by Tina Martin
“How can I love somebody I’ve known for less than two weeks?”
“The heart wants what the heart wants. You’ve been avoiding love for four years and the short time you spent with Preston has made you realize you can’t be this independent spirit, pretending you’re happy being alone. We all need love and companionship. Now, unless you’re planning on living with a bunch of cats, I want you to give Preston a real shot.”
She shook her head.
“Don’t shake your head. Consider it. He just might be the only man big brother approves of.”
“Why? Because he interviewed you for his fancy magazine?”
“No. Because he loves you, too.”
“And how could you possibly know that?”
“I have a sense for these kinds of things. In fact, I’ve taken it upon myself to make arrangements for you two to work through your differences.”
“Tyson, stop playing with me.”
“Not playing at all. I reserved a three-bedroom cabin on Hatteras Beach for two weeks. If you think you need more time, I’ll extend the reservation for an additional two weeks.”
Tamera’s mouth fell open. “I didn’t come here for a love connection. I came here to figure out what I want out of life.”
“You can do that, too.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands. “I—I can’t believe you of all people would do something like this.”
“Believe it. It’s happening, and you need it to happen. Thank me later,” he said, walking towards the refrigerator.
Tamera sat there in disbelief, face flustered, stomach quivering at the thought of being alone with Preston in a cabin for two weeks. She had the power to choose not to go, but she knew she had to. Mad and all…
Chapter 29
Sitting in her car at seven in the evening, Tamera looked at the address Tyson gave her for the beach house. She wasn’t sure about this, but what she did know was she hadn’t given Preston time to explain anything. And another thing she was sure of was this – there was something unexplainable and illogical happening between the two of them. She hadn’t talked to Preston in a week and still felt a strong connection to him. Anger mostly, but that was only because she liked him so much.
On the drive to the cabin, she thought about how she would feel laying eyes on him again. If she would be able to hide her attraction to him. Maybe so now that he’d betrayed her…
Twenty minutes later, she drove up to the cabin and parked next to a jeep, probably his rental.
“What are you doing, Tamera?” she said out loud. “You don’t have to do this. You could just go rent a hotel or something.”
The knots in her stomach wouldn’t let up. When she got out of the car, she could barely stand up straight.
Shake it off, Tamera.
She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly and then looked up in the direction of the house. There he stood, Preston fine-behind Michaels, wearing a pair of swim shorts. That’s all. Shorts. Tall, caramel-toned, bare-chested and barefoot.
“I’ll get your bag,” Preston said loud enough so she could hear him.
“I can get my own bag.” She rolled her eyes behind dark sunglasses and mumbled, “Freakin’ jerk. I shouldn’t have come here, anyway. Ugh.” Her breath caught when she heard his voice immediately behind her say, “Open the trunk.”
“I said I can get my own bag.”
“I know. I heard you, but there are a lot of stairs, and I’m not going to let you break your back trying to lug suitcases around just because you’re mad at me. Besides, I promised your brother I’d look after you.”
“So, you’re best friends with Tyson now? Is that it? That’s why you want to carry my bag?” she asked, opening the trunk manually with the key.
“No. I’m being a gentleman.”
“A gentleman would’ve put on a shirt,” she said snippily.
He smirked. He could’ve argued against it and said that he’d just gone for a swim and there was no need for him to have on a shirt at the moment. Instead, he said, “You’re right. I should’ve put on a shirt. I’ll put one on as soon as I get your bags inside.”
Tamera took her purse and walked towards the house. He wanted to get her bags, then fine, she’d let him get the bags. Once inside the house, she continued up the stairs, heading for one of the three bedrooms. She found one, went inside and locked the door. She threw her purse and keys on the bed, then buried her face in her hands.
Chapter 30
For the next two days, Tamera stewed, locked up in the bedroom by choice. She only emerged to eat at which times she made sure Preston wasn’t around. She had a sense for whenever he wasn’t there. She could feel it, the same way she could feel it when he was around.
Waking up from a midafternoon nap, she left her bedroom without thinking about whether he was in the house. At the moment, she didn’t care if he was or wasn’t. Feeling warm after her nap, she wanted a tall glass of water to cool off her body. She needed to get her bearings and decide what she wanted to do for dinner. When she stepped into the kitchen, she saw him sitting at the blue and white kitchenette with his laptop.
Figures he’d be here…
Their eyes locked briefly before she continued walking toward the cupboard where she grabbed a glass, rinsed it out then filled it with ice and water. Afterwards, she headed back for the door when she heard him say, “You can’t stay locked up in that room forever.”
“I wouldn’t have to if I was with someone worthy of spending time with.”
Folding his laptop closed, he said, “Define worthy.”
She sipped water. After thinking about it, she said, “Someone who doesn’t pretend to like someone only for the purpose of manipulating them.”
