by Hart, Taylor
“Why didn’t you answer that message I sent you on Facebook?”
“You mean the one that told me you and your boyfriend were in town and wanted to have dinner?”
She threw up her hands. “Yeah.”
Tom couldn’t believe this, couldn’t believe her. He shook his head, turned on his heel, and stalked away from her. “Ya know what? I can’t do this.” He paused, then swung back. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven sharp. We’ll finish this deal and be done.”
Chapter 18
He’d pretty much left her standing there like a fool last night, Emily thought as she waited for Tom the next morning, feeling nervous and twitchy.
After he’d left, she’d felt drained. She’d come back to her room and felt fine physically. She had a bit of a headache but was keyed up. She’d ended up changing and taking a stroll on the boardwalk, on the other side away from the wedding and the dancing still happening. The walk hadn’t cleared her head like she’d hoped. All she could do was recount all the stuff she’d tried to forget, all the times growing up with Tom. Which was pretty much everything. When she’d finally dropped into bed last night, she’d gone to sleep thinking about how wonderful it’d felt to kiss him again.
A knock broke the silence, and she jumped from where she stood gazing out the window. She picked up her bag, which held sunscreen and a towel and a credit card, and she threw the door back.
What she found was a very angry Tom. “First of all,” he said, stepping into the hotel room.
She stumbled back but caught herself.
He closed the door behind him. “I can visit whoever I want anytime I want. Even if that person makes me crave you.”
Her heart was beating out of control, and she noticed the vein in his head was sticking out a bit. This was bad.
“Second of all,” he said, sticking up two fingers into the air, “why would I want to see you with your boyfriend?” He said the last word like he wanted to spit it to the ground. “I wanted to marry you once, Ems. Marry you. Why would I want to pretend for a night, with a boyfriend by your side, that it’s not killing me to see you with him and—” He broke off and sucked in a huge breath, glaring at her. “That would have been stupid. It was stupid for you to even reach out to me.”
“So we weren’t friends before we were everything else?”
Shock washed over his face. “No. I mean, yes, but …”
She stepped to him and poked a finger to his chest. “Then why can’t we be friends?”
Slowly, he looked down at her hand.
As if burned, she tugged her hand back.
Then he looked up at her, unamused. “Because I don’t need you as a friend. I don’t want you as a friend.” Before she knew what happened, he closed the gap between them, reached out, and took her face into his hands, but he didn’t kiss her.
All the chemistry between them lit her on fire.
“Dang you, woman!” He abruptly let her go.
Fire. Passion. Desire. It all erupted inside of her like a volcano exploding and not giving scientists time to let the village people know about the eruption. She stepped back, bracing herself against the bed frame. “Dang me?”
“Yeah?” He looked wild.
“Dang you!” She closed the gap between them. “Kiss me!”
He looked appalled. “What are you doing?”
She threw her hands into the air. “Do you know how it was for me last night after you ran off?”
He just stared at her, but she could see him relenting.
“Just kiss me, Tom.” Yes, all she wanted to feel was him against her.
Not waiting, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. The strength of Tom Kent’s muscles were rock solid as he kissed her.
She found herself reacting to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, feeling a different sensation than when they’d been kids. Back then, she’d loved kissing him. Now, he took her breath away.
This grown-up version was intense! She kissed him back and found her hands in his hair, on his face. His hands pulled her harder against him, and she was flying out of control. She couldn’t get enough of him.
Gradually, he loosened his grip just a bit, and she was pretty sure she would have fallen without his continued support. His gaze was intense. “I’m not repeating graduation night.” He let her go, running a hand through his hair. “Just know that no matter what happens, I would walk through the fires of hell with no turnouts before I would sit through dinner with you and a boyfriend.”
Her heartbeat ratcheted up a notch in her chest. “Okay.”
Tom kissed her one last time. “Okay. Then that’s that.” He looked at his watch. “We have to go. The photographer is meeting us there in twenty minutes.”
* * *
When they pulled up to the dock for the snorkel cruise, the first thing they noticed a guy with a hat on his head and a camera around his neck.
“So do you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend or what?” Emily felt a bit nervous and edgy. They hadn’t spoken the whole way here, and the whole time, she’d only been able to imagine what her life would have been like if she’d married Tom. Maybe she’d be living in Park City. Could she? No, that was insane. She was about to make junior partner. That would be a stupid career move.
“Girlfriend was the deal,” he said, rubbing the center of his palm with his other hand, his ice-blue eyes meeting hers.
Her heart raced. “That was the deal,” she agreed.
The photographer looked Italian and wore a goatee and sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt and swim shorts. He introduced himself as Stan and said he would just be taking pictures before the cruise. “I don’t like to get in the way.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t really like puff pieces, to tell you the truth,” he said, pulling a toothpick out of his mouth. “But what can I say? On the island, I take the work that comes my way. I’ll also be taking some pictures before you go parasailing tomorrow.”
Tom nodded.
Stan held up his hand. “Do you want to give me some shirtless pictures for some extra dough?”
“No.”
