea expected to cry, but the tears never came. She gave Nicola a grateful smile, then stood and went to the kitchen, refilling her mug with cold water. She took a hesitant sip when her phone started ringing, blaring a high pitched tone that made her wince.
She answered quickly.
“Hi, Chelsea.”
Dean’s voice struck her hard, and she almost lost her grip on the phone. Chelsea clung onto every word he said.
“I wanted to hear your voice again. And I want to apologize for everything I did. I was so stubborn to push you away.”
As she gathered her thoughts, one feeling stuck out: the pain from his dishonesty. Now he was being impersonal by talking over the phone.
“Thanks,” she muttered. “Charming of you to tell me this way.”
“I’m standing outside.”
Her eyes widened and she quickly placed the phone on the kitchen counter, all doubts leaving her mind as she thought only of him. He came after me. Chelsea ran to the door and pulled it open to see Dean standing there, as he’d said. His imposing figure was clothed in a dark navy shirt and black pants. The same clothes he’d worn when they first met. Her breath caught in her throat as she observed him, taking in his ruggedly handsome looks.
“Dean!” she breathed.
He lowered the phone and pocketed it with a smile. “Chelsea. Good to see you.”
Realizing her mouth was open, she quickly shut it. “How did you…?”
“Andrea told me where you lived. Thought you would’ve moved to another house.”
She swallowed, then shook her head. She was stunned by Dean’s effort to find her again, and how Andrea chose to help him.
“I-I plan to,” she said. “This is just a temporary setback.”
“Same with us. Come back with me to Spring Lake. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Chelsea folded her arms, trying to be defensive. But all she wanted was to throw herself against him. “Why can’t you say it here?”
Dean glanced behind her. Chelsea shot a look over her shoulder to see Nicola standing in the kitchen, watching them. She turned away when she noticed they’d seen her.
“This is something I only want you to hear,” he breathed.
Chelsea nodded. Dean’s hand closed around hers and he led her out onto the sidewalk, where he’d parked his black Mitsubishi. Chelsea smiled in recognition. Everything she’d experienced with Dean came rushing back.
She climbed into the car with him.
“Why’d you come back
for me?” Chelsea wondered. “You didn’t try to stop me when I left.”
“As I said, I was stubborn and stupid,” Dean replied, flashing her a sensual grin. “Jake made me realize that.”
Her eyes widened. “You talked to him?”
Dean nodded. “And he’ll be coming back to Spring Lake. Thanks to you, my brother and I are good again,” he hesitated. “You changed a lot of things for me, Chelsea. I’ve missed you something bad since you left. I know letting you go was a mistake. I was stubborn, unwilling to let go of everything my life had come to. My image. My reputation. When I was at the grocery store, getting all the alcohol…”
Chelsea winced as she recalled how many bottles he’d brought back.
“I stumbled into Rachel. My financial advisor. She helped me see I was making a mistake. But when you were moving out, I froze. It was so easy to just let it all go, to let you go. And I let it. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you how I really feel.”
“This was a professional arrangement we’d agreed on. And I knew that was how we had to leave it. But when you were out of my life, I realized I’d been too stubborn letting you go. I was dumb as hell to turn my back on you, on myself. I hated what I’d done.”
“Fear, huh?” Chelsea mused, trying to lighten the tension. “I can relate.”
The drive back to Spring Lake didn’t feel like an hour. Chelsea couldn’t help but glance at Dean, overcome by all of the feelings burning through her. The pain from losing him, the passion the last moment they’d made love, it was all culminating together and she had to stop herself from kissing him right there.
“Dean, I…”
“Let me say it first,” he said with a grin. He pulled into the driveway and turned the engine off.
“To be blunt, I was using you for sex.” At her look, he raised a hand and quickly added, “Hey, I’m being honest. You’re a temptation I couldn’t resist, and I couldn’t stop myself from giving in. Everything I am, it all just didn’t matter around you. I intended on using you to improve my image, but I didn’t plan on falling for you.”