“Then you’re in good company because I never manipulated you, Tamera.”
“I saw the email, Preston.”
“Yes, an email that my sister wrote,” he said standing. “That wasn’t from me.”
“Then, why were you entertaining it?”
“I wasn’t.”
“It was an open window on your laptop.”
“Yes, because my sister called me to ask if I read it. While I had her on the phone, I opened it, read the first few lines and that was it.”
“Sure it was,” she said condescendingly.
He sighed heavily. “Look, we can go back and forth about this all day, but the bottom line is, no one twisted your arm to make you come here to this cabin with me. You came of your own volition. So why don’t you stop pretending you hate me and let’s make this time we have together count for something.”
“Count for what?”
He sighed heavily. She wanted to be argumentative. He wanted to patch things up. “Let’s talk over dinner,” he said. “Last night, I went to a nice spot only a couple blocks away. While I was eating there alone, I thought it would be a place you’d enjoy.”
“Fine. I’ll get my shoes,” she said testily.
He smirked, watching her walk away.
* * *
The walk to the restaurant was a short one just as he said. While Tamera walked beside him, she tried not to think about how attracted she was to him – how his smell brought back the good memories of last weekend. She’d laid on his bare chest and felt his heartbeat thumping in her ears. Then there was the warmness of his body and being wrapped up in his strong arms.
“This is it,” he said.
Tamera looked up at the name of the restaurant. She tried not to smile. It was one of the restaurants they had sampled at A Taste of the Beach – the restaurant with the good fish tacos.
Inside, he pulled out a chair for her then sat across from her.
“Remember this place?”
“Yep.”
“Figured you would. You really liked that taco you tried last weekend.”
Tamera flipped the laminated menu over to the opposite side. The restaurant had a list of specials for the day.
“What are you thinking about t
rying?” Preston asked.
Tamera looked up at him, trying her hardest not to frown and wishing she’d stayed at the cabin. “Probably the barbecue mahi-mahi tacos again. It comes with rice, so it should be pretty filling.”
Once they ordered, Preston interlocked his hands and stared across the table at her.
“I’m sorry, Tamera. I apologize for everything that happened.”
“Let’s just get through dinner without talking about it.”
“No. We need to address it because you need to know I’m not the kind of person you think I am. I’m not a manipulator. I genuinely enjoyed our time together last weekend.”
“Okay,” Tamera said unconvincingly.
“Why do I get the feeling you don’t believe anything I say?”
“Probably because I don’t.”
He rubbed his hand across his forehead out of frustration. “Do I need to run through the details of what happened?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then what do you want, Tamera?”
“I want to eat dinner in peace. If I can’t do that with you, I have no problem doing it without you.”
He stared at her for a long while but looked away when the waitress brought over their food. After she left the table, Tamera began on her entrée, tasting the rice first. The restaurant hadn’t provided rice samples at the festival so she figured she’d try it first. The taste made her moan in satisfaction. The rice was cooked and seasoned just right.
While he ate his dinner, Preston glanced up at her, feeling frustration with himself for breaking the trust of a woman who already had trust issues. A woman he liked, a woman thought he was getting to know before a misunderstanding destroyed it all. Maybe a relationship between the two of them was a lost cause. He hoped not, but like Tyson said, it was difficult to get back in a woman’s good graces after doing something to hurt her.
Difficult, but not impossible.
Chapter 31
She didn’t want to walk beside him on their way back to the cabin, so she walked ahead of him, nearly breaking into a sprint trying to get there before he could say another word to her.
He frowned. The magic he felt between them last weekend was gone. What were they doing here together exactly?
Walking on inside of the house, he continued to his bedroom where he took off his clothes and put on a pair of swim shorts, deciding to go for a late evening swim. That would help to take his mind off of them for a moment. The only problem was, when he opened the door, he saw her sitting on the steps, near the bottom, close to the sand. He started the descent down, looking at her with each step he took, but she didn’t move. She didn’t make an attempt to turn around, nor did she try to pick her face up out of her hand. She just sat there. Even when he walked pass her, she didn’t move.
Feet planted on cool sand, he knew he couldn’t keep on like he hadn’t seen her sitting there. Preparing himself for more of her attitude and disdain for him, he turned around, looked at her and asked, “Are you okay?”
Head still resting on her knees, she said softly, “I’m fine.”
“Let me know when you’re leaving. The least I can do is take your bags down the stairs for you.”
She sat up with tear-filled eyes, fighting them back when she asked with a shaky voice, “Who said I was leaving?”
Her sad appearance grabbed at his heart. He sat down on the step next to her and said, “I was assuming you were going to leave after the botched dinner we just had. It’s obvious you don’t want to be here, Tamera, and I don’t want you to be here like this.”
“Then what do you want, Preston? Tell me exactly what you want from me.”
