No regrets.
Miles smiled at the elegant handwriting on the paper. Glancing in the mirror, he realized that his only regret was that the night was over. Lori had been everything he had expected her to be. And the sex? That had been even better. As much as Miles hated to admit it, his brother Gavin had been right about him needing to get laid. Despite the meager amount of sleep he’d gotten, Miles felt more relaxed and ready to face the agonizing decisions that loomed before him. He had Lori to thank for that. Miles grinned just thinking about the ways he wanted to repay her for the favor.
Just as quickly, his grin faded. She wasn’t sticking around. Hell, she might already be gone. His pulse sped up at the thought. He shoved the note into the top drawer of the dresser and began furiously brushing his teeth. Miles knew the reality of the situation. Theirs was a one-night stand months in the making. Their relationship could never be anything more. Still, he wasn’t ready for Lori to take her secrets and vanish into thin air.
And those secrets bothered him. There was no way she was some nefarious criminal. Not judging by the way she cared for Cassidy, his mother, and this B and B. Clearly she was running from someone and that thought stirred up Miles’ ire even more. He spit into the sink, swearing as he did. He knew people. People who could help. Just look what he was able to do for Cassidy. Miles could protect Lori, too. If she’d only let him in on her secret.
His phone beeped with a text message. That would be Will alerting him that he was beginning his run. He’d be on the stretch of beach in front of the B and B to meet up with Miles in ten minutes. He pulled on his running clothes, eager to get down to the kitchen before he had to meet Will.
The smell of bacon greeted him at the threshold of the room. He blew out a relieved breath when he spied Lori, standing at the counter with her back to him, filling a chafing dish with grits. She was dressed in her usual garb of baggy cargo pants and a long T-shirt. He’d known for months that she was hiding a hot figure beneath her clothes, but now that he’d touched—and tasted—that body, Miles appreciated the drab outfits she used to blend in. They kept other men from fantasizing about the secrets she kept concealed beneath them.
Coming up behind her, he pressed his lips to the freckle he’d discovered on her neck the night before. Lori jumped away from him, nearly spilling the contents of the tray.
“Miles!” she hissed as she quickly glanced around the empty room. “You can’t do that.”
The muscles clenched in his jaw. He wanted to kiss her and do a hell of a lot more, but she was right. Damn it. The last thing he needed was his mother, Cassidy, or—God forbid—Bernice walking in on them. He didn’t know how to explain what was going on with Lori to himself, much less to anybody else.
Placing a hand on her lower back, he guided her into the laundry room, out of the line of sight of anyone who might happen into the kitchen.
“The breakfast room opens in ten minutes, Miles.” Lori licked her lips and her gaze roamed his face, an uncertain look in her eyes.
“This will only take five,” he said before he sealed his lips over hers. Thankfully, she didn’t resist. Instead, she rocked her hips into his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. That was all the encouragement Miles needed. He plundered her mouth, kissing her like some greedy frat boy who was totally out of control. She tasted like strawberries and cinnamon. Miles’ body grew hard and his head grew light with every little breathy sound she made.
Lori’s common sense was obviously working more effectively than his because she pulled out of the kiss before either of them did something stupid. Miles leaned his forehead against hers, waiting for their breathing to return to normal.
“I just came down to tell you, no regrets.”
She pulled back and a look of faint wonderment spread over her face followed by an effervescent smile. Those golden flecks sparkled in her caramel eyes again, and Miles swore she seemed brighter.
“I’m glad,” she whispered. “So very glad.”
Miles slid his hands up and down her back, continuing to study her. She was definitely not a hardened criminal. Not with lips and eyes like that.
“Let me help you,” he whispered.
“There are only six people in for breakfast,” she said, misunderstanding his intent. “I think I can manage.”
“That’s not—”
The screen door slammed, followed by the sound of scratching on the kitchen floor before his brother’s damn dog appeared complete with a piece of driftwood in his mouth. The dog got hung up as it tried to ram the oversized stick into the doorframe in an effort to greet Miles and Lori.
“Careful, Midas,” Lori said with a laugh as she stepped out of the laundry room. She stopped a few steps into the kitchen at the sight of Will Connelly. Will eyed both her and Miles shrewdly before pilfering a piece of bacon out of the warmer.
“I’ll call the help line about the dryer later today. I’m sure it’s an easy fix,” Miles lied, saying the first thing that came to mind. He knew that look on Will. Despite the lie, there would still be questions. In many ways, his friend would be harder to fool than Bernice. The only thing Miles had going for him was the fact that the big man looked exhausted. Hopefully, he was easily diverted.
Lori nodded before picking up a chafing dish and disappearing into the breakfast room.
“How’d you end up with Midas?” Miles asked as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler. “You’ve already got your hands full with a new baby in the house.”
Will reached in behind him and pulled out a bottle of his own. “Gavin headed back to New York for the rest of the week. I told him I’d run the mutt every morning to wear him out. Ginger is teaching a dance summer camp so she won’t have much time to keep Midas entertained.” He shrugged. “It gives me an excuse to escape the house and get my run in.”