“Like a lot of dough.” Stan shrugged. “What can I say? Naked Tom Kent chest sells.”
Tom scoffed. “I made that mistake once. I said no.”
Stan used the toothpick to motion back and forth between them. “Fine, suit yourself. Just so you know, I’ll be doing a brief write-up. What’s your relationship?”
Tom took her hand.
“We’re together,” Emily blurted out, but it sounded fake to her own ears.
The guy pulled out a small pad of paper and pencil, and Emily thought he clearly wasn’t into technology.
“Girlfriend.” Tom smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“And you came on the trip with him because …” Stan waited.
She and Tom glanced at each other, and she didn’t know what to say.
The guy looked her up and down. “Hey, I keep up on the Kents, and I haven’t seen you before.”
Emily opted for the truth. “We dated when we were kids.” She turned to Tom, who stared into her eyes as if searching for the truth. She kissed his cheek.
The guy dropped his notepad and reached for his camera. “Hold on. Do that again.”
Tom’s eyes met hers, and the chemistry sizzled between them.
She thought of all the things he’d said to her about not wanting friendship. Her heart softened as she realized what it must have cost him to visit her mother. Immensely self-conscious, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently on the cheek again. His cologne wafted over her. Then his arm was around her waist, and he searched her eyes.
Time stilled. It felt like no one else was there.
Tom leaned down and brushed his lips to hers, sending fire sizzling through her. Pulling back, he turned and looked toward Stan. “Smile,” he said, attempting to follow his own advice.
The camera was clicking like crazy. Emily pasted on her own smile, thinking a
bout how she’d thought doing two days of excursions would be easy.
“I’m not giving up on second chances, Ems. Just so we’re clear.”
What did that mean? She searched his eyes. She didn’t know what was going to happen, but she did know that being with Tom Kent for the next two days just might break her completely.
Chapter 19
The snorkel cruise was much better than Tom had thought it would be, considering the fact that he’d never snorkeled before and that he was feeling all these crazy things about Emily. Once he and Emily dropped into the water together, he figured out how to breathe through his mouth. Emily helped him fix the mask so it wouldn’t fog up on him, and he realized he could be underwater all day.
They kicked off toward a group of sea turtles, hoping to catch up to several other people from the snorkel cruise. Unexpectedly, Emily grabbed his hand, then made some noise he couldn’t really hear and did a thumbs-up with her other hand. He grinned, and they swam faster.
The turtles pushed through the water with their flippers, moving with surprising power and grace. As Tom drew closer, mesmerized, he knew he could reach out and touch one. Even though everyone in the training had said it wasn’t allowed, he really wanted to. He thought of the movie Finding Nemo. Yes, they looked exactly like Crush. Tom could almost hear the surfer accent.
Emily pointed to the right, and they took off, still hand in hand. Tom admired the schools of fish and let himself enjoy the world under the waves—until he saw a fin, the exact thing he’d seen on the National Geographic channel. Shark! The sight struck him with the same alarm he felt when a building he was on a call for exploded with fire. Run! He tugged her hand and swam back to the boat.
With a splash, they surfaced. They both had to pump their legs to stay above water.
Emily pulled off her mask and laughed. “It’s amazing, right?”
Tom fumbled to rip his own mask off. “It’s a shark!” he yelled, projecting his voice for all to hear. “Shark!”
“Shark!” A woman who was treading water without a mask started freaking out. “Shark! Shark!” The more she freaked out, the more she splashed. She cursed. “Get me out of here!”
One of the workers from the snorkel cruise paddled over on a surfboard, grinning. “Calm down, ma’am. Calm down. It’s a whitetip shark. It’s not dangerous.”
Emily laughed.
Tom didn’t think it was funny. “You knew?”
“If you would have been paying attention, they told us there might be sharks that weren’t dangerous.” She was cracking up in giggles.
The worker continued. “It’s a privilege to see a shark, and now you can tell all your friends back on the mainland you saw one.”
The hysterical lady still floundered in the water. “Take me back to the boat. I didn’t want to come out here anyway, and this stupid thing—” She threw the mask at the worker. “—doesn’t work.”
The worker dodged the mask, frowning. He reached for the lady, and she scrambled up onto the surfboard and held to the guy.
Tom was relieved the shark wasn’t dangerous, and now he found this semi-rescue kind of amusing.
Emily nudged him, grinning widely. “Should we go see if we can find the shark again?”
“Yeah.” Now that Tom knew for sure they were safe, his sense of adventure returned.
Both of them put their masks on, and she reached for his hand. It felt so natural to take it. It was easier to snorkel with her hand in his than have to keep looking for her. They swam past the cluster of sea turtles and searched for the shark.
Emily pulled him a different way, and Tom couldn’t help but notice how amazing she looked in her red one-piece swimsuit. Sure, he knew she’d kept up the running after they’d met on the beach the other day, but as she swam a bit in front of him, he had a chance to check her out more fully.