“I want you to trust me. I want you to listen to me when I try to tell you that I had no ill intent towards you and I wasn’t playing you. I would never do something like that, Tamera. In fact, I went to Charlotte Magazine to try to get your job back. I told Damien you made up the story about faking the review only so they could remove it.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t want the job back.”
“I know that now. I didn’t, then. I was just trying to do the right thing.”
Tamera pulled in a deep breath and brushed a tear away from her face.
Preston took her hand, covered it with his and said, “I am truly sorry for everything that happened, Tamera, and I know there’s something between us. I’m not going to deny it. That’s why I’m here. I think that’s why you’re here, too. What do you say we figure out what that something is?”
She looked at him. Nodded. “Okay.”
“First, I need you to accept my apology.”
She smiled just barely. “I accept.”
A sigh of relief left his mouth. “Thank you.” Still holding her hand, he stood up and invited her to join him. “Come on. Let’s go get our feet wet.”
She pulled in a deep breath and released it, feeling the tension that had been thick between them for the past two and a half days slowly drift away in the process.
She stepped in the water and said, “Oh my gosh! That’s cold!”
“You can handle it. Just give it a minute.”
She stood there a few minutes more, holding his hand, feeling a sense of happiness wash over her like the water was cleansing her of her past and giving her a new, fresh start. She looked at Preston and wondered if he was feeling the same thing.
Chapter 32
The next morning, Tamera was up ahead of him. In the kitchen, she made coffee and scanned through the yellow pages, looking for a good breakfast spot – someplace she’d never tried before.
“Good morning,” Preston said as he entered the kitchen.
She smiled. “Good morning.”
“You sleep good?”
“I did. You?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I did actually.”
“Would you like to go get some breakfast?” she asked.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing. Let’s go.”
Taking the jeep, they drove around until they found a restaurant and once they were inside and comfortable, he said, “So, you quit your jobs. Now what?”
She shrugged.
“Oh, come on. You must have some sort of plan.”
“I do, but—”
“What is it?”
“I was thinking about starting my own website where I can post my experiences with different restaurants.”
The corners of his eyes wrinkled.
“What? You think it’s silly, don’t you?”
“No. I think it’s a good idea and if it’s something you want to pursue, I think you should do it.”
She gave him an appreciative smile. Then, looking at the menu, she said, “Ooh, they have steak and eggs. I think that’s what I’m going to order.”
“Then I’ll order the same.”
She blushed. “Why do you do that?”
“Because I like seeing how different our tastes are.”
“We’re two completely different individuals. Of course, our tastes are going to be different.”
“Yeah, but yours are a little twisty.”
She laughed. “Whatever, Preston.”
* * *
After breakfast, Preston suggested they try a jet ski tour. Tamera was quick to shoot the idea down until Preston convinced her of how much fun she’d be missing out on.
And he was right. They had too much fun, but for her, the best part about it was wrapping her arms around him while he drove. It was quite the adventure. Holding him close, trusting him to drive the jet ski properly and losing herself in thinking about all the possibilities of being with a man like him had her feeling hopeful that a relationship could mature between them.
Back at the house, after they’d finished Thai takeout for dinner, they sat at an umbrella table on the deck. The wind had picked up. Breeze thickened. Rain was on the way. They would enjoy the outdoors before the first drops fell.
“That was some good stir-fry,” Tamera said.
“It was. W
e’ll have to order some more before we leave.”
“Definitely.”
He grinned.
“What?” she asked.
“I was just thinking…you’ll do good with your website if all you’re writing about is food. You eat a lot.”
She laughed. “So do you.”
“Yeah, but I think that’s the norm. Men consume more calories than women. We burn it off quicker.”
“If you say so.”
She took a sip of sweet tea, looked around at the gloomy, disturbed sky and said, “Ahh, this is so relaxing.”
“It is. The calm before the storm,” Preston said. “Would you ever consider marriage again?”
“Whoa.” She grinned. “Where’d that come from?”
“Something I’ve been thinking about concerning you.”
She raised a brow. “You mind telling me why?”
“I just want to know what my options are.”
She blushed. “Excuse me?”
“What?” he smirked. “Am I saying something wrong?”
“Um…I—you kinda caught me off guard with your question. Um—I guess I haven’t given marriage much thought after Mark.”
“Why not?”
“Obviously, I’m not good at it.”
“So you blame the fact that the marriage didn’t work on yourself?”
“It takes two people to make a marriage work,” she said.
“Not when a man is abusive. It takes a smart woman to know when it’s time to go.”
“You’re right. I guess I wasn’t so smart.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean—” Tamera shook her head. “I loved him, and I was one of those stupid women who tried to hang in there in hopes he would change.”
“It doesn’t make you stupid, Tamera.”
“Doesn’t make me smart either. That’s why I’m so guarded. It’s why I didn’t believe you when you told me about your version of what really went down with the review.”