They headed toward the beach, the dog frolicking at their heels. Gavin had probably told him all this the night before, but Miles had been distracted by the governor’s ultimatum—among other things. He needed to get his head back into the campaign and regain control of his life.
The two ran in companionable silence for the first mile while the dog bolted in and out of the surf, zigzagging between both men.
Miles decided to leap right in with both feet. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“As long as I get to ask what was going on in the laundry room this morning,” Will answered.
“Nothing was going on in the laundry room. Just a problem with the washer.”
“Funny, you said it was the dryer before.”
Miles cursed the Ivy League–educated jock.
Will just laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone you’re fooling around with the maid. There’s no crime in that. As long as you’re both willing and single.”
Miles stumbled before catching himself. Will wouldn’t be so flippant if he knew Miles was considering ending his single status. “About that . . .”
His friend eyed him with that astute look again before pulling up to a walk. “She’s not single?”
“No!” Miles paced the shoreline. “I mean yes. But I’m not talking about Lori. I’m talking about me.”
Will took a long pull from the bottle of water. “You’re not single?” he asked sarcastically after he’d swallowed.
“Can I just get to my damn question?”
“Sure.” Will tossed a stick out into the ocean and Midas scampered after it. “Ask away.”
“It’s about your marriage.”
His friend shot him one of those icy looks that had the rest of the NFL nicknaming him William the Conqueror. “There’s personal and there’s none-of-your-damn-business, Miles. What goes on with my marriage falls into the second category.”
This was going to be more difficult than Miles thought. He needed to talk to someone about the governor’s proposal. Miles did
n’t feel comfortable talking to anyone in his family about it. With his luck, the governor had already informed Coy of his proposition and Bernice would have all of Chances Inlet making wedding plans before noon. Miles cringed, picturing his mother’s reaction. She would be disappointed and his siblings would no doubt accuse him of being overly ambitious yet again. But Will had originally married Julianne for convenience, as a way to share custody of the son he hadn’t known about. At least he’d understand Miles’ dilemma.
“I’m not interested in the intimate details,” Miles said. “I want to know about your first marriage. When you married Julianne as a formality. You didn’t love her, but you married her anyway.”
Will stared at him in silence. Miles knew he wasn’t making any sense. Frustrated, he yanked off his T-shirt and swiped at his sweaty face. Better just to spit it out, he figured.
“The governor is worried about my campaign. All this bullshit about my father is making my approval ratings tank. Faye is a happily married woman with a family. Apparently, voters like settled.” He pushed out an aggravated sigh. “The governor thinks it would be best if I got married.”
“What?” Will looked as if Miles had just told him they were going to run to New York and back. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. People just don’t get married to improve their image.”
“You did,” Miles fired back at him.
“That was different and you know it. I married Julianne to protect my son’s image. I didn’t want him growing up labeled a bastard like I did.” Midas dropped the stick at Will’s feet. Will angrily chucked it past the waves. They both stood there silently, watching the dog leap through the water before Will spoke again. “You’re not actually considering it, are you?”
“I might not have a choice. The party will make the campaign negative if I don’t.”
Will snorted. “You have more integrity than that, Miles. Besides, you aren’t even dating anyone. Unless you’re planning on marrying whoever tattooed your back with their fingernails?”
Miles swore as he pulled the T-shirt over his head.
“Washer and dryer my ass,” Will mumbled.
“The governor wants me to marry his daughter.”
Will whistled. “The plot thickens. At least she’s gorgeous. And smart. There’s also that whole politically well-connected part. At the risk of sounding like a dumbass, what’s there to be conflicted about here?” he asked condescendingly.
His friend clearly didn’t understand. Miles kicked off his shoes and waded out into the surf. The dog barked excitedly, weaving between Miles’ legs. How had everything gotten so complicated? His life plan had never included Justine and his father’s deaths and his mother’s subsequent financial woes. Or an arranged marriage. Not to mention a distracting stranger who made him want to abandon his squeaky clean image for a night. Or two.
Will waded in to stand beside him. “What’s really going on here, Miles? I know you and Greer are friends and you respect her, but you’re the most honest guy I know. The lie of the relationship would eat at you.” Will rolled his shoulders. “If you’re asking me whether or not you’d learn to love Greer, I have no idea what to tell you. I blackmailed Julianne into marrying me the first time because I didn’t want her taking Owen away. But in truth, I wanted her, too. We started with a pretty potent chemistry. Love became a part of the game plan later.”
Miles sighed. “That’s not the case here. I think of Greer like I do my two sisters. And you know I’m not planning on falling in love again.”
Will mumbled something that sounded a lot like dumb ass. “And this thing with Lori? What’s that about?”
“Lori has one foot out the door. We were just scratching an itch.” Miles hated how the words sounded as they left his lips. Yet he didn’t want to analyze why last night felt like something more than a one-night stand. “Would it make me an ass if I said despite what happened between her and me last night, I’m still considering marrying Greer? It seems the lesser of two evils.”
