Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(57)

My mother let out a weary sigh, and her face pinched into a frown. “I stood outside long after she closed the door, and I watched the window in her bedroom. Preston Drake was in there. He closed the curtain, and soon Janice’s shadow joined him.”

“It was a shadow, Mom—”

“I told Blanche about this the next day. I figured if anyone knew, she would. Blanche pays Preston for sex. She has been since she and Ken divorced. Apparently, he has a small, discreet client list among the wealthy women in this town. Preston is a high-priced gigolo who services attractive older women. He doesn’t do odd jobs, Amanda.”

I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming. This was a nightmare, and I was about to wake up. I shook my head and stood up. I couldn’t sit here and listen to this. I didn’t believe it. Preston was too good. He would never lie to me about something this big.

“I was worried you wouldn’t believe me. You fell for those pretty-boy looks of his. Why don’t you ask him? See what he says. Watch his reaction. Then you come back and tell me this is a lie.”

I grabbed my keys off the hook beside the door and ran outside. Preston could explain this. Because this couldn’t be true.





Chapter Twenty-One



Preston



I’d been watching my phone for the past hour, waiting on Amanda to text me. After once again searching the job listings online, I’d come up empty handed. If I had taken welding in school, I’d have a job, that was for damn sure. If I didn’t need money right now, I’d go to school for welding. That way I could work hours that fit into my schedule and make more than enough money to cover our needs.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts, and I put my phone down and grabbed a pair of discarded sweats. I jerked them on quickly and went to the door. It was after eleven. Who the hell was coming to see me so late?

When I opened it, Amanda walked inside, pushing past me.

“I have to ask you a question. It is going to sound ludicrous, but I need you to listen to me, and then you can explain how very wrong my mother is.”

Her mother. No. God, no. I couldn’t say anything. My voice left me. This was not happening. Not now. I hadn’t had enough time to fix it.

“Preston, you’ve gone pale.”

I couldn’t look at her. She knew. She didn’t believe it, but she knew.

“You’re scaring me. Preston, look at me.”

I needed her to say it. “What did your mother tell you?”

I was going to lie. I needed a lie to get out of this. I couldn’t lose her.

“She said . . .” Amanda let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t even believe I’m about to say this out loud.”

She didn’t believe it. I could convince her it wasn’t true. I could tell her something else. The women I worked for wouldn’t want the truth out. They’d never back up her mother’s story.

“Just tell me,” I urged, finally making eye contact with her.

She ran her hand through her hair and looked over at the couch. “You want to sit down? It’s kind of unbelievable, and it may take awhile to explain.”

Getting her farther away from the exit for her to go running out of was a good idea. “Sure.”

I followed her over to the couch and sat down in the chair across from her. I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out, and sitting too close to her might be a bad idea. I also wanted to see her face.

“My mom found out that you and I are seeing each other. Apparently, someone saw us at the beach today. She was upset, which I’d expected. But why she was upset was not at all something I’d expected.”

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger nervously. “Mom saw you at the mayor’s house. Going upstairs . . .” She trailed off. She wanted me to say something. What could I say? There was no denying I’d been there. This was my chance to lie. To cover this mess up. But my mouth wouldn’t open. I couldn’t come up with one thing to say to ease her mind.

“She said you were sneaking upstairs and that Janice was really nervous. Then after she left, she saw you through the bedroom window closing the curtains, and then she saw Janice’s shadow join you.”

Again, it was my chance to lie to her. But I couldn’t. The lies wouldn’t come.

“Preston, say something.”

I realized, sitting there looking at her, that I loved her. I’d been right. When you love someone, you can’t lie to them. It hurts too much. It’s a deception that goes too deep.

“I remember seeing her,” I finally replied.

Amanda raised her eyebrows. “And? Were you in Janice’s bedroom?”

The truth was going to rip my heart out, but it was what she deserved. What she’d always deserved.

“Yes, I was.”

Amanda didn’t say anything. She just sat there staring at me in shock. I knew she was waiting on some reason as to why I was in Janice’s bedroom other than what her mother had told her. I wished like hell I had a reason other than the truth.

“My mom said Blanche Turner told her that she pays you to sleep with her. That many women do. Tell me that isn’t true, Preston. I don’t believe you’d do something like that.”

I stood up because sitting down was impossible. This was the moment I’d feared since I’d let Amanda in. “I have classes and baseball, and three other mouths to feed, and a whole other house’s bills to pay. Three kids aren’t cheap. I have to make sure they’re fed and still keep my scholarship, which means I don’t miss baseball and I don’t fail classes. It’s more responsibility than most adults have, Manda.”