Then Dean was out of the car, and he opened the door for her. Chelsea stepped out and then she was in his arms, feeling his breath against her hair, his strong arms protectively embracing her.
“I missed you,” Chelsea breathed. “It never stopped.”
“I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I hope you forgive me for the mistakes I made. Time apart from you…it’s given me a clearer mind. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We can live here, together.” He paused to caress her face. “I love you, Chelsea Levin.”
“Oh, Dean!” Chelsea breathed. This time, she allowed her tears to fall, but they were of happiness, not the pain she’d felt since being apart from him. He brushed them away with his thumb, then silenced her with a kiss.
A kiss that stole the anger, all the doubts she had with him. She’d never hated him, but herself for hiding her true feelings. This was the man she’d fallen for, the one she would be with for the rest of her life.
Dean gently pulled away.
“I’ll take you around the world with me. There’re so many things I want to experience with you, and we have the freedom to do anything together. I thought I had to change my past to make myself better, but a future together is what matters. That’s what’s perfect.”
Chelsea regarded him with a wary look. “And what about the media?”
A sensitive subject for him. His concern for what the media thought had caused the rift between them. If it still affects him, Chelsea realized, then it won’t work out.
“What about them?” he retorted. “They know we’ll be together. Reputation and image means nothing compared to you.”
A small smile curved her lips. “If only you realized that sooner.”
Dean’s fingers entwined in her hair and he stepped closer. “It’ll be the only roadblock with us, okay? I promise you that nothing will lead us apart. I’m yours, Chelsea, always.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?”
“I can help you with your website designing,” he continued. “Money’s the last thing you’ll need to worry about.”
Chelsea smiled, reaching up to touch his face. “I don’t care about money. That’s not why I wanted you. So many times I wanted to tell you everything…”
“And I wanted to too,” Dean said. “I’ve been a damn fool, Chelsea. It seemed so complicated, but it was clearly simple. All I wanted was you. You’re the only woman I really love.”
Then she leaned forward into a kiss, and with his lips on hers she knew it wouldn’t be the last time. There was no more fear, nothing holding them back. In his arms, it was where she belonged. Her heart was with Dean, with their home in Spring Lake.
When she pulled away, his breath touching her face, Chelsea noticed the pain in his eyes.
“I didn’t tell you about my father,” he began.
“You don’t have to.”
“I do. Years ago, a woman blackmailed him, claiming they’d had an affair. If he didn’t pay up, she’d make it public. My mom never knew if it was true or not, but he kept quiet and the woman got her money. After that, I was always wary. She helped raise Jake and I after the accident, and with the money from my father, she lived a good life and ended up getting married herself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It caused a lot of pain between my parents. I don’t believe it was true, but it just showed me that people can seem truly nice when they’re after something else. I found it so hard to trust anyone again.”
“I’ll be here for you,” Chelsea promised. She reached a hand forward and one of his closed around it, warming her skin.
“I’m going to marry you.”
His words startled her. She never thought he would want marriage, that she’d even consider it.
“Thought it didn’t interest you?”
“It never did, before you.”
A smile pulled at her lips. “Then I’ll be happy to be your wife, Dean Westley.”
She fell into his embrace, not wanting to let go. His body was firm, protective, everything she missed. Chelsea quickly pulled away and looked up into his eyes. “Oh, I can’t forget about my cat Mittens.”
Dean chuckled. “She’ll live with us too.” His smile was slow and sensual. “I love you. I don’t think I’ll get tired of saying that. Now, there’s something I’ve been meaning to do since you came back…”
Dean’s voice trailed off as he squeezed her hand gently. Chelsea laughed loudly and carefree, her heart soaring knowing that they were finally together.
“I’ll see you in the bedroom,” she teased, laughing as she stepped inside.
“Oh, we won’t make it there.”
Dean kissed her once more, the heat from his body warming her skin. When he pulled away, Chelsea stared into his bright green eyes, content that he was hers. I’ve finally found The One.