“Is what they have on Faye that bad?”
The governor claimed to have evidence that Faye Rich had had an abortion when she was seventeen. According to his source, the baby’s father was one of the mechanics at her father’s car dealership. The man was also fifteen years her senior and married. Miles cringed just thinking about it. True or not, he was in no position to judge Faye for a youthful indiscretion. The woman had made a huge success of her life and her business. It had no bearing on whether or not she should serve in Congress.
He shook his head. “It’s not worth repeating.”
Will blew out a resigned sigh. “Well, then what would make you an ass would be if you went into this without letting Greer know the score up front.”
Miles nodded. If he went through with this marriage, the one thing he could give Greer was his honesty. She’d likely take that as a challenge to secure his heart, but she’d only be disappointed in the end.
“One more thing, though,” Will cautioned him. “Even when I married Julianne for convenience, I gave her my word I’d be faithful. If you decide to go through with this madness, you can’t go around scratching any more itches. You’d better hope Lori really does have one foot out the door.”
“She does.” Ironically, with everything he faced, that thought troubled Miles the most.
* * *
“Careful with the sprinkles, sweetheart.” Lori caught the bottle of rainbow-colored sugar before Emily accidentally knocked it off the counter with the oversized sleeves of her princess costume. Patricia’s granddaughter was piling the sprinkles on the heart- and star-shaped sugar cookies that Lori had rolled out. “Maybe we should use a little less on each one so we have enough for all of them,” Lori suggested.
“I have to make these stars extra sparkly.” Emily pushed out her bottom lip, giving Lori that look that said she wasn’t going to be denied. Lori glanced across the kitchen for reinforcements, but Kate was on her phone talking about a patient. Patricia had hobbled into the library where guests were enjoying afternoon tea.
“Those are lovely, Em,” Ginger said over Lori’s shoulder. Emily beamed at her future aunt, her smile shouting, I told you so. “Even if they are extra cavity-inducing,” Ginger whispered to Lori. Both women shared a smile.
“What are you doing out of the studio?” Lori asked. “I thought Audra had you teaching camp all week.”
Ginger snitched one of the cookies, discreetly dusting off the excess sugar into the sink.
“They’re watching Cinderella this afternoon. It’s the dance they’re breaking down in camp.”
She lowered her voice so that only Lori could hear. “I ran up here because something came in the mail for you today. It’s from Diesel.”
Lori’s pulse skipped a beat. She’d been waiting for the letter from her friend for days now. It likely contained the details of her next job. It also meant that as soon as she found her grandmother’s ring, she could move on. The thought made her nauseous.
She took the envelope from Ginger. “Will you keep an eye on her for a minute?” she whispered.
Ginger nodded and Lori made her way out to the sunny veranda. Thankfully, it was empty of guests. She tore open Diesel’s letter and read his carefully laid out plans for the next phase of her life. He’d gotten her a job as a personal chef to a country singer. The position came with a small apartment. Diesel had thought of everything, including sending ample money for her to buy a bus ticket to Nashville. The whole process would be easy.
Too bad it wouldn’t be painless.
When Lori had left Oregon, she’d felt little remorse at breaking her mother’s heart. She’d been a callous, reckless teenager wanting the life she figured she’d been denied. Wealth and independence were waiting for her with a father she’d barely known. The only emotion she’d felt was the thrill of the glitzy life and excitement for the career that awaited
her.
Eight years later, when she’d escaped New York, panic and anger were the emotions weighing her down. Those were tempered by the relief she’d felt when she’d found a safe haven in Chances Inlet, and the Tide Me Over Inn. Despite her best intentions, she’d become attached to the people here. It would hurt not to be a part of their lives any longer. There was no way for her to repay Patricia’s kindness. Lori would miss the ease of Ginger’s friendship and Cassidy’s quirkiness.
It’s for the best, she told herself. Once they found out who and what she was, they wouldn’t want her working here any longer. Worse, they wouldn’t want her in their lives, period. Their rejection would be even more painful than slipping off in the middle of the night without so much as a good-bye.
And then there was Miles. A flush warmed her body just thinking about the things they’d done to each other between the sheets of his big bed. Last night had been a one-night stand for the ages—hasty and wild. But like Miles, Lori had no regrets. Except that the circumstances of both of their lives meant their relationship could never be anything more. They’d just been using each other to escape the real world that was closing in on both of them. She squeezed back the tears building behind her eyes.
“Hey.”
Lori jumped at the sound of Miles’ voice. She shoved the letter into her pants pocket.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Sure,” she lied.
He made a noise that sounded like he didn’t believe her. Leaning a hip against the railing, he crossed his arms over his chest. Miles was casually dressed in a pair of well-worn jeans and a faded Duke T-shirt, which stretched nicely over his muscled chest. Lori’s eyes roamed over him and her mouth went a little dry. She’d never seen this version of Miles. It was almost as appealing as the naked version. Almost.
“Casual dress at work today?” she asked, hoping to distract him from probing.
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