Every hour spent with her just increased his attraction. She could be a realist, but he was tired of real life if that meant they had to be apart. He wanted her back. She was the one for him. Truthfully, she’d always been the one for him, but now that he had another chance, as he had warned her, he was going to take it.
He grinned and thought Will would approve. Then he thought of all of his pig-headed brothers talking about him. What were they doing—having chick calls about him? Talking about his love life? Pfft!
Tom and Emily suddenly found themselves in a school of fish, and he wanted to laugh at the vibrant colors. A huge black whiskered fish brushed past them without fear.
Emily squeezed Tom’s hand. Though he couldn’t see her face, he knew she loved this. He thought this was how their lives could have been for the last ten years.
An hour later, he found himself back on the boat, guzzling back a water bottle at a table on the top deck. Emily sat across from him, wearing sunglasses and a white sun hat. He couldn’t stop thinking that she looked like a movie star.
“What?” She turned to meet his eyes.
“What?” He shrugged, wanting to say so many things but also wanting to just enjoy this day, being with her, taking it for whatever it was.
She shook her head and sighed. “I’ve always wanted to come to Hawaii and do this.”
“Remember, married by Christmas.” He said it softly.
“I remember, Tom,” she said, and her gaze drifted toward the ocean.
The moment went quiet.
He opted for being optimistic and not bringing up all their crap right now. “Hey, I guess you’ll be a bigwig attorney on your way to partner. I’m sure there’ll be more trips to Hawaii.” Already he could imagine her with him the next time they went to Hawaii. Maybe the Big Island, but he didn’t want to freak her out.
“I don’t think so,” she hedged. “At least not for … I don’t how long. Maybe never at this rate.”
He was sucked in a breath, wanted to grill her for facts about the last ten years. “Why?”
She tugged off her sunglasses and wiped her eyes, exhausted all of a sudden. “Tom, there’s something you need to understand. I know I hurt you.” Her voice had dropped down to a whisper. “But I have had a lot of insecurity in my life.”
This dance was growing tiresome. He knew he was solid. He knew he could be there for her. Reaching out, he put his hand over hers. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
Emily searched his eyes, then absently twirled her hair with delicate fingers. The gesture reminded him of when they were younger, when she would get upset and sit in his garage and watch him fix his motorcycle. She used to talk and talk and twirl and twirl her hair. He’d loved it.
She looked away. “Dad left, Mom broke down. Then I left. Trina got married and had little Elliot. Mom went in the care center, and that’s good. We … Trina shouldn’t have to be the one to take care of her. But now Trina’s getting a divorce, and I told her I’d pay for her to go back to school. I mean, she gets state help with tuition, but she needs help for her and Eli.”
“I’m sorry. That is a lot to handle.” He hadn’t known all of that, and he couldn’t imagine how overwhelming it must be for her.
She shrugged. “Trina told me the other day I run when I’m scared, and I guess I did run from you.”
Tom wanted her to realize she didn’t need to run anymore. “Like your dad,” he said softly, remembering what she’d said the other day.
“I never thought I was like him, but I guess I was with you.”
He let out a breath. “You’re not your dad, Ems.”
She scoffed. Apparently, she didn’t want him to let her off the hook. “Maybe part of me was. I didn’t do the hard thing and wait for you.”
He didn’t argue there. It had sucked not to have her.
She bit her lip. “I took advantage of that scholarship, and I made a life, but it came at a price.”
“Yes, it did, but we can change all of that.”
Emily let out a rippling laugh. “Tom. I can’t just leave my job.”
“Why?” he pressed. “There are attorne
ys in Park City. In fact, I know one—Luke Freestone. He has a big law firm. I know the guy. He would bring you on, especially since you have the kind of experience you have.”
“Is …” She sputtered. “Are we going there?”
“I’m already there, baby.”
She hesitated. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I’m paying for my mom’s care, and I’m helping Trina.”
“I know. We’ll figure it out.”
“And I still have some loans from law school. Law school wasn’t on scholarship.”
“So what?”
“Tom?” She sounded like he was a child and didn’t understand how to pay bills.
“I don’t care. We’ll work it out.”
Giving him an exasperated look, she stood and walked over to the side to grasp the rail.
Tom followed her and took her hand to kiss the back of it. “Remember, I’m the dreamer.”
“Yeah.” She looked doubtful, but she didn’t move away, and he took that as a good sign. “You’ve always been the dreamer.”
Gently, he traced her jawline, stopping on her lips and feeling the tension between them. “I believe we can figure anything out together.” Slowly, he leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. “It’s so right, Ems.”
She blinked, then pulled back, using both hands to hold to the railing. “Trina told me yesterday that the care facility needs an extra fifteen thousand because my mom got sick last month.”
Tom frowned. “That stinks.”
“I don’t know when the last time you saw her was, but on top of the dementia, she’s been having seizures.” Tears welled up in her eyes, and she swallowed. “They don’t know how to help her. That’s kind of why this wedding is so important. I mean, not just for the junior partner title. I would also get a twenty-thousand-dollar bonus if I get it.”
He let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of money.”
She shrugged. “I was going to pay student loans, but she comes first.”