“Take all the time you need. I’m going to jump in the shower.” Catia checked her watch before reminding me, “The guys will be here in a couple of hours. You should think about getting ready soon too.”
That was when it hit me that I was still wearing a black string bikini. It was perfectly appropriate for catching a few morning rays but totally inappropriate for a heated talk with my ex. I reached for the sheer black cover-up on the ottoman and slipped it over my head before slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops. “Don’t worry, I’m sure this won’t take long.”
“Nice to see you again, Dustin,” Catia said, wiggling her fingers as she crossed the deck to the French doors. “I was just thinking, if you’re not busy tonight, you should come by. Darius would love to see you.”
I was going to kill her. What the hell was she thinking, suggesting my ex bring his new woman over to party with us?
“Thanks for the invite,” he said. “It’d be nice to see your brother again.”
I knew they’d lost touch after we broke up, which still bothered Darius, though he would never admit it to me.
When Catia was out of earshot, I said, “You can’t seriously be considering that offer. Don’t you think it would be a little awkward?”
“No,” he said, leaning against the iron deck railing while crossing his feet and arms. “Since Jana doesn’t know about us, I don’t think it would be awkward at all.”
“You didn’t tell her you were engaged before?”
He shrugged. “Why should I? It’s insignificant.”
He was trying to hurt me by implying that I meant nothing to him, and it was working. After what I’d done to him, he deserved to get his shots in, but I didn’t trust myself to take them without reacting, so I reached for my over-sized sunglasses and slipped them in to place.
“Whatever. I have to go inside and get ready for—”
He grabbed my wrist when I walked past him. “That’s it? You have nothing more to say to me?”
“What do you expect me to say?” My gaze traveled to his hand still wrapped around my wrist. “Oh right, congratulations. Jana seems like a lovely lady. I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”
“What about you? Still playing the field?”
I hadn’t expected any personal questions, and it caught me off guard. “Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“That’s what this party is about?” he asked, looking disgusted. “You’re looking to hook up?”
“What’s it to you?”
Instigating a fight with an annoyed Dustin wasn’t smart, but I was tired of receiving his anger. I’d hurt him, granted, but he’d clearly gotten over it, so why couldn’t he just forgive me and move on? Why was he still harboring so much resentment?
“I don’t give a goddamn what you do.”
“Good.” I raised my chin before reaching for my e-reader and bottled water. “Then we agree to keep our distance from now on.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your sister invited me to a party, and I intend to come.”
“Are you crazy?” I asked, stepping closer as I lowered my voice. “Why would you want to do that?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Darius. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“So you just expect me to pretend that we’re neighbors, nothing more?”
“It shouldn’t be too hard. You’ve had lots of practice acting as though I mean nothing to you.”
For the sake of my pride, I said, “If you want to lie to your fiancée, feel free. I have no problem playing along.”
“I’m not lying to her,” he said through clenched teeth. “I just don’t see the point in telling her that I was engaged when I was too damn young to even know what love was.”
I couldn’t have been more shocked or hurt if he’d told me he’d killed a man. He’d never loved me? “Then you agree that I made the right call, ending things when I did. So why are you still so angry with me? You should be thanking me for seeing what you couldn’t. Now you’ve found the woman of your dreams, and I’m sure you’ll live happily ever after.”
“Kara, I—”
“If you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
Chapter Two
Dustin
I was sitting on my parents’ deck, staring at the ocean and trying to justify the things I’d said to Kara, but I couldn’t. Claiming I hadn’t loved her was inexcusable.
I was just so surprised to see her after so many years, and maybe a part of me was pissed off that she looked even better now than when she’d left me. Maybe if she’d gained a few pounds, sprouted a few wrinkles, or taken up smoking, I’d have behaved better. But no, she still had the same silky dark hair, big brown eyes, and killer figure that had me chasing her in circles when we were kids.
And that bikini. What the hell was that? It should be illegal to walk around in that thing.
Seeing her again tore me up inside, even more so because I hadn’t been honest with Jana. When we’d first started dating, she asked me about my previous relationships, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Kara. It hurt too much to talk about it, and I was afraid if I did, she’d question whether I still had feelings for the girl who got away.
“Hey,” Jana said, coming up behind me and resting her hand on my shoulder.
“Oh, hey.” I turned my head to press my lips to her hand. “I didn’t hear you come up. How was your run?”
“Good, but I’m getting a bit of a headache.”
“Damn.” I grabbed her hand, encouraging her to sit beside me on the foot of the lounger. “Not a migraine?”
She’d suffered from migraines since she was a teen, and they often kept her out of commission, locked away in a dark, quiet room for days. She sighed, resting her head on my shoulder. “I hope not. I took something though, just in case. I’d hate to let it ruin our weekend.”
“Can I do anything for you? Maybe it would be a good idea to go inside, get out of the sun for a while?”
She glanced next door, where Darius and his friends were firing up the grill. “Looks like your friends are having company.”
