Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(27)

“Maybe. But she’s sweet. She’s good. She’s also innocent. Back off before Marcus figures out there is a reason he should put a bullet in your head.”

I couldn’t back off completely. I needed her friendship. I wanted to be near her. “We’re friends now. That’s something he’ll have to accept. Nothing more.”

“Friends? Bullshit.”

I didn’t expect him to believe me. Why should he?

Amanda



By the time I left the study group, it was after nine. Today had been busy and somewhat successful. We’d found a flower girl dress. However, the bridesmaid dresses hadn’t been so easy to find. We had another day planned next week to go to Mobile to see if we could find something there.

I noticed a familiar Jeep parked in the driveway. What was Preston doing? Mom was at home. I’d talked to her already once tonight. Had he been sitting there long?

I pulled up beside him and got out. I had to get him out of here before Mom saw him. She would have a fit if she saw me hanging around with Preston Drake. He was okay as one of Marcus’s friends, but that was all. She had never let it be a secret that she wasn’t a fan of his.

Preston was grinning when I got close enough to make out his face. The top to his Jeep was off, and he was leaned back with his head turned in my direction.

“You’re finally home,” he said. There was no slur to his voice, so he wasn’t drunk. That was a good thing.

“Yeah, um, what are you doing here?”

“Go for a ride with me” was his response.

I glanced back at the house. Mom’s bedroom light was off, and that normally meant she’d taken her sleeping pill already. But he didn’t know that. “Mom is expecting me.”

“Please,” he replied.

“My mom—”

“Is asleep,” he interrupted.

Sighing, I shifted my feet and stayed a good foot away from him and his Jeep. “Why? It’s late and I’m exhausted.”

“Because I want to spend time with you. I missed you tonight.”

He missed me? Really? “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It is probably one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had. Please come with me,” he pleaded.

I was a female. How was I supposed to ignore that? “Fine. But just a short ride, and then I need to go to bed.”

I walked around the Jeep and climbed in. I’d never made it into his Jeep the last time he’d asked me to take a ride with him. When I looked over at him, he was staring at the door I’d just closed and his eyes moved to me.

“Did you . . .” He swallowed loudly. “Did you have an orgasm up against my Jeep that night?”

He was remembering more and more of our night together. I doubted we’d be done talking about it anytime soon. The more he remembered, the more he was going to want to ask me about it. Then I’d have to relive it.

I turned my head to look outside before answering. “Yes.”

“Your shirt was off,” he replied slowly.

“Yes, Preston, it was. Can we please not talk about this?”

Preston shifted the Jeep into reverse, and we backed out of the driveway.

“I’m sorry. It’s just . . . pieces keep coming back to me, and I just remembered you clearly coming for me while I had you pressed up against the Jeep.”

I would not be embarrassed. I would not.

“No one had ever done those things to me before. It was a given that I was going to get off easy,” I replied.

“I was just kissing your tits. No one had ever done that before?” The surprise in his voice made me wish I’d stayed at home. Getting in this Jeep had been yet another bad move.

“Subject change, please.”

Preston didn’t say anything else. He drove to the public beach that was deserted this time of night and pulled down onto the gravel parking lot just before the sand starts. The moonlight on the waves was always something I loved to watch. It was romantic, and as many times as I’d wished I could sit and watch it with Preston, I didn’t want to right now. Romance and Preston had to be kept completely separate.

Preston opened his door and came around the front of the Jeep, then opened my door. He held out his hand. “Come watch the waves with me, Manda.”

“It’s late,” I replied.

“Just for a few minutes. Please?”

Giving in, I placed my hand in his and let him help me out of the Jeep.

I left my sandaled heels on the floor and got out barefoot. Preston closed the door to the Jeep, then stared at it before looking at me. The heavy, hooded expression in his eyes told me what he was thinking. Knowing it was turning him on only made my pulse rate pick up. I couldn’t help the fact that I wanted Preston to want me. To at least be attracted to me.

“Come on,” he said, reaching for my hand and threading his fingers through mine. We walked out to the sandy shore until Preston found a spot close enough for us to see the waves clearly but far enough back that we wouldn’t get wet.

He tugged me down with him until we were both sitting.

“Why are we here, Preston?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I wanted to come out here to think. It’s where I think best. And I wanted you to be with me.”

My traitorous heart skipped a beat. He could say the sweetest things. I just needed to remember he could also say some of the meanest things. His mouth was dangerous. In many, many ways.