Accidentally on Purpose (Heartbreaker Bay #3)(21)

Or love.

Because that’s what she really wanted. She knew that now.

And maybe he did love her in his own way. As a friend. As someone he’d once protected and always would. She got that, she really did, but it was time to take the reins on this. She started with straightening her blouse—when had he gotten her unbuttoned?—and carefully looked around her rather than meet his gaze, not sure what she would see. Or what she wanted to see. It’d be nice if he felt even a fraction of the crazy discombobulation she felt, but she had a feeling she’d see regret and that was going to make her even madder. Still, she risked a peek and found his default expression—the blank one that told her nothing.

Nor did he speak. The man, damn him, was as obstinate as . . . well, herself. He could outwait Job.

She, unfortunately, could not. She’d never been able to wait for anything, not a cup of tea to brew, not for slow Internet, and certainly not for Archer to speak. So she went on the offensive. “Listen, we’re going to attribute that to . . .” She searched for a logical reason to explain why she’d nearly jumped his bones but logic had deserted her. “High altitude,” she said. Yeah, that was it. “The high altitude makes it hard to think.”

He was a dark outline in the night, not touching her but still standing close. “We’re not at any significant altitude here.”

Seriously? He couldn’t even give her that? She went on the defensive. “Look, I get that I kissed you, but you know what? You kissed me back, with tongue. In fact, you got to second base, Mr. Cool. So feel free to help me out here and come up with something better.”

When he didn’t say anything, she started to retreat again and nearly fell on her ass when her heels sank into the soft ground. She didn’t even care. “I’m going back to the fire before anyone gets the wrong idea,” she said stiffly. “I’m going to tell them that there is absolutely nothing happening between us. Less than nothing—”

“It’s you,” he said.

“What’s me?”

“My deepest, darkest regret. It’s you.”

Wait . . . what?

But on that stunning statement, he walked away first, heading back to the fire. She blinked and hesitated, but only for a minute before she hurried to keep up with him because although she might want to kill his sexy ass—which she wasn’t even going to notice, not ever again!—it didn’t mean she had any intention of being left behind as potential bear bait, thank you very much.





Chapter 7





#CalgonTakeMeAway



The girls didn’t stay overnight. They took a vote and Pru was the only one who wanted to. Kylie and Elle had way more sense.

“I need my pillow,” Kylie said when the three of them had huddled beneath a tree to confer.

“I need to not be on a mountain,” Elle said, but what she really meant was that she needed to be at least a hundred miles from Archer right now.

“I know, I get it.” Pru sighed. “I really do. Just give me a minute to say goodbye to Finn first.”

Kylie watched Pru go and pull Finn aside. “She’s going to need more than a minute.”

“Yeah,” Elle said but her mind wasn’t on Pru and Finn. She was Archer’s biggest regret . . . ? What did that even mean?

“I’m going to have another s’more while we’re waiting,” Kylie said, and she walked back to the fire.

Still reeling while pretending not to be, Elle stayed beneath the tree, looking up through the branches to the night sky, which was clear, crisp, and admittedly stunning.

She felt Archer come up beside her, felt the heat and strength of him, and as always her body stilled although she didn’t take her eyes off the sky. “What did you mean?” she asked.

He didn’t pretend to not understand. “That night,” he said quietly. “I didn’t get you out before you got hurt. That’s my biggest regret.”

The air backed up in her lungs at this unexpected statement and unwelcome memories flooded her. She and Morgan had left home about six months before that night, leaving their grifter mom to her business. The sisters had wanted a better life for themselves, a life free of trouble. Or at least that was what Elle had wanted, but Morgan, eighteen to Elle’s sixteen, had difficulty leaving trouble behind.

Unbeknownst to Elle, Morgan had gone back to working on the side for Lars, her bad-news boyfriend, in the same field as their mom. When one of Lars’s cons had involved a jewelry heist with a load of invaluable Russian antiques, Morgan had gotten scared and come clean to Elle, wanting out but having no idea how to get out.

Elle had told her she’d take care of it. And she’d tried. She’d taken the part of the loot that Morgan had in her possession back to Lars to tell him to leave her sister the hell alone or else. She had no “else” but she’d been willing to wing it in order to get Morgan out.

Unfortunately, two things had gone wrong. One, Lars hadn’t been amenable to what she had to say. In fact, he’d pinned her against the wall, his plan to beat her into submission and she wasn’t sure what else, but it wasn’t going to be good. He’d gotten halfway through that plan when the second problem had hit and hit hard.

A police raid and drug bust. Seemed along with illegal antiques, the boyfriend had also been drug running. And there she’d been, holding evidence no less. She should’ve been caught up with the others and arrested, but she’d had a guardian angel looking over her that night.