“Yeah, they’re having a little get-together later. They invited us, if you’re feeling up to it.”
“Even if I’m not, you should go.” She linked her arm through mine. “You know how it is with these headaches. I’ll just have to crash in bed. I don’t want to spoil your fun.”
Jana was sweet and considerate, always looking out for other people. That was part of why I’d fallen for her. My parents and friends had convinced me she would be a good wife and mother, and I knew they were right, but I couldn’t explain the niggling sensation I got in my stomach whenever she tried to pin me down about a wedding date.
“Tell me about your neighbors,” she said, staring at the water. “They’re lovely. Twins?”
“Fraternal triplets, actually.” I didn’t want to talk about Kara, but if I tried to change the subject, Jana would get suspicious. She was a gifted psychologist, which made her a master at reading people. “There’s Kara, Catia, and their brother, Darius.”
“Their family has had that house for a long time?”
“Since the kids were born.”
I was only four at the time, but I vaguely remembered our next-door neighbors moving in with three newborn babies. I was fascinated, always wanting to go over and see the babies, since I only had one older sibling, but my parents had warned me to keep my distance. They said the neighbors had enough going on with three new babies to care for without having to worry about having someone else’s kid underfoot.
“Were you all close growing up?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to elaborate. Hell, I didn’t even want to have this conversation.
“The girls are gorgeous.” She nudged my shoulder with hers. “You didn’t have a crush on one or both of them?”
I hated lying to her, but if I told her the truth about Kara,
she would question our relationship and why I hadn’t been honest with her from the beginning. “Cat was like a little sister to me.” I definitely didn’t have any brotherly feelings toward Kara, but I hoped I could distract her with stories about Cat. “Darius and I were pretty tight growing up. He was younger than me, but we were both into fishing and watersports, so we hung out together. Cat always followed us around, wanting to home in on our fun.”
“What about Kara?”
I expelled a breath slowly, hoping she couldn’t tell how much it cost me to talk about my ex-fiancée. “Uh, Kara was there too, but she was more of an observer, I guess you could say. She’s never been the reckless type like her sister.”
“She’s cautious, is she?” Jana looked at the neighboring deck, where a dozen guys were already knocking back cold ones while talking and laughing.
“I guess you could say that.”
“Hmm, the cautious ones rarely give their hearts. When they do, it’s often forever.”
I was used to Jana’s insights about human behavior, but that one hit me like a fastball between the eyes. I didn’t want to think about Kara giving her heart only once—to me. As angry as I still was with her, I wanted her to find happiness. At least that was what I told myself so I could sleep at night.
“She’s not married?” Jana asked.
“Who? Kara? Not that I know of.”
I would have known, because I’d been following her life via social media. She was a well-respected interior designer who worked for her father’s upscale restaurant chain. I was surprised our paths hadn’t crossed at trade shows since our professions were so closely aligned, but I was grateful they hadn’t. It wasn’t until I met Jana that I believed I could stomach seeing Kara again.
“Engaged? Boyfriend?” she asked.
I chuckled, curling my hand around hers. “I really don’t know. I haven’t seen the girl in almost eight years. Why all the questions?”
“No reason.” She smiled before kissing my cheek. “I think I’m going to head inside, maybe curl up on the couch and watch a bit of TV, see if this headache goes away. How about you?”
“I was thinking I might go do a bit of fishing. You want to come? You could rest on the boat just as easily.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Fishing? No thanks.”
Growing up in North Carolina, fishing had always been a big part of my life, but Jana, despite being born and raised in Florida before moving to North Carolina to go to school, didn’t understand the appeal of outdoor sports. I told myself it was okay, that we had other things in common, but when my brother and friends challenged me about what those things were, I couldn’t say for sure.
Truth be told, Jana and I didn’t have a lot in common. But I loved her, which was more than I could say about any of the other women I’d dated in the past eight years, so I assumed that was enough to warrant a marriage proposal. I hated the dating scene and didn’t want to be alone anymore. I wanted to get married and have a few kids and raise them the way my parents had raised us. I knew Jana wanted the same things, so in that regard, we were totally in sync.
Darius spotted me and waved before beckoning me over.
“Looks like your friend wants you,” Jana said. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Just like in the early years, I was drawn to the Starkis house like a moth to a flame. “You sure I can’t get you anything before I head over there? I won’t stay long. I want to get out on the water for a bit this afternoon.”
“No, I’m fine. You go on ahead. Have fun.”
Jana wasn’t well versed in fun. She took her career very seriously and read psychiatric journals for pleasure. But she was smart and accomplished, and I was proud of her. Reminding myself of her accomplishments had become a daily ritual since we’d gotten engaged and the doubts had started creeping in.
I kissed her hand before watching her walk into the house. Rubbing my hands over my face, I questioned the wisdom of going back over there. I should have stuck to my original plan and gone fishing, gotten the hell away from Kara and all of those memories, but I couldn’t do it. I walked over slowly, noting Darius’s smile when he saw me.
He left his post at the grill and drew me into a back-slapping hug. “Man, it’s good to see you. It’s been too damn long.”
“Good to see you too, Darius. How’ve you been?”
“I can’t complain. Working for the old man isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. You know we’re opening a new restaurant in New York City, right? That’s why we’re all here for a while.”
“Yeah, I heard something about that. So business is good? You’re enjoying it?”
“Yeah, I am.” He laughed. “I never thought I’d enjoy being a general contractor. The old man says I’m wasting that fancy degree he paid for, but I like getting my hands dirty. Of course, I could live without my sisters bustin’ my balls, but I guess that goes with the territory in a family business, right?”
“I guess so. What exactly does Cat do again?”
Darius reached into a cooler and pulled out a longneck dripping with water from the ice it had been packed in. He handed it to me. “She’s the project manager, if you can believe that.”
That was typically a man’s job in the restaurant industry, but I had no doubt Catia was feisty enough to keep their employees in line. “I believe it. So how long are you guys gonna be here?” The sooner Kara left town, the better as far as I was concerned.
“We’ve already been here a few months, about nine more to go. This is a pretty big deal.”
As an architect, I understood how complex building something like a restaurant could be, but I wished it didn’t have to take quite so long. Since I was starting my own building project in the Hamptons next week, I would be staying at my parents’ beach house to oversee the construction, and I didn’t want to risk running into Kara again.
“Have you seen my sister yet?” Darius asked.
“I sure as hell have seen your sisters,” one of Darius’s buddies said, bumping shoulders with him. “You’ve been holding out on me, man. Why the hell didn’t you tell me your sisters are rockets?”
My gut clenched when I saw the other guys react to that statement, laughing and tapping their beer bottles while sharing a few filthy comments about what they’d like to do to Cat and Kara. It had been years since I’d had reason to be jealous about Kara, so I was shocked when those old feelings came back with a vengeance. I didn’t want to see another man put his hands on her, or even hear anyone talk about putting his hands on her. Jesus, I was in trouble.
“Not one of you dirtbags is good enough for my sisters, so back the hell off,” Darius joked.
“Man, that one in the white bikini,” the guy next to Darius said.
“Kara,” another guy chimed in. “Forget about it, she’s mine.”
“Oh, hell no,” a few guys objected. “She’s mine.”
Mine. The force of that word bolted through me as I gripped the beer bottle. How the hell could I still think of Kara as mine after all these years? Especially since I was engaged to another woman? I wasn’t the type to cheat. Never had, never would. So why was I having these feelings about my ex? I’d thought I was over her, but seeing her again had brought it all back to the surface.
“You wanna take a walk?” Darius asked, gesturing toward the beach. “Get the hell away from these rowdy assholes so we can talk for a minute?”
He obviously sensed I was having a hard time keeping my mouth shut when the conversation circled around the woman I’d loved for half of my life. “Uh, I was gonna do a bit of fishing this afternoon. Why don’t we head down to the dock so I can take the cover off and prep the boat?” That would allow me to keep an eye on things on the deck without being too obvious. If Kara ventured outside, amidst all these men clamoring for her attention, I wanted to know that she was safe.
“Sounds good,” Darius said, gesturing to the gate with his beer bottle. “Lead the way.” He asked one of his frie
nds to man the grill in his absence before following me down to the water. “Sorry about that,” he muttered, slapping my back. “Was that weird for you, hearing my friends talk about Kara?”
I shrugged. “We’ve been over for a long time. I have no right to be territorial over your sister, especially since I’m engaged now.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t ask how he knew. Our parents were all friends. I was sure they’d told him about my engagement.
“Have you guys set a date yet?”
“No, not yet.” I gestured toward an empty piece of waterfront land. “I’m starting construction on my own place next week. That’s my top priority for now. I don’t really want to think about planning a wedding ‘til I’ve got it finished.”
“Hey, wasn’t that the Morrisons’ old place?”
“Yeah, they passed on about five years ago. The kids are scattered all over the world, so they had no use for it, and the place fell into disrepair. I thought about gutting it but decided to just knock it down and start over.”
“I remember you and Kara used to talk about buying land here and…” He shook his head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay.” It wasn’t as though I could build a place in our home away from home without thinking about the girl I’d intended to share it with. “We both love this place. Lots of good memories here.”
“That’s why I’m kind of surprised you’re doing this,” Darius admitted. “Won’t it be weird for you, building a home here, of all places, where you guys fell in love and planned to marry?”
I cast a quick glance over my shoulder at the beachfront where we’d intended to say our vows. I couldn’t walk down that strip of beach without imagining how it would have looked decked out for our wedding. “This has always felt like home to me. I mean, North Carolina is home, but this is where my heart is.”
“I may be way out of line for asking this, but do you think that might have something to do with my sister?”
Kara (Starkis Family #4) Page 2